MarketWatch reports that Wal-Mart de Mexico has announced that it has filed for a Mexican banking license with local regulators.

Safeway has announced that its Blackhawk Network subsidiary will expand its gift card business to the United Kingdom this year and has opened an office in Peterborough, England. Blackhawk Network was established as a separate business unit in 2001 to capitalize on store traffic at Safeway and other retailers, and is now the largest provider of third-party gift cards in the United States and Canada.   » Continue Reading

TransUnion has announced it is acquiring Qsent, a Beaverton, Ore.-based provider of contact and identity management services that support customer acquisition and retention, collections and recovery and identity resolution applications.   » Continue Reading

Tom Young reports for Computing from the UK that Barclays plans to issue new hand-held card readers to all of its online banking customers for use in authenticating their logon access to Barclays' online banking sites. According to the article, the readers will read the chips on Barclays debit cards and generate a unique one-time password that must then be used to successfully complete the logon. The devices are based upon standards developed by APACS.

TechDigest interviews Robert Perkins of mobile payments provider LUUP. “We actually see PayPal Mobile as good news for us and the industry,” says Perkins. “The challenge is to change people’s perceptions about using their mobile to buy things. If a big brand like PayPal is offering this, then smaller brands coming into the market like ourselves will have time to grow. There’s plenty of room.”

Booz Allen Hamilton has found that in countries where most retail sales are conducted on a cash rather than card basis, but have high mobile phone usage, phone-based payment systems have a strong possibility of success. 'The Middle East has a high mobile phone usage rate,' said Karim Sabbagh, a Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton. 'A phone based payment system that simply replace paying by cash and other electronic means could be popular in this region.'

Ina Steiner reports for AuctionBytes about a new seller rating system introduced by Google Checkout and wonders if this represents another threat to eBay. More details about what Google calls "reviews" can be found in the online help for Google Checkout.

Chase and United Airlines have announced a new United Travel Card, a private-label credit card program that provides eligible cardmembers with promotional financing for qualified travel purchased through United. According to Chase, when cardmembers use the United Travel Card to purchase qualified flights, vacations, upgrades, Red Carpet Club membership, and other United travel totaling $199 or more, they receive 90-day same-as-cash financing. During that promotional 90-day period, cardmembers are not required to make any payments and do not pay interest.   » Continue Reading

Andy Williams writes CR80News about a biometric vending machine developed by graduate students at the University of California San Diego. "Want a Coke? Stick your thumb on the reader so the machine recognizes you as having an account, take out the drink, scan it with the barcode reader, then walk way, never having had to reach into your pocket for change." The project is the brainchild of UCSD engineering associate professor Stefan Savage.

Joris Evers reports for CNET News.com on Innovative Card Technologies new DisplayCard that incorporates a display, battery and password-generating chip into a credit card-sized device. According to Evers, "the biggest development challenges were the ability to bend the card, power consumption and thickness. The result is a card that's as thin and flexible as a regular credit card and is guaranteed to work for three years and 16,000 uses."

Digital Transactions reports on more of the findings from this year's STAR Consumer Payments Usage Study focusing on debit card usage.

MasterCard Incorporated has announced performance for the second quarter of 2006. The company reported net income of $101 million, or $0.74 per share, excluding special items, and a net loss of $310 million, or $2.30 per share, including special items. A presentation (PDF) to accompany a conference call this morning about the earnings report is available online.   » Continue Reading