Credit

The private-equity firm Permira has reportedly teamed up with American Express Co. to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's Global Merchant Services division, a person familiar with the situation said Monday.

Banks have devoted much of their mobile banking efforts to making apps for Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone, but a rival system may be more important to consumers who handle their finances by phone.

Several major credit card issuers' portfolio yields dropped sharply in April, the second full month after key provisions of a landmark consumer protection law that is reshaping industry practices took effect.

WASHINGTON — Just days after the surprise passage of an amendment to regulate interchange, bankers are bracing for the possible addition of an even stronger measure that would hold them to the interest rate limit in the cardholder's state.

New restrictions from the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act and the potential for downward pressure on credit and debit card interchange are forcing issuers to look for smarter ways to increase revenue and strengthen consumer loyalty.

Commercial card programs could yield broader overall benefits for corporations and banks if card issuers considered the unusual step of reducing the rebates they traditionally pay to corporations, Frank Martien, a consultant with First Annapolis Consulting, contends.

The U.S. credit card delinquency rate decreased to 1.11% for the first quarter ended March 31, according to TransUnion LLC’s quarterly analysis of credit card delinquency trends. It marks just the third time in 10 years that the rate declined in the first quarter, TransUnion said. The delinquency rate fell 100 basis points from 1.21% in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Global Payments Inc. is expanding into the Philippines with its HomeCurrencyPay product. The addition is the latest in Global Payments’ expanding Asian services.

VeriFone Holdings Inc. Monday said it has purchased Orange Logic Ltd., a South Korea-based point-of-sale terminal maker.

Bling Nation Ltd. wants to see how well its hands-on approach to deploying mobile payment systems can scale, with a new partnership that gives it access to over 330 potential bank clients.

In two weeks of Senate debate over regulatory reform, a provision that has nothing to do with the financial crisis may have stirred the most emotion.

Issuers are sweetening their rewards programs for corporate credit cards in an effort to attract new employer clients and encourage employees to actually use them.

Fidelity National Information Services, which acquired Metavante Technologies last year, said it is closing a Metavante office in Madison, Wis., and terminating 157 employees who work there.

Consumers who use American Express Delta Air Lines cobranded credit cards, including U.S. consumer and small-business gold, platinum and reserve Delta SkyMiles cards, will have the $50 Delta baggage fee waived for their first checked bag starting June 1. The benefit applies to up to nine individuals traveling on the same reservation.

Payments-industry players are vowing to begin lobbying members of Congress in hopes of blocking further progress of an interchange-regulation amendment to the financial-reform bill the Senate passed on May 13 that they believe would have devastating consequences.

Moneris Solutions Corp., Canada’s largest debit and credit card processor based on annual transactions, will adopt Canada’s voluntary code of conduct for the country’s debit and credit card industry. Moneris’ top executive announced the company’s decision May 13.

By 2011, all major credit card issuers in the United Kingdom will offer at least one fee-based rewards credit card to appease consumers wanting more value from their cards, new research from Auriemma Consulting Group suggests.

Brick-and-mortar merchants and restaurants experienced a year-over-year decline in card sales during the first quarter, yet the rate of decline slowed when compared with past quarters, according to the Small Business Credit Sales Report issued by Capital Access Network Inc.

JCB International and DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. recently signed an agreement that enables JCB’s customers to use their credit cards at DBS’s merchants in Hong Kong and Macao. JCB issues both magnetic stripe and chip cards.

Against long odds, EMV cards are finally coming to the United States.