As the hype for widespread Near Field Communication-enabled mobile payments continues to heat up, eBay Inc.’s CEO doused some cold water on the concept, suggesting instead that large merchants will resist the unproven technology.

Reflecting continued growth in all three of the company’s business specialties, including private-label card services, Alliance Data Systems Corp. on July 21 reported double-digit increases in both second-quarter revenue and profit.

Discover Financial Services’ agreement with online-payments specialist Mazooma illustrates Discover’s goal to be in the forefront of all payments services, not just those related to credit or debit cards, a top executive with the card brand tells PaymentsSource.

Mobile payments will surpass 141.1 million users worldwide this year, a 38.2% increase from 102.1 million users in 2010, according to Gartner estimates released July 21. Worldwide mobile payment sales volume is forecast to total $86.1 billion, up 75.9% from 2010 volume of $48.9 billion.

FARMINGVILLE, N.Y. – Teachers FCU has chosen CUBUS Solutions’ CUStatements to add to its delivery of next-generation online banking services to members.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – U.S. New Mexico FCU has contracted with INX Inc. to provide it with data center virtualization services.

Merchants selling digital content likely grimace at the thought of a consumer making a 99-cent purchase using a credit card because of the fees involved with that transaction.

Giftango Corp. wants to give merchants a head start on the mobile-wallet age by placing two-dimensional barcodes on the back of their proprietary, closed-loop gift cards to enable consumers to convert the plastic to a digital format via a smartphone camera, among other capabilities.

Default rates for first and second mortgages, bank cards and auto loans decreased in June, according to a report released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's and Experian.

Boosted by a massive reduction in loan-loss reserves, Bank of America Corp.’s global cards unit produced second-quarter net income of $2 billion, up 142% from $826 million a year earlier, the company announced Tuesday.

CEDAR PARK, Texas – IBT, a provider of real-time channel integration software applications, is joining with ShareTec to offer an integrated solution for teller capture, branch capture and share draft processing.

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Heartland CU signed with eDOC Innovations to implement the company’s ProDOC Packages and eDOCSignature as part of the credit union’s e-document strategy.

BETHPAGE, N.Y. – Bethpage FCU has signed with Corporate Network eCom to use the company’s MemberPay bill payment solution.

Isis, the wireless carrier-led mobile-payments venture, just crossed off a relatively small but integral item on its to-do list in signing Visa Inc., American Express Co. and MasterCard Worldwide to its system.

Fremont Bank customers in northern California are about to find out how much faster and safer their debit cards can be.

Isis, the mobile carrier-led mobile payments venture that initially planned to compete against incumbent payment networks, now has formed relationships with them, it announced July 19.

Citigroup Inc. plans to issue chip-based credit cards that adhere to the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications later this year.

Continuing efforts to get its Serve digital wallet into consumers’ hands, American Express Co. has signed a deal with Sprint Nextel to put the payments application on the Sprint Zone website, where Sprint customers go to manage their mobile-phone accounts, Amex announced July 18.

Trying a new approach to prod consumer interest in contactless payment, U.S. Bancorp is testing a wrist gadget that combines tap-and-pay technology with an emergency medical notification device, the bank announced July 18.

LAS VEGAS-Nevada FCU discovered days before VISA and its card processor that about 800 members were vulnerable to fraud after shopping at Michaels Stores this spring.