Google staffers posted an update on their payment-related activity on the Google Blog earlier today. The post pointed to another post on the Google Base Blog about how buyers with Google Accounts will be able to use the credit card they've registered with their Google account to purchase Google Base items.

MSNBC's John W. Schoen answers a reader's question about what the impact might be if (dream on!) every consumer in the US paid of any outstanding credit card balances - all at one. As I recall, doing so would require consumers having access to something like $700 billion (the approximate level of outstanding revolving consumer debt). Guess where they actually have that kind of money? In home equity - but, of course, that's not evenly distributed across where the outstanding credit card balances actually are!

First Data Corp. today filed a number of documents with the SEC. Included was the company's 10-K Annual Report for 2005 with a number of exhibits including a description of the CEO and EVP Salary and Bonus Targets for 2006, the Retirement and Consulting Agreement between the company and former chairman and CEO Charlie Fote, and the Letter Agreement between the company and CEO Ric Duques for his employment beginning November 26, 2005.

Former Bank of America Merchant Services executives, Sonny Martin and Mitzi Gilligan have formed a new consulting company, The Sonny Martin Group, LLC. Martin and Gilligan have been in the merchant acquiring business since 1969.

The Federal Reserve has released its latest Recent Survey of U.S. Family Finances (PDF) based upon 2004 data and draws comparisons back to is previous survey conducted in 2001. The survey was written by Brian K. Bucks, Arthur B. Kennickell, and Kevin B. Moore, of the Federal Reserve Board’s Division of Research and Statistics, prepared this article with assistance from Gerhard Fries and A. Michael Neal.

Cornelia Wels-Maug of Ovum (UK) reports on the launch of Giropay, a new online ecommerce payment service created by the German savings banks, credit unions and Postbank that will be used initially by PayPal. The service will be supported by the three IT services providers behind Giropay - Starfinanz Software, Fiducia AG and GAD.

The NACHA Internet Council's next meeting is being held next week, February 28 - March 1, 2006, at Dana Point, California and will focus on multifactor authentication requirements and solutions as its theme. In preparation, it's prepared a "5-Stage Authentication Road Map" (PPT). See the General Internet Council Meeting Agenda (DOC) for a complete list of topics and speakers.

comScore Networks has announced that its annual e-commerce sales trends for 2005 varied by less than one percent from those published by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The comScore e-commerce data were available to comScore clients and widely published in early January 2006 -- a full six weeks before the U.S. Department of Commerce issued its estimates on February 17, 2006.

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

• InComm Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire PRE Holdings, Inc. - Acquisition will solidify InComm as the clear leader in the prepaid industry
• Family Finances: Parents should watch students' credit card use
• Catuity Launches Lift Card for 70-Store Chain; Nick-N-Willy's Sees Competitive Advantage To Accelerate Growth