October U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings totaled 106,255 nationwide, down 19.6% from the 132,173 total consumer filings recorded in the year ago period. Meanwhile, of the total $2.45 trillion in outstanding US consumer debt, total outstanding revolving credit dropped in September from $790.2 billion in August to $789.6 billion for a second consecutive month of decline.…
Bluepoint Solutions remote deposit capture, item processing and enterprise content management solutions introduced its “ImagePoint Mailroom” solution. The “ImagePoint Mailroom” lets financial institutions capture and electronically process deposits and remittances, including credit card, mortgage, auto and other loan payments, received in the mailroom. The SaaS-based, automated processing tool is designed to scan, sort, apply and split remittances and deposits, validate the data, then export it for clearing, posting and archiving. The web-based application operates in a secure cloud environment with no local software to install or maintain, allowing institutions to quickly deploy the solution with minimal up-front investment.
eBay and PayPal online and mobile payments are projecting after dinner on Thanksgiving Day as the first mobile shopping spike this holiday season. Using mobile devices and tablets to browse and buy on their own terms on Thanksgiving Day, consumers can take advantage of the eBay “Deal Blast” at 7:00PM ET. Also, “Watch with eBay” is being added to the eBay iPad app that enables users to shop an incredible selection of items on the marketplace related to what they are watching, which will continue to evolve, as eBay incorporates technologies to make shopping alongside TV viewing even easier.
U.S. Bank released its mobile banking application to significantly upgrade the mobile banking experience for all customers. Improving features and customer experience for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, the new app, available in app stores now, begins a series of upgrades planned for U.S. Bank mobile banking over the next several months. The new U.S. Bank mobile banking app has mobile check deposit and enables check deposit on iPhone and Android using the device’s camera feature. Customers will be able to deposit checks via iPad in January 2012.
Visa and shopkick mobile app that rewards consumers for walking into stores, announced cardholders can now qualify for valuable rewards just for paying with Visa. Shopkick now lets mobile users earn more redeemable “kicks” by choosing to link their eligible Visa debit or credit card into its new Buy & Collect program and then making qualifying purchases at participating shopkick merchants with the linked card. Shopkick users have the option to earn more rewards while shopping in their favorite stores and merchants can increase sales and better measure the effectiveness of their location-based marketing efforts. The relationship with shopkick’s Buy & Collect program aligns with Visa’s ongoing commitment to deliver greater value to financial institutions and merchants, while enhancing the consumer shopping experience.
24/7 Card introduced its 24/7 Visa Prepaid Debit + Remit Card (“24/7 Card”). The 24/7 Card is a prepaid debit and remittance card designed for Filipinos and other immigrants living in the United States. The 24/7 Card features a unique one-two combo “Debit + Remit” benefits in one card, offering the convenience of shopping, paying bills and sending money overseas directly from the card account – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Recipients can either pick up funds at any of 24/7 Card’s remittance partners throughout the Philippines; have the money deposited directly into a bank account; or have the money hand delivered to their home.
The HELPcard private credit card label has seen faster, more effective collection recovery after having deployed the debt collection solution from Latitude Software Interactive Intelligence. The HELPcard also has seen improvements from Latitude software suite’s online, real-time credit card payment and post-dated check interfaces.
Acuity has made available its free management application, allowing businesses to measure, monitor and report on their compliance to PCI-DSS v2.0 payment card data security standards. The governance, risk and compliance (GRC) specialist launched the compliance software to monitor progress against the six milestones in the PCI-DSS Prioritized Approach and will identify, assess, manage and report on risks to cardholder data. It will also track residual risk status in relation to performance of PCI controls and key metrics and provide visibility of information for auditors. The Acuity PCI DSS tool ultimately reduces the time it takes to gather, collate and report on compliance; while also improving governance and reducing the cost of external audits and due diligence by always having up-to-date status information.
Clear2Pay international technology provider of next generation payment solutions for financial institutions announces has acquired ISTS Worldwide retail payments technology. Its core solutions are focused on the card transaction space and test automation. It serves payment processors such as Blackhawk Network (a subsidiary of Safeway), ATX (a subsidiary of Euronet), Paypal, Commidea, Loyalty One and more. ISTS also works in the payment value chain with clients in retail (Sears and Levis), eCommerce (Intuit Symantec and Marketlive), POS (Verifone, Sequoia Retail Systems, Gilbarco) and Software vendors such as Microsoft and Trustwave.
Wincor Nixdorf has reorganized its cooperation with sales partners to better tap growth potential in key markets, such as emerging countries, together with partners. It is to merge its activities, which used to be separated along the lines of the two sectors of retail banking and retailing, in a joint organization with global responsibility at headquarters and create a regional organization for the Middle East and Africa. The objective of the new organization is to make it easier for partners worldwide to access Wincor Nixdorf’s entire portfolio and to actively support them in developing their local business.
Monext international acquiring platform has been PCI DSS certified, confirmed by XMCO. Monext thus becomes the first and only French company to have its international acquiring platform PCI DSS certified. Monext, a key player in electronic payment in France and within Europe, offers a global solution for the acquiring of international bank flows. This platform allows them to manage cross-border payment transactions made using VISA or MasterCard cards. The platform covers authorisation, remote data collection, monitoring, calculating merchants’ fees, accounting interface, and remittance of funds through the banking partner. It also offers multi-currency reporting services, multilingual call centres and European-wide dispute management.
UAE Exchange global remittance and foreign exchange and Bank of Kathmandu has introduced its “FLASH” initiative to Nepal market. The “FLASH” solution allows the beneficiary to receive money in their account securely within seconds. The moment the amount is credited to the beneficiary’s account, an SMS notification is instantly sent to the mobile phones of both the sender and the receiver, thus reducing on the follow up costs.