Consumer revolving credit outstandings, most of which are credit card debt, hit a record $1.02 trillion in June, the Federal Reserve reported this week. The new high is 0.1% higher than the old record set in April 2008, just as the financial crisis of 2008-09 was gathering steam. Relying on leaked …

Mobile point-of-sale services provider CardFlight Inc. announced that payments provider Central Payment will offer CardFlight’s SwipeSimple mPOS reader to merchants. Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) said home-improvement retailer Lowe’s will use FIS’s BizNOW prepaid service—labeled as Lowe’s PreLoad—to enable contractors to automate their purchasing activities, eliminating the need for their employees to …

Declining use of cash at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has prompted the Atlanta City Council to re-bid a contract for banking services at the world’s busiest airport after only one bank, SunTrust, responded to the original proposal, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The incumbent, Wells Fargo, claims ATM revenues have declined and that its …

Litigation between CardFree Inc. and Scvngr Inc., better known as LevelUp, has taken a nasty turn in recent weeks, with LevelUp accusing CardFree of high-pressure tactics outside the courtroom and CardFree charging LevelUp with more instances of fraudulent access to its mobile order-ahead-and-pay system. In its June 21 answer to …

Worldpay has asked for second extension, this time to Aug. 11 after a first one to Aug. 8, of a British regulatory deadline as Worldpay and Vantiv Inc. executives put the finishing touches on Vantiv’s proposed $9.9 billion buyout offer for the London-based merchant acquirer. Reuters reported that the companies expect to announce a final …

MoneyGram International Inc. reported second-quarter revenue of $410 million, flat with 2016’s second quarter on a constant-currency basis. Digital money-transfer revenue increased 10% and now accounts for 15% of total money-transfer revenue. Net income doubled to $6.2 million. In May, MoneyGram shareholders approved a merger of MoneyGram with Ant Financial Services Group, …

Payments provider National Merchants Association announced it is using the PhoeniXGate gateway from Phoenix Managed Networks. Fleetcor Technologies Inc., a vendor of commercial-payment technology, reported second-quarter results, including a year-over-year increase of 29.5% in total revenue to $541.2 million and GAAP net income of $131 million, up 12.7%. The Western Union Co. reported …

Ingenico Group said retailer City Furniture is using Ingenico mobile point-of-sale readers and software services as part of its new POS system used in its 27 stores. Payment card manufacturer CPI Card Group Inc. reported second-quarter sales of $65.8 million, down 10.7% from the same period last year. Its net loss was $2.2 …

Mobile-payments specialist xPressTap Inc. launched its Tap2App product that enables merchants to accept contactless card payments wirelessly using a near-field communication-equipped mobile device. American Express Co. said it now provides an integrated service to MineralTree, an accounts-payable service, to ease business-to-business payments. Payments provider Integrity Payment Systems announced a partnership with Operation First Response, a …

How often do you pause to reflect on the pace of change in the electronic-payments business? Yes, we’re all quite busy, so such moments are rare. But they are instructive. A couple of decades ago, the notion of paying merchants with a debit card linked to a checking account and …