David Bank reports for the Wall St. Journal on a lawsuit filed by BJ's Wholesale Club against IBM seeking compensation for losses following a compromise of credit card information.

The sensitive information encoded in the magnetic stripe on credit cards "was out there more than we thought," says John Shaughnessy, senior vice president for risk management at Visa USA. These secret codes are "jewels" for thieves, Mr. Shaughnessy says. "The fact that it's stored anywhere is troublesome."

American Express reported first quarter financial results today with net income rising 19 percent to $946 million for the quarter on a 10 percent increase in revenues.

Cards in force grew 7 percent to 66.1 million while card payment volume grew 15 percent to $109.3 billion. Amex's Global Network Services payment volume rose over 35% reflecting growth in non-US partner volumes and MBNA-related volumes in the US. Average lending balances grew 4%. Amex grew its marketing, promotion, and rewards expenses aggressively in the quarter -- growing 29 percent.

The Financial Times reports this morning that Lloyds TSB will announce today that it will begin issuing American Express cards in the UK.

[Update: American Express has issued a press release confirming the Lloyds TSB relationship.]

VeriSign has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lightbridge's PrePayIN platform and customer base for $17.45 million in cash plus the assumption of certain contractual liabilities.

"Adding the PrepayIN(TM) platform to our existing pre-paid and billing portfolio is a compliment to our already extensive solution offering," said Vernon Irvin, executive vice president, VeriSign Communications Services. "This is a system that will enrich our prepaid offering domestically, while extending our customer base to markets internationally."

Separately, Lightbridge also announced that it has engaged investment bankers to advise the company on strategic alternatives for its Telecom Decisioning Services business.

• Japan Times: Credit card fraud -- how they do it and how to protect yourself
• Wright Express Reports First-Quarter 2005 Results
• Ariba Adds GE vPayment Tool to Ariba Supplier Network
• InterContinental Hotels Group Launches 'Any Hotel, Anywhere' Card
• U.S. Bank E-Commerce Suite Delivers Cost-Saving Results
• FinCen: GUIDANCE TO MONEY SERVICES BUSINESSES ON OBTAINING AND MAINTAINING BANKING SERVICES (PDF)
• FinCen: Interagency Interpretive Guidance on Providing Banking Services to Money Services Businesses Operating in the United States (PDF)
• Parascript Partners With SQN Banking Systems to Combat Fraud
• MasterCard International Announces New Program to Empower Consumers with the Tools to Manage Debt
• Taipei Times: MasterCard offering firms a line of corporate credit
• VeriSign Achieves Three Industry Security Certifications for Payments Services