Payments

Lakshmi Vilas Bank Pvt. bank has become the 10th bank in India to launch the Internet Mobile Payment Service in India, a spokesperson for the Karur-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Sage Payment Solutions Inc. hopes to capture a new group of retail customers with the launch of a mobile service that provides small and midsize merchants lacking storefronts a low-cost option to accept credit and debit cards, the company announced Feb. 7.

Seeking to cater to its consumers who do not have Apple Inc. iPhones or Google Inc. Android smartphones, TD Bank NA last week launched a mobile-banking application for Research In Motion Inc.’s BlackBerry devices.

SAN FRANCISCO – Visa said last week it will allow merchants to offer discounts or other incentives to steer customers to a particular form of payment, including to a specific network brand or to any card product, such as a “non-reward” Visa credit card, under terms of its settlement of an antitrust suit brought by the U.S. Justice Department.

Zumogo, ProPay Inc.’s new social-media payment tool for mobile phones, leaves out vital information that ProPay says some competitors leave in.

In yet another sign 2011 promises to include an avalanche of Near Field Communication-related announcements, LG Corp. is jumping on the bandwagon. That should shock no one, one analyst contends.

CashEdge Inc. is linking to NYCE Payments Network LLC to allow for real-time person-to-person payments.

MELBOURNE, Fla. – Space Coast CU and the Melbourne & Beaches Music Marathon are partnering for a running-themed VISA debit card featuring a group of runners competing in the 2010 Melbourne Marathon Weekend, timed to coincide with the annual race being held this weekend.

DENVER – Payments processing giant First Data Corp. plans to support the Federal Reserve’s proposed new debit interchange rules with a two-tiered pricing structure for debit-interchange rates on its Star PIN-debit network, the second major processor, including Visa, to support a two-tiered system.

PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard yesterday reported a 41.5% surge in fourth quarter earnings, fueled mainly by continued fast growth in its debit cards business.

Most consumers in the United Kingdom have not changed their payment habits, but some say they will rely less on credit cards even if the economy improves, suggest recent survey data from New York-based Auriemma Consulting Group.

Continuing its expansion into newer payments-related territory, Visa Inc. intends to focus on increasing its presence in mobile payments, online commerce and funds transfers, Joseph W. Saunders told analysts during a conference call to discuss fiscal first-quarter earnings.

Visa Europe and Monitise PLC have formed a partnership to develop mobile-payment services for Visa’s member financial institutions within Europe, the companies announced Feb. 3.

Payments processor ProPay Inc. is testing a mobile application that enables consumers to pay brick-and-mortar merchants using their smartphones instead of handing over a card.

SAN FRANCISCO – In a big boon for credit unions, Visa reported yesterday that a 15% rise in transactions, led by growth in debit, fueled a 16% increase in earnings for its fiscal first quarter.

In the mobile banking business, a one-size-fits-all approach just doesn't cut it, as Firethorn Holdings LLC found out.

The mobile banking technology provider mFoundry Inc. has added a standalone mobile remote deposit system, the vendor announced Feb. 1

The ability to initiate payments with mobile phones has captured the imagination of many groups, including consumers, merchants, payment card brands and wireless carriers.

Credit card lending is likely to remain sluggish in the near term, according to one analyst, but a continued decline in card chargeoffs indicates "the bleeding has stopped" from loans that went into default during the recession.

WEST CHESTER, Ohio – Kemba CU has renewed its membership in the STAR network, naming STAR its preferred provider of PIN-secured debit point-of-sale and ATM access, and adding debit processing from STAR’s parent First Data.