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Credit Cards

Welcome to the News View for "Credit Cards".

Here, on these archive pages, you'll find all of the articles on Payments News for Credit Cards listed in date sequence beginning with the most recent article at the top of the page.

Click here for a complete listing of what's available in the Payments News Archive - organized by both posting date and subject category.

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May 03, 2013

Headline News - May 3, 2013

On the web:

On the wires:

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated.

May 01, 2013

Headline News - May 1, 2013

On the web:

On the wires:

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated.

April 26, 2013

A Look at EMV Migration in the US - and a Need for Monitoring

Kansas city fed logo 140x60pxIn an article titled "The U.S. Adoption of Computer-Chip Payment Cards: Implications for Payment Fraud", Richard J. Sullivan, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, takes a look at what has happened to payment card fraud in other countries following their migration to EMV-based chip cards.

U.S. regulators and industry leaders should expect shifts in the nature of payment card fraud and take proactive countermeasures. But the United States currently lacks effective tools to gauge what types of fraud are on the rise. Establishing a comprehensive monitoring system could help in assessing the level of payment card fraud, tracking trends in the fraud, and measuring the losses sustained by its victims.

April 25, 2013

Chart of the Week: US Unemployment vs Revolving Debt

Last week we looked at PayPal's annual payment volume over the last 10 years and how it's grown. This week's chart is a mashup of the US unemployment rate (the thin blue line - as provided by monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) plotted on top of the revolving debt statistics (the red vertical bars - as provided monthly by the Federal Reserve).

US credit card issuers frequently talk about how credit card chargeoffs track the unemployment rate. I was curious as to how the absolute amount of revolving debt tracked unemployment. In this chart you can see revolving debt peaking a $1.2 trillion in 2008 before consumers began paying down revolving debt - and issuer's began charging off amounts from consumers who were defaulting on repayment.

Beginning in 2011, unemployment peaked and consumers began slowly adding to revolving debt again as employment began also improving.

Unemployment RevolvingCredit

Have you seen an interesting chart recently that opened your eyes to new insights? Please tell me about it! Email it to me: editor@paymentsnews.com

Headline News - April 25, 2013

On the web:

On the wires:

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated.

April 19, 2013

Headline News - April 19, 2013

On the web:

On the wires:

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated.

November 13, 2012

Citi 'Price Rewind' Price Protection Program

Citi logo 140pxCit has announced a new price protection program called Citi Price Rewind. Here's how it works. After a Citi cardmember purchases and registers an eligible item, Price Rewind will search hundreds of retailers’ sites for 30 days after the purchase to find a lower price. If a price is at least $25 less than what the cardmember paid, Citi will refund the difference in price – up to $250 per item.

“During the holiday season when the clock is ticking on getting popular gifts and toys, our customers can make their purchases today with more confidence that we will help get them a lower price,” said Ralph Andretta, Head of Co-Brands and Loyalty at Citi Cards. “Citi Price Rewind is another way that we’re delivering value to our cardmembers by using unique technology, and we’ve found a lower price for one-out-of-four registered purchases over $100.”

For more information on Citi Price Rewind, including a full description of coverage, eligible categories and Citi credit cards, visit http://www.citi.com/pricerewind.

November 12, 2012

Preliminary Approval in U.S. Merchant Litigation

Generic credit cards 140x60pxJudge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has granted preliminary approval in the U.S. merchant litigation. Reuters has a nice write up of the hearing:

During a packed hearing on Friday, lawyers for dozens of objectors -- including Target Corp and Home Depot Inc -- told the judge that the settlement offered meaningless relief for merchants saddled with an estimated $30 billion in annual swipe fees. They also argued that releases shielding Visa and Mastercard from new litigation over the same claims would violate their legal rights and give the two companies protection from for any future anti-competitive behavior.

The National Retail Federation said that is will continue to oppose the settlement and look at other legal options.

In other legal news, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to AmEx's bid to force merchants to arbitrate antitrust claims over it fees.

October 09, 2012

World Payments Report 2012

Rbs logo 140x60pxDebit cards continue to gain global market share from credit cards, and the use of electronic and mobile payments continues to show exponential growth concludes the World Payments Report 2012 released by Capgemini, RBS, and Efma.

“Debit card transactions continue to take market share from other types of payment methods because they easily allow people to bypass the use of cash,” said Kevin Brown, Global Head, Transaction Services Product, International Banking, RBS. “As more and more consumers move to mobile and other electronic payments, we’ll continue to see the exponential growth of innovative payment solutions.”

The World Payments Report 2012 also highlights that Brazil now the third largest non-cash market in the world after the US and the Eurozone.

August 16, 2012

Discover Brings Google Wallet to Its Cardmembers

Discover logo 140pxDiscover has announced Discover announced that it is partnering with Google to allow its cardmembers to save their credit card directly into Google Wallet by logging into the online Account Center at discover.com/googlewallet.

“Our cardholders regularly use their Discover card to make purchases and payments online, in-store and now more frequently through their mobile devices,” said Sanjay Gosalia, Director of Mobile at Discover. “By offering the ability to join Google Wallet through our Account Center, Discover is providing our cardmembers with even greater flexibility and convenience when it comes to paying for their purchases.”

"We’re excited to partner with Discover to make it even easier for cardmembers to pay for their purchases,” said Robin Dua, Head of Product Management, Google Wallet. “By providing a simple way for cardholders to securely add their credit card to Google Wallet directly from the Discover website, we’re extending the opportunity to pay with Discover through Google Wallet at hundreds of thousands of merchants."

Google says that Discover is the first issuer to launch an implementation of its new Save to Wallet API for Payment Cards.

July 13, 2012

Merchants Reach $7.25B Interchange Settlement with Visa and MasterCard

MasterCard logo 140pxVisa logo 60pxh Visa and MasterCard have announced that they, and several major US issuers, have reached a $7.25 billion class-action settlement with US merchants. Visa's statement is here; MasterCard's statement is here. Specific terms of the agreement include:

  • Distribution to class merchants of an amount equal to 10 basis points of default interchange across all credit rate categories for a period of eight consecutive months, which otherwise would have been paid to issuers and which effectively reduces credit interchange for that period of time.

  • Modifications to card company rules to permit retailers to impose a surcharge on credit transactions subject to a cap and a level playing field with other general purpose card competitors. The rule changes on surcharging likely would be implemented in early 2013.

  • Agreement that card companies will meet with merchant buying groups that seek to negotiate interchange rates collectively (e.g., independent drug stores).

The card-issuing banks participating in the settlement include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Capital One among others.

National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), one of the class plaintiffs in the lawsuit, announced that they have rejected the proposed settlement.

May 22, 2012

Survey Says Small Businesses Not Accepting Cards Miss Out on $100 Billion Per Year

Intuit logo 140pxAccording to a recently released Intuit GoPayment survey, 55% of the nation’s 27 million small businesses do not accept credit cards.

Intuit estimates that each business that does not accept plastic misses out on approximately $7,000 in sales annually, equating to approximately more than $100 billion in collective lost revenue. This missed opportunity represents a combination of new sales and sales that go to other businesses that accept credit cards.

March 05, 2012

Barclaycard Introduces Crowdsourced Credit Card

Barclaycard logo 140pxBarclaycard US has announced the Barclaycard Ring MasterCard card, "the first social credit card to be designed and built through the power of community crowdsourcing. Driven by the influence of an online community of cardmembers, the new card will offer a low interest rate, low fees, simple terms and the opportunity for cardmembers to shape and share in the product’s financial success."

More information is a available on the Barclaycard Ring website. This video illustrates the concept.

February 23, 2012

AmEx Moves Ahead of MasterCard in U.S. Purchase Volume

Amex logo 140pxThe Nilson Report has announced that American Express overtook MasterCard to gain second place among credit card brands in the U.S., based on spending at merchants.

“This is the first time since MasterCard was known as MasterCharge back in the 1960s, that American Express has experienced more purchase volume,” said David Robertson, publisher of The Nilson Report. While purchase volume increased for all four card brands (Visa, Amex, MasterCard, and Discover), American Express credit cards had an increase of 13.4% to $540 billion dollars, vs. an increase 6.1% to $508 billion for MasterCard credit cards.

December 20, 2011

December 05, 2011

November 15, 2011

Credit Card Delinquencies Increase, but Remain Near Record Low Levels

TransUnion logo 140pxTransUnion announced "the national credit card delinquency rate (the ratio of borrowers 90 or more days past due) increased in the third quarter for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2009, edging upward to 0.71%. Average credit card debt per borrower increased $63 in the quarter to $4,762, though it remains near record-low levels.

September 21, 2011

August 15, 2011

July 12, 2011

July 11, 2011

April 25, 2011

April 13, 2011

March 31, 2011

March 21, 2011

March 15, 2011

CARD Act Conference: Key Findings

Cfpb logo 60pxhThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is now providing the key findings of a conference on the credit card marketplace held one year after the effective date of many of the provisions of the “CARD Act”.

The data from the eight presentations at the CARD Act conference provide an overview of the credit card market – the cost of credit for consumers, the supply of and demand for credit, and industry profitability. The CFPB also released data on the day of the CARD Act conference that focused on the ways that specific industry practices addressed in the Act – such as interest rate hikes and overlimit and late fees – have changed and impacted the consumer credit card experience.

February 15, 2011

Payments Views - POS Steering in the Age of Durbin

GP Logo Horizontal 140pxOver on Payments Views, our sister blog, Glenbrook's Russ Jones shares his thoughts on where POS steering may be headed this year, commenting "several of Glenbrook’s merchant clients are already developing their strategies for rewarding customers that select low cost payment methods at the point of sale."

January 10, 2011

January 03, 2011

October 28, 2010

Boston Fed Survey Shows Americans Can Be Choosy About Their Payment Methods

survey_graphic_140px.png"A sizable and growing minority of American consumers who once possessed a credit card no longer have one," says the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Consumer Payments Research Center. Surveys done over the last two years indicate that the “discard rate,” the percentage of consumers who have abandoned that method of paying for purchases, grew from 14% in 2008 to 16.5% in 2009. In contrast, the discard rate among Americans for prepaid cards was 27.5%. Debit cards were about 5%.

These figures were announced in the 2008 Survey of Consumer Payment Choice (SCPC), annual study by the Boston Fed that is available to the public for free.

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