Payments

Borrowing on credit cards is close to bottoming out, according to lenders, but the nation's biggest players have had to cede market share during the sharpest contraction in the industry's history. Now they are increasingly fighting for the same kinds of customers.

The Reserve Bank of India has increased the deposit limits for mobile wallets in that country to 50,000 rupees (US$1,112 or 762 euros) from 5,000 rupees previously, according to a notification it sent to all banks and operators on May 4.

The National Payments Corp. of India has received permission to expand the scope of its interbank mobile funds-transfer service to include payments, the authority announced May 5.

Citing convenience and low interest rates, many credit cardholders prefer to leave a balance on one or more credit cards and accept revolving as a way of life, and this is helping issuers to generate more interest income, new research suggests.

Person-to-person payment is expected to be one of the big next deployments for mobile financial services, and ING Direct is an early adopter of the latest incarnation of the technology, becoming the first major financial institution to enable U.S. customers with iPhones to use them to send money to one another.

SAN FRANCISCO – Visa reported a 24% increase in second quarter earnings yesterday, as its debit transactions continued to grow at double digit rates.

Mobile users in India now have the ability to purchase tickets to the cricket Indian Premier League and movie theaters using Suvidha Starnet Pvt Ltd’s mobile-payment service.

The Central Bank of Afghanistan on April 25 granted the country’s first Electronic Money Institution license to M-Paisa, the first mobile funds-transfer service to operate in the country.

CHICAGO–A day after the Wall Street Journal reported Isis was changing its business model by working with other established payments organizations, an executive for the organization told a panel here at the Smart Card Alliance’s annual conference nothing had changed.

Merchant e-Solutions Inc. is rolling out a suite of mobile-payment applications on its new PayEverywhere platform, the company announced May 5

For all the talk about the upcoming NFC-driven mobile payments revolution at the point of sale, new research from Oracle is throwing some cold water on the hype.

UC Mobile Corp. has entered China’s mobile-payments market in partnership with Alipay, the country’s largest independent online-payment platform based on transaction volume, the company announced April 21.

Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Co. soon will enable consumers to pay their electricity bills though their mobiles phones.

A host of new mobile payment applications promise many of the perks of near-field communication technology, without the costly hardware.

For the amount of industry discussion there has been about Near Field Communication-enabled mobile phones, little has been said about the critical role point-of-sale terminals will play in the acceptance of mobile payments and other contactless services.

RICHMOND, Va.-Design the credit card with the membership in mind, and the membership will have a mind to carry the plastic.

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.-So many financial institutions are searching for the "killer app" in growing credit cards that they've lost sight of what works best: the basics, according to one analyst.

HOUSTON-Small debit card issuers, including credit unions, are projecting they will see a 73% decrease in debit interchange revenue once the Durbin Amendment on interchange fees goes into effect, according to the 2011 Debit Issuer Study commissioned by PULSE.

NEW HARTFORD, N.Y.-Choice and low rate are responsible for 53% credit card penetration at Utica Gas & Electric FCU.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-Florida Baptist Credit Union believes it does not take a great deal of hype and marketing to get members to take the CU's credit card-just a couple strong selling points.