Payments

The FTC is mailing refund checks to 4,468 consumers who allegedly were defrauded by a telemarketer who used robocalls to pitch bogus credit card rate reduction programs.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University FCU is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a contest to pay off a Visa cardholder’s balance – up to $575.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Pentagon FCU yesterday rolled out a new card it calls a “Defender” American Express rewards card restricted to active or retired U.S. military personnel.

Square has stolen the spotlight — after convincing Starbucks to switch to Square for processing, the mobile-payments vendor gave other merchants the option to accept cards for a flat $275 monthly fee. How can a rival mobile-pay provider compete?

PayPal and Square allow their mobile-wallet users to pay by checking in at merchant locations with an app that transmits their photo to the merchant for authentication. With ShopKeep POS, PayPal is showcasing this feature at a New York film festival.

MADISON, Wis. – Kilowatt CU has selected First Data for debit processing services and joined First Data’s STAR Network, signing a multiyear agreement under which STAR will provide PIN-secured debit point of sale and ATM access to its cardholders.

SCHAUMBERG, Ill. – Motorola Employees CU has expanded its relationship with PULSE as the credit union’s provider for PIN debit.

FERNDALE, Mich. – Credit Union ONE has contracted with First Bankcard, a unit of First National Bank of Omaha, to expand its Visa credit card offerings with additional offerings of American Express and Discover cards.

SCVNGR's LevelUp, which announced a charitable-donation option today, is not the first to spot a link between charities and mobile spending and rewards. Shopkick's mobile rewards app began life in 2009 as CauseWorld, which had a strong focus on donating any rewards earned to charities.

DeviceFidelity is relaunching its Moneto mobile wallet, and this time around it lets users transfer funds to other Moneto users' prepaid accounts.

Many companies are seeking fresh ways to use mobile phones to add functionality and security at ATMs.

MECHANICSBURG, Penn. – Members 1st FCU has begun offering its International Visa Re-loadable Pre-Paid EMV Chip Card, for members visiting locations outside of the U.S., where the magstrip cards issued in the U.S. are sometimes inoperable.

VeriFone is making good on its original promise to open up its Square-like mobile card reader, Sail, to developers.

Google Wallet is under increasing pressure — though the mobile wallet has been in consumers' hands for over a year, Google still has fewer issuer partners than its rival Isis, and with the Merchant Customer Exchange wallet on the horizon, Google now faces competition from the very retailers it seeks to attract.

The number of open retail credit card accounts in the U.S. has reached heights not seen since the end of 2009.

Apple's iWallet is much anticipated but, due to Apple's notorious secrecy, still very hard to picture. A new patent lends some slight clarity to the company's mobile-payment vision.

The rate at which lenders declare credit card loans uncollectible ticked up at four of the six largest issuers in July from the previous month.

Delinquency rates across credit card, home and auto finance accounts dropped by double-digit percentages in July compared with a year ago, according to Equifax.

Securitized credit card charge-offs in July rose from the previous month, but the jump was due to one-time factors, according to Moody's Investor Service.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – Credit cardholders are increasingly satisfied with their plastic.