Credit

More than half of all companies do not properly enforce rules surrounding access to sensitive customer information such as card data, according to a recent survey Ponemon Institute and Aveksa Inc. conducted among information-technology professionals.

In a move one observer calls a “productization” of credit card services in reaction to the implementation of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, Household Bank is offering its credit card customers the ability to opt in to over-limit coverage.

As competition for clients intensifies and margins grow increasingly thin, many independent sales organizations are seeking ways to reduce costs, increase efficiency and stand out from competitors. One method gaining consideration is the use of digital signatures and contracts.

Rushikulya Gramya Bank in the Indian state of Orissa soon may become the first regional rural bank to issue debit cards to its customers that require biometric authentication, an official from the bank tells PaymentsSource.

Fast-growing social-networking site Blippy hit a rough patch this week when it revealed an internal glitch that resulted in exposing certain users’ credit card data on Google Inc.’s search engine for some three months.

Fiserv reported a 17% rise in first quarter earnings Thursday, even as revenues slid by about 1%.

Discover Financial Services accomplished much in 2009, despite the economic environment taking a heavy toll.

Contending the worst of the recession likely is over, Visa Inc. on Wednesday reported an increase in card spending both domestically and internationally for the company’s fiscal second quarter ended March 31.

A new payment card-fulfillment program from Total System Services Inc. and the Serverside Group Ltd. enables issuers to order relatively low quantities of customized cards on demand, the companies announced April 28.

Smartphone-based transactions represent an opportunity to grow U.S. card acceptance, which largely has become commoditized because most brick-and-mortar merchants accept payment cards. However, the challenge for independent sales organizations and other resellers of smartphone-based point-of-sale products may be locating mobile-merchant clients, observers say.

MasterCard Worldwide and Barclaycard US on April 27 announced a retooling of their Best Western International cobranded rewards card. The companies originally launched the product in 2002.

The Beijing branch of Hua Xia Bank and the Beijing Capital Highway Development Group have collaborated to launch a contactless card drivers may use to pay local highway tolls.

All banks operating in India must add security measures for credit card transactions using interactive voice response systems that enable cardholders to access their card information by Jan. 1, the Reserve Bank of India announced in an April 28 statement. The central bank believes the systems will improve security by adding an extra step to the authentication process.

Purchase volume on Visa Inc. debit and credit cards surged 20.8% to $745 billion in its fiscal second quarter ending March 31, the San Francisco payments company reported Wednesday.

Four witnesses testifying April 28 before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on credit card interchange regulation agreed on one thing: A handful of the largest banks benefit most from interchange. And the potential effect of interchange-rate regulation on smaller community banks and credit unions, which struggle to compete against the giants, is murky.

Restaurateurs may have another reason to use pay-at-the-table terminals from Ingenico S.A., which has added software to the devices to help lower the interchange rates for credit and debit card transactions.

A majority of qualified security professionals that assess compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard believe encryption is the most-effective means of protecting card data, according to a study released April 27 by Thales Group and the Ponemon Institute.

China’s leading online-payment platform provider Alipay is set to receive 5 billion yuan (US$731 million or 538 million euros) over the next three years from its parent, Hangzhou-based Alibaba Group.

Two card issuers this spring have launched credit cards backed by air-mile rewards, one in the Middle East and the other in India.

St. George Bank Ltd. and Qantas Airways Ltd. on April 1 announced the launch of “Amplify,” a cobranded rewards credit card. The Visa-branded product will be available to customers later this month, according to the Sydney-based bank.