The rise of online and mobile banking plus new regulatory pressure on debit card interchange are converging to spark explosive growth in credit and debit card merchant-funded loyalty programs, a new report suggests.

ONTARIO, Calif. – California Center CU has re-signed an agreement to continue processing their credit card accounts with Card Services for CUs and partner Fidelity National Information Services.

POCATELLO, Idaho – Pocatello Simplot CU has signed with Enhanced Software Products, a data processor.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington State Employees CU has installed 3VR's video intelligence platform to reduce fraud and help solve crimes.

The announcement last week by several telecommunication companies of plans to create a joint venture to fast-track mobile-payments processing potentially has broad implications for the mobile-payments market in Europe. But the companies have worked together before with little resulting success.

EWise USA Inc. and Affirmative Technologies Inc. are working together to offer services that enable consumers to make purchases online without exposing their personal information to merchants, the companies announced June 16.

The burgeoning mobile-payments industry has been described as an unruly jungle. A new technology start-up has taken that analogy to heart by developing software it says can transfer information, such as payment details, between devices using communication frequencies commonly used by frogs and other animals.

NEW YORK-Merchants that want to accept payments from Google Inc.'s mobile wallet must go through a few more steps than just "tap and pay."

MADISON, Wis.-By the end of 2010, more smart phones and tablets were shipped to consumers than desktop computers-a statistic that will have a significant effect on the way financial institutions do business, said Rick Roy, SVP & CIO at CUNA Mutual.

PALO ALTO, Calif.-Bling Nation, the mobile payments and loyalty company, has shut down its service in a move it insists is only temporary.

LOS ANGELES-Law enforcement agents believe hundreds of thousands of dollars being withdrawn from ATMs in California are related to the data breach announced recently by Michaels Stores.

Despite efforts by major card companies to promote the speed and excitement of using mobile phones to pay, it likely will take more than glitzy marketing to convince consumers to use such services, according to a Federal Reserve strategist.

ACA International officials on Monday introduced "The Path Forward: A Blueprint for Modernizing America’s Debt Collection System" - a five-point plan it hopes will improve collections by reducing, preventing and better resolving consumer complaints.

Chuck Geiger, a former PayPal Inc. chief technology officer, has joined the board of Rainmaker Systems Inc., the provider of business e-commerce technology announced June 16.

Telefónica UK, Vodafone UK, and T-Mobile and Orange parent Everything Everywhere plan to form a joint venture in mobile marketing and payments, the companies announced June 16.

Citigroup Inc. on June 15 clarified the timeline and updated the number of accounts breached in a recent hacker attack that put an estimated 1% of its North American Citi-branded credit card base at risk.

NORCROSS, Ga. – Associated CU has added EZDeposit to its suite of online banking services.

MasterCard Worldwide is making headway in the use of its PayPass service by embedding the contactless chips in wristbands distributed at festivals and other events.

MasterCard Worldwide is making headway in the use of its PayPass service by embedding the contactless chips in wristbands distributed at festivals and other events.

Despite various warnings, many young adults feel empowered by credit card and student loan debt, suggests a recent national study by a team of sociology researchers examining the connection between debt and self-esteem.