Issuing/Originating

Vancouver’s public-transportation authority has selected a $220 million fare-payment system from Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. that includes a transit-only reloadable contactless card but also the ability to accept general-purpose contactless cards. Replacing proprietary fare cards with systems that add transit capabilities to contactless credit and debit cards issued by banks …

Following through on a tax-season initiative it announced last September, the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday launched a pilot program that could enable more than half a million low- and moderate-income individuals to receive tax refunds via prepaid cards. Next week, the Treasury Department will begin sending letters to 600,000 …

As with other recent moves toward contactless payments via mobile phones, Google Inc.’s introduction of a smart phone equipped with near-field communication (NFC) technology comes shrouded with question marks, say mobile-payments players. Google’s move, which it announced on Monday in conjunction with the rollout of a new, NFC-supporting version of …

After an extended testing period, Discover Financial Services is rolling out its Discover Zip contactless payment system. The card network says an undisclosed number of cardholders began receiving contactless cards in the mail Nov. 15, while others received contactless stickers that attach to their mobile phones or other items. More …

Two years after talk started that the major card networks had designs on Canada’s debit card market, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Visa Canada announced Monday that CIBC was introducing the country’s first Visa-branded debit card. The card, dubbed the CIBC Advantage Card, is good in Canada only for …

Citigroup Inc. revealed on Tuesday it will start a pilot next month for a new type of credit card that will let cardholders apply rewards they’ve earned by pressing a button on the card. The pilot for the new card, which Citi has dubbed its 2G credit card, will start …

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 …