Elena Malykhina writes for InformationWeek via Bank Systems & Technology about mobile banking - and suggests that 2007 is shaping up as the year that it just might finally maybe get started. She notes Firethorn's recent announcements (CheckFree, Cingular, Synovus), PayPal Mobile's announcement earlier this year, and another service called ClairMail. She suggests banks shouldn't take too long to figure this all out - suggesting that consumers will expect their banks to support their increasingly mobile lifestyles sooner rather than later.

The New Zealand Retailers Association has announced that seven New Zealand retailers have "launched legal action against a number of credit card institutions, seeking damages from breaches of the Commerce Act. The move follows the recent decision by the Commerce Commission to bring its own court proceedings over the alleged price fixing of interchange fees by these institutions."

JupiterResearch - in a new research report titled "US Contactless Payments; Primed for Supply, But Industry Must Coordinate to Reach Non-Users" - has announced that it is forecasting the total value of transactions conducted using contactless payment tokens will grow from $500 million in 2006 to $79 billion in 2010 - even though only 12 percent of US online consumers have tried contactless payments to date.

Boulder, Colorado-based FEED Tribes has announced that "Noodles & Company has become the first national chain to adopt a new mobile commerce and marketing system that allows customers to pay with their cell phones."

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Nelson Eng has been named president, US for eFunds succeeding Rahul Gupta. Previously Eng was general manager and group vice president of the financial services sector for Oracle Corporation.
• Bruno Benteo has been named Chief Security Officer for INSIDE Contactless, a contactless semiconductor chip supplier. Benteo comes to INSIDE from THALES, where he was Director of THALES Security Systems Toulouse (France).

If yesterday was Cyber Monday, today must be Gift Card Tuesday - based on all of the news about them issued today. In the latest, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued a reminder to consumers "that it is important to check carefully the terms and conditions that apply to gift cards they buy or receive. As we enter the holiday season, it is especially important that consumers be alert to the wide variety of terms and conditions available in the gift card market,” said Comptroller John C. Dugan. “By asking a few questions based on the information provided in our Advisory, holiday shoppers will be able to select the gift card that best meets their requirements for this popular product.”

More than 67 million Americans have used a credit or debit card for a purchase of less than $5 in the past 30 days according to the fourth annual comprehensive, quantitative survey on the small payments market released today at the 2006 Micro and Small Payments Conference in New York City.

Peppercoin has announced a strategic alliance with Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. that "extends Peppercoin's reach in the merchant community and makes its solutions available to the more than 130,000 businesses that rely on Heartland for payment processing."

NOVA Information Systems has announced that it has enhanced its Electronic Check Service (ECS) product to meet the needs of multi-lane retailers by eliminating the investment in check imaging technology at the point of sale (POS). ECS now combines the benefits of real-time check authorization and risk mitigation services with back-office image uploads, resulting in improved cash flow and reduced risk.

According to a recent study commissioned by First Data Corp., today's diverse gift card products are fitting nicely into the wallets, gift boxes and lifestyles of most American consumers. The survey examines both the purchase and use of single-merchant gift cards, those that can only be used at one retailer, as well as multi-merchant gift cards, those that can be used at multiple retailers.

Jay Loomis writes for the Westchester County Journal News about MasterCard at 40. "Because of the increasing payrolls, MasterCard's space needs have expanded beyond the stately headquarters in Purchase, whose lobby features stone floors, trendy art displays and sweeping window views. MasterCard now occupies two additional buildings in Purchase." A sidebar explores some of Art Kranley's new technology efforts - "wristwatches, cell phones and key chains are some of the gadgets that Kranzley and other executives at MasterCard Inc. are evaluating as potential tools for consumers to load credit or debit card information."

Sandra Block writes for USA Today in her Your Money column about gift cards - recommending that gift givers avoid bank-issued "open loop" gift cards and thereby avoid the "expiration dates, inactivity fees and other restrictions" typically found on those cards. She cites the fourth annual report on gift cards issued last week by the Office of Consumer Protection in Montgomery County, Maryland titled "Gift Cards 2006: Retail Cards Continue to Improve (with Prodding); Bank Cards Still Have Problems" (PDF). The study reviewed "gift cards, packaging and inserts, websites, and policies of 40 major retailers and restaurant chains and ten bank card issuers" - concluding that "some major retailers and restaurants have made substantial improvements in their cards" while finding no such improvements in bank-issued gift cards saying "they continue to impose a slew of fees."

In an article titled 'Google Checkout Should Capture Small-to-Midsize Market", Jeff Molander blogs for Seeking Alpha about his views on why Google Checkout is likely being underestimated and could turn out to be "a killer application for Google." He figures consumer adoption is all about privacy (trust) and convenience of using Google Checkout as your online wallet. He concludes by saying that Google Checkout is much less about disrupting PayPal as it is about Google comprehensively serving the needs of the small to midsize marketplace.

Michael Crawford reports for Computerworld Australia on MasterCard's rollout of "a global dual-interface (contact and contactless) smartcard for the Asia Pacific, Middle Eastern and African (APEMA) markets named the MasterCard PayPass M/Chip 4 Combi Card."

• Cubic-Developed Oyster® Card Fare Collection System Garners RFID Implementation Award
• Free, Gift-Wrapped Commerce Bank Visa(R) Gift Card = Perfect Gift
• TSYS to Process Rabobank’s Consumer-Credit Portfolio
• Utix Group and Blackhawk Network Sign Bulk Sales Agreement for Corporate Distribution
• Windows in Financial Services: Tracking ATM Cash
• Windows in Financial Services: Check 21 Opens New Competitive Landscape
• Digital Insight and Computer Services Inc. Renew Strategic Relationship
• Experian CheetahMail and SimpleFeed Partner to Bring RSS Technology and Services to Customers
• Oberthur Card Systems CEO Announcement