Credit

The share price of MasterCard Inc. fell Thursday after the company was downgraded.

If the banking industry was looking for clarity on the trend in consumer loan delinquencies, it did not get it Thursday in the latest American Bankers Association data.

PowerPay, a provider of e-commerce and point-of-sale payment-processing products, will offer to its customers a terminal from Transaction Wireless, a mobile-commerce and marketing provider, under an agreement between the companies announced this week.

Five villages will become the first in the Indian state of Tripura to be covered under a biometric banking card initiative overseen by Tripura State Cooperative Bank, a spokesperson for the Agartala-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

DFCC Vardhana Bank has signed a partnership deal with Sampath Bank, another Sri Lankan financial institution, to extend the institutions’ ATM coverage, a DFCC spokesperson tells PaymentsSource.

Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union members now can pay bills using their mobile phones through a recent agreement the Merced, Calif.-based institution made that provides them access to Fiserv Inc.’s Mobile Money service.

Best Buy Co. Inc. has made good on threats it made in July to drop acceptance of Visa Inc.’s contactless payWave cards because of the interchange rates the network applies to them, according to an industry analyst.

Best Buy Co. Inc. has made good on threats it made in July to drop acceptance of Visa Inc.’s contactless payWave cards because of the interchange rates the network applies to them, according to an industry analyst.

British issuer Barclaycard and mobile-network operator Orange UK have launched a cobranded contactless credit card, a product that brings the two firms closer to offering payments via mobile phones.

In the fall of 2008, Al Zezulinski, at NCO Group Inc., would have expected bad-debt sales to have improved more than a year later. "We’re not seeing it,” says the executive vice president at the Horsham, Pa.-based accounts receivable management company.

U.S. consumers are planning to spend less this month following the holidays, and they are slightly more pessimistic about their finances, according to survey data Discover Financial Services released on Jan. 6.

Product rebates present yet another potential niche for prepaid cards, and a rebate-processing company is working with MasterCard Worldwide on a prepaid initiative designed to improve its rebate fulfillment and redemption process.

CompuCredit Corp. elaborated on its reasons for considering a spinoff of its payday lending business, saying the unit has made the parent a pariah.

Hypercom Corp. on Jan. 6 announced its Optimum L4150 point-of-sale terminal can send consumers digital receipts to their e-mail addresses, an option the terminal maker says could save merchants in terminal printer and ink costs.

Meru Cabs will enable its customers to pay fares with credit and debit cards under a deal signed with Mumbai-based Axis Bank, according to a spokesperson for the India-based taxi operator.

UCO Bank plans to undergo a major ATM-expansion drive this year, according to a spokesperson for the government-owned, Mumbai-based financial institution.

Morgan Stanley won a crucial legal ruling in its battle with former credit card subsidiary Discover Financial Services over almost $800 million Morgan Stanley says it is owed, reports Dow Jones.

German consumers are facing problems using their debit and credit cards at home and abroad this week because of a programming glitch. The glitch renders some 30 million chip cards unable to recognize the year 2010, making it impossible for millions of consumers to use their cards at ATMs and point-of-sale terminals. Unclear was whether the glitch originated in cash machines and terminals or on card chips.

At the start of 2009, consumers said, almost timidly, that it would be nice to be able to manage their bank accounts with mobile phones. Now, they are demanding such services.

American Express Co. in early December launched a beta test for a new charge card that targets the 20-something market, a group AmEx says represents $625 billion in annual buying power.