MasterCard, Zwipe Team Up For World’s First Contactless Credit Card – 20 October 2014

Remembering a PIN code may become a thing of the past for credit card holders. MasterCard along with biometrics company Zwipe say that in 2015 they will offer the world’s first credit card which uses fingerprints to confirm payment.

“Our challenge is to ensure the technology offers robust security, simplicity of use and convenience for the customer,” Ajay Bhalla, President of Enterprise Security Solutions at MasterCard said in apress release published Friday.

The new generation cards will include a biometric sensor, the cardholder’s fingerprint data and MasterCard’s contactless application. The card is activated by pressing the holder’s thumb against the scanner. With the card’s fingerprint scanner, the sensor identifies a user’s fingerprint in a second comparing it with data stored in the card’s memory. This procedure makes contactless payment simple, secure and quick.

Read the full story at: www.rt.com / link to original article

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Russia’s Payment System Not Replacement, But Needed Alternative To Visa, MasterCard – 24 May 2014

The Russian payment system is not a replacement for Visa and MasterCard, just a much needed alternative, head of Sberbank Herman Gref told RT. The statement comes as the two credit card firms said they will keep on operating in Russia.

“Let an alternative to the international payment systems be, the alternative that shows their global responsibility,” Gref told RT Friday at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. “It is unacceptable to destabilize lives and financial activities of the huge country because of any political tensions. The population of 150 million people shouldn’t suffer.”

However the head of Sberbank said he does not consider Russia’s national payment system as a complete replacement to the foreign analogues, more as a local alternative.

#Sberbank CEO #Herman Gref on #Russian payment system: "not replacement for visa and MasterCard in Russia, just much needed alternative"

— Katie Pilbeam (@KatiePilbeamRT) May 23, 2014

Read the full story at: www.rt.com / link to original article

Jessica Dye – Visa, Mastercard, Banks In $7.25 Billion Retail Settlement – 15 July 2012

(Reuters) – Visa Inc, MasterCard Inc and banks that issue their credit cards have agreed to a $7.25 billion settlement with U.S. retailers in a lawsuit over the fixing of credit and debit card fees in what could be the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history.

The settlement, if approved by a judge, would resolve dozens of lawsuits filed by retailers in 2005. The card companies and banks would also allow stores to start charging customers extra for using certain credit cards in an effort to steer them toward cheaper forms of payment.

The settlement papers were filed on Friday in Brooklyn federal court.

Read the whole story at: http://www.reuters.com link to original article first published 13 July 2012.