Payments

Having a smartphone equipped for mobile payments with multiple payment options could weaken the impact of card brands, according to a new report from Morningstar Inc.

Banks that want to reel in retail customers who have gravitated to others' credit cards and card issuers eager to steal competitors' customers have a new weapon: technology from Mitek that lets customers transfer card balances by simply taking a picture of their credit card bill with their mobile device.

MANSFIELD, Texas – Texas Trust CU will offer local school districts cash for classrooms with every swipe of their new Spirit Debit Reward card.

Zimbabwe’s Econet Wireless Ltd. is developing a mobile-payment system designed for small-ticket transactions in that country, the telecommunication company announced Sept. 6.

To help meet rising consumer demand in China, payment-services provider 99Bill Corp. has upgraded its 99Bill+ payment platform to additionally support payments initiated with tablets and smartphones.

POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State University CU is issuing MasterCards that double as student identifications to 15,000 students at the university’s campus this fall.

SUITLAND, Md. – Andrews FCU on Wednesday announced it is rolling out a Globe Trek Visa Rewards credit card with both magnetic strip and the Europay, MasterCard and Visa EMV technology, also known as Chip and PIN.

VeriFone Systems Inc. continues to show positive quarterly results in terms of revenue and net income, and company executives expect the trend to continue as contactless mobile payments grow worldwide and EMV chip-and-PIN takes hold in the United States.

Sallie Mae announced on Tuesday that it had introduced mobile banking to certain Apple products, allowing customers to manage their savings, money market and no-fee student checking accounts remotely. The student lender has wasted no time rolling out mobile check deposit, and lets customers deposit checks not only by snapping a photo with their iPhone or iPad, but also by using their "dorm room scanner."

Joining a growing list of similar companies trying to move more cash payments to cards, Payment Data Systems Inc. will launch iRemotePay next month to meet growing merchant demand for a payment-acceptance option to use away from their actual stores or if they do business in outdoor markets.

Many institutions are considering mobile phone-enabled check capture, a popular way of depositing checks in which consumers use their smartphones to take photos of checks to deposit them remotely.

Steve Geringer is offering a second time at bat for mobile payment technology that struck out: sound innovation that didn't match business realities.

Fewer than half of all cardholders have a private-label credit card, but those who do are more likely to routinely carry a balance on their various cards than are consumers who rely only on general-purpose cards, new data from Auriemma Consulting Group suggest.

NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Diebold FCU said it is offering a new service provided by its corporate sponsor, Diebold Inc., aimed at preventing unauthorized use of debit and ATM cards.

Sovereign Bank is taking its credit card operations in house.

United Kingdom consumers are becoming more comfortable using contactless payments as banks such as Barclays PLC push the technology. But users of contactless payment want to see more retailer acceptance of the technology, new survey data suggest.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. – Sonoma County Grange CU has signed a card processing deal with Vantiv, formerly Fifth Third Processing Solutions.

More than half of U.S. consumers use at least two credit or debit cards each month for online purchases, and many are wary of the potential for fraud associated with online banking, a study security-software vendor AVG Technologies USA Inc. released Sept. 1 suggests.

MANCHESTER, N.H. – St. Mary’s Bank has signed with CO-OP Financial Services for debit card program management and payment processing services.

Adaptive Payments is entering an already crowded mobile-payment acceptance market with a device that enables merchants to accept PIN-debit transactions on smartphones using a method similar to the company’s e-commerce operation.