Reuters is reporting from Japan that "NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone operator, will tie up with Mizuho Bank and Credit Saison to start a service allowing mobile phones to be used as credit cards," according to a story in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on Saturday. The deal, which could be announced as early as next week, would involve DoCoMo investing to acquire an 18 percent stake in UC Card Co, a Mizuho affiliate.

Eleftheria Parpis reports for AdWeek on MasterCard's plans to run two commercials on Sunday's Academy Awards broadcast that asks viewers to create their own words to go along with two video ads. MasterCard will be using its recently launched Priceless.com web site to capture viewers' input.

Kenneth Harney reports for the Washington Post about how mortgage lenders are sharing loan application information with the credit bureaus - who then make it available to other third parties.   » Continue Reading

Google held an Analyst Day yesterday at its headquarters in Mountain View, CA. The presentation and webcast from the event are available online.   » Continue Reading

Lisa Shidler writes for the Merrillville, Indiana Post-Tribune about the use of fingerprints to purchase groceries at Jewel-Osco stores as Pay By Touch rolls out in Northwest Indiana starting this week.

David Wyld writes for SecureID News about the implementation of finger geometry biometric systems at four of Disney's theme parks.   » Continue Reading

Business Week looks at what's happening in Mexico as the middle class (those making between $7,200 and $50,000 a year) "have swelled to record levels of around 10 million families. That's equal to nearly 40% of all Mexican households."   » Continue Reading

Kathy Chu reports for USA TODAY on a map to help consumers dissect the complexities of the fine print in credit card contracts.

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

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• Spark Parking Founder's Blog: A mobile payment service I don’t like (PayWi)
• RFID Technology Becoming Omnipresent
• ComputerWorld: Wal-Mart details its RFID journey
• The Olympian: Double up on your credit card payments
• Motley Fool UK: MBNA Credit-Card Charges To Rise 50%!
• Verizon Reports More Credit Info: Practice of Furnishing All of a Customer's Payment History to Agencies is Becoming More Common
• Fiserv Increases Insurance Technology Capabilities Through Acquisition
• Buildium Provides Online Collection of Payments for Landlords and Property Managers
• Credit card offers two rates: teaser, torture
• Canada: Esso and RBC offer Speedpass with debit card
• JCB agrees to form business tie-up with Thai credit-card firm
• Google Purchases won't compete with PayPal? Really?
• Bangkok: Non-bank card firms' presence expanding