Over the last several years, retailers have been attacked by an unprecedented string of hackers who have stolen the data of credit card users throughout the United States. In 2015, American retailers and credit card issuers finally began the process of migrating from the old magnetic stripe standard to cards with a sophisticated microchip technology, often called EMV smart chips. EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, the companies that were originally behind the creation of the smart chip standard for credit cards.

How the migration is working

Even though the EMV smart chips have been around for decades, the credit card industry in the United States made the choice not to utilize it until recently. The belief was that fraud could be countered in other, less expensive ways. And while this might have been true at some point, the cost and scope of criminal hacking attacks has dramatically increased in recent years, while the price of the new microchip technology has fallen.

On October 1st of 2015, the American credit card industry underwent a liability shift. At that time, credit card issuers that had not given customers a card with an EMV smart chip became liable for fraudulent transactions, although retailers that had not upgraded their systems would be held liable if the card issuer did provide the cardholder with the latest technology. Note that in all cases, Federal law says credit card users are held liable to a maximum of $50 for a fraudulent transactions, yet nearly all credit card issuers waive that requirement by offering a zero liability policy.

The gas station exemption

The one major exception to the October 2015 liability shift has been gas stations. Specifically, the automated payment terminals at the pumps were given two more years, until October of 2017, to become compliant with the new standard. The reason has to do with the cost of replacing these terminals, which are integrated into much more expensive pumps. In addition, gasoline pumps are subject to state inspection laws, and the entire pump must be re-certified when it is changed. Finally, gasoline is one of the most price sensitive commodities, and drivers will go out of their way to save just a few cents per gallon.

Delaying the implementation of EMV smart chip readers at automated gas pumps was a compromise that was necessary for gasoline retailers to support the industry’s implementation plans. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that all gas stations will wait until October of 2017 to begin deploying EMV compatible credit card readers. As new gas stations are built and old gas stations are renovated and upgraded, drivers can expect to see more pumps equipped with EMV card readers. Furthermore, smart gas station managers will likely try to avoid the rush to become compliant at the last minute.

Why this can be a problem

The way that EMV chips enable credit cards and terminals fight fraud is by making it much harder for criminals to use stolen credit card data to clone a card. The old magnetic stripe technology dates back to the 1960s and can easily be replicated with minimal technological skill. In addition, it isn’t very hard for criminals to purchase the components of a magnetic stripe reader in order to fraudulently obtain your credit card information. Such devices are called skimmers and they can be used by a waiter who takes your card.

Skimmers can also be affixed to automated credit card readers such as those at gas stations. The idea is that a criminal can put a skimmer on a gas pump, and retrieve it at a later time. Until gas pumps are retrofitted to use EMV smart chips, they will be much more vulnerable to criminals using skimmers.

Protecting yourself from skimmers and other kinds of credit card fraud

The easiest way to thwart skimmers is to look closely at a gas pump before using it. If the credit card reader looks unusual in any way, you should report it to the management of the gas station or to the police. You can try to touch and even wiggle the credit card reader to see if it looks flimsy or poorly attached. Another giveaway is a piece that looks recently painted or painted a different color than the rest of the pump. Also, if the credit card reader at the pump you are using looks different than those around it, that would also be very suspicious.

Finally, the ultimate way to protect yourself from credit card fraud is to carefully review all of your monthly statements, looking for fraudulent activity. Even when the EMV deployment is complete, there will always be other ways for criminals to perpetrate fraud. And while strong Federal laws have protected credit card users for decades, it has always been up to cardholders to spot bogus charges, report them to their card issuer, and have them removed from their account.

Four out of five consumers would prefer using dynamic security codes over static CVV codes when making online purchases with debit and credit cards, according to a study by Oberthur Technologies.

CVV codes are used for verification purposes. They are typically 3-4 digits long and printed on the back of most credit and debit cards.

The “dynamic” security features referenced in the study are known as Motion Codes. The static number on the back of a card is replaced by a screen that changes numbers every hour. This is designed to protect the card if the information is stolen online because the verification code is no longer valid after an hour.

A large portion of online retailers now require CVVs as part of their checkout process to prevent against “card not present” fraud. Motion Code takes that security protocol to the next level.

Though the survey only consisted of 231 respondents, the concept of a Motion Code was widely accepted. 88% of participants said the feature was “easy to use” and the same percentage said it was an “efficient answer to online fraud issues.”

With online fraud now representing 65% of credit card fraud, the demand for enhanced card security is on the rise, and both retailers and consumers want to make these transactions safer. 61% of the survey respondents who have been victims of online fraud said they have become more cautious when shopping online or have started shopping online less frequently. 60% of these consumers said they would be willing to pay more for a Motion Code-enabled card.

According to a February 2016 report from the U.S. Commerce Department, e-commerce sales were estimated at $341.7 billion, which is a 14.6% increase from 2014. E-commerce sales account for 7.3% of all sales.

Have you ever wondered why you are constantly asked to sign receipts when making purchases with a credit card? Credit cards have worked this way for so long, many people have simply accepted this and haven’t given it any thought. And while a signature is not required for all transactions, it’s still done often enough.

What’s the point? 

There are two reasons why you still may be asked to sign a credit card receipt. The first reason is to verify your identity. Credit card users are required to sign the back of their credit card, and merchants are supposed to compare the signature on the receipt to the one on the back of the card. However, this close scrutiny rarely occurs in practice at most retailers. The second reason is to prove a transaction occurred in the event of a dispute. For example, when a cardholder claims that a transaction is fraudulent, the receipt can be used to determine if he or she actually signed it.

When a signature is not required

Increasingly, credit card users are no longer being asked to sign for merchandise. For example, it’s impossible to sign a receipt for credit card purchases made over the phone, by mail, or through the Internet. These types of transactions are referred to as “card not present” transactions, so there is no way that a signature can be verified.

In addition, MasterCard no longer requires signatures for many transactions under $50. With Visa, signatures are not required for purchases under $50 at grocery stores and discount stores, and under $25 at many other kinds of merchants. However, you still may be asked to sign a receipt for a transaction of any size, depending on the policies of the merchant and its credit card processor.

Finally, there is a new generation of smartphone-enabled wireless payment systems that do not require a signature. These systems, such as Apply Pay, allow shoppers to authenticate their purchase with a PIN, a fingerprint, or some other type of app. As technology continues to progress, it is possible that merchants might employ other ways of authenticating transactions including terminals that use the chip and PIN protocol, and other forms of biometric authentication.

Being asked to show ID

Another way merchants are attempting to reduce fraud is by asking customers to show a photo ID. Unfortunately, many customers may not wish to comply, and the credit card networks don’t actually permit merchants to deny transactions to those who refuse to offer a photo ID.

However, merchants are permitted to request a photo ID, and in practice, some merchants may refuse sale to customers who do not comply.  Conversely, some credit card users actually choose to write “Show ID” on the back of their credit cards. While this may seem to be a clever way to combat potential credit card thieves, it turns out not to be effective or even permitted.

Merchants are not allowed to accept a credit card unless it has been signed on the back. In fact, merchants are specifically instructed to decline charges when the credit card has “show ID” on the back of it instead of a signature. Furthermore, many credit cards are printed with the instructions “not valid unless signed,” further reinforcing this requirement. Rather than attempt to fight this requirement, cardholders should simply accept it as a condition of credit card use and sign the back of their card.

Legal protections for credit card use

Thankfully, credit cards are among the most secure possible methods of transaction. Credit card users are protected by federal law against being responsible for the cost of fraudulent transactions. In particular, the Fair Credit Billing Act of 1974 requires that card issuers hold customers liable for no more than $50 in the event of a fraudulent transaction. Yet in practice, practically all credit card issuers choose to waive this requirement by offering customers a zero liability policy.

Credit card users should always closely scrutinize their statements to look for unauthorized transactions. In most cases, fraudulent transactions are the result of card not present transactions made over the phone or through the Internet. However, in the event your card is stolen and used to make a fraudulent transaction, the card issuer may actually ask the merchant for a copy of the receipt in order to compare its signature to yours.

In addition, the legal protections for credit card users go far beyond purely fraudulent transactions. For example, credit card users can dispute a charge in the event that they don’t receive the goods or services they paid for. Furthermore, the Fair Credit Billing Act also covers goods not received as described. For example, if you ordered a medium-sized red sweater and received a large blue one, you could file a dispute that you did not receive what you paid for.

Once you understand how credit cards work to offer secure transactions, you will realize that signing a receipt is a small price to pay for this protection.

ATM Card Skimming Incidents Up 546%
If you still have the “it’ll never happen to me” perspective on fraud, here’s a stat that might persuade you to change your view: ATM card skimming incidents increased 546 percent from 2014 to 2015. That figure comes from financial analytics company FICO and its FICO Card Alert Service software, which is designed to detect fraud resulting from things like debit and credit card skimming. Story by Christine DiGangi for Credit.com.

Facebook Could Blow Up Credit Cards and Make Loans to Millions
Facebook seems ready to radically reimagine credit cards-minus the “card” part, of course. It’s already a foregone conclusion that by next decade carrying a plastic card to buy stuff will be as anachronistic as hauling around a boom box to listen to music. Facebook is reportedly going to give its Messenger app the ability to make payments, much like Apple Pay or Android Pay. If Facebook provides you with the ability to pay, starts collecting your transaction data and adds that to your social data that already says a lot about your character-well, then Facebook will have the kind of information it needs to become a stand-alone credit card company.That would mean Facebook could jettison Visa, MasterCard and FICO scores and directly offer you credit based on everything its machines can learn about you-while charging much lower interest rates and cheaper fees than current cards. It would be free from all the costly infrastructure and middlemen now involved in credit cards. Story by Kevin Maney for Newsweek.

Japan Rolling Out Fingerprint ID as Payment Ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Japan will begin testing this summer on a system that would allow tourists to conduct credit card and ATM transactions using only their fingerprint. At least 200 business are participating in the trial, which could expand significantly in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. Visitors would be able to register their prints at airports and then leave their wallets at home, making regular payments with only a tap of a finger. Story by Adam Toobin for Inverse.

How Credit Card Fraud in the US Supports Russia’s Underground Economy
HPE researchers have uncovered a complex web of shipment scams which rely on US operators and stolen credit card information to provide goods  fraudulently to customers in Russia. Credit card fraud is big business. Data breaches at high-profile companies are becoming commonplace, and as data collection–and theft–surges, the sale of stolen information has become established as a business in its own right. In a study taking place between August 2015 and February 2016, the team found that reshipping websites are commonly used to maintain contact with “stuffers”–those who use stolen credit card data in the United States to purchase items fraudulently–and “drops,” who often unwittingly will accept these products for reshipment across restricted areas, such as Russia and Ukraine. Drops are most often recruited in the United States through email, where they later visit reshipment websites to be assigned their tasks. Story by Charlie Osborne for ZD Net.

EU Approves Security Plan to Track Airline Passenger Info
European Union lawmakers on Thursday approved a scheme to share airline passenger information that can be used to track foreign fighters heading to and from conflict areas like Syria and Iraq. They endorsed the Passenger Name Record law in a series of votes at their legislature in Strasbourg, France, ending years of wrangling over how to balance security needs and privacy rights. Under the scheme, traveler details will be collected from any flights entering or leaving the EU and from flights between member countries. The information will be kept for six months. The agreement would give law enforcement agencies in the 28 EU nations access to information gathered by airlines, including names, travel dates, itineraries, and credit card and contact details. Story by the Associated Press.

Obama Names Cyber Experts from Business, Academia to New Panel
The chief executive of MasterCard Inc, the former head of the National Security Agency and officials from Microsoft and Uber will join a commission to strengthen U.S. cyber defenses, the White House said on Wednesday. After high-profile hacks in the private sector and an embarrassing theft of information from government personnel files, President Barack Obama this year set up a Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. The commission, due to make long-term recommendations by early December on tightening cyber security in the private sector and government, is part of Obama’s $19-billion proposal to boost defenses against hackers. Story by Roberta Rampton for Reuters.

Behavioral Biometrics Verifies Identity by the Way You Hold Your Phone
Researchers in the United Kingdom are working on a new form of mobile banking identity verification that analyzes each user’s individual body language. The program assesses how people hold, type or swipe their mobile devices in order to authorize transactions. Every person has a special way of interacting with a smartphone. It may seem as though we all make the same basic gestures on the device, but the movements we make are unique to each of us. Researchers aim to tap into these movements through technology known as “behavioral biometrics.” Researchers found that 70% of the adults in the UK click “forgot password” twice a month, and that same percentage want more security without having to remember another password or PIN. Story by Bill Hardekopf for LowCards.com.

Prepaid Debit Cards Are Not Quite As Terrible As They Used To Be
There are contexts where prepaid debit cards are useful. Consumers without bank accounts who would otherwise deal all in cash use them, and they’re also useful for distributing allowances. The problem with prepaid cards is that they impose high fees for functions like reloading, using out-of-network ATMs, or monthly fees for simply having the card. However, they’re better than they used to be, largely because at least they disclose those fees. Story by Laura Northrup for Consumerist.

Mobile Payments Coming to NYC Subway, But Not Anytime Soon
If you’re hoping Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or one of the many other mobile-payment platforms will come to the New York City subway sometime soon, don’t bet on it. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has put out the call for a company to install mobile, contactless payments across the subway. Don’t expect to tap and go just yet, though. Any sort of mobile payment system probably won’t be in effect until at least 2021. Mobile payments have found their way into taxi cabs in New York City. Rolling out a new system to all 469 of the city’s subway stations and other purchase points, though, will take time and money. The agency expects the full design and implementation to cost more than $10 million. Story by Don Reisinger for PC Magazine.

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report
Based on the 1,000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.77 percent, slightly lower than last week’s average of 14.80 percent. Six months ago, the average was 14.56 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.45 percent.

Some Merchants See Dip in Fraud Thanks to Chip Cards
The new chip-enabled cards flowing into the U.S. marketplace have already made a dent in fraud, with some of the biggest merchants seeing a dip of more than 18% in counterfeit transactions, according to Visa. Among the 25 merchants who were suffering the most instances of counterfeit fraud at the end of 2014, five that began processing credit and debit cards equipped with the new EMV technology saw those infractions fall 18.3% as of the final quarter of 2015, says Stephanie Ericksen, vice president of risk products at Visa. Meanwhile, five of those merchants who were not yet equipped to handle chip-enabled cards saw an increase in fraudulent transactions of 11.4%. Story by Charisse Jones for USA Today.

Proof that Women are Smarter than Men (about Security)
Men make a lot of mistakes, and it appears they’re more likely than women to let crooks access sensitive information. According to a recent survey, guys are almost twice as likely as women to store passwords or PINs to credit cards, debit cards, online bank accounts and other online accounts on their smartphones, tablets and laptops — a poor security habit that could lead to chaos if one of those devices were stolen or hacked into. The study found that 21 percent of male respondents stored passwords on their devices, compared to 11 percent of females, and that 14 percent of men stored their credit- or debit-card PIN numbers, as opposed to 7 percent of female respondents. Most credit cards in Europe require a PIN to use. Story by Henry T. Casey for Fox News.

Visa, Wal-Mart Move to Speed Checkout for Customers With Chip-Enabled Cards
Shoppers may soon get back a few extra seconds at checkout. In response to complaints about the waiting periods caused by new chip-enabled credit and debit cards, Visa said it is launching software that will shave as many as 18 seconds off the time it takes to make a payment. The nation’s biggest retailer has also taken steps to be faster. Wal-Mart has lopped off 11 seconds from chip-card transaction time, a spokesman said. Among other things, the company has eliminated a prompt that asked shoppers to confirm the amount of the transaction. The new Visa software will reduce the amount of time that the card must be in the reader. It allows the chip card to be inserted and removed from the terminal while an order is still being rung up by a cashier. The transaction amount isn’t authorized by the card issuer until it is complete, but the change allows the customer to put the card away more quickly. Story by Robin Sidel for The Wall Street Journal.

Bank Overdraft Fees Hit Younger Adults Hardest
Younger adults are among those hardest hit by bank overdraft fees, according to a new Pew Charitable Trusts report. More than a third of “heavy” overdraft users – those who pay $100 or more in bank fees in a year for overdrawing their bank accounts – are in their late teens through early 30s. One reason younger consumers may be more affected is that they are more likely to use debit cards, and debits make up the majority of transactions resulting in overdraft fees. Many banks let customers overspend their checking accounts when they do not have enough money to cover a purchase, but then charge a fee – typically $35 – known as an overdraft fee. A small proportion of customers pay the majority of overdraft fees, Pew found, and they pay more than three such fees a year. The typical debit transaction amount that results in an overdraft fee is $24. These customers are essentially using the overdraft option not just as an occasional courtesy, but as an expensive form of short-term credit. Story by Ann Carrns for The New York Times.

Regulations May Be Hurting Credit Card Access for Low-Income Americans
Since 2007, there has been a 250% increase in credit card-related regulatory restrictions, but these regulations may have contributed to a 50% drop in credit card originations among lower-income Americans, according to a new report. The Harvard study examined U.S. consumer credit level trends, federal regulatory actions-including the CARD Act (2009) and the Fed’s 2008 credit card rules-and the CFPB’s pursuit of “unfair, deceptive, or abusive” activities. While researchers found regulatory actions have reduced card fees, they have also made it harder for lower-income Americans to qualify for credit. Story by Bill Hardekopf for LowCards.com.

Apple Pay and Bitcoin Are No Match for Harriet Tubman’s $20 Bill
In replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, Harriet Tubman is getting pride of place in the American wallet. Despite hype for Apple Pay, Bitcoin, and other alternative payment methods, cash is still king for the vast majority of Americans. And the twenty is the most important bill, making up 55 percent of the value of notes the typical consumer carries. Americans do carry around more $1 bills, but the value of their cash is concentrated in twenties, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Consumer Payments Research Center. The $20 bill is three times as popular as the $10 bill, featuring Alexander Hamilton, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew’s first suggestion for a bill to feature a woman. Story by Ben Steverman for Bloomberg.

Costco’s Generous New Credit Card Will Be a Boon for the Retailer
Now that Costco has unveiled the details of its new Visa credit card, it’s easy to see why it was eager to end its long-standing exclusive relationship with American Express. Last year, Costco announced it was ending its 16-year deal with Amex and having Visa handle its credit card network. The move, which goes into effect on June 20, will be a big blow to Amex as it loses business from the millions of customers who patronize the second largest U.S. retailer. The new credit card, which will be issued by Citi for Costco, will be called “Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi” and double as a membership card for Costco shoppers. The Citi card will offer Costco members 4% cash back on up to $7,000 spent on gas, compared to 3% back up to $4,000 with Amex. Cardholders will also get 3% back on restaurants and travel, a point higher than with the Amex cards. There is no annual fee but shoppers will need to pay for a $55 annual Costco membership. Story by Phil Wahba for Fortune.

Samsung Pay Just Smartened Up Mobile Payments
Samsung has set out its plans to make paying for goods using a smartphone a more effective and reliable experience. The mobile giant has partnered with a number of the leading manufacturers of Point of Sale (PoS) terminals to ensure that customers looking to use its Samsung Pay service will be able to complete their transactions quickly and smoothly. The deal, which will see Samsung working with the likes of Verifone and Ingenico Group, will hopefully cut down on the time taken to process a mobile payment, and reduce the effectiveness of the technology, signalling an end to customers standing awkwardly while the PoS terminal processes a payment. Story by Michael Moore for Tech Week Europe.

2016 Data Breaches 10% Higher Than a Year Ago
The latest count from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) reports that there has been a total of 269 data breaches recorded through April 19, 2016, and that more than 11.27 million records have been exposed since the beginning of the year. The number of breaches in 2015 totaled 781, just two shy of the record 783 breaches that ITRC tracked in 2014. The 269 data breaches reported so far for 2016 are more than 10% higher than the number reported for the same period last year. A total of more than 169 million records were exposed in 2015. Story by Paul Ausick for 24/7 Wall St.

Bank of America–Pushing Mobile Banking to Turn Around an Industry
Last week Bank of America’s first quarter net profit slumped by 13% to $2.68 billion from $3.1 billion in the comparable quarter last year. Meanwhile revenue came in under expectations at $19.5 billion, down from $20.9 billion in the same period last year. Certainly on the mobile front, BoA has a good story to tell, adding 2.5 million mobile banking customers in the last year. The number of total active users is up to 19.6 million, up from 17.1 million in the first quarter of 2015. Equally encouraging is the rise in customer mobile engagement with 16% of all deposits occurring via on mobile devices in the first quarter. For the bank’s senior management, it’s a simple equation–get more customers to move online to complete transactions and save the bank time and money in the process, removing the need for in-store activities or at least redefining the role of branches. Story by Stuart Lauchlan for Diginomica.

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report
Based on the 1,000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.76 percent, slightly lower than last week’s average of 14.77 percent. Six months ago, the average was 14.56 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.46 percent.

Another popular fast food chain may have become the latest victim of a credit card breach.

Cici’s Pizza may have been hacked by thieves posing as technical support specialists for the company’s point-of-sale provider, Datapoint.

KrebsOnSecurity first reported the breach last week after it had received multiple inquiries from financial institutions asking if CiCi’s, which operates mores than 500 stores in 35 states, had been breached. The banks all reported detecting a pattern of payment card fraud at various CicCi’s locations.

Stephen P. Warne, vice president of service and support for Datapoint, said the breach actually affected many POS vendors used at Harbortouch and Granbury Restaurant Systems.

Warne also told Krebs they cooperated with the Secret Service, and no wrong doing was found on Datapoint’s part.

“The SS actually helped point out that these hackers used among Team Viewer, Screen Connect and some others they installed. All of these attacks have been traced to social engineering/Team Viewer breaches because stores from several POS vendors let supposed techs in to conduct ‘support’. Nothing to do with any of our support mechanisms which are highly restricted and well within PCI Compliance.”

Home Depot Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Visa, MasterCard
Home Depot filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard reigniting claims from a decade ago that merchants pay too much for debit and credit card transactions and adding new contentions about the effectiveness of chip-based cards to reduce fraud. The lawsuit comes several years after Home Depot and hundreds of other retailers opted out of a settlement, then valued at $7.25 billion, in a price-fixing case that addressed many of the same issues. This time, the do-it-yourself retailer also contends that Visa and MasterCard colluded to prevent the adoption of new chip-based cards that require consumers to enter a personal identification number, or PIN, to authorize a transaction. Story by Robin Sidel for The Wall Street Journal.

Federal Court Rules Fourth Amendment Does Not Apply To Police Scanning Credit Cards
A federal appellate court ruled last week that law enforcement agencies can scan credit, debit and gift cards without running afoul of the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches. Given last week’s revelations that police have specially designed readers to freeze and seize money stored on prepaid debit cards, this decision could have major consequences for American motorists. Story by Nick Sibilla for Forbes.

Florida Bank to Offer First Credit Cards for Use in Cuba
A small regional Florida bank is making history. Stonegate Bank is issuing the first credit card that can be used in Cuba since Washington and Havana normalized relations. The card will be a limited-edition MasterCard. Stonegate will issue only 1,000 cards initially. Each card will feature artwork by celebrated Cuban painter Michel Mirabal. The Cuban government will waive the usual 10 percent penalty on dollar exchanges for those using the Stonegate cards. Story in Voice of America.

Walmart Canada Will No Longer Accept Visa Cards Due to High Fees
Shoppers visiting Walmarts in Canada will no longer be able to use their Visa cards to pay, as the retailer could not reach an agreement with the credit card company. Walmart cited Visa’s fees as the reason the two entities could not reach a deal. In their statement, the company called these fees “unacceptably high.” Last year, Walmart said it paid more than $100 million in credit card fees, but it did not specify how much of this total went to Visa. Story by Bill Hardekopf for LowCards.com.

Card Issuers Tumble After Synchrony Sees Higher Write-Offs
Credit card issuers were among the worst performing U.S. stocks Tuesday after Synchrony Financial said it expects higher write-offs within the next year as consumers struggle to repay loans. Synchrony tumbled 13 percent to $26.45, the biggest drop since its 2014 initial public offering, and American Express Co. fell 4.1 percent, the most in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Capital One Financial Corp. slid the most in almost a year, and Discover Financial Services also declined. Synchrony expects write-off rates to climb 20 to 30 basis points over the next 12 months, and will increase reserves for soured loans beginning this quarter. Write-offs as a percentage of total average loans were 4.7 percent in the first quarter, up from 4.53 percent a year earlier, the company said in April. Story by Jennifer Surane for Bloomberg.

Chase Fees Draw Ire of Former Inmates
Chase applies various fees to the ATM cards it provides federal prisoners so that accounts are useless on the outside, a class of former inmates claims. Lead plaintiff Brett Sheib took on JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a 32-page lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court. He says he and others released from prison face “unfair and unconscionable practices” that make it impossible to access their money once they get out of the federal prison system, “all without an iota of consent.” Sheib says inmates can earn 17 cents an hour, and that they get money from friends and family that then gets placed on an inmate’s card for use at the commissary, for phone calls or for other things. But, when released, they’re slapped with heavy and arbitrary fees for using that card, Sheib alleges. Story by Nick Divito for Courthouse News Service.

IRS Scammers Demand Tax Payments on Gift Cards
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration warned Tuesday about a new twist in the IRS impersonation scam, with fraudsters pretending to be Internal Revenue Service employees demanding taxpayers send them tax payments not only on iTunes gift cards, but on other types of gift cards as well. TIGTA issued an alert in April saying it has received information that callers impersonating IRS employees or the Treasury Department are demanding payments on iTunes gift cards. In addition to gift cards, TIGTA said the scammers may also request payment of taxes on Green Dot Prepaid Cards, MoneyPak Prepaid Cards, Reloadit Prepaid Debit Cards, and other prepaid credit cards. It reiterated that these are fraudulent calls. Story by Michael Cohn for Accounting Today.

20 Million Reasons Why Starbucks’ Rewards Program Is So Powerful
Starbucks loaded around $1.6 billion on gift cards this past holiday season, and the company estimates that one in seven Americans received one as a gift. Like any savvy business, Starbucks doesn’t leave that money sitting in the till to make change. It reinvests it, preferring to earn interest on high-grade corporate bonds, Treasury notes, and certificates of deposit. Starbucks currently has $1.2 billion in deposits on its books, according to a study by The Wall Street Journal — more than many financial institutions have, including Discover Financial Services, and more than a third of American Express’ holdings. On breakage income alone, or income resulting from lost or unused gift cards, Starbucks earned $39.3 million last year. That income is equivalent to the estimated operating profit from 320 company-owned stores. With $5 billion in card transactions every year, Starbucks would be able to earn $50 million in interest income with a 1% interest rate. Combined with the breakage income, that would be about $90 million, or the equivalent of about 700 company-owned stores. While that’s still a small percentage of Starbucks’ more than 12,000 stores, $90 million is more profit than many smaller restaurant chains have. Story by Jeremy Bowman for The Motley Fool.

Card Issuers Lose $10.9 Billion to Fraud
Credit unions and other card issuers are losing a whopping $10.9 billion a year to fraud and criminals appear to be attacking from all angles, a new LexisNexis Risk Solutions study said. The study of 100 risk and fraud decision-makers and influencers working at U.S. card issuers reported 71% of card fraud now comes from credit cards – three times the fraud from debit cards, which accounted for 25% of the total. Prepaid cards contributed only half a billion in fraud losses, the study said. Story by Tina Orem for the Credit Union Times.

Mobile Payments Slow, But Tech Changing Retail Experience
Shoppers consider mobile payments to be the least secure of all the various avenues for purchase. As such, they’ve been somewhat reluctant to adopt the technology, but slower growth doesn’t mean the tech won’t change how people buy things. It just means it will happen slower. Some 36% of consumers have used some form of mobile payment in a store within the past year, while 33% have used a peer-to-peer payment app. Another 61% cite security and 58% cite privacy as their main concerns about the technology. Many retailers still don’t offer a mobile payment option, and the survey concludes that consumers would be more likely to adopt the tech if the option was more ubiquitous. Story by Ben Frederick for Media Post.

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report
Based on the 1,000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.70 percent, slightly lower than last week’s average of 14.71 percent. Six months ago, the average was 14.62 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.60 percent.

To encourage EMV card adoption in the United States, American Express announced it is changing its EMV chargeback policy to help merchants lower their fraud costs as they update to the new EMV point-of-sale (POS) systems. Beginning in August, American Express will not hold merchants liable for chargebacks if the fraudulent transaction is less than $25.

American Express has found that more than 40% of counterfeit fraud chargebacks are for less than $25.

The credit card company also plans to limit the amount of counterfeit fraud charges to 10 per card. This means the card issuer, not the merchant, will be liable for any fraudulent transactions after 10 chargebacks. This will not prevent a cardholder from disputing additional fraud, though.

“Combating fraud is an ongoing priority for American Express,” said Mike Matan, Vice President, Global Network Business, American Express. “We recognize the migration to EMV in the U.S. is an effort that will take time, which is why we are making these policy changes in order to provide flexibility to those merchants that may need more time to upgrade their point-of-sale terminals to accept EMV chip cards.”

These changes, which will remain in effect until April 2018, are expected to reduce counterfeit fraud costs for merchants who have not yet updated to EMV terminals.

American Express, much like Visa and MasterCard, are encouraging merchants to upgrade their POV terminals, because EMV cards reduce the risk of fraud, as payment card information is stored on a the microprocessor chip in the card.

Fiserv has created Notifi, a technology that will allow financial institutions to provide real-time actionable alerts to their customers. These alerts include everything from low balances to pending loan payments to suspicious credit card transactions.

Notifi consolidates information from across a bank’s systems and distributes alerts automatically. Customers can choose what types of alerts they wish to receive, and decide whether they want to receive notifications via email, text, a secure online inbox or push notification from their mobile banking app. Notifi also allows them to take action directly from the alerts, which can save valuable time in the case of an emergency.

Early adopters have cited the security benefits of Notifi as the primary benefit of the alerts. They believe the alerts will help customers discover fraud faster, which will help them prevent unauthorized charges.

“More than half of online consumers will receive financial alerts by 2019,” said Mark Schwanhausser, director of Omnichannel Financial Services, Javelin Strategy & Research. “It will be critical for banking alerts to find a way to stand out amid the flurry of notifications from social media and utility apps like calendars, games, etc. In order to rise above the digital noise, financial institutions must focus on developing information that is relevant, immediate, digestible and actionable.”

Over 1,000 Wendy’s Restaurants Infected with Malware
For months, Wendy’s has been vague about the number of stores affected during a five-month-long data breach. The Ohio-based chain admitted that 1,025 restaurant point-of-sale systems were infected with malware. The attack was two-pronged. The fast food restaurant first noticed unusual payment card activity in February 2016 and reported they had disabled the malware responsible for this activity in May. However, in June, the company found additional malicious activity in other restaurants and discovered a second malware attack. The company said both infections have been removed. Hackers were able to use the malware to access the POS systems remotely to steal cardholder names, card numbers, expiration dates, verifications values, service codes and other data. The company said CVV codes were not at risk. Story by Bill Hardekopf for LowCards.com.

Counterfeit Credit Card Fraud Reaches Lowest Level Since 2013
The US credit card market’s move to EMV chip technology has helped reverse a years-long trend of increasing counterfeit fraud, new data from Auriemma Consulting Group shows. The share of financial losses stemming from counterfeit activity–which increased dramatically following a wave of high-profile data compromises in recent years–fell 18% in the first quarter of this year, reaching its lowest level since early 2013. Counterfeit fraud losses have declined steadily relative to other categories since the industry’s EMV liability shift took effect late last year, and have decreased by nearly one-fourth since their peak in late 2014. Story in the EconoTimes.

Supreme Court Asked to Weigh Florida Credit Card Surcharges
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a dispute about the constitutionality of a Florida law that has blocked businesses from imposing surcharges on customers who pay with credit cards. A divided 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the longstanding law is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment. The appeals court said Florida allows businesses to offer discounts to customers who pay with cash but does not allow surcharges for credit card purchases—a situation the majority opinion likened to “distinctions in search of a difference.” Story by Jim Saunders for the Florida News Service.

Uber Switches to Bitcoin in Argentina After Govt Blocks Uber Credit Cards
The Argentinian government blocked credit card companies from dealing with Uber, causing the ridesharing company’s national branch to use Bitcoin instead. The city of Buenos Aires issued orders both to the national communications agency (ENACOM) and credit card companies to block the Uber app and deny the company use of credit card service. This prompted Uber to partner with Swiss Bitcoin company Xapo to enable payments through Bitcoin debit cards. The ride-sharing company has faced harsh resistance in Argentina, particularly in Buenos Aires. Both the consumer protection agency of Buenos Aires and a judge ordered credit card companies to cease doing business with Uber. Story by Joël Valenzuela for The Coin Telegraph.

The Hispanic Boom Extends to Credit Cards
Keep a watch for more Visa and MasterCard commercials appearing in Spanish. The huge growth in the number of U.S. Hispanics also means an opportunity for financial services companies. Between 2005 and 2015, credit card use among Latinos increased 11 times faster than it did among non-Hispanics. Hispanic usage surged 44 percent, versus just 4 percent for the general market. During that period 5.1 million Hispanics began using credit cards. That accounted for 49 percent of the overall growth in the number of U.S. consumers using credit cards. Story in Media Life Magazine.

MasterCard Could be Facing a $24.6 Billion Lawsuit
MasterCard could have a hefty lawsuit on its hands. U.K. consumers are preparing to a file a $24.6 billion suit against the payments company over cross-border transaction fees that were deemed illegal in 2014. A European Commission hearing in 2014 revealed that MasterCard’s cross-border interchange fees violated EU law. U.K. banking expert Walter Merricks is leading the new suit, which claims that the fees were so exorbitant that retailers increased their consumer prices in response. This forced consumers to over-spend on goods and services from 1992 to 2008, and the plaintiffs now believe they are owed losses as a result. For context, the 2014 ruling generated at least 12 lawsuits from retailers against MasterCard. The company vehemently disagrees with the fundamentals of the suit and states it does not earn any revenue from interchange. Instead, it claims it uses it to ensure that stakeholders deliver valuable services. Story by Andrew Meola for Business Insider.

Americans Spent Gas Savings on Dining, Shopping…and More Gas
Falling oil prices saved Americans hundreds of dollars at the gas pump in 2015, and a lot of them spent those savings . at the gas station. Middle-income households saved an average of $477 through the year, thanks to gas prices that fell 28 percent from 2014. The biggest business winners of the gas-price windfall were restaurants and retailers, both of which saw their share of consumers’ budgets increase. A big chunk of the gasoline savings–a full $155–was spent right back at the gas station. Consumers bought more gas, higher-quality gas and snacks. Story by Nicholas Wells for CNBC.

Bitcoin and Prepaid Cards Face Tighter Controls Under EU Proposals
The European Commission proposed expanding its anti-money-laundering rules to cover virtual currencies and prepaid cards, in a bid to fight terror financing and tax evasion as revealed in the Paris attacks and the Panama Papers disclosures. The proposals from the commission, the EU’s executive arm, also seek to strengthen oversight of bank accounts and increase transparency about the ownership of trusts across the bloc. The perpetrators of the Nov. 13 Paris terror attacks used prepaid cards. Virtual-currency platforms, such as bitcoin, would be brought under anti-money-laundering rules that should come into effect by the end of this year. Those platforms would also have to verify the identity of users and monitor transactions, as banks currently do. Story by Julia-Ambra Verlaine for The Wall Street Journal.

Walmart Pay now is Available Across the Whole Country
Walmart Stores said it has completed the rollout of its Walmart Pay mobile payment service across the United States and that 88 percent of transactions on the app are from repeat users. Walmart Pay is available on Apple and Android devices and allows payments with any major credit, debit, pre-paid or Walmart gift cards. Until the present day, the Walmart Pay feature on its app can now be used at all 4,600 U.S. stores and more than 20 million people regularly use its app, which also provides discounts and helps shoppers locate items within stores. Story by Sun Yulin for Financial Buzz.

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report
Based on the 1,000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.68 percent, identical to last week. Six months ago, the average was 14.87 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.65 percent.

Nearly 1 in 3 Consumers Victimized by Card Fraud
Thirty percent of consumers globally have experienced card fraud in the past five years. Card fraud rates–unauthorized activity on three types of payment cards (debit, credit and prepaid)–is on the rise worldwide. Mexico leads as the top country experiencing the most card fraud at 56%, followed by Brazil at 49% and the U.S. at 47%. In 2014, the U.A.E, China, India and the U.S. topped the list. The U.S. is the only country to remain within the top three both years, due in part to being a laggard in the roll-out of EMV chip cards, with skimming and data breaches continuing to be security challenges. European countries experience less card fraud than countries in the Americas, due to earlier adoption of EMV (chip and PIN) and other security advancements. Story in NACS Online.

American Airlines to Renew Credit Card Deals With Citigroup, Barclays Unit
American Airlines said it is renewing credit card relationships with Citigroup and Barclaycard, taking the unusual step of sticking with two card issuers following a big merger. The deal calls for Citi, which has been American’s partner for three decades, to offer its co-branded airline cards to new customers through mobile channels like American’s website, direct mail and airport lounges. Citi also recently became the co-brand partner for Costco Wholesale Corp., which ended a 16-year relationship with American Express. As part of the deal, Citi will give up the ability at the end of the year to offer its cards to new American Airlines customers in airports and on American flights. That right will shift to Barclaycard, a unit of British bank Barclays, which was the co-brand card issuer for US Airways. Story by Robin Sidel and Susan Carey for The Wall Street Journal.

Unbanked Consumers Use Reloadable Debit Cards as Bank Accounts
A greater number of people are using reloadable debit cards in place of their checking accounts, according to new research from Pew. Nearly 23 million adults are using prepaid cards regularly, and many of these consumers are unbanked. Since they don’t have traditional bank accounts, they use reloadable debit cards like a checking account. General purpose reloadable (GPR) prepaid cards, or GPR prepaid accounts, let consumers add funds to their account via direct deposit or cash deposits. From there, they can withdraw the funds from ATMs or make purchases wherever credit cards are accepted. Story by Bill Hardekopf for LowCards.com.

MasterCard Ordered to Pay Sainsbury Millions in Card Fees Case
MasterCard was ordered to pay U.K. supermarket chain J Sainsbury 68.6 million pounds ($90.8 million) because fees it passed on to the grocer were too high, a London judge ruled. The lawsuit concerned interchange fees that are charged when credit or debit cards are used. The lawsuit alleged that the default fees set up by MasterCard were too high. The judge agreed, writing that merchants have little options except to accept cards from all card issuers, leaving MasterCard with the power to set unilateral rates that are higher than they would otherwise be if MasterCard had negotiated. Story by Austen Hufford for The Wall Street Journal.

Omni Hotels Announces Data Breach of 50,000 Credit, Debit Cards
Dallas-based Omni Hotels & Resorts says it was the victim of a malware attack and data breach that impacted more than 50,000 customer credit and debit cards at 49 of the chain’s 60 locations. The data breach was detected on May 30. The company said it did not notify consumers until it had worked with an IT security company to fix the problem. Several forms of personal payment information were taken during the malware attack, including credit and debit card numbers, cardholder names, security codes and expiration dates. Debit card PINs and customer contact information was not revealed during the breach. Story by Karen Robinson-Jacobs for the Dallas Morning News.

London’s Contactless Tube Payment System is Going Global
The contactless payment system used on London’s transport network will soon be modified for use in other cities. A deal between Transport for London (TfL) and transportation firm Cubic will see the latter adapt the contactless ticking system and license it around the world. The deal, worth up to £15 million, will help TfL ensure fares don’t rise for the next four years. Cubic will be given access to London’s contactless system to allow it to tailor it to other transportation networks. The company first worked with TfL in 2003 to develop the technology behind Oyster and has since helped upgrade the system to support contactless payments from debit cards, Apple Pay and Android Pay. Story by James Temperton for Wired.

Santander Bank Fined $10 Million for Illegal Overdraft Fees
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Boston-headquartered Santander Bank to pay $10 million, claiming the regional bank deceptively marketed its overdraft program to customers. According to the consumer protection agency, from 2010 to 2014, the bank employed telemarketers to sell its “account protector” service, which authorized Santander to pay out ATM transactions and one-time debit card purchases, even if they overdraw the account, and then charge a $35 overdraft fee on each transaction. The bank rewarded these sales reps with higher hourly rates when they met sales quotas. But the CFPB found the telemarketers improperly signed up customers for the service without their consent, as well as misled others that the service was free. Story by Megan Leonhardt for Time.

MasterCard Has a New Logo
MasterCard is getting a makeover. The company unveiled a new logo Thursday that simplifies the brand for consumers and merchants. Created out of Pentagram, the new design includes red and yellow interlocking circles; the word “mastercard” can be positioned below or to the side, rather than to the top, and capital letters have been omitted to de-emphasize “card” and play up the brand’s image as an omnipresent brand. The company name is also written in a more contemporary font. Story by Adrianne Pasquarelli for Creativity Online.

UniRush, Owner of RushCard, Names Ron Hynes Chief
Trying to put a turbulent nine months behind it, the parent of the prepaid debit card company RushCard is replacing its chief executive. Ron Hynes, a former head of global prepaid solutions at MasterCard and most recently president of global markets at the digital wallet start-up Mozido, is taking over for Richard Savard, who had been UniRush’s chairman and chief executive since early 2014. Story by Liz Moyer for The New York Times.

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report
Based on the 1,000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.66 percent, slightly lower than last week’s average of 14.68 percent. Six months ago, the average was 14.89 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.65 percent.

Pokemon Go has become a worldwide phenomenon, and it has only been available for a couple weeks. The app is free to install and play, but the way it is set up could put millions of users at risk of credit card fraud.

Even though Pokemon Go does not directly collect credit card information, it does gather a plethora of personal information: contact lists, GPS locations, SD card contents, and access to a person’s camera. In effect, the app knows who you are and where you are at all times. The relaxed privacy policy for the app allows Niantic, the creating company, the authority to do such things as sell this information, share it with third parties and turn it over to law enforcement.

One of the revenue sources for Pokemon Go is in-app purchases, where users pay for apps or products from third parties while still playing the game. This is where the risk of credit card fraud comes into play. The loose privacy policy for the app, combined with the fact that people do eventually enter their payment information into the system, could become a significant concern for financial institutions and consumers in the coming months.

Pokemon Go currently has 21 million daily active users, more than the longstanding social media platform Twitter. Some researchers believe that worldwide in-app purchases on Pokemon Go will reach $58.2 billion by the end of this year and $76.5 billion by the end of 2017. That is a vast amount of money and financial information floating around a questionably secure network.

Chip cards are gaining in popularity and have reduced fraud since they entered the market last year, according to recent research conducted by Mastercard.

As of July 2016, 88% of Mastercards in the United States have chips, which is a 105% increase since the October 1, 2015 liability shift. There are also two million chip-active merchants, which represents one-third of all U.S. merchants and reflects a 468% chip terminal increase.

This market saturation is good news, as the chip cards are helping to minimize fraud. The chip creates a unique code for all transactions, which makes it difficult to counterfeit cards. Mastercard’s fraud data shows that counterfeit fraud costs have decreased 54% from April 2015 to April 2016 among merchants who accept chip cards. To prove this drop is attributable to the new cards, Mastercard found that counterfeit fraud costs increased 77% during the same time period for U.S. merchants who have not yet migrated to the new terminals.

“We need chip cards in wallets and chip terminals at checkout to continue to drive card fraud out of the U.S. This country is one of the most complex markets in the world so we know things won’t change overnight,” said Craig Vosburg, president of North America for Mastercard. “However, we’re encouraged by the significant progress over the last 11 months. With every additional chip transaction we move closer and closer to our collective goal – moving fraud out of the system.”

Mastercard is working with merchants to ease chip adoption. Since many consumers complain of slow checkout times, Mastercard is working on technology to speed up transactions. In May, the company launched its M/Chip Fast technology, which tries to make chip card transactions just as fast as the traditional magnetic stripe.

The research also found consumers are starting to use their chip cards more often. 9 in 10 cardholders commonly use their chip cards, which is a 38% increase from last year.

“As more U.S. cardholders use their Mastercard chip cards, they are learning the benefits of increased safety and security. It’s no small undertaking to change the way people pay for things. The only reason to start this big a task is to make people’s lives better. Chips have the potential to do just that,” said Chiro Aikat, senior vice president of Mastercard’s product delivery.

Prepaid Cards’ Growing Popularity Catches Regulator’s Eye
Prepaid cards, which started out as simple gift cards from retail stores, have morphed into popular financial-management tools with functions that rival bank checking accounts. Now regulators are playing catch-up, with plans to roll out a rule this fall that would bring oversight of the sector closer to regulations covering banks. The coming rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau marks the federal government’s first comprehensive effort to police the market, which caters to tens of millions of Americans, many of whom are lower-income and have either no or limited access to regular bank accounts. The products-known as general purpose reloadable, or GPR, cards-carry at least one of the major payment card network brands such as Visa or American Express and can be used to make purchases at various stores and withdraw cash at ATMs. This year, nearly $300 billion is expected to be loaded onto GPR cards, almost double the amount in 2010. Story by Yuka Hayashi for The Wall Street Journal.

Walmart’s Showdown with Visa in Canada Deepens
Shoppers who slap down Visa credit cards to pay for their purchases at some Walmart stores in Canada may be in for a shock. The big-box chain will stop accepting Visa credit cards at its 16 stores in Manitoba province, the latest escalation in a tiff over credit card transaction fees. Although still limited to a fraction of Walmart’s vast network, the fight reflects a deepening divide over the transaction fees Visa charges in Canada, where Walmart operates more than 400 stores. The boycott started this summer with Walmart’s three stores in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Story by Nathan Bomey for USA Today.

Subprime Credit Card Limits Reach 5-Year High
Total credit card limits for the subprime market reached a five-year high during the first half of 2016. These limits are now at $6.4 billion for subprime and deep subprime cardholders. This follows the trend the Federal Reserve Bank of New York noted in August. Their survey found nearly half of subprime borrowers now have a credit card, which is quickly approaching pre-recession levels (60%). Despite the increasing card limits and card availability for subprime borrowers-defined as those with credit scores below 620-the delinquency rates for credit cards has declined since 2011. The delinquency rates for subprime borrowers during the past 12 months are up 7%, but over a five-year span, they have actually dropped 6%. Overall delinquency rates across all markets have declined by 43% from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2016. Story by John Oldshue for LowCards.com.

What The First Credit Cards Were Like
By today’s standards, we’d call it a charge card because it required you to pay in full at the end of each month. You couldn’t carry a balance from one month to the next. The Diners Club card was similar to many of its forerunners, the metal charge-plates issued by department stores, oil companies and other retailers at the time. Even by the late 1950s, Diners Club still had no penalty or interest charges for payments made after 30 days. The company’s main source of revenue was the 7% fee-called interchange-charged to merchants on each transaction. When American Express launched its first card in 1958, it also required payment in full at the end of the month. These cards offered a way to consolidate entertainment expenses but weren’t meant to enable cardholders to pay down balances over time. Story by Claire Tsosie for Forbes.

3 Simple Ways Retirees Can Control Their Credit Card Debt
One of the biggest threats facing retirees’ finances is not that they’ve saved too little–it’s that they owe too much. While the average credit card debt among all U.S. households is about $5,700, that number jumps to $6,351 for those age 65 and over (soaring to $6,876 for recent retirees between ages 65 and 69, compared with just $5,638 for those 75 and up). A retiree’s credit card debt on average is more than double the maximum monthly Social Security payment. So it’s not surprising that  credit card debt is a huge financial concern for seniors, right behind medical bills and just ahead of paying for utilities. If you’re feeling weighed down by credit card bills, here are three simple ways to get that balance under control while saving some money in the process. Story by Sharon Epperson and Katie Young for CNBC.

Your American Express Credit Card Can Now Message You on Facebook
Credit cards can already technically text or email you via spending alerts, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that one issuer is now able to message its cardholders on Facebook. American Express officially launched its Facebook Messenger bot late last week. The bot, previewed at the Cannes Film Festival back in June, is designed to monitor an enrolled cardholder’s credit card purchases and then message them about relevant benefits, reminders and services. Story on Credit.com.

5 Million Brits Had to Cancel Credit Cards Due to Fraud Last Year
Nearly five million Britons had to cancel their bank cards last year as cyber fraud continues to rise. A new survey has suggested the scale of fraud in the UK with one in ten adults having to replace their credit or debit cards after a cyber-attack, identify theft or card cloning. According to the survey seen by The Times the average loss to bank fraud was Ł475, meaning that more than Ł2 billion was stolen in total. Story by Jessica Duncan for The Daily Mail.

Stripe Offers Instant Payouts to All Contractors
Stripe, the startup that competes against the likes of PayPal’s Braintree and WePay to provide payment services to digital businesses, is taking the wraps off its newest product to set it apart from the rest of the pack. Stripe is launching Instant Payouts, a service tailored specifically for marketplaces to pay their contractors “within minutes” to a contractor’s existing Visa or MasterCard debit card. Story by Ingrid Lunden for Tech Crunch.

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report
Based on the 1,000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.66 percent, identical to last week. Six month ago, the average was 14.80 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.55 percent.

Credit Card Giants Sued over Chip Readers
A judge is allowing small businesses to sue the major credit card companies for forcing them to adopt chip readers at the checkout counter, a case that could become a multi-billion-dollar class action. The lawsuit takes aim at the nationwide upgrade to chip-based credit cards, an awkward rollout that’s been annoying for stores and shoppers. To business owners, it’s a raw deal. They were forced to upgrade to expensive machines that reduce fraud but don’t eliminate it. If they don’t upgrade, they’re penalized by the credit card companies. Stores that don’t install chip readers are on the hook whenever a shopper swipes a stolen credit card — a burden previously shouldered by banks. The lawsuit, brought by four grocery stores in California, Florida and New York, calls it an industry conspiracy that violates fair trade practices. They sued American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa in California federal court in March. Story by Jose Pagliery for CNN Money.

Federal Watchdogs Issue New Rules on Prepaid Cards
For many GenX consumers and millennials, a prepaid card is a lower-cost alternative to a traditional checking account. So why not require more protections on popular, reloadable plastic similar to protections for checking account holders? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will put new rules in place beginning October 2017, including disclosure requirements about fees and limit on losses consumers can face when a prepaid card is stolen or lost. Pick up one of these cards from the shelf at the grocery store? Soon, there could be a standard form on the back of the package listing how much it will cost you to check your balance at an ATM or how much you would pay per month if you don’t use the card for a year or so, and other potential fees. The back of the package might also note that after 30 days, the consumer could be offered overdraft coverage or credit, with fees attached to those transactions.Prepaid-card issuers will have to make sure the consumer can afford a credit card before offering the deal. Consumers also could obtain a longer disclosure list of the fees and rules of that particular prepaid card by calling the 800-number on the back of the card or by going to the issuer’s website, also listed on the back of the packaging. Story by Susan Tompor for the Detroit Free Press.

Wells Fargo Account Scandal Extends to Small Business
Wells Fargo’s account scandal is not limited to its consumer banking sector, U.S. Senator David Vitter told the bank’s chief executive in a letter. Thousands of small business owners were also impacted by Wells Fargo’s practices, wrote Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, in a letter dated Sept. 29 to Wells Fargo chief executive John Stumpf and seen by Reuters. Vitter demanded a “full accounting” of small business owners affected by “fraudulent activity.” Around 10,000 small business accounts were affected by improper Wells practices, people familiar with the matter said. Story by Reuters.

Chip-Enabled Credit Cards Mark a Bittersweet 1-year Anniversary
One year after the U.S. reached a milestone in its switch to credit cards that require a dip instead of a swipe, the ability to use such cards has dramatically increased. But potential headaches loom heading into the holiday season, with some shoppers complaining that checking out with a chip takes too long and stores continuing to encounter delays getting chip-reading terminals up and running. Since then, the pace of adoption has dramatically accelerated. As of July, 88% of MasterCard consumer credit cards in the U.S. were chip-enabled, a 105% uptick since October, while 2 million merchant locations were able to handle EMV transactions. Fraud is also down. According to Visa, counterfeit fraud at merchants able to process chip transactions dipped 47% in May, compared with that same month in 2015. But a shift that the NRF says is costing retailers $30 billion to $35 billion to implement also has its critics. An NRF study released in August found that 76% of retailers said the new chip technology was one of their biggest payment challenges of the past year. Story by Charisse Jones for USA Today.

Illinois Becomes Second State to Sanction Wells Fargo
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced that the state would sanction Wells Fargo after learning of its fraudulent business practices. California placed sanctions against the bank last week. The State of Illinois will suspend business with the bank for at least one year. Frerichs said the move could cost Wells Fargo “tens of millions” in fees and commissions. However, Wells Fargo said the sanctions will likely cost closer to $50,000. The bank has admitted that two million accounts were opened without customers’ knowledge. Employees opened the accounts because they were under pressure to meet sales goals. Senior management allegedly knew about this fraudulent activity. The fake accounts may have damaged customer credit scores and cost millions in service fees. Story by John Oldshue for LowCards.com.

Costco Earnings Show Credit Card Woes Are in the Past
Switching credit cards from longtime provider American Express to Visa has proven to be the right move for Costco. The company reported higher-than-expected profits in Q4, partly thanks to it paying lower fees to its new credit card partner versus its previous one. Many analysts had expected bad news from the retailer partly because of problems caused by the switch to Visa and partly because of the changing retail climate. Instead, the warehouse club delivered earnings of $1.77 a share, up 2% over last year’s Q4 earnings of $1.73 a share. In addition, when factoring out gas sales, the company posted 2% comparable-store sales growth in the United States, 5% growth in Canada, and 1% in the rest of the world, for a total gain of 3%. Story by Daniel B. Kline for The Motley Fool.

Household Debt Rises as Auto and Credit Card Debt See Uptick
Consumers are taking on larger balances for auto loans and credit cards, pushing overall household debt levels higher as consumer confidence levels have also risen. The total outstanding credit card balance is $729 billion, an increase of $17 billion from the first quarter, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York Liberty Street Economics blog post in August. Credit card delinquency rates have continued to improve since peaking in 2008. One good sign is that just over 40% of cardholders overall carry a balance of $1,000 or less and 14% have balances over $10,000. Story by Ellen Chang for The Street.

American Express Upping Rewards Program for Platinum Card
American Express will announce a major enhancement to its widely used Platinum Card this week, allowing card members to earn five Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on airlines. The change comes as the credit card giant faces some new entrants into the high-end, luxury credit card space, including JPMorgan Chase’s Sapphire Reserve card launched this summer to great interest, despite its $450 annual fee. AmEx Platinum Card users starting Thursday will earn five points for every dollar spent directly with any airline or on AmEx’s travel website, up from the current one point per dollar earned on airfare. Story by Ken Sweet for the Associated Press.

Mobile Apps Outpace Mobile Web Commerce for First Time
Sales from mobile commerce are up 40 percent this year, making it the fastest-growing channel compared to ecommerce’s 11 percent increase year-over-year, according to a new report from the e-tailing group. Per the report, mobile is by far the fastest growing digital commerce channel. Of those sales, mobile apps make up the majority of mobile commerce transactions, coinciding with mobile app visits surpassing mobile Web visits. In the first quarter of 2016, online sales made up 40 billion dollars. Of that 40 billion, 26.6 billion came from mobile and 13.5 billion came from desktop commerce, making mobile the dominant form of online commerce. Within the 26.6 billion from mobile, the makeup was almost even between sales that came from mobile applications and sales that came from the mobile Web. But for the first time, mobile apps just barely beat out the mobile Web at 13.4 billion to 13.2 billion. Story by Danny Parisi for Mobile Commerce Daily.

Can Credit Cards with CVVs that Automatically Change Every Hour Kill Off Card Fraud?
A French digital payment security company called Oberthur Technologies (OT) thinks it can do away such card-not-present fraud by changing static CVVs to dynamic CVVs, which change every hour. If a crook gets hold of your card number, his or her shopping spree could last no more than an hour; after the security code changes, the card number would be useless. Instead of a CVV printed on the back of a bank card, the Motion Code CVV would be displayed on an e-paper “mini-screen.” The security code would automatically refresh to some random security code every hour. That time is not set in stone. OT noted that whoever issues the card could set the CVV refresh time to any time value. The consumer does nothing different, simply enters the ephemeral security code when making online purchases. Ecommerce sites also don’t need to make any changes to accept payment via cards with Motion Code technology. Story by Ms. Smith for Network World.

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report
Based on the 1,000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.61 percent, slightly higher than last week’s average of 14.62 percent. Six months ago, the average was 14.80 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.58 percent.

Oberthur Technologies is developing a new credit card to help combat fraud.

In place of the three digit CVV (card verification value) code on the back of your card, Oberthur’s new credit card will have a digital display that will generate a new code every hour.

The cards have been piloted in Mexico and Poland, and will be in the hands of French Consumers by the end of the year through deals made with Société Générale and Groupe BPCE. Oberthur is currently in negotiations with U.K. banks.

CVVs are on the back of cards to help ensure that a consumer actually has the card while paying for goods online, but cybercriminals know how to steal these codes. Since Oberthur’s CVV code is dynamic, though, a card number would be worthless to cybercriminals after an hour.

“In some ways, it’s surprising it has taken so long for this to appear,” Professor Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity expert at Surrey University, told the BBC. “The technology has existed for some time so now it will be a case of persuading card processors that it is worth doing.

“It may be costly for card operators as some extra infrastructure will be required to ensure our cards stay synchronised with the operator, but it happens already for many banks with the dongles they issue for login.”

Martin Ferenczi, President of Oberthur Technologies North America, confirmed these cards will cost issuers more than EMV cards. However, many believe this technology could eliminate card-not-present fraud, which makes up made up 65% of all card fraud, according to Network World.

Oberthur says the battery for the digital display lasts at least three years, meaning the battery should last until the card expires.

Stripe, a popular online payment platform, launched a new service to enhance credit card detection for ecommerce merchants. Known as Stripe Radar, this program uses the vast information in Stripe’s payment database to identify potentially fraudulent transactions for merchants to decline.

John Collision, one of the cofounders of Stripe, told Business Insider that “half of all Americans have made purchases from one of its customers.” The company processes millions of transactions every day, giving it a much larger database of information than most retailers have on their own. As a result, they are able to detect suspicious activity faster and more effectively than standard fraud prevention platforms, providing superior protection for both merchants and consumers.

Collision explained that many smaller companies review each transaction by hand, or block all international cards for fear of fraud. This is inefficient, and leads to a significant number of unnecessary fraud claims. Stripe Radar is automatic. It does not rely on human reviews, but rather patterns of fraud that the system can detect on its own. This system is able to make adjustments as the fraud industry changes. As new patterns emerge, Stripe Radar will be able to modify its detection system to protect merchants as quickly as possible.

In February 2015, Stripe revolutionized its system by automatically updating shoppers’ credit card information when they get new card numbers. This occurred well before America switched to smartchip cards, but was designed to streamline that process when the time came.

Stripe Radar is free for existing Stripe account holders.

Credit Card Scammers Flock to Online Shopping
Just like legitimate shoppers, criminals are buying more goods and services online with credit cards. The rate of online card fraud is rising sharply as a growing number of purchases take place on the internet while brick-and-mortar merchants race to lock down vulnerabilities in the checkout line. That is prompting new steps to try to curb the threat: The credit card industry on Tuesday announced a plan to encourage online merchants to provide card issuers with more detailed customer information that could be used to catch fraudulent purchases. More than 7.5% of online merchants’ revenue is eaten up by the cost of actual fraud and costs associated with fraud-prevention tools, according to a new survey. Story by Robin Sidel for The Wall Street Journal.

What Mobile Carriers Do Next: Become Banks
If banking is something you do on an app, why shouldn’t your mobile carrier actually be your bank? It’s more than just an idea. Orange, Telenor, and O2 are all building their own operations. In the UK alone, people use mobile banking apps more than 7,610 times a minute, or 4 billion times a year. All over the world people are switching away from branch-based banking, and even desktop Internet banking, to manage their financial lives through an app. Why wouldn’t they? There’s no need to go anywhere. The user interface is typically better than it is on a PC. And the addition of biometrics (typically fingerprint) makes signing in so much easier and safer than passwords. Of course, banking apps are made by banks. The carriers just provide the data packages that allow people to use use them. But in the last year, a small number of European carriers have come to a radical conclusion: Let’s do more than just enable mobile banking apps; let’s build our own. Story by Rimma Perelmuter for Venture Beat.

No One Wants a Wells Fargo Credit Card. Good.
Wells Fargo’s recent earnings report signaled deep trouble for the scandal-plagued bank. Profits were down, revenues flat, and, perhaps even more worrisome, the bank announced fewer people were opening accounts. Credit card applications, for instance, declined by 20% compared to a similar period in the previous year, and bank account interested declined by a quarter. Which is great news! Wells Fargo, despite its status as one of the nation’s largest retail banks and its cutthroat desire to pair consumers with as many banking products as possible, has consistently offered borrowers lackluster credit card options, vastly inferior to its rivals. You are better off shopping elsewhere for your piece of plastic. Story by Taylor Tepper for Money.

Credit Card Worries Weighing on Consumers
Student loan debt has been a growing concern over the last three years, as the outstanding loan total has surged past $1 trillion. But is it the biggest financial worry consumers have? Not by a long shot. A new poll conducted for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling has found that credit cards are the biggest financial worry for consumers, and other concerns aren’t even close. When asked what financial issue caused them the most worry, 69% of consumers said credit cards. The second biggest worry concerned the inability to save for retirement or emergencies, mentioned by 13% of consumers. Student loan debt was third, at 10%. Story by Mark Huffman for Consumer Affairs.

Uber Offers its Own Debit Card to Mexican Customers
Don’t have enough Uber in your life? Sign up for an Uber debit card. The ride-hailing company is launching a debit card available to Uber Mexico customers. The Uber Bankaool debit card, released in partnership with Mastercard and the Mexican online bank Bankaool, will work as a regular debit card for in-store purchases, e-commerce and ATM withdrawals. The card represents an effort by Uber to attract more customers in Mexico, where some debit providers don’t allow e-commerce purchases like Uber rides. Story by Emma Hinchliffe for Mashable.

Credit Card Fraud in the U.S. Topped $8 Billion in 2015
The U.S. is responsible for more than a third of the world’s credit card fraud. While fraud losses incurred on all credit, debit and prepayment cards reached $21.84 billion last year, losses in the U.S. accounted for $8.45 billion, or 38.7% of the total volume, according to the Nilson Report. At the same time, the nation generated just 22.9% of global purchase and cash volume. Total credit card fraud losses grew by 20.6% over the last year, outpacing volume, which clipped upward by only 7.3%. They resulted in $15.72 billion in losses to card issuers, while merchants and acquirers lost the remaining $6.12 billion. Most losses to credit card companies occur from counterfeit cards used at point of sale or ATMs. The report notes the best defense against fraud is using chip cards, which now handle nearly 36% of Visa, Mastercard, Union Pay, Discover/Diners, JCB and American Express transactions worldwide. In the U.S., chip cards accounted for less than 2% of total fraud. Story by Kerry Close for Money.

Once Millennials Are Denied Credit, They May Not Be Back
Millennials may give up on obtaining credit once they’ve been declined. In fact, 6 in 10 will not apply for credit for at least a year following a denial. The study also found Millennials are often declined for credit due to a lack of credit history or low credit scores-even when they have the ability to repay the debt. While they may be easily discouraged, Millennials are still applying for credit at higher rates than GenXers or Baby Boomers. Millennials also make up a larger number of credit card applicants (35%) than marketplace loan applicants (28%), which indicates that Millennials are interested in traditional credit cards. The problem seems to be that fewer than half of Millennials have credit scores high enough to be approved for a credit card with a mainstream lender. One-third do not have a credit history, and for those that do, two-thirds have subprime or non-prime credit scores. Story by Bill Hardekopf for LowCards.com.

Mastercard Connects Your Car to Your Wallet
Mastercard is partnering with General Motors and IBM to enable cars to remind users to run errands–and let them pay from the car, without opening their wallet. The collaboration will bring Masterpass secure, payment technology and Mastercard Digital Enablement Services to a new cognitive mobility platform called OnStar Go, which will be embedded across many GM vehicles starting in 2017. By embedding Masterpass within OnStar Go, Mastercard will enable drivers and passengers to safely make secure and seamless payments for goods and services using credit or debit cards stored within their Masterpass wallet. Story in IT Online.

Bank of America’s Newest Tech: Siri-Like Service for Mobile Customers
Bank of America unveiled on Monday a Siri-like “virtual assistant” for smartphones, the latest example of the industry’s deepening push into mobile banking. The bank said the feature, called Erica, will allow its customers to perform transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week using their voice. The technology, unveiled at a payments industry conference in Las Vegas, works similar to other smartphone virtual assistants such as iPhone’s Siri. A spokesperson said the bank becomes the first among its competitors to offer the feature. The bank unveiled other new mobile-banking technology, including upcoming access to a person-to-person payment service meant to compete with Venmo and other popular money-transfer apps. Banks’ customers are flocking to smartphones to conduct transactions they used to rely on branches for. Also, mobile transactions can cost a bank less than the same transactions performed in a branch, increasing the attractiveness of the technology as banks seek to lower overall expenses. Story by Deon Roberts for the Charlotte Observer.

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report
Based on the 1,000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.60 percent, identical to last week. Six months ago, the average was 14.76 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.56 percent.

According to the latest Nilson Report, the United States accounts for more than one third of credit card fraud loss around the world. The worldwide losses for 2015 reached $21.84 billion, with the U.S. losing $8.45 billion (38.7%).

Card issuers took the biggest hit from fraud losses, paying out $15.72 billion. Merchants and card acquirers lost $6.12 billion. Most of the fraud came from counterfeit cards used at ATMs and payment terminals.

Global fraud loss increased by 20.6% compared to the previous year. America’s conversion to chip cards has helped reduce the country’s fraud risk. Only 2% of card fraud in 2015 came from chipped cards. The report says that 36% of purchases made through Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Union Pay, American Express and JCB are now backed by EMV technology.

Experts predict credit card fraud will reach a high of $32.82 billion in 2019, but then decline to $31.67 billion by 2020. The continued adoption of chip cards may lead to some of this reduction, along with the expansion of mobile wallets and other payment options with enhanced security features.

Subprime Credit Card Surge Pushing Up Missed Payments
Credit card lending to subprime borrowers is starting to backfire. Missed payments on credit cards that lenders issued recently are higher than on older cards, according to new data from credit bureau TransUnion. Nearly 3% of outstanding balances on credit cards issued in 2015 were at least 90 days behind on payments six months after they were originated. That compares with 2.2% for cards that were given out in 2014 and 1.5% for cards in 2013. The poorer performance on newer cards pushed up the 90-day or more delinquency rate for all credit cards to 1.53% on average nationwide in the third quarter. That’s the highest level since 2012. The recent increase in subprime lending is one of the big contributors. Lenders ramped up subprime card lending in 2014 and have been doling out more of these cards recently. They issued just over 20 million credit cards to subprime borrowers in 2015, up some 20% from 2014 and up 56% from 2013. Story by AnnaMaria Andriotis for The Wall Street Journal.

Credit Card Usage on Rise, Mobile Shopping Plays Role
Consumers continue to reach for the familiarity and convenience of credit cards. In fact, U.S. credit card accounts and usage are nearing prerecession numbers once again. Habit and ease of use likely aren’t the only factors playing a role in this increase. A jump in consumers shopping on their phones is one potential driver of credit card usage. Data from the 2017 Mobile 500 report shows mobile commerce is expected to grow 53 percent this year. Additionally, SmartInsights’ latest ecommerce growth statistics predict online sales via smartphone to surpass desktop sales by 2017. The more consumers are given easy access to shopping (ecommerce, apps, etc.), the easier it is to spend money, and today, the credit card is one mechanism making this possible in a way that’s convenient and trusted. Story by Jennifer Davis for TMG.

7 in 10 Rejected for a Credit Card Hold a Grudge
Rejection hurts, and a rejection on a credit card application is no different. According to a new survey, most Americans (70%) say they would turn their back on a bank that rejected their credit card application and would not apply for another credit product from that bank. This survey asked more than 2,000 American adults how they would feel if they had a credit card application rejected, and what actions they would take as a result. It found that there are common misconceptions about why applications are rejected and that rejection can elicit emotions ranging from sadness to anger, confusion to offense. Responses also indicated a strong desire to put in the work to get approved next time. Story by Erin El Issa for USA Today.

Debit Cards are Growing Faster than Credit Cards
The amount of debit cards is growing at a faster rate than that of credit cards, according to a new study. Debit cards now represent 70% of payment cards globally, a 2% increase from 2014, and that’s expected to hit 72% by 2021. Debit card growth will drive up the total amount of payment cards worldwide even as credit cards decline. Emerging markets will lead the debit card charge. There are 2 billion people who are unbanked, according to the World Bank, indicating that a massive portion of the global population lacks access to banking services. As a result, financial institutions are already starting to move into regions with large un- or underbanked population in an attempt to capitalize those markets. One such method for doing this is building up payment card infrastructure and issuing debit- or debit-like products to consumers in order to connect them to mainstream financial institutions, like prepaid cards that are offered by both Visa and Mastercard. Story in Business Insider.

Here’s an Alternative to Your Credit or Debit Card for Online Shopping
It’s really hard to maintain your privacy when spending money online. As we’ve previously reported, the government insists on attaching money to identity in order to protect Americans from terrorism. Anonyme Labs announced a new product yesterday, SudoPay for iOS, that could help keep your debit card or credit card number private as you buy things on the web or on mobile. Now that people have become ever so slightly more careful, the app lets users buy digital debit cards that they can load with money in order to make online purchases. That way, consumers won’t expose their real credit card number to merchants. The virtual cards get funded using Apple Pay. Further, users can even create fake names, addresses and phone numbers to associate with the card, for when vendors request the billing address. Story by Brady Dale for Observer.

One-Third of All Credit Card Fraud Loss Occurs in U.S.
The United States accounts for more than one third of credit card fraud loss around the world. The worldwide losses for 2015 reached $21.84 billion, with the U.S. losing $8.45 billion (38.7%). Card issuers took the biggest hit from fraud losses, paying out $15.72 billion. Merchants and card acquirers lost $6.12 billion. Most of the fraud came from counterfeit cards used at ATMs and payment terminals. Global fraud loss increased by 20.6% compared to the previous year. America’s conversion to chip cards has helped reduce the country’s fraud risk. Only 2% of card fraud in 2015 came from chipped cards. Story by Bill Hardekopf for LowCards.com.

Wal-Mart to Offer Chase Pay Service
Wal-Mart is enlisting J.P. Morgan Chase as a new ally in its longstanding effort to reduce electronic-payment costs. Starting next year, the retailer will offer the bank’s Chase Pay service as a way for shoppers to pay for things on Walmart.com and in the Walmart app, including the Walmart Pay mobile service in stores. The move is the latest iteration of a long-simmering strategy by Wal-Mart to find ways to minimize fees it pays to take debit and credit card payments. Chase has said that merchants who use its suite of payments services could pay lower fees to process many card transactions than they would otherwise. Story by Sarah Nassauer and Telis Demos for The Wall Street Journal.

MasterCard Pushes Ahead into Blockchain Tech
MasterCard is diving deeper into distributed-ledger technology, adding three blockchain-based APIs to MasterCard Developers, its platform for app programmers. Focused on core blockchain, smart contracts, and faster payments, the APIs will be available to developers from banks and retailers, as well as other clients, and the firm will encourage them to test them for a variety of offerings, including P2P and B2B payments. For context, MasterCard has been historically cautious about its blockchain-based initiatives, so this marks some departure. The move comes as interest in blockchain begins to deepen. Ninety percent of banking professionals have said their company is currently exploring the use of blockchain, best known for powering cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, according to new data from Accenture. That’s indicative of massive interest, likely because the technology can increase efficiency and reduce cost. Santander estimates that blockchain technology could cut industry costs by up to $20 billion annually
through 2022. Story by Business Insider.

Visa’s Manitoba Customers Offered Grocery Credit as Wal-Mart Feud Escalates
Visa Canada is offering its Manitoba cardholders a reward if they buy their groceries somewhere other than Wal-Mart. The credit card giant has launched an advertising campaign in which it offers a $10 credit to Manitoba cardholders who spend $50 or more at grocery stores in the province. Visa is in the midst of a fee dispute with Wal-Mart, which stopped accepting the card at its 16 Manitoba stores on Oct. 24. The retail giant vowed in June to stop accepting Visa at all of its more than 400 Canadian outlets if Visa doesn’t lower its credit card fee, which it charges to all of its retail customers. A month later, Wal-Mart started banning Visa cards at its stores in Thunder Bay. Story in The Globe and Mail.

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report
Based on the 1,000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.60 percent, identical to last week. Six months ago, the average was 14.75 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.58 percent.