Australian credit card outstandings edged up by 1.6% year-on-year (YOY) in January. Credit card credit limits increased 3.3% YOY and the number of credit card accounts rose 3.4% YOY. The average balance per account in January declined 1.7% to AU$3115, compared to AU$3194 for December, and AU$3170 for January 2015. Credit card outstandings for January…
Total U.S. credit/charge cards-in-force (CIF) in the fourth quarter (4Q/15) for Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover was up 7.0% year-on-year (YOY). At the end of 4Q/15, there were 647 million U.S. credit/charge CIF compared to 612 million for 4Q/14. Visa U.S. credit CIF for 4Q/15 jumped 7.9% YOY to an estimated 335 million, compared…
U.S. Gross Dollar Volume (GDV) among the big six U.S. bank card issuers, rose an estimated 6.4% year-on-year (YOY) and 4.8% sequentially in the fourth quarter (4Q/15). Capital One grew more than twice than the other five. Capital One, like most bank card issuers, only reports purchase dollar volume (PDV). The top six U.S. issuers…
After inking a multi-year, exclusive co-brand deal last year, American Express and Charles Schwab have unveiled a new credit card and a new charge card. The American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab gives clients excellent rewards, benefits, and services with the added ability to redeem Membership Rewards® points for deposits by Schwab into a linked…
Gross dollar volume (GDV) for Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover cards (credit + debit) in the U.S. climbed 8.1% year-on-year (YOY) in 4Q/15 reaching a record $1443 billion. Visa led the way in the fourth quarter posting a 8.9% YOY gain for U.S. GDV. Visa reported fourth quarter GDV of $841 billion, compared to $822…
UK-based Prepaid Financial Services has inked Slovenia’s Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB) to launch a white-labelled, contactless prepaid MasterCard card and mobile sticker product. The program was soft launched at the end of 2015 and following substantial interest from millennial customers, has now been rolled out across all NLB branches in Slovenia. PFS is both the…
Atlanta-based Parkmobile has teamed with the National Cherry Blossom Festival to provide event-goers with simple and convenient parking options for the festival. Parkers will be able to take advantage of Parkmobile and ParkNow, Parkmobile’s reservations platform, in order to pay for on-street parking or reserve parking near the event using their mobile phones. It takes…
Later this year the UAE will become another overseas market where UnionPay cards are fully accepted at all ATMs and POS terminals. Over the years, UnionPay International has kept improving its overseas acceptance network according to the trend of international tourism and cardholders’ payment needs, and has made breakthroughs in many overseas markets. Now, UnionPay…
Silicon Valley Fintech startup SelfScore has unveiled the first dedicated MasterCard credit card designed for international students in the U.S. By utilizing unique analytics and robust data sets including a borrower’s education, source of funding, and career prospects, SelfScore identifies creditworthy international students who are otherwise labeled as “thin-file” or “no-file” credit seekers. This credit…
The cross-border online transaction volume of UnionPay cards increased by nearly three times in 2015. Meanwhile, more and more overseas cardholders prefer to use UnionPay cards for online payment, and the online transaction volume of UnionPay cards issued overseas witnessed an increase of six times last year. According to China e-Business Research Center, the transaction…
MasterCard has buddied with Co-operative Bank (CB Bank) to launch the CB EasiTravel Prepaid MasterCard Contactless card. ARTICLE: MasterCard has buddied with Co-operative Bank (CB Bank) to launch the CB EasiTravel Prepaid MasterCard Contactless card. The latest of MasterCard’s efforts to better serve the people of Myanmar, the CB EasiTravel Prepaid MasterCard Contactless card provides…
Wells Fargo has unveiled a major credit card rewards program to all customers with a rewards-based credit card from Wells Fargo. WithGo Far Rewards customers can redeem their rewards at any Wells Fargo ATM, use rewards toward their qualifying Wells Fargo checking or savings account or apply toward the principal balance of a qualifying Wells…