Yuri Kageyama reports for the AP on Akira Iga, a Sony executive responsible for the FeliCa technology used for mobile payments.

Mercator Advisory Group has announced the second report in a two-part series examining the current state of the vPOS market and the potential for growth in the point of sale space.

American Express and WellChoice, the parent company of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, have announced an agreement to offer a new healthcare payment solution that includes the Empire Total Blue consumer-directed health plan, a Health Savings Account (HSA) from American Express Bank, FSB, and the new American Express HealthPay Plus(SM) Card that provides easy access to the HSA funds.

Motricity has announced the results of a recent survey in conjunction with Greenfield Online that illustrates the shift of shopping from traditional retail and catalogue to purchasing goods online and through mobile devices.

D.L. McCracken reports for HalifaxLive.com on the surprising lack of interest among Canadian online merchants in supporting the Interac Online debit payment service.

According to McCracken, "apparently most online merchants have decided that adding a debit payment option is just not high on their list of priorities." The service announced that its first transaction was processed in June.

MasterCard International, Keycorp, Hitachi and Oak Hill Venture Partners have announced the formation of a new company to expand the MULTOS smart card platform.

In a pair of SEC filings yesterday, First Data Corp. disclosed the current and new option grants held by incoming (and returning) CEO Henry C. "Ric" Duques.  On Monday, FDC announced that Duques was replacing retiring Chairman and CEO Charles Fote.

Business Week looks at MasterCard's upcoming initial public offering and some of the legal challenges currently facing the association.

Note: Throughout the day, as Payments News happens, this post is updated.

• RBS Lynk to provide access to Debitman network
• Rocky Mountain News: Exec-pay plan tough on Fote