The Merchant Risk Council has announced the results of its fifth annual survey of merchants reporting that online fraud rates for merchants surveyed are now similar to the fraud rates of brick-and-mortar stores and that fraud spikes and fraudsters' use of increasingly sophisticated schemes are keeping retailers on alert.

"Bank Where You Slurp" is Citi's new slogan for its recently announced deal with 7-Eleven providing ATM access for Citi's banking customers. Check out Citibank.com's My Citi home page.

APACS has announced figures for retail spending in 2005 that show debit card spending in retail outlets exceeded cash spending for the first time ever last year.

Bankrate has announced that the average bounced check fee is $27.04 - an increase of 25%, since Bankrate's first checking study was released in the fall of 1998. The research compiled in Bankrate's Spring 2006 Checking Study shows several significant trends in bounced check fees, ATM surcharges and interest-bearing checking accounts.

Reuters reports on comments by Albert Shiung, Visa's country manager for China, suggesting that the number of Visa cards in China should grow 70 to 80 percent this year. "I think double digit (growth) for the next five years is not a problem," according to Shiung.

Valerie Bauerlein reports for the Wall St. Journal on what analysts will be looking for in Thursday's first quarter financial report coming from Capital One - which will be the first full quarter of results including Hibernia Corp. since its acquisition last fall.

In an article titled 'Will Zopa's P2P loans mean the death of the bank manager?", Tony Hallett writes from the UK for Silicon.com about Zopa's person to person lending services.

Will Shanley reports for the Denver Post that according to the 2006 Interprise Poll on Teens and Personal Finance the percentage of teenagers nationwide who own credit cards has not increased in recent years, according to an annual poll of teenagers. About one in 10 U.S. teens, 10.3 percent, reported owning a credit card. That compares with 13 percent of teens who said they owned a credit card in 2004 and 11 percent in 2005.

Phillip Britt writes for DestinationCRM.com about a recent Javelin Stratregy & Research report titled "Contactless Payments: New Merchant Data Reveals Opportunities and Threats for Bankcard Issuers".

As gas prices continue to rise, Discover Card has announced two offerings to give consumers some relief at the gas pumps.

• ViVOtech Launches ``Tap into the Rewards'' Contactless Payment Promotion at the 2006 ETA Annual Meeting & Expo; First Contactless Incentive Program Gives ISOs and Acquirers Chance to Drive a New Porsche Boxster, Win an Apple iPod and more
• Smart Card Marketing Systems Inc. Signs an Agreement With Mopal Inc. to Deliver mobile txt pay
• Authorize.Net Partners With Comodo to Offer Merchants Highly Secure PKI-Based SSL Certificates
• Authorize.Net Announces Significant Enhancements to Its Merchant Interface
• CPI Card Group - Colorado Inc. Increases Capacity by 100% Through Multi-Million Dollar Expansion
• U.S. Treasury and FDIC Announce Financial Literacy Partnership
• Cross Match Technologies, Inc. Becomes the First Biometric Company to Respond to U.S. Government's Challenge to Industry
• Progress Software Pioneers Retail Automation with First Item-Level RFID and SOA Deployment
• AADMO Spring Conference to Focus on the Transition of Credit Counseling from Tax-Exempt to For-Profit and Taxable Non-Profit
• Dartmouth: Online gambling persists despite federal legal risks
• Kansas City Star: Only a matter of time before slots accept credit cards
• Wales: Will our hi-tech security ways signal the death of the signature?
• OTI Presents Saturn 5000 Reader with Enhanced Features to Support Multiple Application Programs
• Everyday Cheapskate: If you must use a card, make it better-protected credit over debit
• EVO Merchant Services Teams with Hypercom to Offer the Optimum T4100
• VeriFone Introduces One-Stop Wireless & Broadband Managed Payment Services for Hospitality Industry
• Netopia and Verifone Partner to Bring Wi-Fi Hot Spots to Merchants; Integrated Solution Combines Netopia Wi-Fi Gateways with VeriFone Payment Systems
• RBS Lynk Certifies VeriFone Vx 570 Payment Solution; Payment Processing Services Leader Endorses Powerful Successor to VeriFone Omni 3750
• Analysys International Says China B2C E-Commerce Market Size Reached RMB4.13 Billion in 2005
• Digital Insight and Tower Federal Credit Union Renew Internet Banking Relationship
• Tablus Supports Major Components of Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard
• 88 Percent of Phishing E-mails Use the Target's Domain Name
• NFCC Agencies Provide Counseling to 188,000 American Consumers Facing Bankruptcy in Law's First Five Months
• CardinalCommerce Partners With Humboldt Merchant Services for 3-D Secure Authentication