Credit

Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC later this year will roll out an advanced payment-data encryption technology platform for its merchant clients developed in conjunction with Voltage Security Inc., the processor said on Thursday.

Verifi Inc., a provider of risk-management services for card-not-present merchants, this week announced a partnership with ThreatMetrix Inc. designed to help block online fraud.

Indian consumers in January initiated 20.3 million credit card transactions, down 6.9% from 21.8 million during the same month the previous year, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India. Credit card sales volume, however, increased by 5%, to 54.3 billion rupees (US$1.2 billion or 869.3 million euros) from 51.7 billion rupees.

Citigroup Inc. is learning many consumers today do not share its enthusiasm for mobile payments.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers' office has banned three lawyers from collecting debts in the state after accusing them of using unfair tactics.

After reporting a charge-off rate for its fiscal first quarter that was below what it expected, Discover Financial Services now expects charge-offs to start to decline this quarter, coming in at between 8% and 8.5%, Discover Chairman and CEO David Nelms told analysts during a conference call yesterday to discuss earnings. The first quarter charge-off rate was 8.51%, up from 6.68% a year earlier and up from 8.43% during the third quarter.

American Express Co. has launched a card-marketing campaign in several major U.S. cities and in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. The company’s goal is to shift the perception that it is a traditional T&E card provider to one whose cards also are accepted at everyday merchants, such as fast-food and drug stores.

Chase Paymentech LLC this week announced plans to extend its offer of fraud-detection services for card-not-present transactions to all of its merchant customers later this year. The Dallas-based processor will integrate Kount Inc.’s fraud-detection services so merchants of all sizes may use them without requiring a separate contract with Boise, Idaho-based Kount.

DBS Bank has inked a deal with U.S.-based online-payments provider PayPal Inc. in which the bank’s customers will be able to use PayPal to make online purchases, Singapore’s largest bank announced March 17.

USA Technologies Inc. said Thursday that more than 71,000 vending machines and other self-serve systems are now linked to its payments network.

Discover Financial Services is reporting a net loss of $104 million for the fiscal first quarter ended Feb. 28.; the company reported net income of $120 million for the same period a year ago that included approximately $297 million in after-tax income from antitrust settlements with Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide. Included in the past quarter’s earnings was a pre-tax addition to loan-loss reserves of $305 million ($185 million after tax), bringing Discover’s after-tax reserve to approximately $297 million.

American Express Co.'s CEO, Kenneth I. Chenault, reportedly received total compensation of $17.4 million in 2009 as the company grappled with fragile credit markets and the quality of its card loans, and repaid federal aid.

PayPal Inc.'s new iPhone application is more than a payment system — the company is also trying to make it easier for people to use the app as a cash replacement.

The merchant-acquiring deal Discover Financial Services struck this week with Global Payments Inc. to expand acceptance for its Discover and Diners Club cards in Europe and Asia caps a string of similar deals the company has inked over the past year. But it likely will not be Discover’s last such international acquiring deal, Gerard Wagner, Discover vice president of global acceptance, tells PaymentsSource.

First Data Corp. plans to use technology embedded into a digital memory card as the next step in evolving the payment processor’s contactless-payment technology.

In collaboration with the United Kingdom Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the UK Card Association recently announced new “rights” for UK credit cardholders. The changes will take effect by yearend and become part of The Lending Code, a specific rule of the UK government’s Lending Standards Board related to credit card and other loans.

In Japan, Toyama Chihou Tetsudou Inc. on March 14 began issuing a contactless card called Ecomyca that transit riders may use to access all Toyama tram and rail lines. Mutual interoperability also simultaneously began between Ecomyca and Passca, another contactless card issued in 2006 by competitor Toyama Light Rail Co. Ltd., Toyama Chihou Tetsudou says.

Credit card delinquency rates fell again in February, providing further support to the view that loan losses in the sector either have maxed out or will do so soon.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood's office charged that a Texas couple bilked a Mississippi family out of $13,000 by claiming to be a debt settlement company.

Regulators of Australia's credit card payment system say it is not clear whether more competition or direct regulation would help cut fees, according to a Bloomberg News report.