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Several months ago, American Express launched an online payment platform known as "Serve," and will soon begin issuing Serve-branded prepaid cards that are designed to help consumers better associate those accounts with the digital system and not the lender itself.

American Express is generally viewed by consumers and experts alike as being a lender for affluent people, and the company, in an attempt to reach a wider customer base, is looking for ways to make Serve stand as its own entity in Americans' minds, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. To that end, its new prepaid accounts will now come with the Serve name on the cards and the AmEx-associated branding will be limited.

"A big part of our [research and development] is can we grow this without leveraging the [AmEx] brand," Ed Gilligan, vice chairman of American Express, told the newspaper.

The reasons for this are two-fold, the report said. First, the company would like to expand the brand recognition of its digital platform – which launched in March as an alternative to similar services like PayPal – so that more consumers associate it with convenient payment options. And second, it would like to reach more people who may currently believe they cannot afford or obtain cards bearing the American Express name.

Consumers will be able to load their Serve cards from a number of sources, the report said. That includes credit or debit cards and checking accounts – even those controlled by other financial institutions – as well as the type of "money pack" typically used to reload other prepaid cards. It is also expanding partnerships with smartphone providers and striking deals with merchants to allow consumers to pay through Serve.

Of course, American Express would also like to expand the Serve platform because other companies are entering into the digital payment arena, or will make increased pushes to do so in the coming months, the report said. Companies like Google, Visa and various wireless phone service providers are pushing their own versions of these services, or will in the new year.

Consumers may be able to use these prepaid cards as a means of making convenient payments at a number of businesses without taking on credit card debt.

Beginning in the near future, credit cardholders' complaints will be addressed by a new arm of the federal agency in charge of protecting consumers from predatory or questionable lending practices from financial institutions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened its Office of the Ombudsman on December 8, under the direction of acting ombudsman Wendy Kamenshine, according to a report from U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, writing for the Huffington Post. The purpose of this part of the agency is currently only to advise financial institutions on the way the CFPB will be implementing various aspects of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act.

But beginning this spring, it will also be able to field consumers' complaints related to the way their lenders are handling their outstanding credit card debt, the report said. In addition, it will work to provide information to consumers about their rights when trying to get out of debt.

Currently, the CFPB has a hotline set up on which consumers can lodge complaints about their credit card accounts, particularly if they believe they have been hit by unfair lending practices.

The new federal agency in charge of protecting consumers from financial institutions' predatory lending practices will have to wait at least another month for a chief executive.

Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general who was tabbed by the Obama administration to lead the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will have to wait at least until Congress comes back from its holiday break on January 23 to be approved by the U.S. Senate, according to a report from Reuters. In its last day of business prior to the recess, GOP lawmakers decided to block his appointment, and that of three other nominees for banking regulation positions, because the White House would not give Republicans assurances about recess appointments.

The Senate will also hold "pro forma" sessions during the recess to make sure no such appointments are made, the report said.

The CFPB's primary stated task is to create more protections for consumers when it comes to handling their credit card debt more effectively, such as building a national credit card offer database and starting a hotline where Americans can report complaints about these accounts.

Millions of Americans have made significant progress in the last few months when it comes to getting their bills paid on time and taking steps to reduce debt, and that new trend may prompt lenders to further expand efforts to issue more cards in the new year.

Declining rates of credit card default and increased spending may be enough to entice the nation's top credit card lenders to continue their efforts to broaden lending standards so that more Americans have access new accounts, according to a report from The Associated Press. The credit monitoring bureau TransUnion recently reported that these efforts were already under way earlier this year, as more than a quarter million new cards were issued to those with moderate credit ratings who would not have had access to these accounts just a year prior.

Lenders significantly tightened lending restrictions during and immediately following the recession as default rates climbed to all-time highs as a result of extreme economic difficulties faced by most consumers. However, those rates have since fallen to near-record lows in the past year.

Most consumers who have gone shopping at major retailers in recent months have probably noticed that more are offering store-branded credit cards – usually with the promise of a moderate discount on the cost of their purchase that day. And those efforts will likely expand in the coming months.

One reason for this is that Citi will soon rename its private-label credit card business and focus on expanding its offerings not only with current partners, but new ones as well, according to the lender. The new company, known as Citi Retail Services instead of the current name (Retail Partner Cards) will also aggressively work to expand available loyalty rewards programs for consumers.

The company also recently added Ford Motor Company to its list of card partners, meaning it will provide financing for parts and service at 3,000 dealerships nationwide, the report said. Currently, Citi has issued close to 90 million accounts through its retail card business.

Retailer cards are generally frowned upon by experts, however, because they carry higher interest rates than regular accounts, which can lead consumers to have more credit card debt than they are comfortable with and make it harder to get out of debt if they fall behind.

With millions of Americans still dealing with credit card debt on accounts they may not fully understand, the new federal bureau is asking for the public's help in shaping a new document to help clarify many aspects of a lending agreement.

The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking public comment on its new proposed credit card lending agreement, which is designed to clarify some parts of a deal by listing the terms in simple language and larger print, according to a report from ABC News. Americans can visit the CFPB's website, view the document as proposed and enter their suggestions at the bottom of the page.

The proposed document cuts the number of words in a credit card agreement from the current average of about 5,000 to a little more than 1,000, the report said. However, once finalized, the document will not be mandatory for lenders to use, which may cause its adoption to be slow at first.

Experts believe that the CFPB's efforts will eventually lead to clearer agreements between lenders and consumers for all financial products, though the agency is currently focusing on credit cards and mortgages.

For those who earn rewards such as cash back or points for every dollar of credit card debt they take on, it may often be difficult to determine exactly how they're earning those benefits.

Experts say that a lack of disclosure from the nation's top credit card lenders might lead consumers to not earn as many points as they might otherwise was be able to, according to a report from Smart Money. In most cases, lenders send statements that only outline the total number of points earned in a given month, rather than an itemized list. In the best cases, consumers may receive a breakdown of points earned by spending category.

And while advocates say greater disclosure would be a boon to borrowers, lenders believe that adding any more information to a statement would make the document too cluttered and difficult to understand for consumers, the report said.

Consumers who want to better understand the way they earn rewards on their credit card accounts may want to consider closely reviewing their lending agreement to find ways they can maximize their benefits.