Mopay Inc., a Germany-based mobile-payments company, anticipates that the fees charged for purchases applied to mobile-phone bills will decrease significantly by the end of the year.

Newly released terms of the Small Business Lending Fund are fueling fears that may discourage participation in the program.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – BrightStar CU said it signed a multi-year contract with Connect Financial Software Solutions for the company’s consumer suite of Internet banking services, Online Financial Management, and other services.

Average U.S. consumer bankcard and private-label credit card charge-offs fell again in November, and that trend may continue into this year, according to new data Fitch Ratings Inc. released Jan. 4.

U.S. consumers would be able to use their smartphones to pay, collect and redeem coupons, and price-compare products and services both online and in stores under a partnership deal ARS Interactive and CellPoint Mobile announced Jan. 6.

PayPal Inc. weathered last month's Internet attacks better than most of its rivals, but it still has been more outspoken than anyone else about its need for improvement.

Person-to-person payments systems are maturing into a business tool.

After another year in which legislators and regulators rewrote the rules of the game in the payments industry, equity markets have rendered provisional judgments on which companies face the worst handicaps.

SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane Teachers CU has selected TRC Interactive to deliver First Line of Defense ~ Fraud Detection and Loss Prevention Challenge, an online interactive experiential exercise for banks and credit unions that helps keep their staff sharp, focused and alert to the latest scams.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Gesa CU has chosen to implement Fiserv’s Acumen account processing solution with in-house delivery.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Educators FCU has signed with Bluepoint Solutions to implement the company’s ImagePoint products for in-house item capture and processing.

The past year saw debit card issuers introduce rewards programs to the marketplace and card networks extend their brands with direct-to-consumer offers such as MasterCard Marketplace and Visa Extras. But the debit-rewards landscape likely will change drastically under the Federal Reserve Board’s proposed new debit card interchange rules, a new report suggests.

Fifth Third Bancorp later this year plans to launch CashEdge Inc.’s Popmoney electronic-payment service, which enables consumers to transfer funds to another person’s bank account through the automated clearinghouse system, the companies announced Jan. 5.

Consumer confidence surprisingly fell in December, hurt by rising fears about the jobs market, according to a report released in late December by a private industry group.

India’s banking regulator has extended to Feb. 1 the deadline it had set for banks in the country to add a second layer of security to credit card transactions conducted over mobile phones.

Taiwan on Jan. 1 began taking initial steps toward creating an integrated transit-payment system by introducing multicard readers on Taipei’s bus network, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

SPOKANE, Wash. – Numerica CU announced yesterday it signed with DeepTarget of Huntsville, Ala., to implement the company’s OLB e-mail marketing and security solutions.

WASHINGTON – Congress FCU has signed with Integrated Media Management to implement the company’s TotaliEnroll iPad application to extend the member enrollment process outside the branch.

During the just-completed holiday season, PayPal Inc. experienced a surge in consumers making purchases using its online payment service with their smartphones and other mobile devices, according to the San Jose, Calif.-based company.

Hoping to tap an emerging market, Visa Inc., MasterCard Worldwide and American Express Co. have been working to open their networks to third-party developers of software and smartphone applications.