The Federal Trade Commission told a House subcommittee this week that millions of consumers are victims of identity theft each year at a cost of billion of dollars and countless hours of consumers’ time to repair the damage.

Lawmakers from both political parties sharply criticized the banking regulators on Thursday for their risk-retention proposal, arguing it will lead to a credit crunch.

DALLAS – Neighborhood CU will install Imprivata’s OneSign Single Sign-On and Authentication Management solution.

ATLANTA – CRIF Lending on Thursday said it has provided an interface that connects the CRIF ACTion loan and account origination solution, CUNA Mutual Group’s LOANLINER Document Web Service, and Integrated Media Management’s electronic signature solution.

Momentum for the EMV smart card security standard, common in many European countries, grew this week with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. announcing plans to start issuing EMV cards to U.S. customers this summer.

For the major card brands, emerging global markets that broadly lack access to financial services likely will represent the greatest earnings potential for mobile-payments initiatives, concludes a report from Macquarie Equities Research Group.

Banks are focusing on customers, not criminals, as they seek to improve security outside of traditional branch banking.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced April 14 it will issue contact smart credit cards to U.S. customers in June, making it the second bank to bet that this technology, commonplace in Europe, will finally take hold in the States.

SAGINAW, Mich. – Family First CU has installed enhancements to the SunGard Availability Services’ PLANet web-based business continuity planning service.

MELROSE, Minn. – Central Minnesota FCU will implement Imprivata’s OneSign Single Sign-On and Authentication Management solution.

American Express Co. is positioning its undisclosed investment in mobile-payments company Payfone Inc. as the next step in adding additional functionality to the card brand’s new Serve digital wallet product.

Visa Inc. last week completed a trial of mobile contactless payments in Australia in collaboration with Melbourne-based ANZ Banking Group Ltd., Vipin Kalra, Visa country manager for Australia, tells PaymentsSource.

Credit scores nationwide fell two points to 665 in the first quarter ended March 31, according to CreditKarma.com, which released its U.S. Credit Score Climate Report on Wednesday.

Tenso.com, a subsidiary of the NetPrice Group Ltd., will use Retail Decisions Ltd.’s fraud-prevention service to screen its online sales, the London-based card-fraud prevention and payment-processing company announced April 12.

Wells Fargo & Co. is planning to issue 15,000 EMV cards to U.S. residents in a test this year, making it by far the largest bank to offer the smart cards to domestic customers.

KANSAS CITY – Mazuma CU has signed with Imprivata to install the company’s OneSign Single Sign-On and Authentication Management solution.

NEW YORK – United Nations FCU has signed with TimeTrade to streamline its service appointments each month through the company’s online Appointment Cloud.

Direct carrier billing is becoming more popular as consumers see the convenience and merchants are more willing to accept higher transaction fees to increase sales, contends Zong Inc., a mobile-payments platform provider.

IDBI Bank Ltd. has become the second bank in India to support cash withdrawals initiated at point-of-sale terminals, a spokesperson for the Mumbai-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Discover Financial Services’ person-to-person payments service, Money Messenger, is now available to cardholders.