Payment processing

Regions Financial Corp. has updated its mobile banking capabilities to enable customers to transfer funds among internal accounts, pay bills and receive text alerts about balances and other details.

PHOENIX–Consumer preferences for paying by credit or debit card typically are too deeply entrenched for merchants and banks to succeed easily in steering customers to one or the other option for financial reasons, one banking industry analyst contends.

Five cooperative banks in India have joined India’s national ATM network, enabling their customers to access more than 67,000 ATMs in the country, their technology provider InfrasoftTech Pvt. Ltd announced in February.

The Restaurant Association of Maryland, a 2,000-member trade association, has chosen payment processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. as its exclusive endorsed payment services provider, Heartland announced March 9.

Executives at Global Cash Access Holdings Inc. are seeing positive signs ahead, particularly in international markets, but revenue continued to decline in the fourth quarter of 2010.

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of Senators is planning to introduce a bill as soon as next week that would delay implementation of the controversial Federal Reserve rule to cap fees on debit transactions for two years while the Fed studies the issue.

ORLANDO, Fla. — As the infrastructure to support digital gifting continues to increase, why does plastic still heavily dominate the industry?

WASHINGTON – Big Box retailers Target, Wal-Mart, SuperValu and Costco are urging the Federal Reserve to proceed with its bid to curb debit fees, insisting they will pass on billions of dollars in reduced charges to consumers.

The banking industry’s fraud-protection initiatives are having an effect in the United Kingdom, as fraud losses related to payment cards, checks and online banking decreased last year, according to recent research by the UK Payments Council.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The general consensus among attendees here at the Prepaid Card Expo is that, while the industry continues to experience growth, potential state and federal government regulations are casting a storm cloud over the sector.

Customers of Singapore Airlines Ltd. now may pay for their flights using their PayPal Inc. accounts, according to the Singapore-based airline.

Some 92 incidents of crooks cloning debit and credit cards issued by Citibank Pvt. Ltd. occurred between January 2008 to December 2010, tops among India’s card issuers, the country’s finance minister told the country’s Parliament on Mar. 4.

Citizens in the Indian state of Punjab may pay their electricity bills online using bankcards under a new service the Punjab State Power Corp. launched on March 1.

WASHINGTON — Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh warned Tuesday that a Federal Reserve Board proposal to limit debit interchange fees could hurt banks of all sizes.

MasterCard Inc. on March 8 announced new fraud-fighting technology that could alleviate the headaches issuing banks face when card accounts have been compromised.

Cardtronics Inc. announced Monday an agreement to provide Intuit Inc.'s Pay Card and Refund Card customers surcharge-free access to its fleet of ATMs.

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of neighborhood business are calling on the Federal Reserve to proceed with the debit interchange provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act in hopes of passing on the savings back to their communities.

CashEdge Inc. has landed Huntington National Bank as a customer for its person-to-person payments software, the New York-based vendor announced March 7.

ORLANDO, FLA.–Companies increasingly are using prepaid debit cards as an incentive to drive customer loyalty and to reward employees, and merchants are benefiting because consumers generally are spending more than the value loaded into their card accounts, according to new research commissioned by Total System Services Inc., or TSYS.

American Express Co. cardholders that attend the South by Southwest Interactive music festival in Austin, Texas, later this week will be able to secure merchant discounts with their cards through Foursquare Labs Inc., the location-based mobile system that rewards consumers for using its service. Media reports say the two companies are piloting the system with 60 merchants at the festival and are offering a “spend $5, save $5” promotion.