Credit

SocialWise Inc. is planning to take the BillMyParents online payment system it launched last year mainstream through an advertising blitz.

Citigroup Inc.’s ThankYou Network rewards program last week announced an Earth Day-themed promotion enabling its members to win free music downloads from Sony Music Entertainment.

Credit cards are the major borrowing tool behind the rapid rise in consumer debt in South Korea, the National Information and Credit Evaluation credit-scoring agency reported last week in a research note.

VeriFone Holdings Inc. on April 2 announced the acquisition of TaxiTronic Inc.’s minority ownership in the VeriFone Transportation System joint venture the two companies formed in 2005.

Corserv Solutions Inc. earlier this month went live with an operating platform designed to enable U.S. community banks wanting to re-enter the credit card industry to own and control the business, the Atlanta-based consumer and small-business credit card loan servicing company announced.

This past weekend’s launch of Apple Inc.’s iPad also saw the introduction of Square Inc.’s payment card-acceptance application for the device.

Most consumers want issuers to contact them through multiple communication channels if the institutions suspect fraudulent activity on their debit or credit cards. But their preferred communication channel varies significantly by age group, suggest the results of a recent survey.

The U.S. Council of Better Business Bureaus is warning consumers about online scams designed to get them to provide credit card and other personal information by offering free Apple Inc. iPads, which went on sale as of Saturday.

A United Kingdom-based smart card software company has launched Branch in a Box, a proprietary chip card service designed to encourage local spending in the UK and to enable consumers to organize their finances through their credit unions.

VeriFone Holdings Inc. on Thursday named Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC as one of its preferred merchant processors for users of its mobile phone card reader.

Transaction Network Services Inc. and Blue Bamboo have entered into an agreement that enables independent sales organizations, acquirers and processors to sell a mobile-payment system, according to the companies.

LIC Cards Services Ltd. of has launched a card-protection plan for its credit card customers, an official from the India-based card issuer tells PaymentsSource.

Erste Bank Hungary plans to conduct a pilot during which customers may pay utility bills using ATMs, the Budapest-based bank announced April 1.

Loan volume, including credit card lending, slid 11% over the 18 months through the end of last year, but the decline showed signs of tapering off toward the end of 2009.

Macy’s Inc. today announced that American Express Co. will replace Visa Inc. this fall as the card network supporting its Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s cobranded credit cards. Citigroup Inc., which purchased Macy’s credit card receivables from the retailer in 2005, issues its private-label and cobranded credit cards and will switch the brand to AmEx.

The head of Australia’s dominant taxi-payments system is defending a 10% surcharge it levies on payment card payments, local media report.

PayPal users in Japan as of March 31 no longer may send noncommercial transactions to individuals until the further notice, PayPal announced in a statement.

Global Payments Inc. has named Jeffrey S. Sloan, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs & Co., as the Atlanta-based payment processor’s new president.

Residents of the Indian city of Ahmedabad soon will be able to use contactless smart cards to pay their fares in the city’s bus and rapid-transit system, an official from the local transport authority Ahmedabad Janmarg Ltd. tells PaymentsSource.

Citibank wants to surpass National Australia Bank’s position as that country’s fourth-largest credit card issuer based on cards issued, according to a bank official.