Experian has announced the results of a nationwide study on the effects of debt on consumer credit scores.

Some consumers may think that debt will always have an adverse effect on their credit score. Debt by itself is not a negative factor as long as it is managed well and consumers are not extending themselves beyond their means.

In fact, the national average credit score for consumers with debt above the national average is higher than the average credit score for those with debt below the national average.

The study reported U.S. consumers' average debt of $11,224, 12 percent higher than last year's $10,024. National and statewide results for the study can be found on the Experian National Score Index(SM) Web site at http://www.nationalscoreindex.com.

Commerce Bank has announced some of its early results of its free Commerce Bank Visa Gift Card program, the nation's only fee free complete packaged gift card offered by a bank. Commerce Bank sold more than 220,000 of the cards, worth $14.5 million (an average of about $66 per card), during the recent holiday season.

Thomson has published the agendas for its upcoming CardTech/SecureTech conference to be held April 12-14 in Las Vegas.

Fair Isaac has announced an expansion of its alliance with TSYS to offer its TRIAD Strategy Design Service to card issuers.

PayPal has announced a new PayPal site in Australia and introduced the Australian Dollar as an additional currency to its service.

"We're very excited to launch new services that further enable PayPal users in Australia to participate in global e-commerce," said Mathias Entenmann, vice president of PayPal's international business. "PayPal continues to expand internationally in order to provide our customers around the world with a safe, easy and cost-effective online payment solution."