Apple and AT&T started taking orders for the coming iPhone model Tuesday, but buyers reported problems getting their orders registered.

Shoppers said they were met with error messages on the company Web sites, and lines formed in stores as clerks tried to get orders into their systems.

Computer systems at Apple Inc., the maker of the phone, or AT&T Inc., its exclusive U.S. carrier, have had various problems meeting demand for the iPhone every year since the first one launched in 2007.

Neither Apple nor AT&T commented on the latest problems. They come a week after AT&T plugged an embarrasing security hole on its website, which exposed the e-mail addresses of people who had bought another Apple product, the iPad 3G.

Japanese phone company Softbank started taking orders earlier in the day and was also flooded with requests. Softbank spokesman Furuya Katsuhide said that the better-than-expected demand had stressed the company’s systems, which slowed both its website and the reservation process at stores.

New Fed rules to guard credit card customers

The Federal Reserve adopted new rules Tuesday aimed at protecting credit card customers from getting socked by lofty late payment charges and other penalty fees.

The rules respond to public and congressional outrage over practices by credit card companies.

They bar credit card companies from charging a penalty fee of more than $25 for paying a bill late. They prohibit credit card companies from charging penalty fees that are higher than the dollar amount associated with the customer’s violation. They also ban “inactivity” fees when customers don’t use the account to make new purchases and they prevent multiple penalty fees on a single late payment.

The rules take effect Aug. 22.

Lincoln sets price for stock offering

Lincoln National Corp. on Tuesday announced the price for its public offering of almost 12.3 million common shares.

The Philadelphia-based financial services provider will charge $27.25 per share. Assuming all the shares are sold, the company will collect about $335 million. Lincoln on Monday also announced plans to issue up to $750 million of senior notes.

Lincoln’s stock closed Tuesday at $27.88, up 47 cents on the New York Stock Exchange. Founded in Fort Wayne in 1905, Lincoln employs about 1,700 locally, a corporate spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Bunge updating Decatur plant

Grain and oil-seed processor Bunge North America in Decatur is in the midst of adding equipment, according to documents from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Based on an application to the agency, the company plans to install machinery related to soybean meal sizing and grinding. The cost was not disclosed.

Bunge North America is a subsidiary of Bunge Limited, a global agribusiness and food company that was founded in 1818.

Based in White Plains, N.Y., Bunge has more than 25,000 employees in more than 30 countries, including Canada and Mexico.

The business employs about 250 in Decatur.