Payment processing

Despite efforts by major card companies to promote the speed and excitement of using mobile phones to pay, it likely will take more than glitzy marketing to convince consumers to use such services, according to a Federal Reserve strategist.

China UnionPay customers now may use their cards in Peru under an agreement the card company signed last week with Lima-based Interbank Ltd., a spokesperson from the card company tells PaymentsSource.

Ukash, a United Kingdom-based firm that sells prepaid vouchers for online shopping, is expanding the product’s functionality and giving users the option to transfer unused funds to an account accessible with a MasterCard-branded prepaid debit smart card.

Telefónica UK, Vodafone UK, and T-Mobile and Orange parent Everything Everywhere plan to form a joint venture in mobile marketing and payments, the companies announced June 16.

The Federal Reserve’s proposed cap on debit fees is “discriminatory,” because it singles out the nation’s biggest banks and credit unions, so should be barred from being finalized, lawyers for Minnesota’s TCF Bank told a federal appeals court yesterday.

MasterCard Worldwide is making headway in the use of its PayPass service by embedding the contactless chips in wristbands distributed at festivals and other events.

MasterCard Worldwide is making headway in the use of its PayPass service by embedding the contactless chips in wristbands distributed at festivals and other events.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. on June 17 will roll out a second EMV card, expanding its target audience for the higher-technology card to a broader consumer base from elite international business travelers.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc.’s merchant clients could save up to $2,000 annually as a result of pending limits on debit card interchange fees, an executive at the processing company said June 16.

Intuit Inc. is among various vendors that could feel a shock from the emergence of Near Field Communication-powered mobile-payment schemes such as Google Wallet and Isis designed to eclipse banks’ existing, more-pedestrian offerings, such as online and mobile bank-account management.

Citigroup Inc. on June 15 clarified the timeline and updated the number of accounts breached in a recent hacker attack that put an estimated 1% of its North American Citi-branded credit card base at risk.

Lawyers for Minnesota’s TCF Bank will tell a federal appeals court in St. Louis this morning that the Fed’s proposed cap on debit fees amounts to an unconstitutional “taking” of its assets, in a last-ditch effort by banks and credit unions to block the Fed’s final rule.

A member of the Senate Banking Committee is calling for an investigation into a data breach at Citigroup.

Visa and MasterCard have developed services for merchants to determine which cards cost more to accept — rekindling the debate over whether small banks will suffer under the Durbin amendment.

First Data Corp. is working with mobile news network operator LSN Mobile Inc. to provide a mobile advertising and coupon system for merchants, the companies announced June 15.

Customers living in China now may shop at online retail stores based is Singapore and make their payments from their domestic bank accounts through a new payment service.

The emerging U.S. mobile-payments market could be putting consumers at risk for fraud, and a consumer-advocacy group is urging wireless carriers to protect its customers from unauthorized transactions.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions has changed its name to Vantiv LLC, the company announced June 15.

Credit unions and banks are once again struggling to plug a data breach that is siphoning tens of thousands of dollars from debit cards through purchases at local retailers.

When Congress threatened to cap the interchange fees that banks collect on debit card transactions, the industry argued that such a move would force it to kill off its own debit rewards programs. As it turns out, the demise of those programs might inconvenience consumers but it is unlikely to deal banks much of a financial blow.