Glenbrook has announced a new series of executive payments workshops.

Following a successful initial workshop series this spring, technology executives, venture investors, and product and business development managers from financial services companies all told us to "keep 'em coming", said Carol Coye Benson of Glenbrook.

The new series includes workshops on the U.S. payments landscape, on authentication in financial services, and on consumer payments in China.

Glenbrook's summer and fall series workshops will be held on both the East and the West Coasts and are now open for registration.

Liz Moyer writes for Forbes.com on today's annouced acquisition of MBNA by Bank of America.

It wouldn't be the first time Wachovia lost out to Bank of America. Last year, Bank of America acquired Boston-based FleetBoston Financial, once seen as a near-perfect fit for Wachovia.

Andrew Ross Sorkin writes for the New York Times filling in more details, namely that Wachovia's board had failed to approve the acquisition of MBNA after the deal had been negotiated between the two companies' management teams.

Robert Bruss reports for the Boston Globe on his experience with getting current credit reports and FICO scores from the three major credit bureaus.

Bank of America Corporation today announced a definitive agreement to acquire MBNA for $35 billion in cash and stock. Based upon Bank of America's current price, the deal values MBNA shares at about a 30 percent premium to MBNA's closing price yesterday.

Eric Dash reports for the New York Times on the vulnerabilities of the payment system and, in particular, the recent card data security breach at CardSystems Solutions.

And if CardSystems could have its data compromised, might it happen to another processor elsewhere? Industry experts say the likely answer is yes, given how lax Visa and MasterCard have been about enforcing rules with suspensions or fines. Visa and MasterCard maintain that their standards are rigorous, but they need to allow the processor companies time to upgrade systems.

• Wachovia lost out in MBNA bidding
• IBM Report: Phishing Attacks in May Jumped More Than 200 Percent; Email Viruses up 33 Percent
• Federal Agencies Release Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual
• More States Giving Consumers Power to Freeze Credit Files
• PayPal Payment Notifications on Your Phone
• Senselect’s Biometric Breakthrough answers UK ID Card Security Fears
• Digital Insight and Cyota Partner to Prevent Online Fraud and Protect Financial Institutions From Phishing
• Internet Has Become the Leading Medium for Most Financial Activities According to Yahoo! & OgilvyOne Worldwide Research
• Former Bank of America and Visa Executives Join LifeLock Boards
• Transaction Systems Architects to Acquire S2 Systems; Accretive Acquisition Strengthens Industry Leadership