When the Reserve Bank of Australia announced its reforms to the credit card systems in Australia in August 2002, it indicated that it would review the credit and debit card systems and the Bank’s reforms in five years time. The RBA has now announced its plans to conduct a 2007/08 Review of Payment System Reforms in Australia - including conducting two substantial pieces of research: "a comprehensive study of the resource costs involved in different methods of payment, including cash," and "a study of how various payment methods are used in different circumstances, including the potential for substitutability between various forms of payment."

comScore Networks has released its latest estimates of consumer online non-travel (retail) spending at U.S. ecommerce sites for the 2006 holiday season through December 8. According to comScore, "during the first 38 days of the season this year, total online retail spending reached $15.6 billion, marking a 25-percent increase versus the corresponding days in 2005."   » Continue Reading

Michelle Singletary writes for the Washington Post about merchants being victims of fraudulent merchandise returns - amounting to $9.6 billion in losses this year according to industry surveys. According to Singletary, "Some retailers are also using the services of The Return Exchange of Irvine, Calif., to monitor returns and catch thieves. The company provides fraud and abuse detection products to track excessive or illegal merchandise returns."

China's People's Daily Online reports on the Credit Information System Bureau run by the People's Bank of China containing the "credit histories of 530 million people and tens of thousands enterprises". Begun in January 2006, "the central data base keeps track of people's bill payment histories on loans and credit cards, as well as taxes, mortgage and utility payments."