Stolen Uber Accounts Worth More than Stolen Credit Cards
Cybercriminals don’t care that much about your credit card number anymore. Uber, PayPal and even Netflix accounts have become much more valuable to criminals, as evidenced by the price these stolen identifiers now fetch on the so-called “deep Web,” according to security company Trend Micro. Stolen Uber account information on underground marketplaces sells for an average of $3.78 per account, while personally identifiable information (PII) was listed for $1 to $3.30 on average, oddly down from $4 per record in 2014. PII includes any information that can be used to commit identity fraud, like Social Security numbers or date of birth and varies in price depending on the specific information for sale. Story by Harriet Taylor for CNBC.
Consumers Use Mobile Banking But Don’t Trust It, with Reason
Consumers have gotten used to using mobile banking, but that doesn’t mean they trust it. Nor should they, given the escalating security threats. In a recent survey, MyBankTracker, a personal finance and bank ranking platform, found that only 6% of respondents trust mobile technologies for financial transactions. When you think of how many people in this country use mobile banking–a Verizon study found that in 2015, 55% of American smartphone owners made a mobile bank transaction–this 6% is astonishing. Another consumer study, commissioned by the security software company Arxan, found that although the vast majority of consumers–86%–think their banks are doing enough to protect their apps, 41% expect those apps will be hacked. Story by Penny Crosman for American Banker.
AmEx Chief Dismantles His Laboratory Serving Not-So-Wealthy
In 34 years at American Express Co., Ken Chenault has helped reinvent the credit-card company more than once. But his latest push into new frontiers is faltering behind the scenes. The lender is dismantling its enterprise growth division, created to develop additional sources of revenue, lure new customers and help fend off Silicon Valley startups. Several top executives have left in recent months, including Neal Sample, its leader, and the unit plans to cut about 170 jobs in New York and Florida. The company canceled a product launch in Mexico, scaled back research efforts, folded parts of the business into other divisions and is closing its office on the edge of Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood. The unit’s centerpiece, debit cards for people unable to open bank accounts, remains. Story by Elizabeth Dexheimer for Bloomberg Business.
Barclays Introduces Virtual Credit Card Replacement
All those who have a habit of losing their credit cards, only to end up somewhere without a means to pay, rejoice! Barclaycard has announced a new service, UK’s first, which allows for the instant replacement of a lost credit card–first virtually, followed by a real card replacement. The service works by calling the contract center for free from the Barclaycard app. After that, the virtual replacement card will be instantly downloaded to the smartphone, allowing the customer to pay straight away. That way, those red-faced situations in which people realize they have no means to pay until it’s too late, can be avoided. A physical card replacement follows soon after. Besides being able to pay for transactions of up to £30 using contactless, customers with Android Contactless Mobile can enter their PIN and pay for transactions of up to £100 using the touch and go technology. Story by Sead Fadilpasic for Beta News.
Hyatt Confirms Data Breach at 250 Hotels
In December, Hyatt Hotels announced they had discovered credit card stealing malware on their payment processing computers. Yesterday, the hotel chain confirmed this malware was capable of stealing credit card names, numbers, expiration dates and verification codes. The attack took place against the hotel’s payment processing system between August 13 and December 8, though some hotels may have been breached as early as July 30. A list of the 250 hotels affected can be found on the company’s website. The hotels are located in 54 different countries with a majority located in China and the United States. Story by Natalie Rutledge for LowCards.com.
McDonald’s Rolls Out FreeCharge Mobile Payments to 216 Indian Restaurants
McDonald’s customers across West & South India can now pay for their orders in-store using their mobile device. The fast food chain has implemented support for mobile wallet provider FreeCharge in 216 restaurants across 26 cities to allow customers to conduct payments using a dynamic PIN code. Story by Rian Boden for NFC World.
MasterCard on Blockchain: ‘We Don’t Want to be Blindsided’
Blockchain–the technology that underpins bitcoin–is one of the most exciting areas of technology at the moment. It has the potential to strip out huge amounts of admin costs and companies around the globe are signing up to get a piece of the action, through consortiums and direct investment. Finance companies are particularly keen with everyone from NASDAQ to Barclays exploring the technology. MasterCard is also keeping tabs, investing in bitcoin company Digital Currency Group towards the end of last year. Story by Lianna Brinded for Business Insider.
Sam’s Club to Accept Visa Credit Cards
Visa and Wal-Mart Stores on said warehouse club retailer Sam’s Club would accept Visa credit cards starting Feb. 1. The partnership follows the September announcement that Sam’s Club would accept American Express cards. Sam’s Club also accepts its own cards and those from Discover. Sam’s Club currently accepts Visa debit and prepaid products at its clubs, as well as Visa credit at its U.S. fuel stations and online. Later this year, Samsclub.com will begin offering Visa Checkout. Sam’s Club operates 650 locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and about a third of those stores share a parking lot with a Wal-Mart. Story by Anne Steele for The Wall Street Journal.
Netflix is Looking at Local Payment Methods such as Prepaid Cards
Video streaming service Netflix reported a net income of $43.18 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, down 48.20% from $83.37 million in the same quarter last year. The company’s profits were down as the company invested heavily into original content programming and its global launch into more than 130 countries. CFO David Wells mentioned that his company is looking into different payment systems around the world and that Netflix is looking at prepaid cards and gift cards as a payment option. Currently, subscriptions for Netflix can be paid only via an international debit card or credit card. Story by Shashidhar KJ for MediaNama.
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 14.89 percent, identical to last week. Six months ago, the average was 14.67 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.41 percent.
