Glenbrook's Russ Jones has just posted a new opinion piece on RFID in financial services.

If implemented properly, with a careful eye on the special requirements of the financial services industry, RFID holds great promise. But if deployed prematurely or before all the privacy ramifications are understood, it might also provide some nasty and unfortunate surprises.

Consumer Reports has posted an article from its February 2004 issue advising consumers how best to dispute charges on their credit card bills.

Our examination of the regulations and interviews with Federal Reserve attorneys, regulators, card issuers, and consumers found that dispute rules are confusing, card issuers sometimes skirt them, and many consumers misunderstand the rights that they do and don’t have.

The staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, National Credit Union Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, and the United States Department of the Treasury have issued a list of frequently asked questions addressing the application of Customer Identification Program rules.

Elizabeth Millard reports in Ecommerce Times on micropayments.

In other micropayments news, Peppercoin has announced a deal with Smithsonian Folkways to make its entire collection of 33,000 American folk songs available online to consumers for 99 cents per song.

VIVOtech has announced VIVOgiftcard, a contactless gift card solution for retailers.

 "The market for gift cards is immense and constitutes a critical element for adding revenues and growing a retailer's business. Gift cards are the fastest growing segment in the payment space with sales expected to total $36 to $38 billion for 2002, up 20% from the prior year. Gift cards account for 5% or more of total sales at major retailers," said Jorge Fernandes, CEO and co-founder of ViVOtech.

"Now, for the first time, retailers can differentiate their gift card product, enhance loyalty programs and provide a means to measure these programs. And they can help consumers at the same time by solving the wallet share problem and offering a delightful payment experience -- fast, flexible, secure and extremely convenient."

Visa USA has announced Visa Information Management, a new web-based portal service that offers organizations increased visibility of their procurement and payment data and enhanced reporting tools for Visa commercial transactions.

The Visa Information Management portal provides Visa's financial institutions with a sophisticated Web-service technology that makes it easier for their business customers to integrate Visa reporting tools into existing organizational processes and improve their procurement and payment procedures.

The service, which can be used either on its own or in conjunction with custom developed solutions from Visa's leading financial institutions, helps businesses and government agencies achieve greater efficiency and lower their administrative overheads.