Credit

In the 12 months through June, a steady erosion of the smallest banks' position in small-business lending stopped.

At least five Chinese banks have issued more than 10 million credit cards, and eight more banks could reach that mark over the next four years, according to a report from Celent, a Boston-based financial research and consulting firm.

The National Bank of Kuwait has renewed its credit card processing agreement with United States-based First Data Corp.

EProcessing Network LLC, a Houston-based online payment gateway company, says its ePNJPOS payment software now supports VeriFone Holdings Inc.’s PINpad 1000SE PIN pad.

Incoming alert: Sending bank notifications only by text message may not be enough.

The regulatory crackdown on refund-anticipation loans is poised to redistribute market share from one tax preparer and its bank partner to their rivals.

Gemalto NV said Wednesday it will set aside between 6 million euros (US$8.7 million) and 10 million euros to “cover the potential consequences related” to an apparent programming glitch that left millions of German payment cards useless earlier this month (see story).

The difference between Mophie LLC’s payment card reader for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and similar products competitors have debuted is that Mophie’s Marketplace product will work with any merchant account, according to the Paw Paw, Mich.-based provider of technology accessory products such as smartphone batteries. Retailers can set up a merchant account through Mophie or use an existing account, and “this is the main difference between the Marketplace and competitors,” says a company spokesperson.

U.S. consumers increased their credit card debt by 18% during the second half of 2009 compared with the average card-debt level at the end of June, according to a Jan. 13 report from Credit Karma Inc., a San Francisco-based company whose Web site tracks credit scores.

Total System Services Inc. plans to use mobile phones to gain a larger foothold in micropayments, Ashim Banerjee, the U.S.-based transaction processor’s chief information officer for TSYS Acquiring Solutions, tells PaymentsSource.

The Federal Reserve Board finalized a rule on Tuesday that is designed to protect consumers from credit card fees and interest rates that jump suddenly.

At least 22 million adults in the United Kingdom, or 53% of the country’s 41.4 million regular Internet users, banked online in 2009, according to Financial Fraud Action UK, a trade group for the payments industry. Last year represented the first time the percentage of UK online-banking users exceeded 50% of regular Internet users, the trade group said Tuesday.

Inside Contactless is working with another France-based contactless-technology firm to develop kiosks and electronic wallets that use Near Field Communication, an Inside spokesperson tells PaymentsSource.

Financial regulators in Brunei have set restrictions on how small the amounts credit card issuers can set for monthly repayment of credit card debts, according to a directive from the country’s Ministry of Finance. Cardholder incomes also now will determine credit card spending limits, the directive states.

Financial regulators in New Zealand are keeping a close watch on surcharges that some retailers have started to impose for credit card transactions.

U.S. card issuers continually modify their rewards programs to meet consumer demands in hopes of recruiting or retaining customers. In one of the more unusual moves, American Express Co. this week announced that participants in its Membership Rewards program may use their points to pay taxes.

MasterCard Worldwide today announced the availability of a merchant data service called MasterCard Advisors Merchant Solutions.

Total online transactions and spending volume in the U.S. rose again during the recent holiday shopping season compared with a year earlier, while the average transaction amount fell for the second consecutive year, according to new data Chase Paymentech released Jan. 12.

The results of a pilot Discover Financial Services recently completed of its Zip contactless-payment sticker suggest 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, Discover says.

Beaverton, Ore.-based First Tech Credit Union is warning its members of a new malicious banking application it discovered that apparently is designed to steal online banking account details on Google's new Android cellphones.