Cardline articles from November 2008

Cardline archives from November 2008

JUSTICE DEPT. INVESTIGATING AMEX MERCHANT PRACTICES.
November 7, 2008... American Express Co. disclosed today that its merchant pricing and "anti-steering" policies have kindled a governmental antitrust investigation. The New York credit card company said in a regulatory filing that it no longer expects to "meet its...

FITCH: CHARGE-OFFS WILL RISE THROUGH MID-2009.
November 7, 2008... Credit card charge-offs and delinquencies will continue to rise this year and through the first half of next year as issuers scramble to control further losses, exacerbated by rising unemployment rates, according to a report released today by...

FIRST DATA COMPLETES DISSOLUTION OF CHASE PAYMENTECH.
November 7, 2008... First Data Corp. has completed the termination of its former joint venture, Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Under the dissolution, announced earlier this year (CardLine, 5/30), Greenwood Village, Colo.-based First Data...

CREDIT MANAGER'S INDEX FALLS TO HISTORIC LOW IN OCTOBER.
November 7, 2008... The seasonally adjusted Credit Manager's Index for October fell 2.6 percentage points from the previous month to a record low of 44.8%, according to a report by the National Association of Credit Management. The index, a gauge of economic...

CHASE, OFFICE DEPOT PROMOTION DEFERS PAYMENTS UNTIL 2010.
November 7, 2008... Office Depot Inc. and Chase Card Services, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., have launched a promotion that requires no payments and charges no interest until January 2010 on single transactions of $499 or more from any Office Depot store in...

ACQUIRERS ADOPT MORE SOPHISTICATED RISK-MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.
November 7, 2008... As fraudsters targeting merchant acquiring data networks increase the sophistication of their attacks, merchant acquirers are poised to adopt more complex risk-management systems, says a report released last week by Mercator Advisory Group...

GIFT CARDS STILL HIGH ON SHOPPERS' LISTS.
November 7, 2008... Consumers plan to give gift cards this year, but plastic gifts do not hold the same allure as in years past, according to a new report from New York-based consulting firm Deloitte LLP. Deloitte commissioned an undisclosed independent research...

BRIEFS.
November 7, 2008... Hypercom Corp. announced today that its Wymix personal-identification-number pad has received MasterCard Worldwide PayPass certification, that French retailer Intermarche has installed Wymix PIN pads with contactless readers as part of a Near...

MASTERCARD PURCHASE VOLUME UP 16% WORLDWIDE, 6% IN THE U.S. ...
November 7, 2008... MasterCard Worldwide purchase volume on all MasterCard credit, charge and debit cards totaled $497 billion during the third quarter, up 16% from $430 billion during the same period last year. Purchase volume on cards based in the United States...

...AND MASTERCARD REPORTS NET LOSS OF $194 MILLION FOR THIRD QUARTER.(Financial report)
November 7, 2008... MasterCard Inc. yesterday reported a net loss of $194 million for the third quarter, compared with net income of $314.5 million for the same period last year. That translates to a $1.49 loss per diluted share, compared with $2.32 earnings per...

U.S. BANK TESTS VISA'S CONTACTLESS MICRO TAG...
November 7, 2008... Visa Inc. and U.S. Bancorp today announced a limited test of Visa's contactless-payment key fob, the Micro Tag, which Visa introduced in September 2007. This month, approximately 4,000 U.S. Bank employees nationwide will receive prepaid Visa...

GROUPS PITCH CREDIT CARD DEBT-RELIEF PLAN TO REGULATORS.
November 7, 2008... A group representing most of the nation's large banks has teamed with the Consumer Federation of America to pitch a plan to credit card-industry regulators that would enable banks to forgive up to 40% of heavily indebted credit card borrowers'...

...AND VISA TESTS PAYWAVE FOR TRANSIT IN LOS ANGELES AND PARIS.
November 7, 2008... Visa Inc. announced today that it has an agreement with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to test Visa payWave contactless cards that will be sold through kiosks in L.A. Metro stations, through the Internet and over...

HEARTLAND Q3 NET INCOME, REVENUE SEE DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH.(Financial report)
November 7, 2008... Princeton, N.J.-based payment processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc.'s reported net income of $13.4 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, a nearly 14% increase from the $11.8 million in net income in the third quarter of 2007, the...

CREDIT UNION 24, CARDTRONICS SIGN BRANDING AGREEMENT.
November 7, 2008... Credit Union 24, the country's largest credit union-owned ATM and point-of-sale network, yesterday announced that it signed a branding agreement with Cardtronics Inc. that enables Credit Union 24's more than 450 members to expand their ATM...

SESAME AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT CARTES SHOW IN PARIS.(Awards list)
November 7, 2008... A reader that authenticates consumers to online banking sites, a fledgling anti-fraud technology for cards and software that enables smart card Web "mashups" were among the technologies taking top honors yesterday at the Sesames awards, the...

BRIEFS.
November 7, 2008... Hypercom Corp. today introduced a product that encrypts cardholder data during transaction processing called HyperSafe Secure. The terminal-maker also announced that HICAPS, an Australian health claims and payments service, has purchased 4,000...

OBAMA VICTORY COULD TOUGHEN TIMES FOR CARD ISSUERS.(Credit Card Safety Star Act of 2007)
November 7, 2008... Barack Obama's presidential victory could mean a tougher environment for credit card issuers if certain legislative proposals he endorsed are re-introduced next year with the Democrat-controlled Congress and minus a veto threat. Obama last year...

FIRST DATA AND INCOMM CALL OFF DEAL.
November 7, 2008... First Data Corp., a privately held payments processor, announced today it has cancelled its agreement to purchase InComm Inc., a marketer and distributor of gift and prepaid cards. In a statement, the companies report they have mutually agreed...

CREDIT UNION 24's PROGRAMS HAVE SAVED $20 MILLION IN FEES.
November 7, 2008... Credit Union 24's surcharge-free ATM suite of programs has saved participating credit unions' individual members $20 million in surcharge fees so far this year, the company says. "Twenty million-dollar savings in ATM surcharges is unprecedented...

ECONOMY SEEN SPURRING MERCHANT CASH ADVANCES.
November 7, 2008... The merchant cash advance industry, which buys future credit-card transactions from merchants, expects 2009 to hold even more growth as merchants turn to non-bank resources for money. Merchants often use the money to fund capital projects as a...

WINCOR NIXDORF'S FISCAL YEAR PROFIT CLIMBS 17%.(Wincor Nixdorf Inc.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 7, 2008... Despite the worldwide economic downturn, ATM manufacturer Wincor Nixdorf AG's 2008 fiscal year was the best in company history, Eckard Heidloff, the firm's president and CEO, told reporters today at the manufacturer's annual news conference in...

HYPERCOM REPORTS RISE IN Q3 NET INCOME AND REVENUE.(Financial report)
November 7, 2008... Point-of-sale terminal maker Hypercom Corp. yesterday reported net income of $625,000 for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, an 18.1% increase from the $529,000 during the same period last year. Revenue grew by 72.6%, to $122.2 million from...

ASSET ACCEPTANCE CAPITAL REPORTS Q3 NET INCOME OF $3 MILLION.(Asset Acceptance Corp.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 7, 2008... Debt buyer Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. yesterday reported net income of $3 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, a $4.7 million turnaround from the $1.7 million net loss it reported for the same quarter one year ago. Total revenues...

TWO NORTH AMERICAN BANKS TO TEST CONTACTLESS TECHNOLOGY FROM FRANCE'S INSIDE.
November 7, 2008... Two North American banks plan to begin testing contactless chip technology from Inside Contactless that enables participants to use cards to pay for services and do related tasks such as access control and loyalty applications. The tests should...

BRIEFS.
November 7, 2008... Contactless-technology vendor Vivotech Inc. this week launched a two-piece contactless reader called Vivopay Kiosk II for use in self-service payments such as transit. Hypercom Corp. has started selling point-of-sale terminals in Denmark...

CLASS-ACTION SUIT ALLEGES AMEX OVERBILLED TRAVELERS.
November 7, 2008... American Express Co. overbilled cardholders for travel insurance and failed to refund unnecessary insurance fees for more than 12 years, according to a class-action lawsuit unfolding this week in Alameda County Superior Court in Fremont, Calif....

CREDIT CARD SOLICITATIONS CONTINUE TO DECREASE, SAYS MINTEL.
November 7, 2008... Credit card issuers in the United States mailed an estimated 1.34 billion card offers to consumers during the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, down 28% from 1.86 billion offers during the same quarter last year and down 13% from 1.54 billion...

HEARTLAND PAYMENTS TO BUY CHOCKSTONE...(Heartland Payments Systems Inc. acquired Chockstone Inc.)(Brief article)
November 7, 2008... Heartland Payments Systems Inc., a payments processing company, has agreed to buy Chockstone Inc., a loyalty program and gift card provider, the company said during its conference call with analysts on Tuesday. Based in Princeton, N.J.,...

...AND IS ADDING AMEX, DISCOVER PROCESSING SERVICES.
November 7, 2008... Heartland Payment Systems Inc. expects to offer all of its new merchants the option to accept American Express cards beginning Jan. 1, Robert Baldwin Jr., Heartland president and chief financial officer, told analysts during a conference call...

CARDTRONICS REPORTS SMALLER Q3 LOSS.(Financial report)
November 7, 2008... Cardtronics Inc., the world's largest ATM independent sales organization, posted today a smaller third-quarter net loss compared with the same three-month period last year. Houston-based Cardtronics reported a third-quarter net loss of $4.2...

FISERV ROLLS OUT MERCHANT-FUNDED REWARDS PROGRAM.
November 7, 2008... Fiserv Inc. this week announced UChoose Rewards, a loyalty product enabling customers to earn merchant-funded rewards for both debit and credit card use at hundreds of local and national retailers. The Brookfield, Wis.-based transaction...

CO-OP FINANCIAL SERVICES OFFERS TRANSACTION MONITORING.(debit card transaction-monitoring service)(Brief article)
November 7, 2008... Co-op Financial Services, a company that provides ATM and card processing services for 2,600 credit unions, announced Wednesday that it is offering a debit card transaction-monitoring service to the 1,400 clients who use its debit-processing...

CUSTOMER SERVICE MAY INFLUENCE DEBIT-REWARDS SUCCESS.
November 7, 2008... Improving the customer-service experience for potential and existing customers may help financial institutions improve customer loyalty and differentiate their debit card rewards from those of competitors, concludes a new report from the...

BRIEFS.(Moody's Analytics released CreditCycle)(Brief article)
November 7, 2008... Moody's Analytics, a subsidiary of Moody's Corp., released CreditCycle, a service for forecasting and testing the performance of consumer loan portfolios by incorporating internal, lender-specific performance factors, such as lending standards...

WRIGHT EXPRESS Q3 NET INCOME MORE THAN TRIPLES.
November 7, 2008... Wright Express Corp., a payment-processing company for commercial and government vehicle fleets, this week announced net income of $72.3 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up 224% from $22.3 million for the same period last year....

BANK MERGERS AND THE ECONOMY WILL CHANGE PAYMENTS.
November 7, 2008... Large bank mergers and the weakening economy will change the way banks acquire new card customers and the way consumers use their various payment cards, according to a research note issued this week by the Mercator Advisory Group Inc....

BRIEFS.
November 7, 2008... MasterCard Worldwide has added two Web-based seminars, called "Data Storage" and "PCI DSS Requirements," to its Payment Card Industry Merchant Education Program, which is designed to help merchants protect payment card data and reduce the...

INFONOX DEAL TO GIVE TSYS ADAPTABLE PAYMENTS TOOLS.
November 7, 2008... Total System Services Inc. says its planned purchase of a California payment technology company would help it adapt its own payment capabilities. TSYS' acquiring solutions unit planned to close its purchase of Infonox Inc. of Sunnyvale Friday....

SOME LEVEL 4 MERCHANTS RESIST PCI COMPLIANCE, OBSERVER SAYS.
November 14, 2008... The cost of complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security and PIN Entry Device Standards and a lack of understanding regarding requirements has caused some Level 4 merchants to resist compliance, according to observers at the...

CREDIT CARD DEBT ROSE SLIGHTLY IN SEPTEMBER.
November 14, 2008... U.S. revolving credit, 98% of which is credit card debt, rose slightly in September to $971.4 billion from $970.5 billion the previous month, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report on consumer credit released Friday. Total seasonally...

FACEBOOK TO ENABLE FRIENDS TO JOINTLY BUY ONE GIFT CARD.
November 14, 2008... Many users will be able to share funds to purchase one gift card for a friend on Facebook Inc.'s Web site under a new agreement between SocialWise Inc., an online-payments software company, and RockYou!, a company that creates applications for...

ISO EYES DEVELOPERS IN REVENUE-BOOSTING EFFORT.
November 14, 2008... North American Bancard, a Troy, Mich.-based independent sales organization, today announced it is creating a division for software developers, value-added resellers of point-of-sale systems and users of their software to capture sales. Called...

SECURITY-DEADLINE EDUCATION DEEMED 'CRITICAL'.
November 14, 2008... Payments industry value-added resellers should begin educating merchants now in anticipation of 2010 Payments Card Industry PIN-device and payment-application deadlines, according to Jim Tingey, executive vice president of Palm Desert (Calif.)...

FICENTIVE TO PROVIDE PREPAID CARDS FOR MOBILE-PAYMENTS FIRM.
November 14, 2008... Prepaid card manager FiCentive Inc. today announced the signing of a card-management agreement with SwipePay Mobile Inc., a mobile-payments company. Under the terms of the agreement FiCentive has created and will manage the SwipePay prepaid...

DIEBOLD SELLS ATMS TO BELGIUM BANKING COMPANY.
November 14, 2008... The Brussels banking company Dexia Inc. has agreed to purchase 1,000 ATMs from Diebold Inc., CardLine sister publication American Banker reports. The North Canton, Ohio-based ATM company said last week that it would deliver its Opteva 328 EF/D...

BRIEFS.(contract between New Mexico Federal Credit Union )(MediaNet Group Technologies Inc. contract for internet shopping )(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... Albuquerque, N.M.-based U.S. New Mexico Federal Credit Union has signed a multiyear agreement with Dallas-based TNB Card Services to process and grow its $25 million credit card portfolio. Customer-loyalty company MediaNet Group...

AMEX'S STATUS CHANGE OPENS DOOR TO NEW PRODUCTS.
November 14, 2008... American Express Co.'s conversion to a bank holding company could enable AmEx to offer a range of new banking products, including debit cards, analysts say. AmEx says it applied for its new status to align it with competitors and to increase...

VISA SETS PCI-VALIDATION DEADLINES FOR LARGE MERCHANTS...
November 14, 2008... Visa Inc. yesterday set Sept. 30, 2009, as the global deadline for the largest merchants to confirm to Visa that none of their point-of-sale systems retains such sensitive cardholder information as track data and security codes from payment...

...AND REPORTS CONTINUED GROWTH OF VALIDATED U.S. PCI COMPLIANCE.
November 14, 2008... Reported compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard continues to increase among merchants in the United States, according to Visa Inc. PCI is a set of card data protection standards initially developed by Visa, MasterCard...

PAYMENT EXECUTIVES SEE PAIN, OPPORTUNITIES FROM ECONOMIC CRISIS.
November 14, 2008... Global economic problems will cause pain for the payments industry through the whole of 2009, but opportunities will remain in emerging markets and other areas, according to payments executives who spoke Tuesday during the World Card Summit,...

REPORT: PREPAID CARDS, MOBILE PAYMENTS MAY HELP TERRORISTS.
November 14, 2008... Terrorists looking to launder money and avoid the detection of law-enforcement agencies may find prepaid cards and mobile funds transfers useful, according to a report released yesterday by The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a...

WORLD'S TOP ATM ISO CUTS WORKFORCE BY 8%.
November 14, 2008... ATM independent sales organization Cardtronics Inc. has cut its workforce by 8% in the United States and United Kingdom because of slumping business conditions, J. Christopher Brewster, Cardtronics chief financial officer, said during a...

SECURITY VENDORS NOT BEST OPTION FOR ALL ISOS.(Report)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... The decision to offer data-security help to an independent sales organization's merchants does not always result in hiring a third-party provider to provide the assistance, reports ISO&Agent magazine, a CardLine sister publication. One of the...

ACQUIRER TALKS WITH ISOS MAY BOOST PCI COMPLIANCE.
November 14, 2008... Some financial institutions do not communicate clearly with their independent sales organizations regarding what the ISOs need to do to get Level 4 merchants compliant with Payment Card Industry data-security standards, Deanna Rich, president...

BRIEFS.
November 14, 2008... Kount Inc., a fraud-prevention software company, and subsidiary Keynetics Inc. have signed an agreement with Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC to provide fraud-detection services to Chase and to recommend Chase to its customers as a transaction...

DISCOVER FINANCIAL'S NELMS SEES CHARGE-OFFS RISING.
November 14, 2008... Credit card charge-offs likely will continue to rise at least through the fourth quarter of next year, David Nelms, CEO of Discover Financial Services, told analysts yesterday at the Merrill Lynch Banking & Financial Services Conference in New...

AMEX REPORTEDLY SEEKS $3 BILLION-PLUS FROM GOVERNMENT.
November 14, 2008... American Express Co. reportedly is seeking $3.5 billion to $3.8 billion in capital from the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Fund. AmEx declined to confirm the reports, but a company spokesperson tells CardLine that becoming a bank...

CONTACTLESS NOT ANY EASY SALE FOR ISOS, OBSERVER SAYS.(Report)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... Selling contactless-payment technology requires a more-sophisticated and time-consuming sales process for independent sales organizations because many merchants and consumers are not interested in the technology, according to one ISO. "We have...

TARGET OFFERS GIFT CARD THAT ALSO IS A DIGITAL CAMERA.
November 14, 2008... Target Corp. has begun offering a variety of gifts cards that carry extra features, including one that is a 1.2 megapixel camera that comes with 40 free prints. The card is essentially a small camera that requires the consumer to purchase two...

CO-OP MEMBERS TIE ATMS TO HIGH-SPEED DATA LINK.
November 14, 2008... Over the past year, more than 1,000 credit unions that are members of Co-op Financial Services have signed up to use Transaction Network Services' TNSLink to create a high-speed data connection for their ATMs. TNSLink, which Co-op Financial...

GLOBAL CASH ACCESS Q3 NET INCOME JUMPS 62%.(Global Cash Access Inc.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... Global Cash Access Inc., which provides cash advance and ATM services for the gaming market, this week reported net income of $8.6 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, a 62% increase from $5.3 million in the same quarter last year. The...

ISO DEBUTS ELECTRONIC MERCHANT-APPLICATION SERVICE.(IP Commerce, Inc. and PaySimple today jointly announce the launch of Commerce Enrollment)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... PaySimple, a Denver-based independent sales organization, has launched an automated, online merchant-application service called Commerce Enrollment, the company announced today. Developed jointly with Denver-based IP Commerce Inc., the service...

BARCLAYCARD REMAINS BULLISH ON CONTACTLESS PAYMENT.
November 14, 2008... Contactless cards issued by Barclaycard, the credit card-issuing arm of United Kingdom-based bank Barclays PLC, have accounted by far for the lion's share of contactless transactions in and around London, according to Richard Mould, who manages...

BRIEFS.
November 14, 2008... The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council is offering a Web seminar "Understanding PCI DSS Version 1.2" on Nov. 25 and Dec. 17 to educate merchants and service providers about the changes brought about in the switch from version 1.1...

ONLINE PAYMENTS TO RISE 70% BY 2013, RESEARCH SHOWS.
November 14, 2008... Online retail payments will rise nearly 70% over the next five years, and consumer spending online with private-label credit and prepaid cards will grow much faster than will other types of payments, including general-purpose credit and debit...

SHELL LINKS DISCOUNT GAS CARD TO CHECKING ACCOUNTS.
November 14, 2008... First Data Corp. will support a closed-loop debit card for customers of Shell Oil Products US beginning in January, Elizabeth Hudson, a spokesperson for Shell U.S. Consumer Cards, tells ATM&Debit News, a CardLine sister publication. When...

NEW PAYMENT METHODS VIEWED AS A GROWING CRIME THREAT.(Report)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... Identity theft is a chief concern for financial-institution compliance officers, but new forms of payment, including so-called virtual payments, mobile payment and prepaid cards, also pose financial-crime threats, according to a survey from...

AMERICAN AIRLINES TO ACCEPT PAYPAL.
November 14, 2008... PayPal Inc. says American Airlines Inc. now accepts its service for ticket purchases online, CardLine sister publication American Banker reports. The San Jose, Calif.-based unit of eBay Inc. has been moving since last year to put its payment...

ISO DEVELOPS MOBILE READER FOR REMOTE MERCHANTS.(ProPay Inc. has developed a card reader )(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... ProPay Inc., an Orem, Utah-based independent sales organization, has developed a card reader for mobile, small and home-based merchants. Launched in late July but announced publicly only recently, the MicroSecure Card Reader is large enough for...

TRANSCARD AND FISHBACK FINANCIAL SIGN ISSUING AGREEMENT.
November 14, 2008... TransCard, a prepaid card provider, has signed an agreement with Fishback Financial Corp., a bank holding company. Under the agreement, Fishback's subsidiaries will provide TransCard bank-sponsorship, card-issuing and transaction-settlement...

UK CONSUMERS LIKELY TO RESIST NEW CREDIT CARD FEES.
November 14, 2008... More than two-thirds of consumers in the United Kingdom would choose a credit card with low fees over one with attractive rewards, according to survey results from Westbury, N.Y.-based Auriemma Consulting Group. Auriemma conducted the...

CYNERGY DATA SIGNS MONERIS SPONSORSHIP AGREEMENT.
November 14, 2008... Cynergy Data LLC, a New York-based independent sales organization, will use sponsorship and settlement services from Moneris Solutions Inc. in a multi-year agreement Moneris announced Thursday. Moneris, the Schaumburg, Ill.-based subsidiary of...

BRIEFS.(JP Morgan Chase & Co. donated $250 million in disaster-relief funds to households)(joint venture between Financial Services Roundtable and Consumer Federation of America for consumers avoid bankruptcy)(contract between Alliance Data Systems Corp. and Buckle Inc. )(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... The Office of the Comptroller this week rejected a proposal that would enable banks to forgive up to 40% of heavily indebted credit card borrowers' debt. The Financial Services Roundtable and the Consumer Federation of America jointly pitched...

CHARITY CARD MALL CREATES GIFT CARDS FOR CONSUMERS.
November 14, 2008... Charity Card Mall LLC, a gift card program manager based in East Freetown, Mass., has created gift cards that consumers can buy as a way to donate to charities in their own or someone else's name. The company's first card is for donations to...

'A TOUGH YEAR NEXT YEAR,' SAYS HEARTLAND EXEC.(Heartland Payment Systems Inc.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
November 14, 2008... Despite positive financial results in the third quarter, payment processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. expects 2009 to be more difficult for sales than 2008. "We're going to be...prepared for a tough year next year," Robert Baldwin Jr.,...

FED PLANS QUICK REDUCTION OF CHECK PROCESSING TO TWO SITES.
November 14, 2008... The United States Federal Reserve Banks plan to scale back check processing facilities sooner than originally planned, the Fed announced yesterday. By the end of 2009, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland will be the only paper check...

BRIEFS.
November 14, 2008... EBay Inc. has completed its acquisition of Bill Me Later for $820 million in cash and about $125 million worth of outstanding stock options.

HSBC USA REPORTS Q3 NET LOSS OF $136 MILLION.(Financial report)
November 14, 2008... HSBC USA Inc. today reported a net loss of $136 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30. The company reported a $21 million net profit for the same period last year. Credit card fees earned $215 million in revenue for the U.S. subsidiary...

CITI AND AMEX RAISE CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES.
November 21, 2008... Citigroup Inc. and American Express Co. have begun notifying credit cardholders of increases in annual interest rates in response to economic conditions. Effective with billing periods beginning Dec. 1, AmEx will increase interest rates on some...

FUNDS DEPOSITED FOR OPEN-LOOP PREPAID CARDS INSURED, FDIC SAYS.
November 21, 2008... The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will insure funds held at insured depository institutions that issue network-branded prepaid cards, the FDIC notes in a general counsel's opinion filed in the Federal Register last week. Card managers often...

TARGET'S CARD-PORTFOLIO PROFIT PLUNGES 83%.(Financial report)
November 21, 2008... Profit in Target Corp.'s credit card portfolio for the third quarter ended Nov. 1 dropped 83%, to $35 million from $202 million during the same period last year as the economic slowdown kept more individuals away from the company's stores and...

NETWORKS TO TEST PIN-DEBIT ONLINE.
November 21, 2008... Accel/Exchange, a Morris Plains, N.J.-based electronic funds transfer network, and three other undisclosed EFT networks plan to conduct a pilot to test consumer use of PIN-debit cards for online shopping. The companies have yet to set a launch...

AUTHORIZE.NET TWEAKS ISO PROGRAM.(Authorize.Net Payment Gateway )(Brief article)
November 21, 2008... Independent sales organizations signing merchants to Authorize.Net's payment gateway will see some changes early next year, John Bodine, the new executive in charge of Authorize.Net, tells ISO&Agent, a CardLine sister publication. Bodine says...