Payment processing

Bank of America Corp. is the second major card issuer to buck a recent smart card trend by structuring its EMV cards for U.S. commercial cardholders traveling abroad with chip-and-PIN technology instead of chip-and-signature.

A 15% growth in revenue fueled a 10-fold increase in third quarter earnings, to $8 million from just $892,000 a year earlier, Atlanta-based S1 Corp. announced Nov. 7.

Wright Express Corp. is reaping the benefits of continued growth in Expedia transaction volume.

Fundtech Ltd.’s shareholders approved the acquisition of the company by Chicago-based private equity partners GTCR at $23.33 a share, or $390 million.

Income growth may be stagnant and consumer confidence weak, but spending has been “surprisingly resilient” and has helped fuel modest revenue increases for First Data Corp., executives told industry analysts Nov. 2 while discussing third-quarter earnings.

MasterCard Worldwide will offer special incentives to certain merchants to offset the effects of new Federal Reserve Board rules requiring debit cards to carry at least two card-network brands in contrast to Visa’s plan to offer broad merchant incentives, Ajay Banga, MasterCard chairman and CEO, told analysts Nov. 2.

Citing higher purchase volumes for credit and debit cards in all regions, MasterCard Worldwide earned net income of $717 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up 38.4% from $518 million a year earlier, the company said Nov. 2.

Citing steady international growth and earnings from increased debit network fees, First Data Corp. delivered a 3.8% increase in third-quarter consolidated revenue, the Atlanta-based card processor reported Nov. 2.

Prepaid card marketer NetSpend Corp. is teaming with PayPal Inc. in a deal that so far has been the subject of little fanfare by either company.

Bank of America Corp.'s decision to drop its controversial debit-card fee may have come too late to retain some accounts because a large number of big-bank customers already have defected to smaller banks in protest over fees (see story).

Using an effective online banking data-security method customers view as nonintrusive represents the best option for financial institutions as fraud-prevention capabilities increasingly become key factors in consumer choice, a fraud expert suggests in a recent study report.

Sluggish global economic growth has placed pressure on international corporate activity, but it also is providing an opportunity for corporate payment-automation providers such as Syncada that peddle more efficient processing.

Fidelity National Information Services, which does business as FIS, says Fifth Third Bancorp will use its Payment Manager online bill-payment service under a deal the companies announced Oct. 31.

MoneyGram International Inc. showed decreases in its bill-payment revenue for its third-quarter earnings report but says it is ramping up its billing business.

Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC will provide an advanced encryption service for its point-of-sale retail clients in Canada, the Dallas-based payment processor announced Oct. 26.

Heartland Payment Systems reported favorable third-quarter earnings Oct. 27, but it is still too early to tell if its “Durbin Dollars” promotion is paying off, an analyst says.

Bracing for the loss of some debit transactions as a result of new Federal Reserve rules requiring debit cards to carry at least two card network brands, Visa Inc. next year plans to ramp up a series of incentives for merchants and acquirers, Joe Saunders, Visa chairman and CEO, told analysts Oct. 26.

MoneyGram International Inc. on Oct. 27 reported solid third-quarter earnings growth, with a 58% increase in net income to $15.8 million from $10 million during the same period last year. Revenue increased 9.9%, to $321.9 million from $292.9 million.

Banks are combating fraud with technology on a number of fronts, according to a Novarica study released this week.

Visa Inc. on Oct. 24 reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $880 million, up 13.7% from $774 million a year ago. Operating revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 rose 14.3% to $2.4 billion from $2.1 billion.