To help meet rising consumer demand in China, payment-services provider 99Bill Corp. has upgraded its 99Bill+ payment platform to additionally support payments initiated with tablets and smartphones.

Visa Europe is making more headway promoting its contactless card and mobile technology in France, as it launches a second contactless pilot in Strasbourg. Visa also has a contactless pilot operating in Nice, France, which launched in May 2010.

In a long-awaited showdown over the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats sparred over whether the Senate should proceed with the nomination of the bureau's first director.

Andrews FCU on Wednesday announced it is rolling out a Globe Trek Visa Rewards credit card with both magnetic strip and the Europay, MasterCard and Visa EMV technology, also known as Chip and PIN.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Velocity Community CU has selected VSoft’s home/office and mobile remote deposit capture solutions.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Technology CU has implemented Online Banking Solutions’ OBS Messenger Financial Center for the delivery of business information and payment services online.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Employees FCU has installed Integrated Media Management’s TotaleAtlasWeb secure Web-based document delivery and remote digital signature capture technology.

Amid a resurgence of interest in issuing private-label credit cards and noteworthy behavioral shifts affecting consumer creditworthiness, First Data Corp. is adopting a new instant-credit decisioning and underwriting system from Zoot Enterprises Inc., the two companies announced Sept. 7.

Equifax Inc. has acquired Datum, a Costa Rican credit reporting company.

Joining a growing list of similar companies trying to move more cash payments to cards, Payment Data Systems Inc. will launch iRemotePay next month to meet growing merchant demand for a payment-acceptance option to use away from their actual stores or if they do business in outdoor markets.

Following recommendations from India’s central bank urging the country’s financial institutions to issue chip cards, ICICI Bank Ltd. has begun to issue its first EMV-compliant credit card, the issuer announced Sept. 5.

In a move that Dwolla Corp. executives consider “a validation in the marketplace,” the Des Moines, Iowa-based mobile-payments startup plans to integrate its mobile-pay account with a credit union online-banking format.

American Express Co., which lately has been rolling out prepaid and digital-payment options to expand its audience, has added yet another product: an electronic gift card.

Mortgage giants Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc. are balking at an offer by state officials to ease their blame for alleged wrongful mortgage practices in return for a multibillion-dollar payment.

Steve Geringer is offering a second time at bat for mobile payment technology that struck out: sound innovation that didn't match business realities.

The Better Business Bureau in Ohio is warning consumers about phony threatening collection calls being made to residents.

MADISON, Wis.-CUNA Mutual Group last week announced the availability of a new online retirement guidance platform that it said takes the guess work out of managing individuals' retirement goals.

PHOENIX-A new Web site is offering resources on risk management, fraud and input from law enforcement agencies.

RALEIGH-State Employees' CU here is aiming to save $1.5 million per year in long distance costs by the time it finishes rolling out its new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system.

A directive earlier this month from Visa Inc. designed to motivate merchants to support the EMV chip card standard for U.S. cards and payment terminals may spark a cottage industry in EMV training seminars and consulting.