A friend writes... Over the last year, Amazon.com has begun enabling developers to utilize several online services provided by Amazon in lieu of having to develop and operate their own online services. Recently, Amazon even opened up its fulfillment warehouses and distribution capabilities for use by third-parties. Business Week published a recent cover story on these initiatives.   » Continue Reading

James Van Dyke blogs about an upcoming Javelin report on "interactive financial messages" or IFMs - saying "banking and payment executives should make a plan for successful IFMs before their competitors do..."

Nick Miller reports for the Sydney Morning Herald on Qpay, a new mobile payment system in Australia by entrepreneur Greg Walter. "The Qpay corporate vision is about making payments available anywhere, anytime. Whether you are buying, selling or just need to pay an IOU, Qpay makes it easy, convenient and secure."

Expedia.com and Citigroup have announced a strategic relationship to significantly expand the ThankYou Network. "As the exclusive travel partner of ThankYou Network, Expedia is launching a rewards program that will enable its customers to earn ThankYou Points and rewards for eligible travel they book on Expedia.com. In addition, Expedia.com is powering the redemption of travel rewards on ThankYou Network's website, http://www.thankyounetwork.com."   » Continue Reading

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• John Keatley has been named Chief Financial Officer of Green Dot Corporation.

Visa International has announced the availability of new tools and services based on its global contactless specification that can be used by vendors and member financial institutions interested in implementing new contactless payment programs.   » Continue Reading

VeriFone Holdings has announced an external contactless card acceptance device, the QX100, offering "a cost-effective migration path for merchants to adopt the increasingly popular "tap and pay" payment technology now being offered by major banks."   » Continue Reading

Ron Lieber and Jessica E. Vascellaro report for the Wall St. Journal on plans by Expedia to launch a new loyalty program later today based upon Citigroup's ThankYou Rewards. According to Lieber and Vascellaro, "The link-up with Expedia is the third phase of the ThankYou rollout, and it marks the first time that a big outside partner has offered Citi's points as its own de facto loyalty program. If more retailers do this, it raises the possibility that ThankYou could morph into a multi-industry loyalty program like the old S&H Green Stamps."

Gemalto has announced a new banking microprocessor card capable of performing multiple types of Visa payments: contact EMV (Europay MasterCard Visa), EMV-based contactless and magnetic stripe data contactless. The company says its new card is the first contactless product that meets Visa's global contactless specification for interoperability and will be available in mass volumes to major financial institutions starting January 2007.   » Continue Reading

New figures released by APACS, the UK payments association, show that overall card fraud continued to decline in the six months through June 2006. Total card fraud fell by 5% during this period, from £219.5m to £209.3m, largely due to the rollout of chip and PIN. Internet, phone and mail order fraud (card-not-present or CNP fraud) has increased but at a much slower rate than seen previously. CNP fraud now accounts for 46% of all losses but grew by just 5% year-on-year, compared to a 29% increase between 2004 and 2005. Online bank fraud losses rose by 55% from £14.5m in the first six months of 2005 to £22.5m in the same period this year.   » Continue Reading

• MagTek Receives "Innovation Award" from the China International Financial Technology and Equipment Association
• BBC: Waste bins 'an ID theft goldmine'
• VeriFone Announces Contactless Card Reader at CARTES 2006
• VeriFone Extends NURIT Payment Solutions Line
• Hypercom Releases Optimum M4100 Blade: First Truly Portable Payment Device Gives Hypercom the Lead in Mobile Transactions with World's Smallest Secure Design
• Morgan Stanley and Visa Settle Dispute
• Gemalto Achieves Major Breakthrough in Launch of Secure Linux Payment Terminals
• VeriFone’s Vx Solutions First Payment Platform to Achieve MasterCard PTS Approval
• Gemalto Launches CardLikeMe, a Web Service for Designing Customized EMV Banking Cards
• msystems™ Launches mToken, Providing Smart Card Functionality and Secure Authentication for Online Banking and Other Web-Based Services
• VASCO Presents Its Innovative Family of Smart Card Readers at Cartes 2006