Payments

American Express Co., the lender that plans to cut 5,400 jobs this year, said profit at its U.S. card business declined 42 percent in the fourth quarter as the firm set aside more money to cover soured loans.

PayPal has won repeated partnerships with large merchants for its new point of sale payment system, but it paced itself with consumer adoption — a strategy the eBay unit seeks to change in 2013.

State attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission have regularly skirmished with the collection industry over what they regard as the use of aggressive legal tactics supported by scanty records.

The amount of new credit card limits opened in the first three quarters of 2012 hit $675 billion, up from $523 billion during the same period in 2010, according to Equifax's National Consumer Credit Trends Report.

Research in Motion Ltd. received a significant stamp of approval for its software from Visa Inc. Visa has approved Waterloo, Ontario-based RiM's secure element manager software for Near Field Communication mobile payments.

Square has built its reputation as a quick and simple way for micro-merchants to accept card payments, but the company says it has proven it can serve the more demanding needs of larger retailers.

Payments acquirer WorldPay US is working with Discover Financial Services to allow merchants with brick-and-mortar stores to accept PayPal at the point of sale.

The mega-retailers' Merchant Customer Exchange venture argues that the mobile-payment system it is developing will appeal to retailers in a way no other mobile wallet can. That’s leaving some companies divided on which mobile approach is best—MCX's focus on gaining retailer acceptance or the emphasis on consumer adoption championed by Isis and others.

If Apple Inc. wants to make a strong move into mobile payments, it could do so by transforming its iTunes database into a payment and loyalty program, a recent industry report says.

PayPal Inc., pushing ahead with its drive to become the payment option of choice at the point of sale, has entered an agreement with hardware maker NCR Corp.

"We're open to partnering and playing with the existing networks, but not under the existing rule base," says Jamie Henry, senior payment director of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. "The existing rules that are in place for card-based payments are not going to be acceptable for mobile-based payments."

Delinquencies in Capital One Financial Corp.'s U.S. credit card business declined during December while chargeoffs improved, the lender reported.

VeriFone Systems announced Jan. 14 a suite of payment products, including an iPad mini version of its Payware Mobile card reader, a similar sleeve for the iPhone 5 and VeriFone HQ, a cloud-based system that allows retailers to monitor their terminals and manage their brands.

U.S. credit card ABS chargeoffs fell to a record low in December to finish 2012 on a positive note, according to index results from Fitch Ratings.

It's been more than two months since Lower Manhattan was engulfed by flood waters from Superstorm Sandy and many merchants are still without the ability to accept credit and debit cards.

The Federal Reserve reported Tuesday that consumers remained cautious with credit card spending in November but took on more debt to attend school and purchase cars.

Private Label Is Dead. The headlines proclaimed this just a few years ago. Yet today we see new headlines announcing private label deals by the dozen.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Credit union sales of credit card portfolios soared to $33.1 million and 37 deals last year – with another $6 million in deals pending – from just $5.3 million and 10 transactions in 2011, according to a new report by card consultants R.K. Hammer

It's going to be a big year for mobile payments. Now that several mobile wallets are in consumers' hands, the companies behind them are refining their products. What do Apple, Isis, Google, PayPal and others have in mind for the near future?

MOLINE, Ill. – IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union has signed with IQR Consulting to conduct an in-depth analysis of the cooperative’s credit card and checking account portfolios.