Payment processing

North American Bancard will use Partner Commerce Inc.’s advertising network to find prospective merchants to help drive account growth, the Troy, Mich.-based independent sales organization announced Jan. 6.

Global Payments Inc. will provide Caesars Entertainment Corp. with a credit and debit card cash advance service, the company announced Jan. 13.

More than half of corporations plan to increase spending this year on payment-security compliance, while the task of educating employees on the proper methods for handling cardholder data remains a pesky challenge, new survey data released Jan. 12 suggest.

Payment-services company Merchant Link LLC and point-of-sale terminal maker Pax Technology Ltd. have signed agreements to use Voltage Security Inc.’s advanced SecureData encryption service, the security technology company announced in separate news releases Jan. 11.

Mobile-banking applications are plentiful and easily available, but new research suggests consumer awareness of them is low despite the buzz surrounding the service.

An online version of US Dataworks Inc.’s Clearingworks payment service is now available to businesses looking to automate many of the nonelectronic payments they receive, the Houston-based company announced Jan. 11.

The Central Bank of Oman has launched a national ATM and point-of-sale PIN-debit switch called OmanNet, an official at the country’s top banking authority tells PaymentsSource.

A limited numbers of Bangkok commuters this spring will begin testing the use of a single, contactless smart card to access the city’s two train networks, an official at the Bangkok Mass Transit System Co. Ltd. tells PaymentsSource.

As payments executives debate which approach to mobile payments will win out, Bank of America Corp. is showing greater commitment to a system based on Visa Inc.’s specifications.

In a management shuffle announced Jan. 11, Obopay Inc. promoted its president to chief executive, and its previous CEO assumed the role of executive chairman.

Mobile payments startup Square Inc. has raised $27.5 million in venture capital, a spokesperson confirmed Jan. 11.

The now-defunct Kardashian Kard might have put the prepaid debit card industry in a bad position in the few weeks it was available.

China Banking Corp. has launched in the Philippines a mobile version of its online-banking service customers may use to inquire about account balances, transfer funds and pay bills, the Manila-based bank announced Jan. 6.

A bank in the Philippines on Jan. 10 launched a prepaid smart card capable of performing multiple payment functions at ATMs, payment terminals or online.

China’s second-largest mobile-network operator China Unicom has begun offering a contactless mobile-payment service in Beijing.

Tompkins Financial Corp. of Ithaca, N.Y., is one of many financial institutions that have been attacked by the sophisticated malicious software known as Zeus. Now it is fighting back–with sticks.

Five foreign banks in Malaysia have joined the Malaysian Electronic Payment System Sdn. Bhd., more commonly called the MEPS ATM network, network officials announced Dec. 28.

American Express Co. has appointed Toby Eduardo Redshaw executive vice president and chief information officer, replacing Stephen Squeri, who was promoted. Redshaw previously was global chief information officer for Aviva PLC.

Improved revenue growth in the Asia-Pacific region, Canada and the United States provided a welcome fiscal second-quarter boost for Global Payments Inc. But the merchant processor was unable to turn the rise in year-over-year revenue into a concurrent boost in net income, as one-time charges related to a reduction in employees in Canada affected company earnings.

Payroll-services company Payzone will use ACH Federal’s automated clearinghouse processing services to support its small-business customers, ACH Federal announced Jan. 5.