Issuing/Originating

With the holiday shopping season only weeks away, the nation’s biggest retailers are falling short in their offerings of virtual gift cards, according to research released on Thursday. Of the country’s 100 biggest online merchants—many of which also operate large brick-and-mortar chains—only half offer virtual cards, which are gift “cards” …

Reflecting trends seen by its larger network competitors, Discover Financial Services on Monday reported modest growth in credit card volumes and bigger growth in debit. Discover, in releasing earnings for its third fiscal 2010 quarter ended Aug. 31, also said that its 4-year-old effort to recruit merchant acquirers to sign …

In an apparent first in the debit card market, MasterCard Inc. has a struck a deal with Delta Air Lines Inc. to build a national network of issuers of Delta SkyMiles cobranded debit cards bearing the MasterCard logo. Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks Inc. currently is the sole issuer of Delta debit …

Rising interest in contactless mobile payments via micro Secure Digital (SD) cards has led to the introduction of a feature that will let banks personalize SD cards for payments in a matter of minutes. The new feature, which can be used in a branch or other office, has the potential …

Hammered by the worst economic downturn in decades, consumers have been abandoning credit cards in droves, instead using debit cards as their plastic of choice. But new research suggests card issuers will soon have to revamp their credit card programs and beef up prepaid card marketing to offset an expected …

Facing strong competition from up-and-coming open-loop prepaid cards and maturity in some of its subcategories, closed-loop prepaid cards still managed to grow 7.1% last year, according to a new study from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator estimates load volume on closed-loop cards, which are issued by or for …

Powered in part by surging government programs, open-loop prepaid cards barreled along in 2009, according to new findings from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Now the question is whether that growth will continue after new payment card regulations kick in some time next year. Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator estimates users loaded $124.6 …

First gift cards went virtual, and now they’re going mobile. Portland, Ore.-based Giftango Corp. introduced on Wednesday a software developer’s toolkit that mobile developers can use to let users receive gift cards while staying within a mobile application. Giftango, which manages both plastic and virtual gift cards for merchants and …

With interchange and overdraft-fee revenues under withering political and regulatory attack, debit card issuers can point to one bright spot in their quest for growth—instance issuance of cards in bank and credit-union branches. Some 35% of financial institutions offered the service in 2009, up from 28% in 2008, according to …

A proposed rule from the U.S. Treasury Department could add millions of users to a prepaid card program sponsored by the federal government to distribute Social Security benefits. The new rule, which would eliminate virtually all paper checks for various federal benefits, would expand the range of benefits that can …