Payments

WASHINGTON – The banking lobby is rejecting Visa’s proposal for a dual system on debit card interchange, saying such a system will only force merchants to migrate to the lower-cost cards as mandated for the biggest issuers.

Mobile payments startup Square Inc. has raised $27.5 million in venture capital, a spokesperson confirmed Jan. 11.

China Banking Corp. has launched in the Philippines a mobile version of its online-banking service customers may use to inquire about account balances, transfer funds and pay bills, the Manila-based bank announced Jan. 6.

China’s second-largest mobile-network operator China Unicom has begun offering a contactless mobile-payment service in Beijing.

Qatar National Bank Ltd. has upgraded its eazypay mobile-payment platform to include merchant transactions, the Doha-based bank announced Dec. 29.

Intuit Inc. is offering its GoPayment mobile-payment service with free card readers and no monthly service fees to small merchants who sign up by mid-February, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced Jan. 10.

Mopay Inc., a Germany-based mobile-payments company, anticipates that the fees charged for purchases applied to mobile-phone bills will decrease significantly by the end of the year.

Average U.S. consumer bankcard and private-label credit card charge-offs fell again in November, and that trend may continue into this year, according to new data Fitch Ratings Inc. released last week.

SAN FRANCISCO – In an effort to satisfy thousands of credit unions and banks, Visa on Friday said it will develop a two-tiered system of debit card interchange to help in the implementation of the price controls required under the Dodd-Frank Act.

U.S. consumers would be able to use their smartphones to pay, collect and redeem coupons, and price-compare products and services both online and in stores under a partnership deal ARS Interactive and CellPoint Mobile announced Jan. 6.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Allegacy FCU made five winners and their charities of choice $1,000 richer as a result of its Grand Holiday Giveaway debit card sweepstakes.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – First Cheyenne FCU said yesterday it signed a contract for electronic fund transfer services that includes ATM and debit card transaction processing, fraud monitoring, debit card portfolio marketing services and ATM terminal driving with Fifth Third Processing.

Fifth Third Bancorp later this year plans to launch CashEdge Inc.’s Popmoney electronic-payment service, which enables consumers to transfer funds to another person’s bank account through the automated clearinghouse system, the companies announced Jan. 5.

India’s banking regulator has extended to Feb. 1 the deadline it had set for banks in the country to add a second layer of security to credit card transactions conducted over mobile phones.

MATTESON, Ill. – USA One CU contracted with Fifth Third Processing for card processing and to help it improve profitability of its cards program.

During the just-completed holiday season, PayPal Inc. experienced a surge in consumers making purchases using its online payment service with their smartphones and other mobile devices, according to the San Jose, Calif.-based company.

Credit card account originations are on the rise again as account-delinquency rates continue to fall and consumers continue to show discipline in their borrowing, a report Equifax Inc. released last week suggests.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Education First CU has signed a credit card processing agreement for its $6 million card portfolio with Fifth Third Processing Solutions.

For all the hullabaloo mobile remote-deposit capture generated in 2010, the availability of the service that enables consumers to deposit checks from home using the cameras on their smartphones remains limited to a few banks’ customers.

BROCKTON, Mass. – HarborOne Credit Union here has raised the ire of number of groups and received media attention after some of its members’ Visa debit cards were breached and it urged all of its members to contact their local congressman and urge that laws be changed so that retailers are liable for the cost of replacing cards.