Retailers

The Federal Reserve Board’s July deadline for capping debit interchange is just around the corner, but MasterCard Worldwide said it does not expect to feel its effects until at least next year.

MasterCard Inc.’s profit leapt 23.5%, to $562 million in the first quarter from $455 million a year earlier, driven in part by a rise in payments. The card brand’s revenue rose 14.5%, to $1.5 billion from $1.31 billion.

MasterCard this morning reported a 23.6% surge in first quarter profits, as the number and dollar amount of debit transactions continued to lead its growth.

If 7,500 credit unions across the United States would get their members to contact their Congressional representatives, it would “help keep the pressure on” lawmakers and potentially halt implementation of the Durbin amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act, Nat Rosenberg, senior vice president of U.S. Markets for MasterCard Worldwide, told attendees at the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations Annual Conference in Las Vegas last week.

A host of new mobile payment applications promise many of the perks of near-field communication technology, without the costly hardware.

Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, is continuing to expand its presence in the merchant-acquiring industry with the purchase of TermNet Merchant Services Inc.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.–Payment-industry experts who gathered in Miami Beach, Fla., April 27 to 29 to attend the 23rd Card Forum & Expo reflected for the first time in a few years an attitude that seemed genuinely ready to greet certain disruptive changes instead of brace against them.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. would consider reimbursing financial institutions for any costs associated with reissuing credit cards that might have been compromised when someone breached the company’s PlayStation Network last month (see story).

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.-If certain “conspiracy theories” have any merit, the Federal Reserve Board might be heeding signals from Capitol Hill as it takes more time to craft final debit-interchange rules, one payment-industry analyst suggested April 28 at the Card Forum & Expo in Miami Beach, Fla.

Target Corp. is testing the sale of co-branded prepaid cards with American Express Co. in more than 100 stores, the companies confirmed on Friday.

WASHINGTON — With some major banks now considering chip-card technology, fraud is expected to gravitate to less-secure cards.

Endeca Technologies Inc. said its Endeca Mobile Commerce system is being used by Sallie Mae's Upromise for mobile rewards.

PayPal Inc. has acquired mobile payments startup Fig Card Corp., the company announced on its blog April 28.

Independent sales organizations may increase their profit potential from cash-advance loans, which merchants pay back using future card receivables, by taking on more of the risk, observers say.

Combining targeted online marketing with social media, Discover Financial Services will begin paying a $50 bounty during the first week of May for each referral who becomes a cardholder, according to a company executive.

WASHINGTON — Sony Corp.'s disclosure that a massive data breach may have let thieves steal the personal information of more than 77 million PlayStation users is playing into the hands of banks attempting to change a Federal Reserve Board proposal to limit debit interchange fees.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.-Poor service from a credit card service independent sales organization helped convince James McKelvey to co-found Square Inc., the exec told attendees on April 27 at the 23rd annual Card Forum and Expo co-sponsored by PaymentsSource and the American Banker in Miami Beach, Fla.

WASHINGTON — For consumers, convenience and rewards are the most commonly discussed benefits of near field communication for mobile payments. There is also a substantial security benefit, though banks are reluctant to let consumers know.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is in another sparring session with the American Bankers Association and asks the organization to “cut to the chase” regarding the motivations behind the organization’s criticisms of the interchange reform law that Congress enacted last year.

EBay Inc.’s PayPal Inc. unit during the first quarter March 31 continued to expand its global foot print while its other payment unit, Bill Me Later, became a more mainstream payment method in the U.S. with 42% growth to $324 million from $228 in total payments volume.