Brian McWilliams, author of Spam Kings, writes for the O'Reilly Network about how list brokers are currently buying and selling private information on millions of people, including their home address, telephone number, date of birth, internet protocol (IP) address, and prescription history.

The Lincoln (NC) Tribune reports that Lowes Food will begin deploying BioPay's biometrics payment solution later this spring.

American Express has announced that Ritz Camera and Sheetz have signed on as the newest merchant partners in its ExpressPay contractless payments program.

First Data has announced that it is processing MasterCard card processing and settlement for 123 corporate-owned Burger King restaurants throughout Canada.

"With First Data's payment processing services and the MasterCard QPS program, participating Burger King restaurants in Canada can provide guests with easier and faster service that allows them to purchase the food they love while reducing wait time," said Barbara Lee, CFO, Burger King Canada.

Surin Murugiah reports for Malaysia's TheEdgeDaily.com on the decline in fraudulent card transactions following the migration to EMV-compliant smart cards in that market.

The migration to Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV)-compliant smart credit cards have reduced fraudulent transactions by more than 90% as at the end of last year, said MasterCard International vice president & senior country manager for Malaysia and Brunei, Jim Cheah.

“These are actually savings derived by member banks which can be utilised for better services to consumers,” he said, adding that cloning of EMV cards had not been detected since implementation globally.

Mary-Beth McLaughlin reports on debit card usage for the Toledo Blade.

Use of debit cards, including automated-teller machine withdrawals, has grown 24 percent a year between 2000 and 2003. By comparison, credit card use was up less than 7 percent from 2000 to 2003, a Federal Reserve report shows. Use of checks shrank during that period by 4 percent.