Payments

Community banks are planning to improve their mobile banking offerings, according to research by Banc Investment Group LLC.

Citing modest improvements in its recession-battered card portfolio, JPMorgan Chase & Co. this week reported a $303 million loss within its Card Services unit for the first quarter ended March 31; it reported a $547 million net loss during the same period last year.

Aptys Solutions LLC said it is counting on changes to the automated clearing house system to help its mobile business-to-business payment system take off.

Hypercom Corp. announced April 13 plans to sell two versions of a card reader that plugs into an iPhone and uses its wireless connection to handle card payments. The products, called SmartPayments Mobile, are designed for merchants that want to accept card payments but cannot be tied to an office location because of the nature of their business.

MasterCard Inc. has what it needs to thrive, but its next chief executive says he still has to put the pieces together.

SK Telecom Co. Ltd. has launched a Near Field Communication mobile-payment service called T Smart Pay in cooperation with Hana SK Card, the company announced recently.

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.