Here's our VOC - "Voice of the Customer" - you!.

• I like it just the way it is -- the recent change in format was definitely for the better
  
• The best i've seen - no ideas
  
• I would appreciate a little more news relating to other localities - Asia and Europe
  
• It would be better if Payment news can be more "global" in nature rather than focusing too much on USA.
  
• I love your site and have it as an RSS feed...I think you get a lot free publicity from it.
  
• More "So what?" rather than just links.
  
• More primers on particular topics (you could get readers to contribute)

If you've not yet had a chance to participate in the Payments News Survey and share your voice, please try to do so in the next few days. We'll be wrapping things up, digesting the results, and sharing some more of the feedback here later next week!

For those of you who have already completed the survey, thanks very much again for taking the time to do so. Your feedback is very valuable and important to us in improving what we do here on Payments News.

Mario Toneguzzi of the CanWest News Service writes about mortgage fraud becoming over a billion dollar a year industry in Canada.

Damon Darlin reports for the New York Times on lobbying efforts by the three major credit bureaus to add language to pending federal legislation that would pre-empt various state laws that enable consumers in some states to lock the information in their credit reports. As concerns about identity theft have grown among consumers, legislators in some states have passed laws that provide the locking (or "freezing") capability to their constituents.

This week's Economist includes an article about the metamorphosis of Capital One from monoline credit card issuer to consumer banking, broadly defined, as highlighted by its recently announced plan to acquire North Fork Bank.

The Institute for Public Administration at the University of Delaware yesterday held a conference titled "The High Cost Of A Low Income" to explore financial services in under-served markets.

• Card Technology: TaiwanMoney Card Is Still Too Slow For Subways
• Conference teaches teens to avoid credit card debt
• Payday loans gaining popularity - Huge interest rates trap many in a cycle of debt
• Mysterious Powder Causes Scare At Credit Card Firm
• Credit score: Your path to a new home
• Traveler's checks are going the way of the dinosaur