Payments

Germany’s largest rail system soon will finish a three-year mobile-payments test at its stations and officially offer all passengers the ability to pay for tickets using mobile phones.

In a move exemplifying efforts to move more cash and check payments to credit and debit cards, a national social network of babysitters and parents called SitterPals.com has signed up to use Square Inc.’s service to accept credit card payments for their services, the company announced Aug. 31.

Fiserv has re-branded its Mobile Money and the BankAnywhere mobile-banking products it gained when it acquired Mobile Commerce Ltd. re-naming all the programs Mobiliti.

TREVOSE, Penn. – TruMark Financial CU has launched “Customize My Card,” a card customization service powered by the technology of Serverside Group.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue FCU launched a new way for the community to show school spirit for their favorite high school with custom, student-designed debit cards for four area high schools.

In announcing during the past week a deal to provide terminals capable of accepting mobile payments at hypermarkets in the Czech Republic and the acquisition of a terminal-servicing company in Italy, Ingenico SA flexed its muscles in the wake of the recent acquisition by VeriFone Systems Inc. of most of Hypercom Corp.’s non-U.S. assets, an industry analyst says.

U.S. Bancorp, one of the first financial institutions to offer mobile fraud alerts to credit card customers three years ago, has expanded its alert program to ATM and debit card holders.

The wireless carriers involved in mobile-payments venture Isis reportedly plan to invest more than $100 million into the project.

The average U.S. bankcard charge-off rate dropped sharply in June, registering the second-largest monthly decline since the Bankruptcy Reform Act took effect in 2005, according to the latest data from Fitch Ratings Inc.

Alternative payments provider Dwolla Corp. is adding to its software a feature that locates fellow Dwolla users who are nearby.

UniRush LLC is following the lead of other prepaid card providers and has released a free smartphone application cardholders may use to check their balances and review transaction and funds-transfer histories.

Steve Jobs' resignation raises further uncertainty over Apple Inc.'s payment plan intentions, but Apple patents themselves provide some clues as to where the company may be going.

Despite increasing activity involving mobile payments, consumers still trust credit card companies more than companies such as Google Inc., eBay Inc. or Facebook Inc.

DAYTON, Ohio – Dayton Firefighters FCU has signed an agent card issuer deal with U.S. Bancorp’s Elan Financial Services under which it will sell its cards portfolio to Elan and Elan will manage the program.

Boku Inc. has inked an agreement with two French wireless phone carriers to offer its carrier-billing service, a deal which will extend Boku’s reach to 32 million customers in France.

A new mobile credit card reader to be offered in the United States by a European startup will accept magnetic stripe cards for payment, but the company is not concerned the U.S. move to EMV cards will affect merchant interest in the device.

Financial institutions that serve military personnel, including USAA and Navy Federal Credit Union, are pressured to provide a wide range of remote access beyond that of traditional branch-heavy banks because the Web and mobile phone are often the only access points that consumers who are stationed overseas have to their financial institution.

San Francisco's city attorney said Bank of America Corp. agreed to a $5 million settlement of a suit over its use of the National Arbitration Forum to handle credit-card disputes, according to Dow Jones.

SAN FRANCISCO – Visa Inc.’s attempt to phase out the old, static PIN in favor of dynamic authentication is facing resistance – in particular because many are not convinced the PIN is past its prime.

In a significant boost to mobile payments in China, the country’s sole card processor China UnionPay Co. Ltd. has formed a partnership with handset maker HTC Corp. to launch a phone with a built-in mobile-payment facility.