Gary Craft, founder and CEO of Financial DNA and an analyst who uniquely covered payments and financial services companies for many years, passed away September 26, 2005 due to complications arising from acute myeloid leukemia, with which he had been diagnosed one week prior. He was 47.

Paul Davis reports for the Financial Times on the financial pressures being faced by credit card issuers in the UK.

A slowdown in consumer spending, and a simultaneous rise in defaults as over-indebted consumers try to absorb higher fuel prices, are combining to reduce the outlook for interest-payment revenues for the credit card industry.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has posted a summary of its 2005 Payments Conference titled "Forces Shaping the Payments Environment" (pdf).

The case of PayPal demonstrates that if existing payment products are unable to satisfy the requirements of the marketplace, new providers may emerge to provide superior payment solutions. Interestingly, such products may be provided by nontraditional payment providers. However, it appears that build upon the existing payment infrastructure. Thus, partnerships with existing payment providers and networks may be critical for greater market adoption.

The October issue of the National Retail Federation's Stores magazine has a cover story by Patricia Murphy on increasing retailer opposition to bank card interchange fees.

Next Estate Communications has announced a partnership with Cingular Wireless to launch the Cingular Prepaid Visa Card.

Andrew Browne reports from Shanghai for the Wall St. Journal on China's "credit card war".

David Von Emloh, a McKinsey partner in Shanghai, estimates that issuers are paying so much to lure customers that half of the cards now in circulation will never be profitable. There's a risk issuers "will destroy the economics of the industry," he says.

Erica Sagon reports for the Arizona Republic on the pending acquisition of CardSystems by CyberSource.

Metavante has announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement to acquire LINK2GOV Corp. of Nashville, Tenn. The company will continue to operate under the name of LINK2GOV, and will become a subsidiary of Metavante Corporation, with existing management continuing in their positions.

• Sovereign Bank Launches Health Savings Accounts
• Visa International to Support International Finance Corporation's Global Credit Bureau Program
• E4X Adds PayPal Payment Service
• North Island Credit Union Selects Corillian to Enhance Online Banking Services for Consumer and Business Banking
• SVC Financial Completes Strategic Funding Round
• GE Consumer Finance Acquires Majority Interest in Keppel Bank in the Philippines
• International payment systems expand presence in Russia
• UPEK's Biometric Fingerprint Solution Beats Traditional Passwords to Improve Personal Security
• Certicom Licenses Intellectual Property to nCipher
• Mellon Global Cash Management Launches New Remote Check Capture Service
• Experian Launches Commercial Fraud Solution to Help Businesses Verify and Authenticate Customer Identities