News

SAN FRANCISCO - Like MasterCard, Visa USA has posted strong growth in both the cash volume and number of transactions in both its credit and debit programs so far in 2005. According to the number one card brand, sales volume for both credit and debit together increased 17.5% to $302...

ARLINGTON, Va. - Should more credit unions be careful about making sure they check security codes in the magnetic stripes of debit cards as part of the authentication process or shouldn't they? A report from the TowerGroup (see related story on page 23) has indirectly challenged the assertion from the...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Credit Union 24, the credit-union owned ATM and POS network that is headquartered in Florida, reported this month that its cardholders used their ATM/debit cards more in the month of July 2005 than they had in any previous month in the history of the ATM and EFT...

SAN FRANCISCO - A study conducted by San Francisco Consumer Action, a consumer activist group, has found that some of the most common bank card practices, most often associated with risk-based pricing, in fact penalize consumers, often for simple behavior associated with being consumers. The survey found that a third...

ECUADOR - Joining a credit union for Americans is a matter of finding one where they fit into a common bond, but for a group of rural Ecuadorian women under a three-year old project ending this month, they have had to earn the right to join. The program that the...

DALLAS - Four credit unions in three states have sold their card portfolios to TNB Card Services, the card processing arm of credit union-owned Town North Bank. The four credit unions are the $220 million Great Plains FCU, headquartered in Joplin, Missouri; the $44.5 million SourceOne FCU, headquartered in Brooklyn...

SRI LANKA, INDONESIA, INDIA, THAILAND - When the tsunami swept at least 280,000 persons to their deaths December 26, 2004, the immediate needs were to find loved ones, find food, rebuild homes and only after that try to get back to normal life. Credit unions are a tool to restore...

Americans continue to fall in love with their debit cards, steadily taking more of the cards and using them for an increasing volume of purchases, even for the "small change" items which cash used to dominate. According to Callahan and Associates, Americans charged $13.5 billion in transactions under $5 in...