Credit

The payments industry should not view consumers’ changing spending habits coming out of the recession as a threat but instead as an opportunity to provide new products and services to meet customer needs, Chris McWilton, president of U.S. markets at MasterCard Worldwide, said earlier this week during a keynote speech at the 22nd annual Card Forum and Expo in Orlando.

Financial institutions generally view fraud and regulatory pressure as their key challenges this year, according to the Pulse electronic funds transfer network’s 2010 Debit Issuer study released this week.

VeriFone Holdings Inc. has changed its name. The point-of-sale terminal maker now is called VeriFone Systems Inc., the San Jose, Calif.-based company announced May 18.

Certain consumers will soon know a lot more about their creditworthiness, and that power could create competitive and compliance headaches for lenders, including credit card issuers.

Default rates for first and second mortgages and auto loans reportedly declined in April, from March, though bank card default rates rose for the third month in a row, according to the latest data from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services and Experian PLC.

Despite negative economic winds and the effect of tough new regulations, credit card companies should realize there are ways to adapt and stay positive in the current environment, Peter Vaughn, senior vice president of global brand management for American Express Co. told audience members during Tuesday’s keynote speech at SourceMedia Inc.'s Card Forum and Expo in Orlando.

IPayment Inc., a Nashville, Tenn.-based payment processor, is reselling Roam Data Inc.’s RoamPay mobile-payment services, Roam Data says. RoamPay can be loaded onto cell phones and used to accept credit and debit card payments.

Indian consumers in March generated sharply higher sales volume on fewer credit card transactions over the same period a year ago, while the number of cards in circulation fell, according to India’s central bank. The trend proves that Indian banks are succeeding in their effort to woo more upscale customers, according to one analyst.

Visa Inc., a sponsor for the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, last week launched the Visa Match Planner, a social media application that enables users to create customizable World Cup viewing schedules to share with friends on social networking channels such as Facebook.

In January, the slide in consumer credit appeared mild relative to the scale of the economic crisis, with the trend in balances tracking roughly in the middle of the trajectories set in the aftermaths of the five previous recessions.

Interchange fees are the largest component of merchant card-acceptance fees, and the merchant lobby has been waging an aggressive political campaign to get government to curb them.

Muhammad Yunus envisions a world where there is no need for payday lenders or pawnshops and everyone has equal access to 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.