More than a decade after merchants brought a class-action suit against Mastercard , Visa and card-issuing banks in 2005, a settlement between the parties is reportedly in the works. While it is not known how the payment would be split, the card networks and a number of banks may pay merchants a total of approximately $6.5 The case centers around the fees that merchants pay when accepting card payments: merchants contend that the banks and networks worked to inflate those fees. MORE

Corporate travel payments firm AirPlus International is rolling out a new commercial card solutions designed for businesses with employees that travel throughout Europe. The company announced its European Corporate Card, according to Tuesday (June 19) reports in TravelDailyNews. The European Corporate Card provides businesses and their employees with a way to manage and analyze business travel-related expenses. MORE

billion payment chip cards were shipped worldwide in 2017. While shipment volumes in China and the United States “continue to normalize,” contactless payment cards are more than 70 percent of shipments in “a growing number of territories,” the association said in an announcement. In terms of geographies, India saw “sustained growth” in card shipments as a transition to EMV takes place. MORE

N26 , the FinTech bank startup, is upgrading its N26 Metal card, with a launch happening Wednesday (June 13). According to a report in TechCrunch , the card was first announced at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin in December of 2017 and was available for early access by N26 Black customers. The original card was made largely of a sheet of tungsten, with the metal part surrounded by plastic. TechCrunch noted the name of the customer will be on the back of the card. MORE

Card processor TSYS is looking to heighten the security of mobile corporate payments. The company announced Tuesday (May 30) that it is enabling tokenization across its North American commercial card program, allowing businesses to let their own cardholders pay with a mobile device. To do so, TSYS is linking its Enterprise Tokenization solution to commercial card issuers that support mobile payments made via Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay. “We MORE

PayPal Founders Peter Thiel and Max Levchin have participated in a funding round for Brex , a startup that designed a commercial card for startups. According to its press release, Brex wants to enable startups to access credit card products. These businesses are often limited in their choice of cards due to financial and regulatory hurdles, the company said. Brex offers a card product that does not require a personal guarantee. MORE

A new survey has found that 45 percent of Americans are confused about their credit cards rewards, especially those involving travel. While consumers are definitely out of the loop when it comes to their rewards credit cards, they aren’t the only ones to blame,” NextAdvisor wrote in the blog post. Since credit card issuers are in control of their cards’ rewards and redemption opportunities, it’s clear that some issuers are also failing to educate their cardholders.”. MORE

A new study has found that the number of payment cards issued globally reached 14 billion last year and is predicted to rise to 17 billion by 2022, boosted by an increase in overall debit card issuance. RBR , a strategic research and consulting firm, recently published its “Global Payment Cards Data and Forecasts to 2022” report. In China, for example, many consumers hold multiple cards for different purposes. MORE

Meanwhile, commercial cards, while they can help digitize B2B payments, remain pretty low on the totem pole of accounts payable payment rails. Research from NACHA found accounts receivable professionals expect cards to account for 12.5 percent of total payment volume by 2020, a small increase from the 11 percent for which credit and debit cards currently account. But virtual cards, Conduah explained, can help address some of these issues. MORE

Dynamics, a unit of telecommunications firms SoftBank and Sprint, announced what it is calling the first battery-powered payment card on Monday (Jan. T he offering, dubbed Wallet Card, was unveiled during the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) technology conference. According to a press release highlighting the new product , Dynamics said the payment card will boast fast data breach response and replacement times. MORE

In its earnings statement, FLEETCOR said that on April 26, it “identified suspicious activity primarily on systems involving the company’s Stored Value Solutions gift card business.” The payment services provider did not detail the scope of the breach but said that a “significant number” of gift cards that were six months or older, along with PINs, were accessed. Among the bright spots for FLEETCOR in the first quarter was the company’s new universal trucking card. MORE

With fraud on the rise, credit card networks have realized that customer signatures are simply not a reliable way to authenticate someone’s identity — and some of the country’s largest retailers agree. According to The New York Times , four of the largest credit card networks — American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa — will no longer require signatures to complete transactions. Each card network is setting its own set of rules regarding signatures. MORE

Chase has decided to stop offering price protection as a perk on its Sapphire Reserve card. Last year, the company also announced that it was cutting the Sapphire Rewards card’s 100,000 points bonus in half. Much of the company’s faith in Sapphire Reserve rests on how many customers will spend $450 on the card’s hefty annual renewal fee. MORE

As chip cards become standard, counterfeit card fraud in the U.S. Here are five ways to fight fraud in the wake of the widespread deployment of EMV chip cards. Card-not-present fraud will likely rise, especially online. By Terry Dooley. MORE

In recent years, payroll cards have run into controversy as lawsuits and lawmakers scrutinize fees that often come with the tool. Employees hit with costs to make purchases with their payroll cards, withdraw cash at ATMs, check balances and other everyday banking needs are fighting back against those fees, and introducing new conversations about the legal language of “lawful money,” employee protections and beyond. MORE

The wallets of small business (SMB) owners are bulging with plastic, thanks in large part to the difficulty of securing funding, which leads to those merchants using their personal credit cards to meet expenses. To arrive at its findings, Nav “analyzed anonymized personal credit card usage data from 143,004 of its small business customers and 128,281 of its consumer customers. Business credit cards were excluded from the data.”. personal credit cards, which compares to 2.32 MORE

With so much money up for grabs, it may come as a surprise that startups often struggle to get approved for a credit card, even after a lucrative funding round. However, that’s exactly what’s happening, says Henrique Dubugras, co-founder and CEO of Brex — a startup that has designed a commercial card product especially for startups, and one that recently came off its own funding round to the tune of $57 million. The world’s startups are having a good year. MORE

is expanding payroll card operations across the African continent, a market that represents significant growth for the company. A recent press release said Mint has entered into an agreement to process Mastercard -branded payroll cards to disburse salaries to government employees. The three-year agreement will initially see 300,000 payroll cards issued. The firm noted that it plans to complete the rollout of the 300,000 cards across Africa within 12 months. MORE

Users of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) American Express (Amex) card aren’t happy with the changes coming to their cards, which give them one-third fewer reward points for almost every dollar they spend. The SPG Amex card had paid one Starpoint for each dollar spent on everyday items. And though users previously had to spend $20,000 on the card to get 25,000 airline miles, they’ll now need to spend $30,000 to get the same miles. MORE

Since the migration to EMV in the largest card market in the world (the U.S. in October of 2015), the incidences of counterfeit card fraud at chip-enabled merchants have fallen sharply — some 76 percent, as reported by card networks. Once cards became significantly harder to clone, fraudsters took their bag of bad tricks online. In reality, he said, the idea that counterfeit card fraud is 2014’s security problem lacks a fair amount of nuance. MORE

Wells Fargo announced Monday (June 25) an overhaul of its Propel Card, its no-annual-fee rewards cards. In a press release , Wells Fargo said the rewards card has a $0 annual fee and gives credit cardholders three times the rewards on eating out and ordering in, travel and transit, and streaming services, as well as one times the rewards on other purchases. The card will be accepting applications in July, Wells Fargo said. MORE

A new report from Mastercard links use of commercial cards to cost savings for businesses, according to reports in Verdict. Mastercard and Kaiser Associates surveyed 26 medium-sized businesses across the Middle East and Africa, and found that use of commercial card products reduces travel and expense management procedures compared with per diem employee expense programs. Companies that switch from per diems to corporate cards save the equivalent of 7.8 MORE

American Express (Amex) and Amazon have teamed up to release a new commercial card product designed for small businesses (SMBs) buying on the Amazon platform. Announced today (Tuesday, June 26), the co-branded card for SMBs in the U.S. The card solution will include integrated spend management features, enabling small firms to gain insight into purchasing activity. The collaboration with American Express is Amazon’s first step into small business commercial cards. MORE

BMO Financial announced a partnership with Conferma on Monday (July 16) in an initiative to link corporate customers to virtual commercial card solutions. In a press release , the companies said they are collaborating in Canada to link businesses with virtual card payment technologies for their corporate travel and expense management needs. The tool enables companies to pay travel suppliers with a single use virtual card number. MORE

Credit card skimmers are a headache for fuel retailers, but there is more than one way that fraudulent actors can target fleet spend. In addition to stolen credentials and skimmed cards at the fuel point-of-sale, employees are often able to overspend with their commercial fleet card products, or file fraudulent expense reports. Goldspink recently told PYMNTS that fleet card-related fraud goes far beyond skimmers at the POS. MORE

The company believes that exposure of cardholder data that could be used to create counterfeit cards – including names, addresses, emails and Social Security numbers – was limited, but some credit card numbers may have been compromised. The breach may affect users who paid via credit card at affected Buckle store locations between Oct. The malware lifted data from magnetic stripes on payment cards, in some cases possibly including name, number and expiration date. MORE

Just ask Fingerprints Card AB, which teamed up with Visa on a dual-interface biometric payment trial in the U.S. Cards Exclusive Mobile biometrics EMV chip fingerprint point of sale VisaEXCLUSIVE – Biometrics is expected by many to make it big in the payments space this year. MORE

ALDI , the grocery store operator, is being targeted by scammers who are installing credit card skimmers on top of point-of-sale terminals in plain sight. They’ve been installing camouflaged skimmers on ALDI credit card terminals right in front of surveillance cameras. Because the skimmers look exactly like legitimate credit card terminals, employees and customers alike have been tricked. MORE

As biometrics have begun to represent the next generation in securing payments, Mastercard has unveiled a technological advancement for its own biometric cards. Cardholders can now register their fingerprints onto a biometric card at home through the new technology, the company said in an announcement. People love the security our biometric card delivers because we put their needs first. MORE

A new report has revealed that there was a 10 percent increase in the number of payment cards compromised at U.S. The number of compromises and the number of card members impacted set a new record last year,” said TJ Horan, vice president of fraud solutions at FICO. This is why it’s important for consumers to be cautious when withdrawing cash, and also for them to check their account regularly and confirm that all the transactions on their debit card are legitimate.”. MORE

Walmart is mulling shifting its branded credit card business to Capital One Financial from Synchrony Financial as it aims to expand the company’s mobile payments offering. Bloomberg , citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Walmart has narrowed the list of credit card partnership bidders to the two lenders, although talks are still going on. Co-brand and private label credit cards are a good business for banks. MORE

According to Brad Fauss, president and CEO of the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association, the recently released regulations on prepaid cards from the Consumer Finance Protection Board could be another instance of good intentions gone wrong. MORE

First National Bank of Omaha announced that it is not renewing a contract with the National Rifle Association (NRA) to offer customers an NRA-branded Visa card. First National Bank of Omaha offered two NRA cards with a $40 bonus and promoted it as “enough to reimburse your one-year NRA membership!” VISA branded cards First National Bank gun control National Rifle Association News NRA NRA Card NRA Credit Card Shooting Visa Card What's Hot MORE

Singapore residents will soon be able to make purchases with a prepaid Visa card backed by the cryptocurrency platform Monaco. “We believe that the Monaco card program lays solid foundation for Monaco’s growth, and we’re grateful to all partners for their support. The demand for the Monaco Visa prepaid cards has exceeded our expectations with over 17,000 cards reserved, based on word of mouth alone. MORE

Chase announced news on Tuesday (May 22) that it is launching Ink Business Unlimited, a new credit card geared toward small business owners that gives them unlimited 1.5 The credit card has no annual fees and no minimum balance to redeem rewards. Customers also get $500 bonus cash back once they spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months the credit card account is opened. With the new credit card, Chase said its Ink portfolio is rounded out. MORE

Employers are increasingly moving away from depositing paychecks into employees’ bank accounts, offering instead to add them to payroll cards. Payroll cards work like debit cards, allowing employees to purchase goods and services or make cash withdrawals from ATMs. MORE

For the 47 percent of Americans with prime credit scores, getting and using a credit card isn’t much of a problem. The problem, Petal co-founder and CEO Jason Gross told Karen Webster, is that it leaves around half of all Americans with only a few options: a credit card with expensive strings or no credit at all. Financial Inclusion credit access credit card credit products Featured News News Payment Methods Petal Visa Card WebBank MORE

For those workers, stepping into an emergency area means getting operations up and running as quickly as possible, without waiting for wired funds to clear or for a corporate card to be issued in their names. Our evolution after a disaster is cash to PEX [payment card] to credit card.”. MORE

million in a Series A to fund its platform for “business gift cards,” a way for local businesses to drive customer engagement by providing gift cards to their consumers. Boston-based startup Nift has raised $16.5 MORE

area grocery story chain is only allowing customers to purchase reloadable or prepaid gift cards with cash or bank PIN-based debit due to a significant increase in credit card fraud. Because new credit card rules have put them on the hook for fraud. A Washington, D.C.-area MORE

Visa and Wirecard are collaborating on a digital fleet card program, the companies revealed in an announcement on Thursday (June 21). Wirecard announced on its website that it is collaborating with Visa to develop a digital, open-looped fleet card program that integrates fleet management, reporting solutions and payment authorization and security. The fleet card program we have built together with Visa brings everything together into one efficient solution.”. MORE

Commercial cards make up just a fraction of the supplier payments space, but the rise in virtual card technology – and the efficiency and security that come along with it – could help card issuers grab a larger slice of the B2B payments market. Today, Noventis and Comdata, a FleetCor company, are teaming up to combine their respective capabilities in the virtual card segment. But Jeffery said that virtual cards offer a few key benefits over even ACH transactions. MORE

Bank is mobilizing Mastercard commercial card products, the financial institution (FI) announced on Wednesday (April 11). Bank Corporate Travel Card said it will now support mobile payments for corporate customers using business travel cards that run on the Mastercard network. Consumers expect to have multiple ways to pay, including cards, phones and other mobile devices,” added Mastercard EVP of North America Account Management Ed Glassman in another statement. “It MORE