MSNBC.com is running an AP story on accounts receivable conversion (ARC) of checks.

Part of the confusion for consumers is that there's no consistent language to describe the ARC transactions. Butnitz's bank may label them "automated checks," but another institution may call them "authorized transfers" and another simply "ARC."

Time interviews Visa USA CEO Carl Pascarella.

Chris Sanders reports for Reuters on comments made by JP Morgan Chase's Heidi Miller regarding future plans for new payment services.

"Yes, we are looking at all our options," Miller said during an interview with Reuters, responding to a question whether the bank would create an Internet pay system like PayPal. She added the bank has a payments steering committee studying the best way for it to take advantage of changes in the way consumers and businesses make and receive payments.

David Lazarus writes in the San Francisco Chronicle about the various fees charged to credit card holders when they use their cards for purchases abroad.

Beginning next month, Visa is switching from charging 1 percent above and beyond any currency conversion costs to charging 1 percent simply for using your credit card in another country.

Tania Padgett reports in Newsday about MapCash Holdings, a Brooklyn NY-based company that markets stored value cards for use in the Caribbean.

You won't find anything about stored value cards in the liturgy at rabbinical school. Nevertheless, two rabbis from Brooklyn chose that field after finishing their studies, and now they're hoping to help bring the cashless culture to local immigrants with a business that enables people to wire money quickly and cheaply.