The card-issuing alliance American Express Co. and MBNA Corp. announced yesterday will benefit the two financial-services companies more than it will hurt Visa and MasterCard, some observers note. Although MBNA, second only to Citigroup Inc. as a credit card issuer, has already said it will seek to convert current cardholders …

American Express Co. says it will be a matter of “months,” not “years,” until banks in the United States are issuing the company's card products now that the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out a motion from Visa International Corp., Visa USA Inc., and MasterCard International Inc. …

With gift cards accounting for more than $17 billion in retail sales, or about 8% of merchants' total take, during the recent holiday shopping spree, according to the National Retail Federation, the plastic has become a star in the electronic transaction firmament. But while gift cards are stealing the headlines, …

An ambitious multi-application smart card pilot launched late last year in Barrie, Ontario, is ready to move to its next phase, which will involve signing up 40 more merchant locations in February. Toronto-based Scotiabank, the issuer of the cards, will not release how many it has issued so far, though …

Just weeks after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. informed MasterCard International Inc. that the chain would stop accepting MasterCard debit cards effective next month, the bank card company has released a consumer survey showing that merchants who reject debit cards risk losing sales. Sponsored by MasterCard and conducted by Harris Interactive, best …

The highest delinquency rate ever seen on credit cards did little to dampen transactions on the cards during the critical holiday season. The American Bankers Association reports today that late payments on credit cards reached a record 4.09% of all accounts in the third quarter of 2003, up from 4.04% …

A major study on consumer payment preferences at the point of sale released today shows not only a stronger trend toward debit cards generally but also a stronger preference for cards secured by personal identification numbers rather than by signatures. This is despite strong promotion from the major card companies …

Wendy's International Inc. announced today that more than 3,000 of its U.S. stores now accept credit cards and that more locations are being added to the program each week. By year's end the fast-food chain expects to have more than 70% of its U.S. outlets accepting cards using its satellite …

The news that Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard International Inc. are negotiating new debit-card acceptance deals with big retail chains and their acquirers in which the chains will pay lower transaction fees than what is standard for other merchants has already fueled speculation that the giant, bank-owned card networks are …

Separate studies of online transaction fraud released this week cast new light on the problem of fraudulent Web transactions. The rate of online fraud is declining, according to a survey of online merchants conducted in October by CyberSource, Mountain View, Calif., a processor of online transactions. But indirect costs resulting …