The Durbin amendment carved out smaller banks from its mandate to restrict debit swipe fees, and at least one of the major networks is willing to oblige, but equity markets do not appear to have cut the group much slack.

At first glance Xipwire Inc.'s mobile payments system seems obsolete next to competing services — its software isn't based on a sleek-looking digital wallet application on a smartphone and it doesn't rely on payment chips that turn mobile devices into tap-and-go credit cards.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – SunState FCU has selected Bluepoint Solutions’ entire suite of item processing products with multiple capture solutions, as well as Bluepoint’s full enterprise content management suite.

EBay Inc.’s payment unit, which includes PayPal Inc. and Bill Me Later, experienced a strong fourth quarter, eBay reported this afternoon.

Manila’s two suburban rail networks are conducting a trial in the Philippines to test the use of a common contactless smart card for their commuters.

Tanzania Posts Corp. and Vodacom Tanzania Ltd. have inked a mobile-banking agreement in which Vodacom will use the postal service’s network of branches as agents to support its M-Pesa funds-transfer service.

Acculynk Inc. has worked over the past two years to position its PaySecure product as the standard for Internet PIN-debit transactions. It now plans to bring the same payment technology to smartphones.

Starbucks Corp.’s Grande-sized mobile payments trial has gone Venti.

Several of the biggest credit card issuers in December posted their lowest rates for chargeoffs than in any other month of 2010, meaning fewer accounts are slipping into default.

Gemalto NV is participating in a Near Field Communication payment pilot in Japan that launches this quarter, the France-based technology provider announced Jan. 18.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – PSCU Financial Services on Tuesday said it has resigned with Fiserv to offer the company’s CheckFree RXP through its PayLynx online bill payment service.

WASHINGTON – E&P FCU said it signed with EasCorp FCU’s Vertifi Software LLC CUSO to offer Vertifi’s DeposZip remote deposit capture solution to its members.

MasterCard Worldwide will be the exclusive brand of the Transport for London’s Oyster card wallet as the international card brand hopes to raise consumer awareness of its PayPass contactless-payment service, MasterCard announced Jan. 17.

The average U.S. bankcard charge-off rate in December declined 144 basis points to 6.73% from 8.17% a year earlier, according to data Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group and ExperianPLC released Jan. 18.

Netherlands-based RePay International Ltd. and Chinese loyalty-management company China Rewards Pvt. Ltd. jointly plan to introduce the ClimaCount Card Scheme, a carbon-offset program, to the Chinese market, the two companies announced on Jan. 11.

Punjab & Sind Bank Ltd. has awarded a contract to HCL Infosystems Ltd. to provide smart card technology support for a rural financial-inclusion project, according to a regulatory filing by the state-owned bank.

Person-to-person payment services increasingly are becoming available, but most consumers are using them to substitute check use to pay bills to small businesses instead of to exchange funds with other individuals, such as when splitting a dinner check, new research suggests.

As business lending begins to show some vigor, fainter signs of life have cropped up in other credit categories.

Discover Financial Services' execution of its long-expected "mobile wallet" will define its role in mobile commerce, a future where consumers make contactless payments with their cell phones and receive wireless deals as they enter stores. "Unlike existing mobile technologies that are transactional in nature, the mobile wallet truly facilitates mobile commerce," predicts Gloria Colgan, Discover's svp of emerging payments.

TAMPA, Fla. – Florida Central CU last week said it signed with Connect Financial Software Solutions to implement the company’s Online Financial Management and person-to-person payment solutions.