Credit

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.

Count the merchant acquirer First American Payment Systems LP among the U.S. payment processors looking abroad for growth.

HSBC Holdings PLC has tentatively agreed to settle claims that it illegally colluded with other banks to require credit-card holders to arbitrate disputes, including debt collections, according to cardholders' lawyers, reports Bloomberg News.

For Hans Morris, now's a prime time for private-equity investment in financial services — though not necessarily in banks, or in the U.S.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is urging the Federal Reserve Board to return credit card interest rates and fees to year-ago levels after banks raised them in response to new federal rules and surging credit costs, reports Dow Jones.

Delinquencies on U.S. prime credit cards reached record levels in December, and charge-offs began marching back toward the high set in September, according to new data Fitch Group’s Fitch Ratings released Jan. 5.

Spain-based financial institution Grupo Santander announced Tuesday it will offer free use of 4,300 ATMs in Spain to consumers from the United Kingdom. The offer will begin on Monday, the financial institution says in a statement.

Malayan Banking Bhd, or Maybank, in Malaysia will allow its customers in Singapore to use their ATM cards to pay credit card bills at AXS kiosks in Singapore, according to a bank spokesperson. Those customers also can pay their phone and other utility bills and reload their EZ-Link contactless fare cards for public transit.

At least 2,500 credit card customers of Mashreq Bank have used the Dubai-based institution’s debt-counseling service, Mashreq Assist, since its launch in September, the financial institution says in a statement.

International payment services company Global Collect announced today that it has joined the PCI Security Standards Council as a participating organization that will help develop the data protection standards.

Mophie, a Paw Paw, Mich.-based provider of technology accessory products such as smartphone batteries, later this week expects to reveal an external card reader and an application that manages transactions for Apple Inc.’s iPhone at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.