Credit

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.

U.S. Bancorp's merchant acquiring unit, Elavon, has started a hosted payment gateway it calls Fusebox.

U.S. revolving credit, 98% of which is credit card debt, fell to $874 billion in November from a revised total of $887.7 billion in October, the largest dollar-value drop since records began in 1968, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report on consumer credit released Friday.

Gemalto has increased its capital investment to become the majority shareholder in mobile-payments firm Netsize, the company announced Tuesday. Amstercam-based Gemalto has an option to buy the company at a later date, but it did not disclose terms of the transaction.

The fee structure of eBay Inc.’s Bill Me Later instant credit service might violate a consumer-protection law in California, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP alleges. The Seattle-based law firm last week said it filed a lawsuit against the San Jose, Calif.-based company on behalf of consumers and is seeking class-action status.

Mophie, a Paw Paw, Mich.-based provider of technology accessory products such as smartphone batteries, last week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas unveiled details regarding its payment card reader for Apple Inc.’s iPhone (see story) , according OhGizmo.com, a technology blog.

Two point-of-sale terminal makers on Jan. 11 announced product updates. Ingenico S.A. says its new iSC350 payment terminal can display full-motion video on its consumer-facing screen with stereo sound.

Taiwan had 30.7 million credit cards in circulation as of Nov. 30, down 10.2% from 34.2 million at the same point last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan. Of those cards, 18.8 million were active, down 4.1% from 19.6 million, the commission says. Revolving balances as of Nov. 30 stood at NT$210 billion (US$6.5 billion or 4.5 billion euros), down 18.7% from NT$258.2 billion a year earlier.

Many credit card customers say extra features such as zero liability for fraudulent charges, emergency card replacement, free identity-theft management tools, and reimbursement for stolen or damaged items are important.

Warning that the weak U.S. economy will continue to drag down consumer spending this year, Wells Fargo & Co. issued a blanket downgrade of the transaction processing segment.

Collections & Credit Risk | Monday, January 11, 2010

Large retailers’ efforts to attract more business are adversely affecting transaction fee revenue at Global Payments Inc., the processor said Jan. 7 when announcing its earnings for its fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 30, 2009.

3Delta Systems Inc. has become a participant in a merchant-services referral deal for the 19,000 members of the National Association of Credit Management, Chantilly, Va.-based 3Delta announced last week.

PSCU Financial Services this week reported a record year for debit and credit card transactions processed despite the economy and the turmoil in the nation’s financial markets.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. and Visa Inc. on Jan. 8 announced they have reached a settlement agreement in which Heartland will pay up to $60 million to Visa Inc. card issuers for damages sustained from the 2008 breach into the payment processor’s network.

Ingenico SA on Jan. 7 joined its peers in the payment terminal-manufacturing industry in offering merchants enhanced data-security support throughout the transaction process.

JCB International, the international subsidiary of JCB Co. Ltd., has signed a deal with China Construction Bank to issue JCB credit cards in China, the Japan-based card firm announced Friday.

VeriFone Holdings Inc. announced yesterday it will deploy its taxi payment terminals in South Africa through an agreement with iMobilise Transportation Systems, according to the San Jose, Calif.-based point-of-sale terminal maker.

Lawmakers are scheduled to review a bill later this month that would set new curbs on credit cards by capping interest rates at 16% and late payments and overdraft fees at $15.

Merchants that have added PayPal Inc. as a payment method have attracted new customers who tend to spend more, according to research from Forrester Research Inc.