MSNBC.com's Bob Sullivan updates the latest news on PIN debit card fraud - where fraudsters capture mag stripe card information along with PINs, create "white plastic" counterfeit cards, and then go pull money out of victims' checking accounts. Sullivan reports that the critical question is "how did the criminals get their hands on PINs?"

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued new guidance on disclosure and marketing issues associated with gift cards - focusing on "the need for national banks that issue gift cards to do so in a manner in which both purchasers and recipients are fully informed of the product's terms and conditions."

The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts of the Australian Government earlier this year engaged the Centre for International Economics and Edgar, Dunn & Company to study the future of the electronic payments markets in Australia. The full report of their findings is now available online: Exploration of Future Electronic Payments Markets (PDF).

UnitedHealth Group has announced that it introducing new technology health benefit cards that simplify how consumers manage and pay for their health care and that will provide the information needed to promptly administer benefits and facilitate health transactions and payments. "The card will also convey essential health records that support care interventions. From a consumer perspective, these services transcend benefit plan boundaries and traditional geographic limits, enabling people to have their information and financial resources follow them across products or across the country."

KeyBank Global Treasury Management has announced it is "the first bank to offer its commercial clients complete eCheck ACH Payee reporting through all of its check fraud, account reconcilement, controlled disbursement and Positive Pay image services." The service allows clients to verify the names of the vendors and suppliers to whom they make payments.

Austin Logistics has announced NSFGuard predictive analytics, a software solution for payment risk management. According to the company, "card issuers looking to reduce payment risk can rapidly, in real-time or batch, score each individual payment transaction, enabling them to quickly identify high-risk, out-of-pattern (such as bust-out) and fraudulent payments. Accurate float decisions are then applied to these payments, made by checks and other payment vehicles, with little to no impact on "Good" customers."

The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association advancing the use of near field communication (NFC) technology, has announced the publication of its first four specifications. The specifications are available to the public for download at no charge from the NFC Forum Web site, www.nfc-forum.org.

Bob Tedeschi reports for the New York Times on two new online shopping services, Mpire.com and Slide.com, that "present new variations on the traditional method of finding items online."

The AAA says that recent changes in the United Kingdom and other countries may require Americans traveling there to be better informed when they pay with plastic. "The UK has gone completely 'Chip and PIN' and that's causing a bit of confusion for some travelers as well as merchants overseas," said Scott Denman, managing director, AAA Financial Services.

Trintech has announced that its payment systems business is to be acquired by VeriFone Holdings in an all-cash transaction valued at $12.1 million. According to Trintech, "the acquisition includes a range of payment systems that will support and extend VeriFone's existing offerings for merchants and financial institutions. VeriFone will take over distribution of those products and will provide existing customers with service and support."

IP Commerce and BankServ have announced DepositNow, an online, remote check deposit service designed for small businesses that eliminates trips to the bank by enabling small businesses to deposit checks and manage accounts receivable transactions directly from the convenience of their desktop PC.

APACS, the UK payment association, has announced that six months after "PIN day" (Valentine’s Day 2006, February 14th), the UK is the world's first chip and PIN success story - with more than 99.8% of all chip and PIN card transactions are now PIN-verified and more than 150 chip and PIN transactions take place every second. (compared with 125 a second six months ago and 85 a second a year ago).

• Western States Acquirers Association - Annual Conference - October 18-19, 2006 - San Jose, CA
• Merrill Lynch Licenses DataTreasury's Financial Transaction Patents
• Symantec Helps First Horizon Bank Thwart Online Threats to Financial Data
• Bank of America Introduces the Business Credit Express(R) Product Bringing Simplicity and Convenience to Small Business Financing
• Boston Globe: Credit cards with radio tags speed purchases but track customers, too
• MobileLime Arms Quick-Serve Restaurants With Cell Phone Marketing
• Gainesville.com: Use of plastic taking its toll on the penny
• Oracle to Invest $125 Million in i-flex in a Preferential Allotment