In an article titled "JPMorgan Chase Ends Credit Card Arbitration", Maria Aspan writes for the American Banker that JP Morgan Chase has joined Bank of America in abandoning mandatory arbitration clauses as part of their credit card agreements.
In an editorial this morning, the New York Times chastises Sen. Thad Cochran for voting on Wednesday to block a bill by Sen. Chris Dodd that would have accelerated implementation of credit card reforms.
Note: Throughout the day, as Payments News happens, this post is updated. For job opportunities available for payments professionals, visit PaymentsJobs.com. Employers looking to hire payments professionals can post their job openings there as well.
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) released the following statement in response to today's release of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, "Credit Cards: Rising Interchange Fees Have Increased Costs for Merchants but Options for Reducing Fees Pose Challenges."
"The GAO confirmed key problems that we have raised about credit card interchange fees, also known as 'swipe' fees," said Lyle Beckwith, NACS senior vice president of government relations. "They found that the 10 largest banks have a stranglehold on this market, have used it to raise their fees, which all consumers pay, and that small businesses and low-income, cash-paying consumers get the worst deal from this arrangement."
"And though Visa and MasterCard claim that swipe fees have not been increasing, and that credit card use increases sales for merchants, the GAO report solidly debunks both of those claims," said Beckwith. "The GAO report should sound the alarm that it is time for Congress to reform swipe fees."
The GAO report confirmed many of the most harmful aspects of unfair, hidden fees swipe fees that are incurred every time a consumer pays by debit or credit card. The report shows that the credit card companies and their issuing banks mislead the public about their increasing rates and about the benefits of credit cards to businesses. The report also outlines an unfair, anti-competitive system that hurts Main Street businesses and their customers in order to pad the banks' bottom lines, with little relation to the actual costs of processing payments.
The report makes it clear that, unless Congress acts to bring competition and transparency into the interchange system, the big banks and credit card companies will keep lining their pockets at the expense of small businesses and consumers nationwide.
The Electronic Payments Coalition has issued the following statement in response to today's release of a report on interchange fees from the Government Accountability Office:
Today's GAO report concludes that consumers could be harmed if Congress acts to lower what merchants pay to accept debit and credit.
As the GAO noted in its report, merchants receive myriad benefits when they accept debit and credit cards, including increased sales and reduced labor costs. But giant retailers have been lobbying Congress to pay less than their fair share, and have their customers pay for these fees instead.
The GAO's report leads to a clear conclusion: current interchange legislation places the needs of giant retailers over the needs of consumers. We urge Members of Congress to protect the interests of their constituents, and to oppose harmful interchange legislation.
The growing use of branchless banking, including mobile phone banking, is inevitable in most countries. But it's far less certain whether large numbers of the unbanked poor will use these alternative channels for financial services beyond payments, such as savings and credit. So says "Scenarios for Branchless Banking in 2020," a new report from CGAP, a microfinance group based at the World Bank, and the U.K.'s Department for International Development (DFID). READ MORE
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just released a report on interchange fees on payment cards in the US. The report, titled "Credit Cards - Rising Interchange Fees Have Increased Costs for Merchants, but Options for Reducing Fees Pose Challenges", is available for download on the GAO's website.
American Express has announced the launch of American Express Business Insights, a new analytics and consulting organization that Amex says "draws on the power and reach of the Company’s global network to help business customers develop better-informed strategies to grow their business." READ MORE
J.P. Morgan has issued a report titled “Payments Fraud: How It Happens And What You Can Do To Protect Your Organization” in which the company shares best practices for battling check, automated clearing house (ACH), and credit card fraud, as well as tips on protecting treasury operations from advanced phishing techniques. The report also explores the key areas of fraud vulnerability and proliferation, and reviews fraud protection products and services available today. READ MORE
Affiliated Computer Services has announced that Miami International Airport will accept MasterCard PayPass contactless payments in its parking lots starting December 2009. MasterCard PayPass is a fast, cashless payment option that enables travelers to pay for parking simply by tapping their PayPass-enabled MasterCard card or device on a PayPass reader. The Miami International Airport PayPass implementation is being managed by ACS, an industry leader in airport parking systems. READ MORE
3Delta Systems has announced that it has been certified to directly process electronic payment transactions with RBS WorldPay. RBS WorldPay offers merchants an range of payment processing solutions – from face-to-face to online, servicing all sizes and sectors of business. READ MORE
Note: Throughout the day, as Payments News happens, this post is updated. For job opportunities available for payments professionals, visit PaymentsJobs.com. Employers looking to hire payments professionals can post their job openings there as well.
Over on our sister blog PaymentsViews.com, I share some of my thoughts about today's announcement of American Express acquiring Revolution Money. It's a bold move towards innovation by a company that's been slow to move in the past. Read my post and share your comments - would love to know what you think!
U.S. Bank has announced that Visa Mobile is now available to select U.S. Bank debit card holders. Visa Mobile bundles alerts, offers, and a locator service -enabling cardholders to manage their U.S. Bank Visa accounts with near-real time updates. The application can be downloaded to mobile devices powered by Android, the Open Handset Alliance’s open source platform for mobile devices. READ MORE
41st Parameter says it is "forecasting increased mobile channel cybercrime and decreased effectiveness of traditional anti-fraud tactics, attributed to the rapid adoption of new mobile handsets and multiple operating systems. According to a November 2009 consumer study of U.S. mobile phone users, 18.9 percent of mobile consumers now use a smartphone, and an additional 49.2 percent plan to purchase an advanced mobile device within the next two years. Last week, Gartner reported smartphone sales in 3Q09 grew 12.8% year over year, reaching 41.1 million units." READ MORE
Chase has announced the addition of two new credit cards - Ink and Ink Capital - to its Ink portfolio of business cards that provide additional purchase rewards or an interest-payment refund to customers with Chase business checking accounts. READ MORE
Global Payments has announced that it has signed an agreement to sell its DolEx- and Europhil-branded money transfer businesses to an affiliate of Palladium Equity Partners, LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, Global Payments will receive proceeds in the range of $85 million to $110 million based on the operating performance of the business determined at the time of closing, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals including the consent to the transaction by the issuers of money transfer licenses in many of the states and countries where DolEx or Europhil currently operates.
The Association for Financial Professionals' November Payments Newsletter is now available. Payments includes features on emerging payments issues, Q&As with payments newsmakers, news briefs and expert-authored guest columns. In the November issue are articles on wire format changes coming next year to allow for remittance data, a column authored by Anita Patterson who directs treasury services for Cox Enterprises, a Q&A with the Federal Reserve’s Ken Isaacson, and an excerpt from our magazine written by the Fed’s Lauren Hargraves and Hank Farrar at The Clearing House.
Ready Financial, provider of the READYdebit Visa prepaid card and online bill payment and check-writing service, has announced it has completed a $7.0 million Series B round of financing led by Rockbridge Growth Equity, a middle-market private equity firm started by Quicken Loans Chairman and Founder, Dan Gilbert, with participation from Flybridge Capital Partners. READ MORE
Wells Fargo has announced that it has enhanced its rewards program by adding the Earn More Mall with bonus point opportunities, the ability to purchase retail gift cards, new travel features and benefits, five times as many redemption options, and a redesigned site for easier navigation and improved search capabilities. READ MORE
American Express has announced it has agreed to acquire Revolution Money. According to Amex, "the transaction, which is subject to regulatory review, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010. The purchase price is expected to be approximately $300 million. Upon closing, Revolution Money would operate as a subsidiary of American Express and be the first component of its recently formed Enterprise Growth organization. Enterprise Growth was formed to leverage American Express’ existing assets and capabilities to generate incremental fee revenue and to drive the company’s entry into new payment areas and related businesses."
READ MORE
Note: Throughout the day, as Payments News happens, this post is updated. For job opportunities available for payments professionals, visit PaymentsJobs.com. Employers looking to hire payments professionals can post their job openings there as well.
Discover has launched a new Discover Mobile iPhone application - now available as a free download from the iTunes App Store. The app allows a Discover cardholder to view account summary including current balance, etc., make a Discover card account payment, view recent transactions and rewards activity, and enroll in rewards programs.
Google Scholar now includes the ability to search for and read full text legal opinions from U.S. federal and state district, appellate and supreme courts. You can easily find some of the important cases that have affected the US payments industry over the last 25 years including:
The US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs is holding a hearing this afternoon on the subject of "Protecting Consumers from Abusive Overdraft Fees: The Fairness and Accountability in Receiving Overdraft Coverage Act". The witnesses will be: Mr. Mario Livieri, Consumer, State of Connecticut; Mr. Michael Calhoun, President, Center for Responsible Lending; Mr. Frank Pollack, President and CEO, Pentagon Federal Credit Union; Mr. John Carey, Chief Administrative Officer, Citibank NA; and Ms. Jean Ann Fox, Director of Financial Services, Consumer Federation of America. READ MORE
The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is holding a hearing today titled "Aggressive Sales Tactics on the Internet and Their Impact on American Consumers" to explore efforts by some ecommerce companies to offer post-transaction marketing offers to consumers following a purchase. As part of this process, the ecommerce companies usually pass along the consumer's payment card information they've just captured for the purchase to the marketing partner. The Committee staff has prepared a report on the issues involved with this practice and a set of exhibits documenting some of the offers. READ MORE
MasterCard has announced the availability of M/Chip Advance, a payment platform takes traditional debit, credit and prepaid chip cards to the next level by advancing payment functionality, facilitating deployment of contactless applications and integrating information needed for business applications such as transit and loyalty. The result according to MasterCard: "the potential to deliver versatile, multi-functional payment capabilities to consumers on one payment card." READ MORE
Visa has announced the North American rollout of its new transaction alert service allowing card issuers to provide near real-time alerts to Visa account holders throughout the U.S. and Canada.
According to Visa, "the service enables consumers to better manage and track their spending while providing them with an early warning system for potential fraudulent activities. Alerts are sent on behalf of participating issuers directly from VisaNet, Visa’s global processing network, typically within seconds of a transaction occurring. Alerts are triggered when the transaction meets certain criteria the account holder has selected and are delivered directly to the account holder via email, SMS text message or the Visa Mobile application. Visa’s transaction alerts let consumers monitor their accounts for unusual activity and take immediate action if they believe a potentially fraudulent transaction is taking place." READ MORE
GoPayforit has announced that it has launched its new mobile, small payments service to enable bloggers and content owners to more easily sell content online. The company says that "by using GoPayforit, lower priced content can now be purchased by consumers in an easier, more manageable and less time-consuming way. GoPayforit allows bloggers and content owners to set up a payment service for their site by inserting one simple line of code. Once established, this enables consumers to debit money directly from their mobile phone bill (PAYG or contract) in order to make payments. UK mobile operators provide support for GoPayforit as a secure transaction platform as it is based on the tried and tested Payforit platform."
READ MORE
MasterCard has announced that starting in 2010, MasterCard's financial institutions will have the capability to offer MasterCard cardholders money transfers from any MasterCard or Maestro card to any other MasterCard or Maestro card. According to MasterCard, "this global card-to-card money transfer service will expand the usability and value of MasterCard products and global payments network by providing its customers with a convenient and cost-effective money transfer platform enabling person-to-person payments and cross-border remittances." READ MORE
Cryptomathic has announced that it has been selected by MasterCard Worldwide to manage the data preparation requirements for the deployment of the MasterCard Mobile Over The Air Provisioning Service that enables MasterCard PayPass applications to be provisioned on to mobile phones. READ MORE
Aconite has announced that it will collaborate with Ecebs Limited to develop and deliver a smart card that combines transport ticketing and payment capabilities with other services. According to the company, "he combination of Aconite’s back-office smart card administration and transaction processing software with Ecebs’ software for developing on-card applications will provide a unique end-to-end solution for managing smart card products, individual smart cards and their applications." READ MORE
CyberSource has announced the results of its latest annual survey of eCommerce fraud finding that "merchants in 2009 were fighting back against fraud, and seeing considerable evidence of success. U.S. and Canadian merchants expect to lose about $3.3 billion to eCommerce fraud this year, down from $4 billion last year. This is the first drop in estimated revenues lost since 2003. The percentage of revenue merchants predict they will lose in 2009, on average, is 1.2%, the lowest estimate in the 11-year history of the survey." READ MORE
M-Com has announced that ACLEDA Bank Plc has selected its BankAnywhere to power its mobile banking and payment services. ACLEDA will deploy M-Com’s BankAnywhere product within its secure data center in Phnom Penh and integrated to its Temenos T24 core banking system. The solution will enable ACLEDA customers to make person-to-person payments, pre-paid top up, utility bill payments and manage their finances in both Khmer and English scripts. READ MORE
Note: Throughout the day, as Payments News happens, this post is updated. For job opportunities available for payments professionals, visit PaymentsJobs.com. Employers looking to hire payments professionals can post their job openings there as well.
The papers from the recent conference "The Changing Retail Payments Landscape: What Role for Central Banks?" held by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City are now available online.
"This conference explored the changing retail payments landscape and assessed the extent to which central bank payments policies should correspondingly be altered. The conference brought together three principal audiences – industry participants, policy makers, and academics – for an exchange of views and thoughts."
"Questions addressed included: How do payments markets differ from other markets? How do consumer preferences impact industry outcomes? Are payments markets sufficiently competitive and safe? If not, what private and public policies would be beneficial? Should central bank policies to ensure smoothly-functioning payments systems be adapted in light of the dynamic changes underway? More specifically, what role should central banks play as operators and overseers in the retail payments system of the future."
An updated version of "Inside Fraud" published by Payments, Cards and Mobile and sponsored by Visa Europe is now available online.
The report finds significant variations in losses between France, Netherlands, Spain and UK with losses much higher on internet and international transactions. The report suggests there is an "urgent need to complete roll-out of EMV and continue implementation of online security measures."
Taking Visa Europe’s figures as a barometer for the region as a whole, card fraud losses fell from 0.07% (7 basis points) of card turnover in 2007 to 0.06% in 2008. But comparing national figures for France, Spain, Netherlands and the UK, losses ranged from fewer than 3 basis points of card turnover in Spain to 10 basis points in the UK.
Further, the picture is not static. In Holland, which historically had one of the lowest levels of card fraud in Europe, the loss rate has risen almost threefold during the last four years. With Dutch debit card transactions still 100% based on magnetic-stripe cards, losses continue to rise due to skimming. In contrast, UK figures for first half of 2009 show total card fraud losses down 23% to £232.8 million.
You can download the full report here.
MasterCard has announced the launch of a solution that harnesses the mobile phone as a form factor for its Chip Authentication Program. According to MasterCard," the initiative focuses on enabling consumers to authenticate their banking and online transactions through their own mobile phone with solutions from three leading industry vendors." READ MORE
MasterCard has announced the MasterCard Mobile Payments Gateway, a mobile payments processing platform that the company says "enables financial institutions and mobile network operators to deliver end-to-end mobile payments solutions through the MasterCard Worldwide Network." READ MORE
ViVOtech has announced the launch of its ViVOtag sticker solution and its backend ViVOapps mLoyalty redemption software designed to "enable merchants to deliver targeted and engaging mobile advertising, marketing and loyalty programs to customers’ existing mobile phones."
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Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) and American Express have announced a strategic new partnership under which PenFed will issue American Express-branded credit cards. The new PenFed Premium Travel Rewards American Express Card will carry the American Express logo and will be accepted on American Express' global merchant network.
According to the two companies, PenFed and American Express have an exclusive arrangement under which, for a limited time, PenFed will be the only credit union to issue an American Express-branded card in the United States. READ MORE
Visa Inc. has announced the opening of a new global data processing center in North America. Concurrently, Visa says it has implemented several IT enhancements, chief among them the implementation of a new operating system that underpins VisaNet, its global transaction processing network. According to Visa, "these technology investments further enhance the flexibility, reliability and scale of VisaNet, and increase Visa’s ability to process the ever-growing number of increasingly complex electronic payments around the world, which now account for 33 percent of global consumer spending."
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A new survey from American Express reports that 10 percent of consumers actually intend to open their wallets and spend more on holiday gifts relative to last year and 43 percent plan to spend about the same. In the next 30 days, more than one in five U.S. consumers (22%) expect to spend more when compared to the last 30 day period.
The latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, the third in a monthly series, reports about consumers’ views on the economy, what they plan to spend on and what motivates them to spend or save. The research sample of 2011 adults included the general U.S. population, as well as two subgroups – the affluent and young professionals. READ MORE
The Federal Reserve Board has announced proposed rules that it says "would restrict the fees and expiration dates that may apply to gift cards. The rules would protect consumers from certain unexpected costs and would require that gift card terms and conditions be clearly stated." See the highlights of the proposed rules.
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Gemalto has launched the world’s first bio-sourced degradable smart cards. According to the company, "the card body is made from renewable material, is easily recyclable and compostable, and can be incinerated without emissions of toxic fumes. Additionally, Gemalto offers packaging made from recycled paper and vegetable inks that significantly reduce the product’s environmental impact. Gemalto’s bio-sourced smart cards will be ready for mass production in the first quarter of 2010."
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MasterCard Worldwide has announced the launch of the MasterCard Priceless Gift Finder, a new online tool MasterCard says is "designed to drive e-commerce by helping online shoppers find the perfect gift this holiday season. Using the MasterCard Priceless Gift Finder, online shoppers can choose the price range they want to spend and the personality of their gift recipient. The Gift Finder then displays appropriate gift selections, along with ratings and reviews from Amazon.com. Purchases can be made at Amazon.com directly through the Gift Finder."
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Dogster, Inc., creator of the web destinations Dogster and Catster, has announced it is now offering affinity debit cards that members can personalize with a photo of their pet that are enabled by Tempo’s Web-based debit card platform.
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Alcatel-Lucent has announced a collaboration between its venture, touchatag and Clear2Pay to create a mobile payment framework for mobile operators. According to the companies, "this framework will allow users to purchase products, buy tickets or transfer money using their mobile phone. For example, by placing a Near Field Communications (NFC) enabled mobile phone over scanners at a point-of-sale terminal, a user can use his phone as a wallet." READ MORE
Ingenico and HSBC Merchant Services have announce that they have extended their partnership and will be working together on a four year deal worth £13m. Ingenico was chosen by HSBC Merchant Services to supply its merchants with advanced services, including 37,000 new payment terminals within the UK.
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Discover has announced a variety of ways that "Discover Cardmembers can take advantage of extra cash rewards when shopping this holiday season, including the opportunity to earn Double Cashback Bonus on all online purchases, as well as at department stores, jewelry and apparel retailers."
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