JPMorgan Chase & Co. on June 17 will roll out a second EMV card, expanding its target audience for the higher-technology card to a broader consumer base from elite international business travelers.

The average consumer credit card default rate for most large issuers declined again in May, likely bringing the charge-off rate close to 7%, suggest preliminary data from Moody’s Investors Service.

Intuit Inc. is among various vendors that could feel a shock from the emergence of Near Field Communication-powered mobile-payment schemes such as Google Wallet and Isis designed to eclipse banks’ existing, more-pedestrian offerings, such as online and mobile bank-account management.

First Data Corp. is working with mobile news network operator LSN Mobile Inc. to provide a mobile advertising and coupon system for merchants, the companies announced June 15.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – Fiserv yesterday rolled out a data vaulting service that provides data backup, storage and recovery for credit unions and banks.

LAS VEGAS – Silver State Schools CU said yesterday it has implemented Force 10 Networks’ core and edge switching solutions to power its statewide branch network.

SAN ANTONIO – Firstmark CU launched a revised mobile platform, the Firstmark iPhone Application.

Card brands are making more concerted efforts to move from just having a presence on social-media networks to actually engaging customer behavior. And MasterCard Worldwide is next up.

The emerging U.S. mobile-payments market could be putting consumers at risk for fraud, and a consumer-advocacy group is urging wireless carriers to protect its customers from unauthorized transactions.

Starbucks Corp. finally has an official mobile payment offering for Android smartphones.

U.S. Senators. Charles Schumer , D-N.Y., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., are urging the U.S. Department of Justice Department to shut down an underground online drug-trade site called Silk Road, but in a June 6 open letter to the department the senators barely touched on the digital currency–Bitcoins–that fuels the site’s commerce.

Verizon Wireless has brick-and-mortar mobile payments covered thanks to its participation in the Isis joint venture. But the company soon will give its wireless customers the option to charge online purchases directly to their mobile-phone bill.

The plethora of new mobile payment initiatives – the most recent being the mobile wallet project announced by Google, Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint – can be confusing for banks. What mobile payment technologies make the most sense for a financial institution to offer? In a recent interview with Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, he handicapped the three versions of near-field communication mobile payment technology that standards bodies have approved. [Near-field communication is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables short-range communication between electronic devices, and it’s the mechanism most companies are choosing to pursue mobile payments.] The differences between the three versions hinge on who controls the security of the mobile payments by controlling the “secure element” that stores cardholder credentials and account data and communicates with the apps.

Tyfone Inc. has received a patent for programming add-on smart cards in a mobile phone to function as a payment account.

PASADENA, Calif. – Wescom Resources Group said yesterday it signed with Share One to integrate and market WRG's MemberEdge Mobile Banking solution to Share One's credit union clients nationwide.

HERNDON, Va. – Northwest FCU said it signed with nearby Online Resources Corp. for advanced online banking and bill payment solutions.

The buzz around person-to-person payments has long been claimed by rival upstarts such as PayPal Inc., but banks are striking back, as evidenced by the ClearXChange consortium.

Barclaycard has retooled a contactless-payments television advertisement to feature use of a mobile phone to make payments in a move that could help to raise awareness of the technology in the United Kingdom. The ad first appeared June 4 during the finale of the popular television show “Britain’s Got Talent.”

MADISON, Wis.-Summit Credit Union has re-launched its website at www.summitcreditunion.com as a social networking channel. Based on research conducted among its target audience (women and young adults), SCU said it designed the site with a holistic approach.

SAINT PAUL, Minn.-Electronic content management (ECM) at Affinity Plus FCU here isn't about making or saving money; instead, the past decade has delivered a sea change in operations and member service across 24 branches.