TEMPE, Ariz.-Tellers are the best-and only-line of defense against check fraud at one small credit union here, whereas another small CU relies heavily on a counterfeit alert database.

LAS VEGAS-Check 21 technology and a direct connection with the Federal Reserve has changed the check fraud landscape at Clark County CU, according to Roy Holmstrom, CIO and CFO.

LATHRUP VILLAGE, Mich.-Members are spending more time online at Michigan First CU ever since the credit union began offering new Internet banking with built-in personal financial management (PFM) tools.

MasterCard Inc. wants to get new payments tools out of the labs faster and into cardholders' wallets.

Despite grim predictions that the credit crunch would choke off the economy’s biggest engine - consumption - people have indeed been spending again.

Hypercom Corp. plans to use its new point-of-sale products for use with Apple Inc.’s iPhone not only to reach mobile merchants but also to target brick-and-mortar retailers that want to expedite client purchases and avoid long lines at sales registers, Stuart Taylor, Hypercom vice president of global solutions and marketing, told PaymentsSource this week at the Electronic Transactions Association Annual Meeting and Expo in Las Vega.

The three major credit bureaus are widening the types of personal data they provide banks, an effort to strengthen financial firms' ability to properly assess loan candidates.

Community banks are planning to improve their mobile banking offerings, according to research by Banc Investment Group LLC.

NEW ORLEANS – Greater New Orleans FCU has launched a mobile banking and account alert service.

Apriva is offering training and educational tools to its independent sales organization resellers to help increase their knowledge of and ability to sell wireless smartphone-enabled point-of-sale products, according to the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based wireless-payments provider.

The U.S. House of Representatives this morning passed H.R. 3506 by voice vote, a move ACA International has supported to eliminate unnecessary paperwork requirements under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA).

WALTHAM, Mass. – IMN, a provider of e-communications solutions, has added a trackable social networking feature to its Credit Union On, an e-newsletter.

PHOENIX – Arizona FCU has selected VSoft’s Software as a Service delivery model for its image-based item processing and reporting.

Hypercom Corp. announced April 13 plans to sell two versions of a card reader that plugs into an iPhone and uses its wireless connection to handle card payments. The products, called SmartPayments Mobile, are designed for merchants that want to accept card payments but cannot be tied to an office location because of the nature of their business.

MasterCard Inc. has what it needs to thrive, but its next chief executive says he still has to put the pieces together.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – CO-OP Financial Services has signed with TEKchand LLC for technology that allows its credit union clients to remotely control and manipulate marketing messages, and access and research transaction reports.

Consumers' confidence in the economy fell in March after two consecutive months of gains, according to data from Discover Financial Services.

WePay Inc., an online payment service, recently released a public beta version of its payment site designed to enable groups, organizations, associations and individuals to collect, manage and spend money. The company hopes to compete with eBay Inc.’s PayPal by making it simpler to collect money from groups of consumers.

Total credit lines among the top five U.S. credit card issuers soared 56.5% to a peak of $3.74 trillion in 2007 from an aggregate $2.39 trillion in 2005 following the rise of home prices during the first half of the decade. But as the bubble burst in 2007 and housing values began to decline, followed by two years of recession, credit card customers defaulted on their accounts en masse, PaymentsSource data show.

Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co. Ltd. on April 1 discontinued the use of the magnetic stripe cards for access to all of its 12 bus lines, according to the regional transport network operator in Japan. The agency launched the mag-stripe card program 17 years ago.