Payments

Bling Nation Ltd. soon will tap in to VeriFone Systems Inc.’s vast reseller network to extend point-of sale acceptance of Bling’s rewards-based contactless BlingTags, the companies announced Sept. 21. The deal also will help extend acceptance of PayPal, traditionally an online payment service, to brick-and-mortar retailers nationally.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Employees FCU introduced a new way for Harrison High School and Jefferson High School students, parents and fans to show their school spirit: offering them student-designed debit card designs.

China's largest mobile-network operator China Mobile is suspending its project involving an RFID-SIM, a mobile-payment technology based on the 2.4GHz standard for contactless payment, local media in China reported last week.

Mobile-payments firm RegaloCard LLC is bringing its card-based funds-transfer service to an additional 4,000 U.S. retail locations through a distribution agreement with iPayStation LLC, the companies announced Sept. 20.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-A requirement of the CARD Act that went into effect Aug. 22 has yet to have a significant impact on CU revenue, but looks to reach more deeply into the pockets of banks, sources predict.

ATLANTA-A new survey of consumers has found that combined debit and credit card reward programs is increasingly valued.

First Data Corp.’s recently announced partnership with a South Korea-based technology company will help strengthen the transaction processor’s ability to support contactless payments in advance of Near Field Communication-enabled mobile payments, according to a First Data executive.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is soliciting public comment on guidelines it has drafted for mobile-payment systems, an official from the bank tells PaymentsSource.The bank’s director of payments and settlements is accepting comments through Oct. 18, according to the official. “Our aim is to ensure safety and effectiveness of mobile-payment schemes,” he says. Under the draft guidelines, the central bank will allow mobile payments in Sri Lanka only through licensed banks, registered finance companies and custodian account-based systems operated by nonbank service providers. Banks and financial institutions would be allowed to offer mobile-payments services to their accountholders, which would allow customers to operate their accounts via their mobile phone. Under the custodian account-based system, mobile operators may open e-money accounts for customers and issue e-money in exchange for actual money from customers, according to the guidelines.The central bank would allow mobile-payment services to be conducted only in Sri Lanka rupees and only for domestic transactions, and providers must route all foreign inward remittances to mobile accounts through the custodian banks and credit them in rupees. The draft rules also would require mobile-payments providers to report any suspicious transactions based on the guidelines of the central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit. The draft also requires providers to use security measures to prevent criminal activity while using Near Field Communication-based mobile-payment systems.

With interest in mobile payments growing, First Data Corp. and South Korea-based SK C&C Co. Ltd. reportedly plan to collaborate to enable consumers in the United States, Canada and Mexico to use their mobile phones in place of physical wallets to initiate payment.

UMonitor’s financial-institution customers now may offer consumers person-to-person funds-transfer services to make payments via mobile phones or e-mail, the Web-based division of Memphis, Tenn.-based Parsam Technologies LLC reported on Sept. 14.

Most of the top credit card issuers reported increases in chargeoffs in regulatory filings this week, reversing a trend of several months of decline.

Payment processor Global Payments Inc. will sell VeriFone Systems Inc.’s PayWare Mobile service in Canada, VeriFone announced Wednesday.

Mobile operator du, the commercially branded name of the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., has launched an automated payment service to enable its postpaid customers to pay bills using their mobile phones, the Dubai-based company earlier this month.

KETTERING, Ohio – Day Air CU has introduced an instant card issuing program, allowing members to receive their credit and debit cards the same day they open an account.

Intuit, Inc., and several credit union defendants have asked a federal court here to dismiss a patent infringement suit brought by MShift over its mobile banking technology, saying the company’s patent is outmoded and not pertinent to their technology.

The Bank of Namibia late last month authorized Mobicash Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd. to offer a new mobile-payment service in the country, according to a Mobicash spokesperson. The service, which is scheduled to launch in October, will enable the institution’s customers to use their mobile phones to pay for goods and person-to-person funds transfers.

State-owned telecommunication operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. on Sept. 13 launched a service that enables customers who have credit cards to pay their telco bills using their mobile phones, according to a spokesperson for the India-based company.

Card issuers within the past two years dramatically reduced consumers’ borrowing capacity to reduce the risk of losses during the recession. But new data suggest the bulk of the credit-line cuts came from closing inactive card accounts, not slashing active borrowers’ credit lines, Moody’s Investors Service noted in a report last week.

MasterCard Inc. is trying to reach the small but growing number of people who might be ready for mobile payments by sending them time-sensitive offers that can help them save money and become more comfortable using their phones to make purchases.

U.S. consumers’ average credit card debt fell during the first eight months of this year, while the average credit score also inched down from the start of the year, according to new data Credit Karma released Sept. 13.