Payment processing

WASHINGTON — Although banks failed in their attempt to convince Congress to delay an interchange fee cap for debit cards, the financial services industry is not giving up, just changing venues.

A United Kingdom consumer-advocacy group is commending Monarch Airlines for dropping what it deems was an unfair debit card fee associated with ticket purchases. But whether Monarch’s move prompts other airlines to drop their similar fees remains to be seen.

Think Computer Corp. has added a contactless-payment capability to its FaceCash mobile wallet.

NEW ORLEANS–One of the prevailing themes of this year’s Mobile Banking Summit is there is nothing inherently wrong with plastic cards: A number of speakers, panelists and attendees with a major stake in mobile payments all acknowledge that physical cards work well, posing a steep hill to climb to get consumers to use their phones to make payments.

Consumers now may use China UnionPay-branded credit cards in Brazil under an agreement the card organization reached late last year with Brazil-based Itaú Unibanco S.A. that took effect in late May.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Ltd. last week announced a free mobile-payment service that will enable its customers to make small-ticket purchases at merchant locations within the United Arab Emirates.

WASHINGTON — In a nail-biting conclusion after weeks of fierce lobbying by bankers and retailers, the Senate defeated a bill Wednesday that would have delayed the Federal Reserve Board's proposal to cap interchange fees for debit cards.

WASHINGTON — Just hours before the Senate votes on the biggest post-Dodd-Frank bill for the industry, no one in Washington knows what the outcome will be.

WASHINGTON – The credit union and banking lobbies were pulling out all the stops last night to round up a few more votes for their bid to delay cuts in debit fees, but the effort was still a handful of votes short.

Bling Nation, the mobile payments and loyalty company, has shut down its service in a move it insists is only temporary.

NEW ORLEANS — Banks intent on bringing mobile payments to a wide swath of customers will soon have to make difficult decisions about devices, partnerships, vendor management and employee training.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. is attempting to capture some coin in what it views as one of the final frontiers of micropayments–commercial laundry machines.

A recently completed round of funding will help eWise Systems USA Inc. support its online Secure Vault Payments and develop a mobile version of the payment method, according to the company’s top executive.

WASHINGTON – Chief sponsors of a bill to delay the cuts in debit fees were still searching for a compromise this morning as they appeared to be short of the 60 Senate votes necessary to pass the delay.

About 200 banks and credit unions are using Fiserv Inc.'s Mobile Money software, more than double the number that were live with the service a year ago, the Brookfield, Wis., vendor said June 6.

Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. are ending a joint venture they formed three years ago to develop a system to process automated clearing house payments, spokespeople for the banks said June 6.

Linking online bill pay to a bank’s rewards program is one way financial institutions could revitalize their customers’ use of online banking, suggests a new report.

Google Inc. is eliminating the Checkout icon next to ads it displays for merchants that use its alternative payment system.

Seeking to further standardize payment card functions and security within the Single Euro Payments Area, the European Payments Council on June 6 released its latest technology requirements.

To speed up checkout times for small-ticket transactions, a pilot under way at Australian retail chain Coles Supermarkets is enabling holders of EMV Chip-and-PIN credit cards to make purchases without having to enter a PIN.