Smart Cards

The United States may have been late to the EMV party, but U.S. credit and debit card issuers pushing out EMV chip cards have helped make the country the number-one market for EMV plastic, according to the latest figures from Visa Inc. As of June 30, Visa chip cards totaled …

• American Express Co. reported $2 billion in net income for the second quarter, including a $1.1 billion pre-tax gain from the sale of its Costco Wholesale Corp. cobranded portfolio to Citigroup Inc., which is now issuing a cobranded

• A Michigan gas station has begun accepting the AnyWhereMobile Payment Network app from developer MShift Inc. and Team One Credit Union, the first financial institution to offer the mobile-payments product. Team One plans to bring acceptance of the app, which works with VeriFone Systems Inc.’s Commander Site Controller solution, …

Despite the hoopla surrounding EMV acceptance, and the constant promotions from acquirers and payments providers touting EMV-capable equipment, at least one acquirer, Square Inc., continues to believe there is a market for magnetic-stripe readers. A direct-mail piece from Square mailed late last week touts its magnetic-stripe reader along with its …

• More than 120 retailers, including Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, Best Buy, and 7-Eleven, signed a letter urging the U.S. House of Representative’s Financial Services Committee to reconsider the elimination of the Durbin Amendment that would happen if two pending bills become law. • After a three-week trial, a Superior Court judge …

A new National Retail Federation survey found that 57% of retailers that had installed EMV chip card terminals in their stores claim they’ve been waiting for up to six months or even longer to get their equipment certified. Conducted in May and June, the survey also found that 48% of respondents …

• ATM network operator Cardtronics plc announced organizational changes that include chief financial officer Edward H. West taking on the additional role of chief operations officer and North American Business Group president David Dove leaving the company later this year. Jonathan Simpson-Dent, who had been managing director of Cardtronics Europe, …

It was great while it lasted, but it looks like the chip card party is over for VeriFone Systems Inc., the leading U.S.-based point-of-sale terminal maker, at least for now. The U.S. conversion to EMV chip cards had produced a North American revenue windfall for VeriFone over the past couple …

Getting point-of-sale terminals through the EMV-certification process should become a bit quicker thanks to the card brands’ efforts to “streamline” the testing process. That should bode well for POS terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc., says Vin D’Agostino, executive vice president of VeriFone Services. MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc. separately announced programs that …

• Prepaid card provider Green Dot Corp. appointed William I. Jacobs, who joined its board of directors in April, as board chairman. The chairman spot had been held by CEO Steve Streit, but the company, which recently had a proxy fight, is separating the roles. Jacobs currently is chairman of …