MasterCard

Isis, a joint venture company conjointly owned by AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, announced the new partnership with Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express — all four of the major US payments networks.

"Isis' relationships with all four payment networks means that with Isis-enabled phones and payment terminals in place, merchants and consumers will have ubiquity and freedom of choice when it comes to payment network acceptance," says the company.

WikiLeals filed an official complaint with the European Commission against Visa and MasterCard on allegations the credit card networks reject processing donations to the whistleblower website. The complaint was filed in association with Icelandic IT company DataCell.

Visa and MasterCard blocked WikiLeaks from collecting funds from donors in December 2010.

According to the filing submitted with the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission, Visa and MasterCard breached antitrust provisions set out by Articles 101 and 102 of the EU Treaty.

Again WikiLeaks was denied to have its donations being processed. Last week the whistleblowing website hoped that DataCell would be able to start processing donations, for it had made an agreement with the Icelandic bank Valitor to have Visa and Mastercard payments processed by the bank.

DataCell stated it had always said that the payments were processed for WikiLeaks when entering a deal with Valitor. But the latter denies the allegation with spokeswoman Jonina Ingvadottir saying:

WikiLeaks will sue Visa and MasterCard for their refusal to process donations to the website. The whistle-blower service is now working with the lawyers in Denmark and Iceland along with its credit card processing partner DataCell to launch a lawsuit against the card schemes for "engaging in an unlawful, US influenced, financial blockade".

Ukash, the Global eMoney network, has announced the launch of the UkashOut MasterCard®, which enables consumers to convert their electronic money back to cash safely and securely.
With UkashOut MasterCard®, consumers can “close the loop” on eMoney payments by loading their cash onto a UkashOut MasterCard® using their Ukash vouchers.

A largest communications and technology company in Turkey, Turkcell announced its partnership with Garanti Bank to conjointly launch a new co-branded prepaid card Cep-T ParaCard.

On Thursday Google will announce its mobile payment system to allow consumers to make payments at checkout with phones instead of cards, according to the sources that reported to Reuters.

The sources further said that Google will be partnering with MasterCard Inc, the world's second-largest credit and debit card processing network, to launch the system.

Google has teamed with MasterCard and Citigroup Inc to develop the system, the Wall Street Journal reported in March.

MasterCard Worldwide in association with Yapta.com, a provider of airfare tracking, launched a new price assurance program for MasterCard U.S. consumer and small business cardholders who book flights directly with eligible airlines.

According to Bloomberg the state of Hawaii dropped out of a lawsuit accusing American Express Co. of violating federal law by preventing merchants from steering customers to cheaper forms of payment. 

MasterCard has announced the name of its new Head of Relationship Management in Ireland. According to the official statement made yesterday, Peter Corrigan who came to MasterCard almost 7 years ago was the best candidate.   

Prepaid card provider VoiceCash has introduced a new product to the German market: the new VoiceCash Prepaid MasterCard card.

Apart from conventional functionality of a MasterCard card the new VoiceCash Prepaid Card features a number of advantages over the standard product.

The application process for the VoiceCash Prepaid MasterCard is administered electronically via internet at www.die-karte-fuer-alle.de. Thanks to the prepaid principle, neither credit information (SCHUFA) nor an account are necessary.

MasterCard makes all its cards issued in Australia and New Zealand PayPass enabled starting next year. At present there are already 5.3 million PayPass cards in Australia that can be used at over 35,000 retail locations, including McDonald's, Bunnings and 7Eleven.

In association with Citigroup and MasterCard the search giant Google is developing a mobile payment system to allow Android phone owners to use their mobile phones as a kind of electronic wallet, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing people with the knowledge of the case.

With the new technology which is still at its early stage of development customers will be able to wave their Android phones in front of a small reader at the checkout counter to make payments, the Journal reported.

MasterCard Worldwide has announced appointment of Maripi S. Jalandoni as a new Group Head of Marketing for its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region. According to the company’s policy Jalandoni will ensure that the company’s brand positioning is executed effectively. Living in Singapore, she will control regional management of marketing teams and develop new strategies to accommodate local market opportunities. 

Lobbyists for big banks and credit card companies started lobbying the Congress to postpone implementation of the regulation limiting credit card fees charged for transactions.