« August 9, 2009 - August 15, 2009 | Main | August 23, 2009 - August 29, 2009 »
In an article titled "It May Be Time to Find a New Credit Card", Ron Lieber writes for the New York Times about where to turn if your current credit card issuer has adjusted the terms on your account in a bad way. He suggests, depending upon your circumstances, that you think about taking your business elsewhere instead.
The Federal Reserve has published a new staff working paper titled And Banking for All? by Michael S. Barr, Jane K. Dokko, and Benjamin J. Keys. From the abstract: "This paper presents data from a new survey of low- and moderate-income households in Detroit to examine bank account usage and alternative financial service (AFS) products. We find that for the vast majority of households, annual outlays on financial services for transactional and credit products are relatively small, around 1% of annual income. This estimate is lower than those extrapolated by previous work using the posted fees of financial services alone, suggesting that LMI households do not always choose the most expensive financial services option."
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.
Intuit has soft-launched a new Intuit PaymentNetwork, calling it a "new and affordable way to send and receive payments over the Internet" for individuals and small businesses." A comprehensive set of help and support Q&A is available online.
For small businesses, the Intuit PaymentNetwork provides a low-cost payment alternative to credit cards for receiving payments - charging 50 cents per payment received irregardless of the amount (subject to certain limits). There are no monthly charges, equipment or set-up costs.
For individuals sending funds, you can send to anyone who is a member of the Intuit PaymentNetwork. If they're not already a member, they can join to receive their funds. At the present time, individuals can't receive funds.
More details available on the Intuit Small Business United blog.
FICO has announced the results of its study on the impact to consumer FICO® credit scores from lender reductions to credit card limits. FICO says "the study found that while U.S. lenders have made substantially deeper cuts into consumer credit card lines, their targeted approach has had minimal impact on the FICO credit scores of most card customers. The study also found that credit scores fare best when consumers keep balances low on their credit card accounts." READ MORE »
MasterCard has announced enhancements to its corporate meeting solutions portfolio that it says will "provide companies with greater control, efficiency and transparency around meeting planning and management. The company has partnered with two leading providers of online meeting solutions to address the needs of different stakeholders in today's fragmented corporate meetings market."
READ MORE »
The New York Times today has an editorial titled "Debit Card Trap" on the subject of the overdraft fees that many banks collect on debit card transactions when there aren't sufficient funds in the consumer's checking account. The Times cites research by Moebs Services finding that banks in the US "will earn more than $38 billion this year from overdraft and bounced-check fees. Moebs also estimates that 90 percent of that amount will be paid by the poorest 10 percent of the customer base."
The Times is urging that regulators adopt new rules - currently under consideration by the Fed - that would require consumer opt-in and would require notification in real-time when a debit card charge is going to result in an overdraft fee being charged.
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.
In her latest post titled "Countdown to IAT: Are You Ready?" on our sister site PaymentsViews.com, Glenbrook's Erin McCune examines the new International ACH format – IAT – and accompanying NACHA rule changes that take effect next month on September 18th. If you are not sure how IAT affects you and your company, read on.
Chase Card Services has announced the launch of Chase Sapphire - calling it "the next generation rewards card designed for the affluent market." According to Chase, "Sapphire has been built from the ground up to address the needs of the top 15 percent of U.S. households by income who expect premium rewards, outstanding value, and exceptional service."
Earlier this summer, Chase had announced the Ultimate Rewards program where Sapphire was initially mentioned. READ MORE »
Radisson Hotels & Resorts has issued an open letter to its customers informing them that the computer systems of some Radisson hotels in the U.S. and Canada were accessed without authorization. According to the company, "this unauthorized access was a violation of both civil and criminal laws. Radisson has been coordinating with law enforcement to assist in their investigation of this incident. While the number of potentially affected hotels involved in this incident is limited, the data accessed may have included guest information such as the name printed on a guest’s credit card or debit card, a credit or debit card number, and/or a card expiration date." 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 Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland will be holding a conference titled "Consumer Protection in Financial Product Markets" on Friday, September 11, 2009.
From the abstract: "The financial crisis has ignited a call for changes in how consumers are protected in markets for financial products. Recently proposed legislation underscores both public sentiment and the government’s commitment to meaningful reform of the existing consumer protection regulatory regime. As an optimal regulatory environment requires a balance between providing consumer protection and consumer choice, careful consideration must be given to the proposed reforms." READ MORE »
PaymentOne has announced it has closed a $7 million round of equity and debt financing led by AER Investments LLC. According to the company, "the new funding will be used to expand and accelerate the organic growth and mobile related product development as well as set the foundation for executing on strategic acquisition targets to complement the company's suite of payment gateway services." READ MORE »
NetSpend and Check City, a check cashing and payday loan provider in the Mountain West and Mid-Atlantic regions, have announced a distributor agreement in which NetSpend will be the chain’s exclusive prepaid debit card provider. According to the two companies, "with 70 stores in Nevada, Utah, Virginia, Maryland and Colorado, Check City will increase NetSpend’s check cashing distribution in these regions and is expected to drive significant card sales and direct deposit enrollments." READ MORE »
In an article titled "3 Indicted in Theft of 130 Million Card Numbers", Brad Stone reports for the New York Times on yesterday's indictment by the US Department of Justice of Albert Gonzalez, 28, of Miami and two unnamed Russian conspirators. The three were charged with stealing more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers from several different merchants and processors. A copy of the indictment containing the charges is available online.
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.
FonWallet Transaction Solutions has announced the end of what company founder and CIO, Todd Coulter, refers to as their "stealth" phase. "Our goal," says Coulter, "was to develop the first cohesive m-based platform capable of delivering any transaction uniformly across all four payment interfaces (m-commerce, e-commerce, h-commerce and point-of-sale). This gives FonWallet users a very simple, convenient, and identical purchasing experience while adding greater account security, single-step checkout, and positive customer identification." With FonWallet, consumers will be able to finally leave their wallet at home and conveniently and confidently make purchases using a cell phone.
READ MORE »Jack Henry & Associates and Goldleaf Financial Solutions have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Jack Henry to acquire Goldleaf. Under the terms of the agreement, Goldleaf will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jack Henry. READ MORE »
Dave Birch has posted his latest Digital Money Forum podcast - this week interviewing Dion Lisle, Senior Vice President of Citibank’s Growth Ventures team. In this podcast, he talks about Citi's focus on the mobile future.
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.
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