Payments

WASHINGTON – For Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and competing payments networks, a more critical provision than interchange pricing remains unresolved in the Federal Reserve’s proposed debit rules.

MESSENA, N.Y – The Federal Reserve’s proposal to cap debit interchange fees at 12 cents per transaction has credit union CEOs facing larger issues than just how their own organizations may take the blow.

WASHINGTON – In the latest congressional assault on card fees, a group of Senate Democrats introduced legislation Friday that would limit the types of fees that could be charged on prepaid cards.

WASHINGTON – Industry experts are predicting that the Federal Reserve’s proposal to cap debit interchange fees at 12 cents per transaction could lower revenues for credit unions and banks by billions of dollars a year.

U.S. consumers’ average credit card debt fell by 7.4% through the first 11 months of the year, while the average November credit score dropped a point from October’s score, according to data Credit Karma released this week.

Discover Financial Services is banking on a mobile future. Executives at the Riverwoods, Ill.-based company said during a Dec. 16 conference call with analysts to discuss its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that its deal with wireless carriers AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. will play heavily in its future.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve this afternoon proposed rules aimed at lowering interchange fees on debit transactions that could cap fees at 12 cents per transaction, about what the current median cost of authorization, clearance and settlement is.

Citibank reported Wednesday that its charge-off rate on credit cards fell to 9.4% of balances from 10.3% in October, the largest drop among the top six U.S. credit card issuers for November.

Washington Trust Bank in Spokane is offering mobile banking services to its customers through text, mobile Web and dedicated applications using mFoundry Inc.'s software.

Google Inc. is collecting the pieces for a major mobile payments system — but it is a long way from assembling them.

A mobile-commerce company in Berkeley, Calif., says it has devised a means to enable mobile phones to communicate with chips in attached stickers to support true Near Field Communication payments and two-way communications between NFC chips.

Visa Inc. has launched a mobile shopping application for Apple Inc.’s iPhone to enable holders of Visa cards to access various merchant discounts using their mobile phones, the card company reported on Dec. 14.

A woman saying she was harassed by Capital One for a disputed $4,000 credit card debt has filed suit after the bank demanded more than $286 million dollars.

Cardlytics Inc. and ClairMail Inc. have announced a partnership to enable financial institutions to deliver coupons and other merchant offers to customers’ mobile phones, Atlanta-based Cardlytics reported on Dec. 7.

A suspect was arrested for allegedly taking part in last week's online attacks against MasterCard Inc., Visa Inc. and PayPal Inc.

TAMPA, Fla. – Suncoast Schools FCU said yesterday it signed an agreement to process credit accounts, signature and PIN debit, and ATM accounts with Card Services for CUs.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – VyStar CU said yesterday it contracted with Fiserv’s ACCEL/Exchange debit payments network to be the credit union’s sole PIN debit provider.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JM Associates FCU is the first financial institution to use Star CertiFlash, a new PIN debit application offered by First Data Corp.’s Star Network that advances point-of-sale security using one-time card number technology.

IRVINE, Calif. – Wincor Nixdorf and HID Global, a provider of secure identity systems, have introduced an ATM system with a contactless smart card reader, allowing a single piece of equipment to process ATM and automatic fare collection transactions.

WASHINGTON – Debit transactions have risen dramatically in recent years to exceed both credit and checks as the most popular form of payments, the Federal Reserve reported yesterday, providing an important backdrop to impending regulations on card interchange.