The twin effects of lenders keeping a tight rein on credit card lines and consumers borrowing less with cards in April drove the average card-account default rate down to levels not seen since February 2009, according data Fitch Ratings released June 10.

U.S. Bancorp plans to begin issuing EMV chip credit cards that also include a tap-and-go payment function to its customers this month.

NEW ORLEANS–For all talk about how mobile technology can rapidly bring financial services to emerging markets, it has really only worked in a few countries so far, most notably Kenya and the Philippines. Much of mobile money’s success in Kenya can be attributed to the work of Michael Joseph, a strategic advisor to Safaricom, who discussed here on June 7 his experiences building a new financial infrastructure in that country.

U.S. Bancorp plans to begin issuing EMV chip credit cards that also include a tap-and-go payment function to U.S. customers this month.

NCO Group Inc., a Horsham, Pa.-based debt buyer and provider of business process outsourcing services, plans to hire approximately 400 employees to its Customer Management Contact Center in Rockford, Illinois. The hirings coincide with the program expansion for one of NCO's clients in the wireless telecommunications industry.

GARDENA, Calif. – Northrup Grumman FCU has selected Connect Financial Software Solutions to provide it with its consumer suite of Internet Banking and customization services.

Verification using India’s national biometric-identification system could provide a second level of authorization needed to secure card-present transactions initiated with magnetic stripe cards under a proposal outlined in a central bank working group report released June 2. It also may serve as an alternative to moving to EMV chip-and-PIN cards.

Bharti Airtel Telecom Co. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Pan-African banking group Ecobank Transnational Inc. to provide mobile-banking services across Africa, the companies announced June 7.

Visa Inc.’s acquisition of Fundamo will help it use mobile payments to serve more underbanked consumers abroad, according to the card network, which on June 9 announced a deal in which is will pay about $110 million for the Cape Town, South Africa-based mobile payments company.

The Federal Bureau Investigation in Dallas is looking into reports of counterfeit check schemes targeting U.S. law firms.

Visa Inc. is paying about $110 million to acquire Fundamo, a mobile payments company that focuses primarily on working with mobile network operators and banks in developing regions, the card brand announced June 9.

Think Computer Corp. has added a contactless-payment capability to its FaceCash mobile wallet.

NEW ORLEANS–One of the prevailing themes of this year’s Mobile Banking Summit is there is nothing inherently wrong with plastic cards: A number of speakers, panelists and attendees with a major stake in mobile payments all acknowledge that physical cards work well, posing a steep hill to climb to get consumers to use their phones to make payments.

CARMEL, Ind. – Allied Solutions said it is partnering with Lending Solutions for a new web-based collections system for credit unions on Allied’s CenterPoint site.

SAN DIEGO – San Diego County CU said same-day bill payments are now available through its online bill payment solution, Bill Payer Plus, one of the first financial institutions to offer the service.

The top South Korean financial regulator plans to restrict credit card issuance and curtail issuers’ marketing budgets to combat growing household debt in that country.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Ltd. last week announced a free mobile-payment service that will enable its customers to make small-ticket purchases at merchant locations within the United Arab Emirates.

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

NEW ORLEANS — Banks intent on bringing mobile payments to a wide swath of customers will soon have to make difficult decisions about devices, partnerships, vendor management and employee training.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Intuit Financial Services has introduced a mobile banking application Intuit said makes it easier for Android smartphone users to manage finances from their mobile devices.