Discover Financial Services has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the PULSE EFT Association for a purchase price of $311 million.

American Express today filed a lawsuit against Visa, MasterCard and eight major bank members of the card associations including J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, U.S. Bancorp, Household Bank, Wells Fargo, Providian National Bank and USAA Federal Savings Bank.

Amex's complaint is available for downloading online (PDF).

American Express has announced its intention to file private litigation against Visa and MasterCard. Amex says David Boies, founding partner of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, will serve as American Express' lead outside counsel in the matter. A teleconference to provide more details will take place at 11 AM EST this morning.

US Bank has announced an arrangement with Boston Communications Group to offer prepaid wireless top-up at US Bank's nearly 4,000 ATMs.

Frost and Sullivan has completed a new analysis of the world smart card market.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.smartcards.frost.com), World Banking (Financial and Loyalty) Smart Card Market, reveals that revenues in this market totaled $453.3 million in 2003 and are projected to reach $1196.3 million in 2008.

Gregory Lamb writes in the Christian Science Monitor about using mobile phones as wallets for commerce.

The idea of using mobile phones as vehicles for commerce has been around for years. But this year it finally seems to be getting some traction as major players agree on standards.

The Melbourne Herald Sun reports on a new MasterCard prepaid card program being launched by technology company Emerchants.

Technology firm Emerchants has arisen as one of the first non-bank financial service providers able to use Mastercard's Maestro and Cirrus brands for the stored value cards, which are expected to grow in popularity as a cost-saving alternative to credit cards.

The Korea Herald reports on the battle between Visa and MasterCard with respect to the smart card technologies for use in Korea.

Chang said MasterCard's smart-card operating system, MULTOS, better serves the main purposes of a smart card, such as better security, compared to the JAVA platform adopted by Visa.

Madhusmita Bora reports in the Indianapolis Star on shoppers being warned not to increase their credit card debt.

"Credit-card burdens and delinquency in credit-card payments are at an all-time high," said Niranjan Pati, business school dean at Indiana University Kokomo. "Card purchases should be the last resort at the time of shopping for the holidays. Follow the time-honored adage, 'Cut your coat according to your cloth.' "