The Merchants Payments Coalition issued a press release today welcoming today's release of a European Union (EU) policy report that calls for closer scrutiny of competition in the European retail banking sector.

Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan voted today for a one-year moratorium on applications for deposit insurance by industrial loan companies with commercial affiliations, saying that Congress should have an opportunity to consider the issue.

The FDIC Board of Directors voted today to continue for one year a moratorium on applications for deposit insurance and change in control notices for industrial loan companies (ILCs) that will be owned by commercial companies. The moratorium does not apply to ILCs owned by financial companies. In addition, the Board voted to issue for public comment a proposed rule (Part 354) to strengthen the framework for consideration of applications or notices for industrial banks owned by financial companies not subject to federal consolidated bank supervision.

Jacksonville, FL-based EverBank launched a new marketing campaign today promoting its FreeNet checking account. The bank said "with rumblings of a new online check-less checking account set to launch by Internationale Nederlanden Groep (ING) DIRECT within the next few weeks, Jacksonville, Fla.-based banking leader EverBank today launched a new campaign which poses a five-word question to financial consumers - "What are you waiting for?" The account offers an introductory yield of 6.01% for the first three months, calling it the "highest yield for checking in the industry" according to Frank Trotter, president of EverBank Direct.

The Global Leaders Institute will be holding Payment China 2007 on May 17-18 in Beijing.

In an article in CSO Magazine, Scott Berinato writes an "Elegy for Cash" - saying that "an inconvenient truth for card issuers and merchants is that cash is a lot safer for consumers."

Global Cash Access has provided more information about its Arriva Card, the first credit card designed for use in casinos.

In a new video, the President and CEO of ING DIRECT, Arkadi Kuhlmann, has taken it upon himself to explain his outlook on saving money, how financial transactions should be as simple as buying a cup of coffee, and how ING DIRECT works to make that a reality.

Bank of America has announced that its Online Banking customers now have access to a "full range of money management tools that help them track expenses and income by category, set budget goals and monitor performance against goal for all of their financial accounts."

The European Commission has published the final report of its competition inquiry into the retail banking sector - finding "a number of competition concerns in the markets for payment cards, payment systems and retail banking products. Particular indicators are large variations in merchant and interchange fees for payment cards, barriers to entry in the markets for payment systems and credit registers, obstacles to customer mobility and product tying." Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: “The inquiry has found widespread competition barriers which unnecessarily raise the cost of retail banking services for European firms and consumers. The Commission will make full use of its powers under competition law to tackle these barriers, in the market for payment cards and elsewhere when they result from anticompetitive behaviour.”

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