Ashley Seager reports for the UK's Guardian that the value of goods sold over the internet rose by 50% this Christmas compared with last year according to figures from the Interactive Media in Retail Group.

Vindicia, a Foster City, CA-based company focused on payment infrastructure for digital merchants, has posted position openings for a Director of Product Management and a Senior Software Engineer.

Visa International is seeking a Director for its Strategic Ventures and Alliances group, based in Foster City, CA.

Earlier this week, PR firm Bite Communications, on behalf of a mysterious group called StopInterchangeNow.com, published a press release about a small protest outside the Javitz Center in New York City where the National Retail Federation's annual conference was being held.

The Emerging Payments Research Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has published a call for papers for its second annual Consumer Behavior and Payment Choice Conference to be held in Boston, MA on July 26-27, 2006.

Expatica reports that a legal complaint aimed at cutting interchange fees charged by credit card groups VISA and Mastercard has been filed in German with the country's federal monopolies body.

Ezra Roizen writes for AlwaysOn about BitPass and new CEO Doug Knopper.

American Express has announced that McDonald's USA has begun accepting ExpressPay from American Express. Cardholders can use ExpressPay at more than 12,000 McDonald's restaurants nationwide.

The BBC reports on the status of the "chip and PIN" rollout on credit and debit cards in the UK based on a recent survey by Retail Decisions.

People's Daily Online reports that American Express is considering applying for a banking license in China.

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

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