Bridie Smith reports for The Age from Melbourne on plans by retailers to stop providing cash back on retail EFTPOS transactions if the Reserve Bank of Australia cuts the interchange fees paid TO retailers. The EFTPOS system in Australia has a "reverse interchange" scheme similar to that used with ATM networks - where the card issuing bank pays the retailer for serving their card customer.

Visa International, Latin American and Caribbean Region (LAC) has announced a 50 percent increase in purchases made with debit and prepaid cards at the point-of-sale (POS) for the 12 months ending December 2005.

In a comprehensive report that, in our opinion, is a "must read" for senior bankers interested in important emerging competitive trends, the latest issue of the Online Banking Report examines in detail the person-to-person lending business being pursued by Prosper.com and Zopa.

Bradley Keoun reports for Bloomberg News on First Data CEO Ric Duques' compensation for 2005 reported as $16.4 million in a proxy statement filed with the SEC yesterday by FDC.

Alex Halperin writes for Business Week about using biometrics for payments and San Francisco-based Pay By Touch who now reports having enrolled 2 million people in its fingerprint biometric payment system.

NTT DoCoMo and LAWSON, Inc. have announced a business alliance that will result in customers using DoCoMo's Osaifu-Keitai phones with wallet functions for a variety of mobile services at LAWSON convenience stores in Japan.

• Mint Inc. and Now Prepay Go Live With the First Nationwide Retail Network Designed for Reloading Prepaid Credit Cards in Canada
• Frost & Sullivan: World Contactless Smart Cards Market to Soar in Number of Units Shipped By 2010
• GE Money Corporate Payment Services Europe (GE CPSE) has selected FMT’s FraudAlert® to implement an alerting solution to protect cardholders further against fraud
• Discover Card Ranked #1 for Online Customer Experience in the Credit Card Industry
• Vinod Khosla Leads Historic Rs. 11 Crores ($2.5 Million) Investment in SKS Microfinance
• Australia: Debit card use and online spending rise
• UK: Banks tread warily over two-factor security
• GUS sets timing for Argos and Experian split
• Stealth Malware: Interview with Joanna Rutkowska
• Scottsdale board ponders school lunch e-payment