Credit

Torrance (Calif.) Community Credit Union said it successfully accepted its first mobile phone deposit over an iPhone.

St. Paul, Minn.-based Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union members have found a new way to give to charity and agreed to donate 774,442 credit card rewards points accumulated in October, November and December valued at $15,500 to local charities.

PayPal Inc. helped drive its parent eBay Inc. to its first profit increase in more than a year, reports Bloomberg News.

The "new frugality" is still very much alive, and nowhere is this more evident than in the major credit card lenders' fourth-quarter results.

Credit and debit card issuers face another tough year this year as the economic recovery continues, consumers keep the brakes on spending, and new legislation and data-security rules kick in. But even as they plug holes that could lead to data breaches, adjust business plans to comply with new card rules and monitor the ongoing debate over interchange rates, issuers eagerly are watching and preparing to experiment with new mobile-payment initiatives.

Citibank is enabling its 13 million ThankYou Network rewards members to donate points to the American Red Cross International Response Fund that is assisting in relief to Haiti following the earthquake on Jan. 12. Members can make donations of $50 and $100.

Indian banks increasingly are cutting the credit limits for their cardholders to reduce risk within their credit card portfolios, banking officials confirm.

Ingenico SA this week added the chairman title to CEO Philippe Lazare’s role at the France-based point-of-sale terminal maker. Jacques Stern, who had been Ingenico’s chairman since 2007, remains a director of the company.

First Data Corp. recently announced a shakeup of its international division as part of an effort to unite the company into a single global organization designed to develop and deliver products faster.

Has "Tap and Go" come and gone?

Citigroup Inc. announced Thursday that it has integrated credit card account information into its downloadable Citi Mobile application for the Apple Inc. iPhone.

Reaping the results of improving credit quality among its U.S. customers, higher spending on corporate cards and in international regions, American Express Co. yesterday reported a 198.3% increase in net income for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 30 compared with a year ago.

Consumers are eager to use contactless stickers for routine payments as a bridge before Near Field Communication-equipped mobile handsets are available on a mass scale, suggest the results of a recently completed Discover Financial Services pilot.

China’s Ministry of Public Security and the People’s Bank of China soon plan to launch a 10-month nationwide campaign to crack down on bankcard crimes, the ministry notes in a statement on its Web site.

Ingenico SA generated $976.3 million (691.4 million euros) in revenue in 2009, a 5% decrease from $1.03 billion the previous year, according to preliminary financial results the France-based point-of-sale terminal maker released yesterday. Ingenico’s preliminary results do not include net-income figures.

The $60 million settlement (see story) Heartland Payment Systems Inc. and Visa Inc. announced earlier this month regarding the large data breach the processor reported a year ago “has many weaknesses,” claims three law firms representing issuers of Visa cards.

The loss of large clients, price compression, negative currency-exchange rates and the difficult economy contributed to a difficult fourth quarter and 2009 overall for Total System Services Inc., known as TSYS. The same themes also likely will affect the Columbus, Ga.-based transaction processor this year, executives noted yesterday during a conference call with analysts.

When Sue Rexford decides to open a banking account for her new venture, Bodhi Tree Therapeutic Massage. she will look for a financial company that can provide two things: convenience and low fees.

I&M Bank Ltd. in Kenya has received a license from Visa Inc. to process online credit card payments for goods and services in East Africa, reports Bloomberg News.

Payment Alliance International today announced it has acquired Comdata Processing Systems’ merchant-processing business, which includes 5,000 merchant locations and more than 50 independent sales organizations.