Payments

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – North Coast CU signed with Fifth Third Processing Solutions to provide it with single-sourced, comprehensive processing services including: ATM and debit card transaction processing, ATM driving, card production and network gateway access.

Tanzania Posts Corp. and Vodacom Tanzania Ltd. have inked a mobile-banking agreement in which Vodacom will use the postal service’s network of branches as agents to support its M-Pesa funds-transfer service.

Acculynk Inc. has worked over the past two years to position its PaySecure product as the standard for Internet PIN-debit transactions. It now plans to bring the same payment technology to smartphones.

Starbucks Corp.’s Grande-sized mobile payments trial has gone Venti.

Several of the biggest credit card issuers in December posted their lowest rates for chargeoffs than in any other month of 2010, meaning fewer accounts are slipping into default.

Gemalto NV is participating in a Near Field Communication payment pilot in Japan that launches this quarter, the France-based technology provider announced Jan. 18.

At least 10 new clients adopted Mitek Systems Inc.’s mobile check-capture software last quarter, including three of the top 10 U.S. retail banks and a top-30 credit union, the San Diego-based vendor announced Jan 18.

QUINCY, Mass. – Quincy CU has signed a credit card processing deal with Fifth Third Processing Solutions.

Using mobile phones to track and redeem credit and debit card loyalty points soon may become key elements of loyalty marketing, according to Andrew Davidson, senior vice president at Mintel Comperemedia.

Merchant-level salespeople who use POS Portal Inc. as their point-of-sale equipment distributor now have a mobile-phone tool that enables them to check the availability and wholesale pricing of devices, POS Portal announced Jan. 4.

The universe of bonds backed by credit card loans shrank by about a fifth last year as an era of off-balance-sheet accounting ended and the industry re-engineered its funding base.

Discover Financial Services' execution of its long-expected "mobile wallet" will define its role in mobile commerce, a future where consumers make contactless payments with their cell phones and receive wireless deals as they enter stores. "Unlike existing mobile technologies that are transactional in nature, the mobile wallet truly facilitates mobile commerce," predicts Gloria Colgan, Discover's svp of emerging payments.

Target Corp. is seeking a buyer for its $6.7 billion credit card receivables portfolio, but it plans to retain operational control of its card program because of its “deep integration” with the company’s broader retail operations, the company announced last week.

Driven by a lower provision for credit losses, partially offset by lower net revenue, the Card Services unit at JPMorgan Chase & Co. generated fourth-quarter net income of $1.3 billion; it reported a $306 million loss during the same quarter ended Dec. 31 last year, Chase reported Friday.

MasterCard Worldwide has hired an executive who has been integral in French wireless carrier Orange’s rollout of mobile-payment services, according to an online report by NFC Times.

U.S. consumer credit card portfolio sales were weak in 2010 as low demand drove the total number of deals down to merely a dozen, according to a report credit card consulting firm R.K. Hammer released this week.

WASHINGTON – In a rule-making process turned upside down, credit unions and community banks that are exempt from the Federal Reserve’s proposal controlling debit interchange fees are dominating the comment process, while the big institutions coming under the rule have yet to weigh in.

Mobile-banking applications are plentiful and easily available, but new research suggests consumer awareness of them is low despite the buzz surrounding the service.

As payments executives debate which approach to mobile payments will win out, Bank of America Corp. is showing greater commitment to a system based on Visa Inc.’s specifications.

In a management shuffle announced Jan. 11, Obopay Inc. promoted its president to chief executive, and its previous CEO assumed the role of executive chairman.