Payments

Eager to exploit new growth opportunities in a sluggish economy, certain payments-industry technology suppliers already are positioning themselves to capitalize on opportunities Visa Inc.’s U.S. EMV chip card initiative may trigger as participants upgrade systems and equipment, observers say.

Bank of America Corp.’s deal on Aug. 15 to its sell its unwanted Canadian card assets is the latest example of how smaller acquisitions are fueling a slow revival in the credit card portfolio sales market.

Kennesaw State University has entered into a partnership with mobile money start-up TreasureCom Financial Holdings Inc. to develop and market banking applications for mobile phones. The school, which is located north of Atlanta, also partnered has with Microsoft Corp. to establish the lab where the mobile applications are developed.

Isis, the telecommunication consortium intent on offering a mobile-payment scheme, is building out a wider range of mobile-wallet capabilities to keep up with its aggressive rival, Google Inc.

WASHINGTON – Credit unions should get a better understanding of MasterCard’s intentions regarding supporting a two-tiered debit interchange system.

SAN FRANCISCO – Smaller merchants may miss Visa Inc.’s first deadline for chip-card acceptance by as much as two years, though larger merchants should meet that deadline easily.

Google Inc.’s Aug. 15 announcement of an agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings strengthens Google’s position in mobile payments, one observer says.

When Pago Mobile Inc. launched its mobile wallet with 53 merchants in Mountain View, Calif., last week, initial industry reaction focused on the smaller payments-application company venturing into turf more commonly associated with Google Inc. in northern California.

With Google Inc.’s Aug. 15 announcement of an agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings, the search giant potentially has turbocharged its mobile-payment plans.

A former waiter at a TGI Friday's restaurant in Maryland has been indicted on 16 counts of identity theft, theft and conspiracy to commit theft in a credit card skimming scheme that ripped off 73 people.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.-It may be time to start paying a little more attention to PIN debit fraud than in the past.

NORTH CANTON, Ohio-One executive who spoke to Credit Union Journal warned that just because the big banks have gotten better about protecting their ATMs from skimming devices doesn't mean that those criminals "drop their criminal devices and go get day jobs; they continue to use those devices, but in different places."

RIVERWOODS, Ill.-"Card Not Present," or CNP fraud continues to vex credit unions, notes one observer, who called it one of the most worrisome fraud trends of the day.

The latest forecast of mobile payment growth, from U.K. research company Visiongain, calls for $150 billion in mobile-phone-generated payments to take place globally by the end of this year. This is significantly larger than the estimate Gartner came out with last month, which predicted that worldwide mobile payment volume would total $86.1 billion in 2011.

SUITLAND, Md. – Andrews FCU here said it will launch a new credit card that incorporates EMV chip and PIN technology.

LAKE BLUFF, Ill. – One year following the implementation of Reg E – opt-in for debit card and ATM overdrafts – and 77% of checking account users have given consent.

ILLAWARRA, Australia – An Australian credit union is trying to recover after several hundred members were victimized by a card-skimming operation.

When newly acquired card customers from HSBC’s U.S. card program and ING’s online bank are folded into Capital One Financial Corp.’s existing base, they will have a rapidly expanding array of digital transaction and payments channels from which to choose.

The battle for supremacy in mobile person-to-person payments is raging. To date, its primary ordnance has been limited to the press release and the corporate event, most of them volleyed by big-name operators of existing payment networks, such as PayPal Inc., Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide and Google Inc.

Capital One Financial Corp. has taken the second step that had seemed inevitable.