Asiana Airlines, Bank of America, and American Express have announced the launch of the new Asiana American Express Card from Bank of America. The card provides two miles per dollar on everyday purchases and access to members-only golf courses in Korea and throughout the Asia Pacific region.   » Continue Reading

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) has announced it has approved a proposal to prohibit savings associations from engaging in unfair or deceptive acts or practices regarding credit cards and overdraft services that violate the Federal Trade Commission Act. The Federal Reserve Board and the National Credit Union Administration are expected to also approve the proposal shortly.

According to the OTS, the joint proposal addresses practices that have raised concern about fairness and transparency. For credit cards, the proposed rule would address: (1) unfair time periods for making payments; (2) unfair payment allocations; (3) unfair interest rate increases on outstanding balances; (4) unfair fees from credit holds; (5) unfair methods of computing balances; (6) unfair security deposits and fees charged to an account for the issuance of credit; and (7) deceptive offers of credit. For overdraft protection services on deposit accounts, the proposed rule would address: (1) a consumer’s ability to opt out of overdraft services; and (2) unfair fees for debit holds. A summary of the proposed rules is available online.   » Continue Reading

Tony Adams reports for the Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer about yesterday's first ever annual meeting for TSYS as an independent company. 'Tomlinson [TSYS CEO] said his company will soon introduce a single card that lets consumers choose between a debit or credit transaction at the point of sale.' A webcast of the annual meeting is available at the TSYS web site.

Global Payments has announced that Pioneer Petroleums, one of Ontario's largest independent gasoline retailers, is now accepting MasterCard PayPass contactless card acceptance. The service, which allows consumers to pay for goods and services with the simple tap of their payment card, is available at more than 140 Pioneer locations across Ontario.   » Continue Reading

Christina Rexrode writes for the Charlotte Observer about the benefits of remote deposit capture to both businesses and consumers. But she notes that some large banks have no plans for introducing the service for consumers.

A coalition of consumer, labor and civil rights groups yesterday lauded what they called tough new legislation to prohibit abusive and unfair credit card practices, introduced by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd. In a letter of support for the legislation , the groups noted that “as the U.S. economy tightens, financially vulnerable families need the protections of the Credit CARD Act more than ever.”   » Continue Reading

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, yesterday introduced legislation to 'improve credit card billing, marketing, and disclosure practices.' According to Dodd, 'the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (the C.A.R.D. Act) is aimed at stopping credit card practices that drag consumers into staggering amounts of debt, and too often harm, rather than help, the ability of American families to move up the economic ladder.'

Dodd introduced similar legislation in 2005 that died in Committee. This year, Politico.com reports that 'Democrats believe the issue is an election-year winner, offering their candidates a way to get out in front of the current economic turmoil and target an industry reviled by consumers. Both Democratic presidential rivals — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton — have plans addressing credit card abuses.'   » Continue Reading

Chase Card Services and the Canadian Cancer Society have announced the launch of the PayPass-enabled Canadian Cancer Society MasterCard from Chase. By using the card for daily purchases, one per cent of customers’ eligible net purchases will be donated directly to the Canadian Cancer Society.   » Continue Reading

In the UK, Barclaycard and InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) have announced the launch of the Priority Club Rewards Visa credit card.   » Continue Reading

Washington Mutual has announced a new account opening experience that it says couples 100% online approval and opening, and eliminates the need to mail a traditional signature card. Rather than the signature card, the new customer 'uses the first check in their checkbook, which has been specially designed so that once written and processed, it is scanned and used to serve as the sample signature for the account.'   » Continue Reading

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