The February unemployment rate was unchanged from January, staying at at 8.3%. In conjunction, the Prime Credit Card Chargeoff Index for February continued improvement, dropping another 10 basis points (bps) from the previous month to 5.23%. While the number of unemployed persons stayed at 12.8 million, defaults are now at the lowest levels in four…
Discover and EVERTEC forged an ATH partnership, allowing participating financial institutions to issue Discover cards for POS signature debit with PIN-based ATH debit cards and signature functionality. This will expand the use of such cards to POS terminals worldwide wherever the Discover and Diners brands are accepted. Customers will be given added convenience because they can use these cards to make online purchases, as well as payments at places like parking terminals, where PIN debit transactions are typically not an option.
The American Express Prepaid Card prepaid reloadable Card with no monthly or maintenance fees, will soon be available in retail at select Office Depot stores. The Card will roll out in more than 1,100 stores across the United States in the coming weeks and provide Office Depot customers with a smarter spending and budgeting tool that can be used anywhere that American Express® Cards are accepted. The temporary one-time load Card is available for purchase for $4.95 in more than 1,100 Office Depot stores nationwide or free online at americanexpress.com/prepaid. The temporary Card can be funded with multiple loading options at the register with any dollar amount from $25 to $500. The permanent American Express Prepaid Card lets Prepaid Cardmembers load their Card, up to $5,000 monthly, from their paycheck using direct deposit.
MasterCard will continue as presenting sponsor of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard for four additional years. Proceeds from the tournament continue to benefit Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. The relationship between MasterCard, a sponsor of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour since 1995, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard began in 2004. For the 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard, MasterCard has issued a challenge to its professional golf ambassadors. Should any of the ambassadors entered in this week’s event win the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard, MasterCard will make an additional $200,000 donation to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies in their name.
The Western Union Company global payment services will launch “WU Pay” electronic payments platform to improve the customer experience and safety for millions of people seeking to make online payments or transfer money. The WU Pay platform allows online shoppers in the U.S. to pay for online purchases from their existing bank accounts or in cash at Western Union Agent locations. WU Pay is based on the eBillme platform, which Western Union acquired in October 2011. Shoppers choose the option at checkout page, and the order is confirmed with a bill sent to their e-mail address and pay the bill the same way they pay utilities, loans, insurance, and other bills through their online bank account or at one of over 44,000 Western Union® Agent locations.
Discover Financial Services reported net income of $631 million for the first quarter of 2012, as compared to $465 million for the first quarter of 2011. First Quarter Highlights Total loans grew $4.6 billion, or 9%, from the prior year to $56.3 billion. Credit card loans grew $1.6 billion to $45.9 billion and Discover card…
Citi’s Commercial Cards launches the Program Audit Tool (PAT) web-based card activity monitoring application. It focuses on program management, program compliance and optimization; helping to protect organizations against fraud and card misuse by identifying out-of-program transactions and ensures the integrity of card programs as regulatory and other requirements continue to rapidly evolve. PAT allows clients to actively manage how their Citi Commercial Cards are being used around the globe, by creating parameters to rule sets that identify which card transactions are outside internal policy guidelines.
Fiserv, a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced that San Diego County Credit Union (SDCCU), a $5.4 billion financial institution, is now offering a full range of mobile banking capabilities with Mobiliti(TM) and Mobile Source Capture(TM) from Fiserv. Members can securely access their financial information via their choice of SMS (text messaging),…
On Thursday, March 29, Mung-Ki Woo, group executive, Mobile for MasterCard, will participate in the Barclays Emerging Payments Forum in New York. The presentation will begin at 9:10 a.m. Eastern Time and last for approximately 40 minutes. There will be a listen-only live webcast of the presentation, and a replay will be archived for 30…
Spokane Teachers Credit Union of Spokane, Wash., has joined the STAR® Network, signing a multi-year agreement under which STAR will provide PIN-secured debit point-of-sale (POS) and ATM access to STCU’s cardholders. With more than $1.6 billion in assets, STCU serves members throughout Washington, as well as Kootenai and Bonner counties in Idaho, with 15 branch…
Gemalto digital security has won two Future Mobile Awards from Juniper Research in the Near Field Communications (NFC) and Mobile Ticketing categories respectively. The awards recognize Gemalto’s role in mobile commerce through Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) deployment and Trusted Service Management (TSM) for NFC technology, as well as contactless services for mass transit. These awards were decided by industry experts based on criteria including: product range, innovation, geographic market penetration, evidence of commercial campaigns, partnerships, and potential future business.
At a news conference in Manila, MoneyGram International, a leading global money transfer company, introduced its first global marketing campaign specifically designed to reach the more than 90 million Filipinos living around the world – “Moneygrado sa MoneyGram” – which features popular native TV and film celebrity Robin Padilla. In the Tagalog language, the official…