From Bank Technology News: "If best practices are indeed what the U.S. banking industry seeks with regard to online security, they'll likely find some of the answers across the pond. The irony is that U.K. banks, whose cultures are inherently more formal and ultra-conservative, are taking a much more open approach to online security and the challenges that they face than U.S. banks."

Michael Sisk writes for US Banker about First Data Corporation's strategy to spin off Western Union and focus on card processing. "The question is, can refocusing on the core processing business yield more growth for First Data than simply hanging on to Western Union?"

Nick Godt reports for MarketWatch.com on "the last battle line in the war waged on cash by banks and credit-card companies: contactless payments. "There was roughly $8.57 trillion of personal consumption purchases in the U.S. in 2005, about $3.6 trillion of which was in cash, check and money orders," Denis Moroney, director of bank card research for the consultancy TowerGroup, said. "That cash market has become a real target for those banks and credit-card companies."

Fiserv has announced the launch of Paytraxx, "a new online bill payment solution designed to help financial institutions capture and retain the high-profit and next-generation customers that are driving demand in the growing market for bill payment service."

RSA Security has announced that its technology currently protects more than 20 million registered users with its live online banking authentication technology and that it has signed agreements with -- and begun implementations at -- major financial institutions representing approximately an additional 40 million online bankers. RSA also announced the launch of the RSA Adaptive Authentication 5.8 solution integrating RSA Security and legacy Cyota and PassMark technologies. According to RSA, "the new version also comprises a wide range of deployment plans, including a rapid deployment option that is designed to enable the implementation of a fully-operational account protection system in less than 30 days -- with no integration work or code changes required."

Mark Chediak reports for the Orlando Sentinel on action taken by the Federal Trade Commission against Darden Restaurants regarding "unfair and deceptive acts and practices" in its marketing of gift cards. The action was disclosed last Friday in the filing of its annual report with the SEC. In the filing, the company says that it believes that its gift card marketing practices comply with applicable laws.

MasterCard reports survey results finding that nearly three out of four parents (74 percent) are expected to rely on the convenience and flexibility of payment cards for back-to-school shopping. The annual MasterCard Back to School Spending Index found that 58 percent of parents of U.S. students college age or younger plan to use debit cards for back-to-school purchases, increasing from 26 percent in 2005. [Editor's note: Given MasterCard's smaller share of the US debit card market, such an increase in preferences for debit card-based purchasing would appear to primarily advantage Visa - although "a rising tide does lift all boats."]

KCRA Channel 3 reports from Sacramento that "hundreds of Sacramento and Modesto consumers who shopped at Dollar Tree stores said they later had money stolen from their bank accounts." This story is a follow-up on other stories reported earlier this week. The Sacramento Bee also reported this story yesterday

Bill VIrgin writes an opinion piece for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer asking just what's the problem with Wal-Mart chartering a bank - saying that "Wal-Mart is merely a latecomer to this game, but as it's a villain everyone knows and understands, the banking industry gets to score points by beating up on the retailer and pretending that keeping it out of retail banking makes the slightest difference to the dynamics of its business."

Puneet Mehrota writes for India's Hindustan Times about mobile commerce in that country. "A small text message has changed it all. When mobile was introduced, not even the biggest telecom expert had predicted the impact of SMS on Indian life. Relationship to reporting to just about every small communication is textual. Now even payments and transactions are done through the SMS. The future is here."

Jessica E. Vascellaro writes for the Wall St. Journal about online identity verification - and how it's becoming increasingly important. According to Vascellaro, "companies are developing a slew of new tools to help people confirm their identities. The new services allow consumers to create and share verified personal profiles with people they meet or do business with online."

Floyd Norris writes for the New York Times about what happened at CheckFree - reporting disappointing earnings on Tuesday resulting in its stock price falling 14 percent yesterday.

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• Michelle Singletary: On-time payments boost credit scores and prevent debt from piling up
  
• MasterCard and Bed Bath & Beyond(R) Team up for ``Priceless'' Back to College Promotion
  
• Secret Service Investigating Counterfeiting Scheme
  Bills In Chicago Being Bleached And Reprinted As Higher Denominations