Credit

Some U.S. credit card issuers started responding to the down economy halfway through 2009 by raising over-limit fees to make up for lost revenue. Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp., for example, raised its over-limit fee to $39 by July from $15 in January, while Wichita, Kansas-based Intrust Bank and Wilmington (Del.) Trust Co. raised their fees to $35 from $29 during the same time period, according to PaymentsSource research.

As card issuers compete fiercely for the choicest customers, two divergent strategies have emerged.

Strands Inc. said more than one-third of consumers in a survey were more eager to open credit card accounts in light of last year's Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act.

Hancock Fabric Inc. has replaced every VeriFone Inc. 2000 PIN pad it deploys with new VeriFone MX850 terminals, according to Robert W. Driskell, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. The company made the move after thieves replaced some PIN pads with fakes one (see story).

The treasurer of Australia is expressing outrage over a plan by Westpac Banking Corp. to charge interest on the interest charges and penalty fees it levies on its credit card holders, calling the issuer in a news release a “serial offender.”

An Internal Revenue Service initiative announced earlier this month could spur independent sales organizations and merchant acquirers to assess how they classify their staffs, Holli Hart Targan, president of the Electronic Transactions Association, noted at the Southeast Acquirers Association conference this week in Atlanta.

Credit card charge-offs remained virtually flat in February, while delinquency rates fell for the fourth consecutive month, suggesting charge-offs may be nearing their “ultimate” peak after generally climbing for more than a year, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report this week.

Though other card issuers are “slicing and dicing” their portfolios to make up for economic hardship and the effect of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, Discover Financial Services is promoting in a new print ad its heritage of offering rewards, good customer service and no annual fees.

Visa Inc. on March 24 announced a strategic alliance with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce designed to provide Hispanic-owned businesses with educational materials to help them manage cash flow and payments and to provide the “best available” interchange rates.

How important is innovation to the business of banking today? The government appears to believe that financial innovations are at least partly to blame for the recent economic crisis, and to some degree this is true. Were it not for powerful secondary markets and instruments like mortgage-backed securities and CDOs, we may well have avoided the real estate bubble in the first place, leaving nothing to burst.

Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday that credit card charge-offs rose slightly in February, adding that the stabilization was another sign of impending improvement in credit card performance, according to a Dow Jones report.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Tech CU is providing its members with an enhanced list of methods to prevent being the victims of fraud through mobile banking.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – A new law signed by Gov. Christine Gregoire Monday will lift some of the burdens on credit unions for reissuing credit cards in data breaches by making the offending parties liable.

Etihad Airways has inked a deal with Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah for Etihad Guest, its loyalty program, the two parties announced last week.

Fiserv Inc. Monday announced that SunTrust Banks Inc. will use its mobile-banking service that gives consumers more access to mobile-financial services.

Texas Dow Employees Credit Union has launched what it calls a “family card” to its credit card product offerings.

Most major credit card issuers boosted annual percentage rates in 2009, according to a Federal Reserve Board survey of credit card plans. The Fed surveys the terms of credit card plans offered by financial institutions every six months. Its report includes information from the largest U.S. credit card issuers and any others that volunteer to participate in the survey.

Arkansans can now make payments to the state government over their mobile phones.

The four trade groups that represent the nation's accounts receivables management industry are calling on Congress to retain the Federal Trade Commission as the exclusive regulator of debt purchasers and collectors.

Three years ago banks rushed to be first to offer mobile text-message alerts notifying customers of suspicious credit and debit card transactions. Now Visa Inc. is trying to up the stakes by emphasizing the superior speed of its mobile transaction-notification service compared with other such services.