Consumers have filed 7,923 lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors this year through Aug. 15, a record-setting pace that easily tops the 7,169 lawsuits filed through the same period last year.

The average U.S. bankcard charge-off rate dropped sharply in June, registering the second-largest monthly decline since the Bankruptcy Reform Act took effect in 2005, according to the latest data from Fitch Ratings Inc.

Steve Jobs' resignation raises further uncertainty over Apple Inc.'s payment plan intentions, but Apple patents themselves provide some clues as to where the company may be going.

China over the next five years will begin adding financial functions to the country’s social security cards, the state-owned People’s Daily newspaper reported Aug. 22. Ninety million of the new cards will be issued by the end of this year, the ministry told the newspaper.

Despite increasing activity involving mobile payments, consumers still trust credit card companies more than companies such as Google Inc., eBay Inc. or Facebook Inc.

DURHAM, N.C. – Latino Community CU has implemented a Voice over Internet Protocol communications system to link its nine branches with its headquarters here.

Three schemes that promised to help consumers resolve mortgage and debt problems were shut down by the Federal Trade Commission as part of settlements for falsely claiming an affiliation with government assistance programs.

Boku Inc. has inked an agreement with two French wireless phone carriers to offer its carrier-billing service, a deal which will extend Boku’s reach to 32 million customers in France.

Collection agencies likely will take a keen interest in a ruling issued last week by a federal judge stating that collection efforts using an autodialer warrants a trial.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Mobile payments developer Dwolla rolled out a new feature called “Proxi” which allows users to send and receive cash-based mobile payments based on their current proximity to another connected device.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – CommonWealth One FCU is now offering My Deposit, a free online remote deposit capture solution provided through Intuit Financial Services.

Financial institutions that are not exempt from the Federal Reserve Board’s reduction in debit card interchange might find themselves pushing Internet PIN-debit technology as a way to reduce fraud and maximize revenue, an electronic funds transfer network executive contends.

Financial institutions that serve military personnel, including USAA and Navy Federal Credit Union, are pressured to provide a wide range of remote access beyond that of traditional branch-heavy banks because the Web and mobile phone are often the only access points that consumers who are stationed overseas have to their financial institution.

Economists who participated in a recent survey largely believe high unemployment and weak consumer spending will hold back the U.S. economy into 2012 but most say a recession is not likely over the next 12 months.

Shipments of smart cards in China will exceed 1 billion by 2016, helping China catch up to Europe, Japan and other countries that have begun to transition to smart cards to improve security, according to a recently released report by IMS Research Ltd.

WASHINGTON — Bank regulators have long kept state officials at arm's length, but the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is forging a close relationship with state attorneys general to enforce consumer banking laws.

A new point-of-sale terminal from Vivotech Inc. capable of accepting Near Field Communication mobile payments and chip-and-PIN transactions could help position U.S. merchants to embrace EMV smart card technology and perhaps save them money on security-standards compliance costs, the vendor believes.

Intuit Inc.'s Mint.com is adding bill payment reminders to its free personal financial management service.

Not only are more banks offering mobile banking, more are also releasing multiple applications to try to appeal to as many types of banking customers as possible.

Independent sales organizations, which sell payment card acceptance to merchants, see a big opportunity in Visa Inc.’s decision to accelerate the switch to EMV chip-and-PIN cards in the United States.