UniBul Credit Card Blog

France Takes over as Europe’s Top Location for Credit Card Fraud

Credit card fraudsters seem to be making progress in breaking down the new smart-chip technology's defenses in France, Germany, Italy and Europe as a whole.

Alaska Keeps Leading Nation in Credit Card Debt, by a Huge Margin

Alaskans carried $6,789 in credit card debt in Q1 2013, on average, way ahead of Colorado residents who owed $5,525; Iowans had the lowest average -- $3,810.

Why Would You Want to Compete in a Low-Margin Industry?

Groupon is lowering prices in hope of bringing its Square-like service to life. They won't succeed, but will end up stuck in a low-margin morass.

On the ‘Dubious Economics’ of Using Bitcoin as a Currency

While I am not quite ready to write it off completely, I am highly skeptical of Bitcoin's prospects as an alternative currency to the dollar.

Should You Opt for an Offshore Merchant Account if You Can Get a Domestic One?

If your domestic accounts only last for a few months, and your funds get held for several months following each termination, offshore is where you should go.

Chip-and-PIN Adoption vs. Credit Card Fraud

The transition to the chip-and-PIN credit card technology in the U.S. will reduce fraud from counterfeit cards, but other types of fraud will probably increase.

Merchant Account Considerations for Online Tech Support Businesses

Online tech support merchants fall squarely into high-risk territory, but as long as they are focused on meeting the right challenges, they'll be in good shape.

The Importance of Your First High-Risk Merchant Account

When you get a high-risk merchant account proposal, but haven't quite got the terms you hoped for, consider it before responding, but don't reject it outright.

Why Paying Attention Makes It Easier to Get a Merchant Account

Seemingly insignificant details about the way we communicate with others can say volumes about how well we do business and manage our finances.

How to Get a Merchant Account for a Brand New High-Risk Business

Very high-risk merchant accounts are hard to obtain, but the objective is well within reach for the well-qualified, so long as they follow my suggestions.

High-Risk Merchant Accounts and Mainstream Payment Processors

Mainstream payment processors sometimes underwrite high-risk merchant accounts, but usually terminate them within the first six months of operation.

Americans Pay down Credit Card Debt, Student Debt Keeps Rising

Americans paid down some credit card debt in March, but kept taking out more student and auto loans, the latest Federal Reserve data show.

Why You Can’t Get a High-Risk Merchant Account and What to Do about It

There are very good reasons why high-risk merchant accounts are difficult to get, but there are processors that operate precisely in that range of the spectrum.

Being Unbanked Is a Choice, but the Alternatives Are Getting Better

Staying out of the traditional financial system is much more a matter of choice and lack of financial education, than it is about being shut out of it.

U.S.-Based vs. Offshore Merchant Account

Whether or not offshore merchant accounts can favorably compare to domestic ones, the fact is that for many businesses they represent the only available option.

Why Don’t Merchants Offer Discounts on Cash and Debit Card Payments?

Applying surcharges to credit card transactions alienates credit card users, but cash or debit card discounts are too costly for merchants to make sense.

Americans Are Quickly Adopting Mobile Banking

The use of mobile banking and mobile payments is growing; in the not-too-distant future they'll become the prevalent method of doing both banking and payments.

Surging Credit Card Use in China Boosts GDP

The huge increase in payment card usage in China boosted consumption by 4.89% for the 2008-2012 period, adding $375B to GDP and increasing growth by 1.7%.

Who Pays for Debit Card Fraud?

Debit fraud losses reported in 2011 were shared primarily between the card issuers and the merchants, with 60% borne by the issuers and 38% - by the merchants.

False Information and High-Risk Merchant Accounts

Many applicants for high-risk merchant accounts attempt to falsify information about their businesses to improve their approval chances; but they don't have to.

Saving for College in 2013

Though nearly all American families believe that college is an investment in their child's future, only 50% do it, down from 60% just two years ago.

U.S. Credit Card Defaults, Delinquencies Fall to New Lows

U.S. credit card charge-offs fell to 3.91% during 2013 Q3; the 60-day delinquency rate dropped to 1.63%; the monthly payment rate (MPR) rose to 23.42%.

Reducing Student Debt, One Bank Account at a Time

College students with no bank account are significantly more likely to adopt extremely risky attitudes and behaviors towards spending, saving, and debt.

The Future of Mobile Payments

Google Wallet shows us the future of mobile payments: banks moving money around, while other companies manage the product development and customer relations.

Americans Shed Debt, but not Quickly Enough

Even after all the debt reduction that took place during the Great Recession, the debt-to-income ratio of U.S. households in 2010 was 58% higher than in 2001!

Older Americans Get Deeper into Credit Card Debt

Older Americans have turned to credit cards for protection during the Great Recession and now owe more on plastic than the under-50 population.

More than Half of U.S. Student Loans Are Deferred

51 percent of all student loan accounts in the U.S. are deferred, where repayment of the principal and interest is postponed, sometimes for up to three years.

The State of Mobile Payments in the U.S.

Even as mobile payments are poised to become an important part of our lives, it is unclear when they will achieve acceptance and what forms they will take.

How Small Businesses Use Credit Cards in the U.S.

The availability, size and usage of business credit card lines of credit have all taken a big hit, albeit perhaps not quite as big one as could be expected.

U.S. Merchant Accounts for India-Based Companies

We love doing business with India-based merchants. Identifying the right solution is often challenging, but we are getting better at it all the time.

Allied with Discover, PayPal Moves Offline, but How Will It Fare?

PayPal will soon be accepted as a payment option everywhere Discover is, but will consumers actually use the payment option at the checkout?

Doing the Right Thing the Wrong European Way

The end of the cross-border credit card fees is nigh, however clumsily the European Commission's objective might have been achieved.

Who Provides Square’s Credit Card Processing Service?

Many users believe that UniBul provides Square's service, even as no link between the two exists or can be reasonably conjectured, but they just keep coming.

Americans Still Cautious with Credit Cards, not so with Auto and Student Loans

Americans have taken out more student debt and auto loans in February, the latest Federal Reserve data show, but are still cautious with credit card debt.

What International Businesses Should Do if They Sell to American Consumers

If your international business has grown big enough and sells mostly in the US, a US-based credit card processor is probably the best option available to you.

Americans Adopt New Payment Methods, but Stick to Old Ones as Well

Americans write fewer checks and use cash less frequently than they used to, whereas the use of all types of e-payments, especially debit cards, is on the rise.

What the Debit Card Interchange Fee Reform Has Achieved

The Durbin Amendment benefited the largest merchants and smaller banks, but consumers, especially the big-bank customers, will suffer through its consequences.

Heavier U.S. Credit Card Users Live on the Coasts

The distribution of Americans who charge $700 or more per month on their credit cards is also an accurate representation of the country's political landscape.

AmEx Turns Bluebird into a Checking Account

The addition of checks and FDIC insurance has made Bluebird much better than most checking accounts and any other prepaid card currently available.

Checks Still Dominate P2P Payments and Other Facts

Despite the highly-publicized arrival of various new forms of P2P payments in the U.S. over the past decade and a half, paper checks still dominate the niche.

It Is a Phone and a Bank

M-Shwari can lay claim to being the first true mobile banking service - a full-fledged bank account, it offers access to loans and is managed from a cell phone.

PayPal vs. MasterCard – The Empire Strikes Back

MasterCard will start charging a digital wallet fee. PayPal is the main target, but will be joined by other digital wallet operators, such as Square and Google.

Business Owners Don’t Understand Credit Card Processing

While it is not exactly rocket science, only large merchants can be expected to have at least some grasp of how the credit card processing system works.

Bitcoin, Money Laundering and High-Risk E-Commerce

The use of Bitcoin will remain limited to very high-risk operations, which have limited access or are altogether cut off from the traditional payment system.

Payday Lending Wells Fargo Style

The payday loan industry has been thriving in the U.S. and Wells Fargo and other banks are now offering the service, charging up to 300% in interest.

You Can Now Turn Auto Loans into Credit Card Debt, but Should You?

Consumers can now transfer car loans and mortgages to credit cards with 0% APR, saving on interest fees and preventing repossessions, should anything go wrong.

On Mortgages and Credit Card Fear

If you were a mortgage lender, how comfortable would you feel extending hundreds of thousands in credit to someone who can't trust himself with managing debt?

How China UnionPay Is Beating out Visa and MasterCard at Home and Abroad

China UnionPay now has more payment cards in circulation than any of its rivals and is on its way to surpass Visa as the biggest card processor by volume.

Americans Set New Credit Card Debt Repayment Records

U.S. credit card charge-offs fell to 3.88% in February; the delinquency rate rose to 1.61%; the monthly payment rate fell to 24.83%. All of these are records.

PayPal Steps up Mobile Payments Push, Gains Ground on Square

PayPal is busy establishing its mobile payments service in markets from which Square is absent, even as it is giving Square a run for its money in the U.S.