Business 2.0's G. Pascal Zachary takes a look at First Data Corp.'s Charlie Fote and Western Union (subscribers only).

Fote not only earned himself a promotion (he was named First Data's CEO in 2002) but also pulled off a remarkable feat: He turned one of America's best-known brands into a trusted household name among foreigners -- a market that most U.S. businesses still haven't learned how to serve.

"Bankers are struggling to understand this trend," says Dean Seifert, Western Union's vice president for product development. "We're riding it."

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has released the text of a letter she's written to the US Comptroller of the Currency questioning various regulations adopted by the OCC that may invalidate some of the core protections of California's SB1 financial privacy law.

I cannot emphasize how concerned I am that your new regulations may very well wreak havoc with the privacy laws that California has established for its residents, and with the state's banking laws more generally. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it had filed charges against the former Chairman, CEO and three other senior officers of NextCard, Inc., a San Francisco, California-based credit card issuer. NextCard, which is now in bankruptcy, was the first major credit card issuer to offer cards exclusively over the Internet.

Steven Marlin reports in Information Week on MasterCard's new CIO Roy Dunbar. READ MORE »

I've been admiring ING Direct from a distance for a long time. Maybe now I'll actually become a customer!

I just received a gift of a book from a friend. Included in the box from Amazon along with the shipping paperwork was a simple, no-nonsense flyer from ING Direct offering me a $25 bonus for opening an ING Direct Orange Savings Account. Odds are that Amazon customers are online capable.

There's a reason that ING Direct has grown over the last two or three years from almost nothing to something like the fortieth largest bank in the US in terms of deposits! Want to learn more? See their recent Investor Relations Symposium presentation (PDF).

VeriFone has announced an enhanced communications strategy for its point-of-sale devices based upon IP-based broadband networking.

"VeriFone's message to the marketplace is: 'The Wait is Over' at the point-of-sale," said Douglas G. Bergeron, Chairman and CEO of VeriFone. "Enhanced Communications solutions from VeriFone deliver fast and secure payment processing that can greatly improve speed of service and profitability."

First Data Corp.'s BidPay.com has introduced a new direct-to-bank payment option for online auction payments. Sellers can receive payments from BidPay within approximately three banking business days. The BidPay service is free to sellers with buyers paying all of the BidPay service fees starting at a minimum of $1.95 per transaction.

Update - 2/25/06: See Google Payments in the Payments News Archive for the latest postings on this topic.

Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker published an initial report on Google this morning, initiating coverage with an Overweight-V rating. Included in the report is an interesting comment regarding Google's current lack of an integrated payment system. READ MORE »

Citi has announced a new CitiBusiness card which participates in its ThankYou Network rewards program. Details at http://www.citibusinesscreditcards.com.

Designed to respond to the unique and diverse needs of everyday small business owners, the credit card is enhanced with extra features and capabilities -- all with no annual fee -- and offers everything from a business-size credit line to unlimited free employee cards to a superior rewards program, and a suite of business services and solutions.