Payments

Citigroup Inc. is evaluating a new mobile service that monitors where people do their shopping, but has no actual banking functions.

Fair Isaac Corp. said this week that the trend of consumers' defaulting on mortgages while continuing to pay their credit cards has spread to the most creditworthy borrowers.

China Unicom will officially launch its Near Field Communication service later this year in Shanghai, confirms a Shanghai-based official from the nation's second-largest mobile network carrier.

Citing lower overall expenses, Target Corp. on Tuesday announced improved results for its credit card operations during its fiscal fourth quarter.

MShift filed suit in federal court in San Francisco Friday claiming Digital Insight is infringing on its patent for the company’s pioneering mobile banking technology that Digital Insight is providing to hundreds of credit unions and banks.

Mopay Inc. has announced plans to expand its global presence. Under the initiative, the Germany-based mobile-payments company hopes to enable U.S. consumers to purchase virtual goods and other digital content using their mobile-phone accounts, the company notes in a recent press release. It also hopes to create a new revenue channel to U.S. gaming and social-network providers.

Credit card chargeoffs climbed sharply in January, though early-stage delinquencies declined for the third month in a row, Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Monday. William Black, a senior vice president at the rating agency, noted such delinquencies often rise at the start of the year, and this January was the first since 2004 that they fell from the previous month.

Visa Inc.’s announced hiring today of Bill Gajda, a top global wireless carrier trade association executive, to lead its mobile-payments initiatives could help the network brand cut through some of industry-sector obstacles blocking mobile-payment development, observers say. Gajda is chief commercial officer at the GSM Association, an international telecommunication organization that develops worldwide wireless standards for mobile communications, and after joining Visa he will continue as president of the GSM Foundation.

Hana Card Co. and South Korea-based telecommunication operator SK Telecom Co. plan to launch a mobile credit card payment service in March under a new joint venture, an official from the credit card company tells PaymentsSource.

Several credit card issuers this month are taking more “positive, promotional” approaches to introducing new policies and billing-statement changes mandated by a federal law that goes into effect today, according to new research by Corporate Insight, a New York-based market-research firm.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Even with the CARD Act set to take effect. today, expect major credit card issuers to continue to seek to make consumers pay more this year.

Bank of America Corp. said this week that late payments on credit card loans fell to 7.35% in January, the lowest in a year.

Despite the dimming prospects for the creation of an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Elizabeth Warren isn't ready to consider alternatives.

Mocapay Inc. said last week that Micros Retail Systems Inc. would use the Boulder, Colo., vendor's technology to add mobile access to Micros loyalty programs.

The Federal Reserve Board should use "common sense" when defining "reasonable and proportional" penalty fees under the new credit card law, Pew Charitable Trusts said this week. President Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act last year. The law is taking effect in three phases, the second of which will begin next week.

A ban on illegal cellular towers is causing problems for credit card transactions in the Indian capital city of New Delhi, local newspaper The Times of India reports. Several shops at high-end malls in the city reported credit card failures because of failed authorization calls caused by drops on cellular connectivity.

Monitise Americas LLC is planning to introduce a version of its Mobile Money application for phones that use Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-Card issuers and processors continue to race to comply with the numerous provisions of the soon-to-be-effective CARD Act, but already the specter of more legislation and/or new regulations is raising even more concerns.

CLEARWATER, Fla.-While some have speculated margin pressures on card portfolios will reduce or even eliminate rewards programs, several processors indicate they believe rewards will remain a driver of card usage.

DALLAS-To Mitch Raymond, SVP of products for TNB Card Services, there is little question rewards programs will continue for the foreseeable future because, "rewards cards are so prevalent in the marketplace they are almost expected by consumers." If one issuer does not offer a rewards card, he noted, people are going to get one from another.