Credit

American Express Co. said Friday that it had completed its purchase of the alternative payments company Revolution Money Inc.

Citing continued weakness in the credit card sector and the ongoing effects of the recession, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Card Services unit today reported a $306 million net loss for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, an improvement from the $371 million the unit lost during the same quarter a year earlier.

Indian consumers made 19.3 million credit card transactions in November, down 6.3% from 20.6 million during the same month last year, according to the Reserve Bank of India. Credit card sales volume declined 1.9%, to 52.6 billion rupees (US$1.1 billion or 795.3 million euros) from 53.6 billion rupees.

Barclaycard will launch another contactless marketing push, this one featuring a rollercoaster ride through New York City, the issuer announced this week. The advertising effort follows an earlier one designed to promote contactless card payments through the use of commercials featuring waterslides.

Merchant cash-advance company AdvanceMe Inc. this week announced it has added data to its statements to enable merchants to compare their monthly card sales from the same month a year earlier and how their sales measure up against a peer group.

Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based Co-op Financial Services announced Thursday it has extended its electronic funds transfer network access agreement with First Data Corp.’s Star Network.

Arcot Systems Inc. has released an application for mobile phones that enables consumers with EMV cards to authenticate card-not-present transactions, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said this week.

Each of the four major U.S. card brands is waiving interchange fees on Haitian relief donations made to select charities for a limited time to ensure a greater portion of contributions made with their cards reaches victims of the massive earthquake that struck the region Jan 12.

Massachusetts' top financial regulator has asked securities dealers that issue credit cards, including American Express Co. and Charles Schwab Corp., for information about rate and fee increases imposed ahead of a new federal law, reports Bloomberg News.

U.S. Bancorp is increasing the perks on its travel-rewards card — and taking a subtle swipe at a former airline partner along the way.

Charge-offs on asset-backed U.S. private-label retail credit cards rose sharply in December, heading back toward record highs set last summer, while retail card delinquency rates abated slightly, Fitch Group’s Fitch Ratings notes in a report released Jan. 14.

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.