Authentec, a vendor of biometric fingerprint readers, has announced the results of a recent survey of U.S. cell phone users concluding that they want the same advanced mobile commerce services and biometric fingerprint protection that are available to cell phone users in Asia.   » Continue Reading

ABI Research has announced new research that identifies four factors that will be critical to the successful deployment of Near Field Communications (NFC) technology over the next few years.   » Continue Reading

Mobile Payments World and Edgar, Dunn & Company have announced the results of their 2006 Mobile Payments Survey, assessing the collective vision for mobile payments from global thought leaders in payments and financial services.   » Continue Reading

Andrew Reinbach, editor of Electronic Payments Week, has recently written about the impact of new technologies on banking and, in particular, mobile payments. Here's Andy's analysis - posted with permission.   » Continue Reading

Citigroup filed an 8-K with the SEC today disclosing that it had received a letter from William L. Rutledge, Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in which the he indicated that the constraints the Fed had placed on Citi's ability to do new acquisitions are no longer in effect.

MasterCard has announced that nine Major League Baseball teams will accept MasterCard's PayPass contactless cards at in-stadium concession stands.   » Continue Reading

San Ramon, CA-based AccountNow has announced the closing of $12 million in their second round venture financing. The company is a marketer of MasterCard-branded and FDIC-insured stored value cards for the estimated 40 million strong underbanked consumer market.   » Continue Reading

7-Eleven and Citibank have announced a deal where Citibank will brand ATMs in more than 5,500 7-Eleven stores in 31 states across the nation, "giving Citibank customers access to a much larger network of surcharge-free locations in which to do their banking." Citibank customers can now withdraw money and transfer funds between primary checking and savings accounts without a surcharge or foreign ATM fee at any Citibank-branded ATM at 7-Eleven stores. Citibank recently launched a nationwide Citibank Direct online high yield savings/checking account initiative and this new deal with 7-Eleven appears to complement that strategy. In addition, 7-Eleven says it will soon begin accepting consumer bank deposits, beginning with Citibank.   » Continue Reading

CyberSource has announced two senior management appointments: Scott Cruickshank as president and chief operating officer and David Hansen as president of BidPay.com, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary acquired by CyberSource on March 7, 2006.   » Continue Reading

NTT DoCoMo and its eight regional subsidiaries announced today that they will launch later this month DCMX consumer credit services via iD, DoCoMo's brand and platform for mobile credit cards. Users of Osaifu-Keitai phones with wallet functions will be able to choose from two plans to make highly secure purchases from small to large amounts using their phones as DoCoMo-issued credit cards. Note that the new service also includes issuance of a Visa or MasterCard card that is tied to the same account as the phone so that consumers can make purchases even at locations that don't yet support mobile payment payment.   » Continue Reading

Yesterday, Germany's paybox announced its 3rd generation of Mobiliser mobile payment solutions that enable mobile operators and financial service providers to support mobile payment and mobile commerce.   » Continue Reading

Elias Glenn reports for Pacific Epoch on China's Guangzhou Huanxin Information, one of the emerging mobile payment companies in China, in an interview with CEO Li Xiangdong. In the interview, he estimates that 30 percent of China's mobile subscribers could be using mobile payments within the next few years. 30 percent of the over 300 million mobile subscribers is 90 million people!

CNET's Joris Evers reports on suspicious card activity that took place over the weekend affecting a few merchants on Authorize.net's payment gateway - and how the unusual activity was detected by the merchants involved as a result of the email alerts sent out by Authorize.net the the merchants on each transaction.   » Continue Reading

The Board of Directors of the Electronic Authentication Partnership (EAP) announced today that newly elected officers will begin serving one-year terms, effective April 11, 2006. The officers were elected during the EAP's most recent meeting in San Francisco on March 7, 2006.   » Continue Reading

• Western Union's Largest Ever Giveaway Will Make One Lucky Customer a Millionaire
• Wireless Dynamics Announces the First NFC / RFID mini-SD Card to Augment Its SDiD(TM) Product Line
• Hollywood Gets Amp'd on Soapbox Mobile; Amp'd Mobile Selects Soapbox Mobile's Movie Ticketing Application
• Intelligent Results Launches First-Ever Customer Analytics Platform
• UK: OFT launches study of payment protection insurance
• WSJ: Citigroup Raises ATM Presence In 7-Eleven Deal
• TNS Extends Transaction Processing Business with Vital
• Hypercom Corp. Adds Two to Board: Todd Nelson, Former Apollo Group CEO, and Philippe Tartavull, President, Oberthur Card Systems America
• Voltage Security's Identity-Based Encryption A Part of Microsoft Exchange Hosted Encryption Service
• ChoicePoint® Announces New PATRIOT Act Compliance and OFAC Compliance Software
• Specialist unit helps Barclays improve risk management of outsourcing arrangements
• Credit union tells of phishing dangers
• Fake money making rounds in Hampton Roads
• Gemplus Technology Chosen by Saflink for SureAccess Multifactor Biometric Reader
• MasterCard UK Chip and PIN Website
• China / GE: Bank tries to build up financial muscle