Payments

Elavon, a unit of U.S. Bancorp, is taking a different approach to mobile card acceptance by using a wireless card reader that is as big as the phone it pairs with.

Consumers are being more cautious in their use of credit cards — accounts are growing, and overall their balances are down 28% from their peak in January 2009, according to a report from Equifax.

Two credit unions announced separate deals last week to repurchase card portfolios from Bank of America.

Accepting payments on the go is taxing enough without having to worry about the government's cut. To address this pain point, Intuit added a geolocation feature to its GoPayment mobile card reader to determine where a payment is being accepted and apply the appropriate tax rate.

Payments innovations frequently seem to come about from situations where people worry they might not have enough cash on hand for a tip. Years ago, taxis added card readers in part to address this issue, and today, parking valets are experimenting with something similar.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – One lucky member of Altura CU won a trip to Hawaii as part of the credit union’s Visa Debit Card sweepstakes.

Mobile payment development may be held back by the unnecessary confusion surrounding mobile wallet security and standards, according to a top MasterCard executive.

Target has once again proven to be a breeding ground for payment innovation. The retail giant, which gave an early boost to the Starbucks mobile payment app and the American Express low-fee prepaid card, has given shopkick the go-ahead for a nationwide rollout of the vendor's mobile rewards system at its stores.

U.S. Bancorp is using technology from Fiserv to offer an iPad banking app with a heavy focus on payments.

U.S. credit card charge-offs ticked up in April, but Moody's Investors Service experts say it is merely an aberration in the general downward trend.

MANSFIELD, Texas – Mansfield’s high schools have a new way of promoting their school spirit, with student-designed custom debit cards issued by Texas Trust CU.

INDIANAPOLIS – Eli Lilly FCU on Tuesday said it bought back its $20-million Visa cards portfolio from Bank of America’s FIA Services unit and will have the 6,500 accounts serviced by credit union-owned The Members Group.

Zynga's social games — especially its hit Facebook game FarmVille — are a big deal in digital payments. Its games are the key to the success of Facebook Credits, and they may provide a similar boost to American Express' Serve.

BillMyParents is working with Extole to promote the SpendSmart card for teens. BillMyParents' card provides parents with real-time notices of teens' purchases and allows parents to shut off the card's ability to transact.

Credit unions must adjust soon to the impact of mobile payments, which can disrupt their revenue from traditional payment systems like credit and debit cards.

Better analytics are helping a number of credit unions to drive better revenue from their card portfolios.

Quality data mining-combined with a particular Alaskan consumer behavior-helped True North FCU to generate a 9% response on a direct mail campaign and a 5% increase in outstanding credit card balances.

ORLANDO – Credit and debit sales volumes have been crisscrossing over the past 17 months, but without an obvious explanation.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska USA FCU, Alaska Option and Acculynk said Alaska USA will now enable Internet PIN debit through Acculynk’s PaySecure network.

Less than one-third of U.S. consumers have used their phones to make payments, whereas two thirds of consumers in China have, new data show.