Payment processing

While many bankers expect Apple Inc. to help bring mobile payments into the mainstream by developing its own system for the iPhone, the consumer electronics giant could also have the same effect with its advertisements.

Zong Inc. said March 17 that its mobile carrier billing service is now available for video game consoles, interactive television services, mobile websites and other channels.

Responding to growing concerns about cardholder data being exposed when merchants process payments over the telephone, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council on March 18 announced guidelines for handling and storing card data within audio recordings at call centers.

A number of Olympic and Paralympic fans who tried to purchase event tickets March 16 to next year’s London games were unable to complete orders March 16 if their Visa-branded payment card expired before a certain date.

Littlewoods Europe’s addition of Optimal Payments PLC’s Neteller’s e-wallet as an accepted payment method will help protect customers against card-not-present fraud because they will not have to enter their financial or personal information when making an online purchase, according to the United Kingdom-based online retailer, which announced the service March 15.

Bengaluru Metro Rail Corp. on March 16 launched a prototype of the contactless smart card the subway network for the Indian city of Bengaluru will use starting Apr 4, a spokesperson for the agency tells PaymentsSource.

Consumers doubt they will benefit from lower debit fees, according to a recent survey, even as the Federal Reserve is poised to direct lower interchange charged merchants by credit unions and banks.

The National Payments Corp. of India has informed banks that it will charge remitting institutions 0.1 rupees (0.002 U.S. cents or 0.0015 euros) for every mobile transaction that flows through the interbank funds-transfer service it launched last year, the company announced March 14.

India Post, the country’s state-owned postal service, has begun enabling customers to conduct and pay for postal services online, a spokesperson for the agency tells PaymentsSource.

Many small businesses that do not use mobile bill-payment services are unlikely to use them in the near future, new survey data suggest.

Online Resources Corp. is taking a less-is-more approach, consolidating many of the platforms bankers rely on after a series of poorly executed acquisitions gave it a hodgepodge of overlapping software.

As several banks test consumer response to higher ATM fees, the evidence is growing that financial institutions are getting bolder about exploring new sources of revenue as other channels threaten to dry up.

Online Resources Corp.'s shares fell more than 30% Wednesday morning after the banking technology vendor announced it turned its back on an unsolicited acquisition bid and reported a disappointing first-quarter earnings forecast.

WASHINGTON – Credit union and bank lobbyists hope to convince senators who voted overwhelmingly for last year’s Durbin amendment on debit interchange and may have buyer’s remorse to change their vote and approve a proposed delay.

Visa Inc. is making a bigger play in person-to-person payments by teaming with CashEdge Inc. and Fiserv Inc. for new options in money transfers to and from Visa cards.

Federal Bank Ltd. has become the latest bank to join the interbank funds-transfer service the National Payments Corp. of India launched last year, a spokesperson for the Kochi-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Visa Inc.’s continued push to promote its card products in Latin America and the Caribbean region helped produce considerable growth for the company, as sales volume rose 28%, to $270 billion from $211 billion in 2009, according to the card brand.

WASHINGTON—The banking industry saw the first tangible signs of progress March 15 in its fight to overturn the Durbin amendment, as House and Senate lawmakers officially introduced bills that would delay implementation of a plan to restrict interchange fees on debit cards.

Payments-industry representatives rushed to throw support behind legislation introduced March 15 in the U.S. Senate that would delay implementation of new Federal Reserve Board rules that would cap debit interchange beginning this summer.

PayPal Inc. has paid LML Patent Corp., a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of LML Payment Systems Inc., $7.5 million to settle a patent dispute that stemmed from an infringement complaint involving 19 other financial institutions, LML announced in a press release.