Payments

WILMINGTON, N.C.-With fewer than 90 days remaining to comply with a new law, indications are credit unions could soon be scrambling to meet members' overdraft needs this fall.

LAKE BLUFF, Ill.-The July 1 and Aug. 15 Reg. E deadlines for consumers to opt-in to overdraft protection services are huge marketing opportunities for credit unions, one person is stressing.

Total credit lines among the top five U.S. credit card issuers soared 56.5% to a peak of $3.74 trillion in 2007 from an aggregate $2.39 trillion in 2005 following the rise of home prices during the first half of the decade. But as the bubble burst in 2007 and housing values began to decline, followed by two years of recession, credit card customers defaulted on their accounts en masse, PaymentsSource data show.

Mobile phones may soon be able to initiate automated clearing house transactions from checks, an advance that could hasten adoption of wireless devices for B-to-B payments.

Hoping to extend its reach to mobile merchants, USA ePay, a payment gateway, this week launched a portable card-acceptance machine that connects to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPod Touch products.

Consumer credit card debt held steady in the first quarter with U.S. consumers paying down card debt by less than 1%, according to a report released today by Credit Karma Inc.

The FBI last week announced the arrest of eight men, charged with fraudulently using other consumers' credit card information to buy as much as a million dollars in merchandise from stores in Northeast Ohio - including Home Depot, Staples, Best Buy, Lowe's, Macy's, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, hhgregg and Sears.

PayPal Inc.'s mobile payment application has been downloaded more than a million times since it was released three weeks ago on Apple Inc.'s App Store.

Though some argue that mobile banking can be more secure than its Internet equivalent, security experts are expressing concerns. Skeptics have good reason to be apprehensive.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU yesterday introduced a new prepaid Visa account/card aimed at helping members better manage their money which won’t allow an overdraft.

Transaction Network Services Inc. and Blue Bamboo have struck an agreement that enables independent sales organizations, merchant acquirers and processors to sell a mobile-payment system.

This past weekend’s launch of Apple Inc.’s iPad also saw the introduction of Square Inc.’s payment card-acceptance application for the device.

With the CARD Act now requiring youth under the age of 21 to have mom or dad co-sign for a credit card, that step could limit the number of cards issued to Gen Y, and potentially affect membership and other lending products down the road, industry experts suggest. And no credit unions are more aware of that than those that serve colleges.

Starbucks Corp.'s mobile payment system went from a "Short" trial at 16 stores to a "Grande" deployment in more than a thousand locations, validating a low-tech approach to high-tech payments.

VeriFone Holdings Inc. on Thursday named Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC as one of its preferred merchant processors for users of its mobile phone card reader.

Transaction Network Services Inc. and Blue Bamboo have entered into an agreement that enables independent sales organizations, acquirers and processors to sell a mobile-payment system, according to the companies.

LAKELAND, Fla. – MidFlorida Credit Union is re-issuing approximately 12,000 debit cards following fraud attempts linked to the earlier data breach at Heartland Payment Systems in January of 2009.

An Indian technology vendor plans to launch a service later this year that will enable investors in India to buy and sell mutual funds using mobile phone text messages.

DES MOINES, Iowa – As a result of passage of the CARD Act and its Aug. 22 compliance date, 95% of credit unions that issue cards in conjunction with TMG here have discontinued the authorization of overlimit credit card transactions, the company is reporting.

Citing an increased use in smartphones, the Arkansas state government earlier this month launched a mobile Web site that enables residents to use their phones to pay for certain government services. Residents may access the Arkansas.gov mobile Web site using their phone’s browser to make prison inmate trust-account deposits; probation, parole and restitution payments; and Pulaski County property tax payments.