Payment cards

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. is opening 6,000 new Virtual Wallet accounts per week, the Pittsburgh banking company's chairman and chief executive James Rohr said June 3.

India’s IndusInd Bank Ltd.’s credit card program has begun receiving various additional services besides transaction processing under an agreement with India-based payments processor ElectraCard Services Pvt. Ltd.

The emphasis on broad merchant participation at the outset of development of the Google Wallet sets it apart from certain other initiatives and could be the crucial element in driving consumer adoption, according to at least one smart card industry executive.

Travelex Currency Services Inc., one of the few companies that offers U.S. residents cards that adhere to the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications, has begun selling the cards online.

InComm Inc. plans to develop local prepaid products in Brazil through an agreement it announced May 17 with prepaid card provider Unik S.A.

Given a choice, some 76% of debit cardholders would sooner give up receiving rewards for their debit card use than absorb any fees for using their cards, new survey data show.

Consumers use debit cards more often than other payment options at the point of sale, but their use of cash is not far behind, suggesting that they continue to monitor spending to stay within their budgets, new research shows.

Consumers use debit cards more often than other payment options at the point of sale, but their use of cash is not far behind, suggesting that they continue to monitor spending to stay within their budgets, new research shows.

Visa Inc. is working with several banks to roll out a digital wallet service in the U.S. and Canada this fall that will let consumers make payments with Visa and non-Visa cards.

Merrick Bank Corp. has signed on to offer Secure Vault Payments to merchants through its ISO network, and sources say the fledgling payment method may become available to 17 million consumers before the end of this month and to 50 million by year’s end.

Visa Inc. plans revisit its incentive agreements with issuing banks after the Federal Reserve Board finalizes its capped rate for debit card interchange this summer, executives for the card brand told analysts May 5 during a conference call to discuss fiscal second-quarter earnings.

Person-to-person payment is expected to be one of the big next deployments for mobile financial services, and ING Direct is an early adopter of the latest incarnation of the technology, becoming the first major financial institution to enable U.S. customers with iPhones to use them to send money to one another.

Debit card issuers’ pain could be a gain for some payments processors.

Strong processing volume among small and midsize merchants and growth in noncard operations contributed to an 13.7% increase in Heartland Payment Systems Inc. first-quarter total revenue, to $467.7 million from $411.2 million during the same period last year. Net income was down 44.4%, to $7.9 million from $14.2 million.

WASHINGTON — Although it's rare to have a financial services issue play much of a role in a local political campaign, the battle over the Durbin interchange amendment has become an unusually prominent part of the re-election race of Sen. Jon Tester.

The Federal Reserve Board’s July deadline for capping debit interchange is just around the corner, but MasterCard Worldwide said it does not expect to feel its effects until at least next year.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.-If certain “conspiracy theories” have any merit, the Federal Reserve Board might be heeding signals from Capitol Hill as it takes more time to craft final debit-interchange rules, one payment-industry analyst suggested April 28 at the Card Forum & Expo in Miami Beach, Fla.

Euronet Worldwide Inc.’s cites growth in its Money Transfer segment as driver for its first-quarter earnings results.

USA Technologies Inc., a payments-service provider to vending machine operators, is aiming to get more merchants connected to its services through a partnership with Verizon Wireless.

Sears Holding Corp.’s Kmart department stores have begun offering an improved version of Western Union Co.’s walk-in bill payment service.