Payments

Despite various warnings, many young adults feel empowered by credit card and student loan debt, suggests a recent national study by a team of sociology researchers examining the connection between debt and self-esteem.

HARRISBURG, Penn.-One week following the defeat of a bill to delay the Durbin Amendment-and perhaps just days before the Fed comes out with its final rule on debit interchange, a number of CU CEOs say they are still not ready to pull the trigger on plans to make up for lost revenue that is likely headed their way.

ARLINGTON, Va.-As both CUNA and NAFCU now focus lobbying efforts on impacting the final Fed rule on debit interchange, NAFCU President Fred Becker urged credit unions to have plans firmly in place to make up for the potential loss in revenue.

LIVONIA, Mich.-Not all state legislatures and regulators have been content to let the federal government push through new debit interchange rules established by the Durbin amendment.

NEW YORK-NerdWallet, which bills itself as the "first .org credit card search site," has expanded its card search tool to include credit unions. The site had previously included 500 bank issuers of cards, and has now added cards from 1,200 credit unions.

NEW YORK-American Express Co. is trying to take prepaid debit cards-typically targeted at underbanked consumers-upmarket.

NEW YORK-American Express Co. is making its boldest move yet in the prepaid market by introducing a reloadable card that carries almost no fees.

Despite efforts by major card companies to promote the speed and excitement of using mobile phones to pay, it likely will take more than glitzy marketing to convince consumers to use such services, according to a Federal Reserve strategist.

The average consumer credit card default rate for most large issuers declined again in May, likely bringing the charge-off rate close to 7%, suggest preliminary data from Moody’s Investors Service.

Telefónica UK, Vodafone UK, and T-Mobile and Orange parent Everything Everywhere plan to form a joint venture in mobile marketing and payments, the companies announced June 16.

Intuit Inc. is among various vendors that could feel a shock from the emergence of Near Field Communication-powered mobile-payment schemes such as Google Wallet and Isis designed to eclipse banks’ existing, more-pedestrian offerings, such as online and mobile bank-account management.

First Data Corp. is working with mobile news network operator LSN Mobile Inc. to provide a mobile advertising and coupon system for merchants, the companies announced June 15.

ST. LOUIS – Lawyers for Minnesota’s TCF Bank will tell a federal appeals court this morning that the Fed’s proposed cap on debit fees amounts to an unconstitutional “taking” of its assets, in a last-ditch effort by banks and credit unions to block the Fed’s final rule.

The emerging U.S. mobile-payments market could be putting consumers at risk for fraud, and a consumer-advocacy group is urging wireless carriers to protect its customers from unauthorized transactions.

Starbucks Corp. finally has an official mobile payment offering for Android smartphones.

Regions Financial Corp. may not be the only bank planning to buy back its credit card portfolio now that the worst of the recession’s damage is receding, according to one expert who tracks credit card portfolio sales.

NEW YORK – The Department of Justice filed papers yesterday to implement the settlement of its antitrust suit against Visa and MasterCard, which will prevent the two card networks from barring merchants from steering transactions to lower-cost cards.

Verizon Wireless has brick-and-mortar mobile payments covered thanks to its participation in the Isis joint venture. But the company soon will give its wireless customers the option to charge online purchases directly to their mobile-phone bill.

The plethora of new mobile payment initiatives – the most recent being the mobile wallet project announced by Google, Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint – can be confusing for banks. What mobile payment technologies make the most sense for a financial institution to offer? In a recent interview with Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, he handicapped the three versions of near-field communication mobile payment technology that standards bodies have approved. [Near-field communication is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables short-range communication between electronic devices, and it’s the mechanism most companies are choosing to pursue mobile payments.] The differences between the three versions hinge on who controls the security of the mobile payments by controlling the “secure element” that stores cardholder credentials and account data and communicates with the apps.

Tyfone Inc. has received a patent for programming add-on smart cards in a mobile phone to function as a payment account.