Jennifer Coleman of the AP reports in the San Francisco Chronicle on a US District Court decision today that threw out a challenge by several banking associations to a new California financial privacy law scheduled to take effect tomorrow. READ MORE »

In partnership with MasterCard, the National Bank of Kuwait has launched the first mini card in the Middle East and Africa based upon MasterCard's SideCard technology. READ MORE »

The US Navy has announced initial deployment of Navy/Marine Cash™ on 175 Navy ships. Combining a debit card with a smart card-based electronic purse, the system uses on-board cashless ATMs to transfer funds from bank accounts to the on-card electronic purse. READ MORE »

Freelance UK reports on criticism of UK banks for their slow clearing times.

The Daily Telegraph reports the Office of Fair Trading is investigating the problem of slow electronic payments that can often take five days for businesses to complete, compared to just a few hours in Sweden.

The Taipei Times reports on plans by banks in Taiwan to issue smart cards. READ MORE »