We had an opportunity late last week to speak with Rick Rasansky, Chairman and Founding CEO of Sapphire Mobile Systems based in West Conshohocken, PA. Rick was just back from last week's Prepaid Expo where Sapphire announced a partnership with US Bank's Elan Financial Services to conduct a mobile banking and payments pilot for Elan's PayCard customers.

Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg will be holding an afternoon workshop titled "Point Of Sale Impact: Preparing for the Merchant and Online Payments Revolution" at the upcoming CardTech/SecureTech conference in San Francisco.

We met recently with Patrice Peyret, CEO of Plastyc, the provider of the UPside prepaid Visa debit card designed specifically for teens. Patrice is a serial entrepreneur who's been involved in a number of innovations over the years - ranging from payment card technologies to mobile applications.

Chase Card Services has announced what it's calling its "Clear and Simple Initiative" that the card issuer says "will make it even easier for Chase cardmembers to better understand and manage their accounts. These customer-centric programs tools, information and services are intended to help Chase's millions of cardmembers continue to enjoy a positive relationship with Chase Card Services while maximizing the benefits of their credit card."

As we mentioned last week, Blackhawk Network was honored by Prepaid Media its 2007 Prepaid Card Expo with the Most Innovative Product Award for its Gift Card Mall Destination Concept, "a convenient one-stop shop for consumers to purchase all the prepaid cards they need."

Celent analyst Dan Schatt has published a new report titled "Retail Internet Banking Vendors: Luring the Laggards" that focuses on the features and options that banks will need to offer to attract those consumers who haven't yet signed up for online banking.

JCB has announced the signing of an agreement with China Merchants Bank (CMB), one of the major commercial banks in the region, for issuing JCB brand cards in China. CMB began offering international branded JCB CMB Hello Kitty Fan's Credit Card on March 1, with designs featuring 'Hello Kitty' and 'Dear Daniel' licensed by Sanrio (Shanghai) Int'l Trade Co., Ltd. READ MORE

Jeff Randall writes an opinion piece for the UK's Telegraph about BT's plan to charge consumers extra fees (£4.50 per quarter - billing is done quarterly) when they pay their bills by cash or cheque - or any other way except direct debit. According to Randall, "BT's goal is to cajole as many people as possible to sign for direct debits. This helps push up profits, by cutting down administration costs." Dave Birch blogs about the change on the Digital Money Blog.

Green Dot Network has announced it has reached a new high of 109 prepaid card programs reloading on its network as of January 31. These programs include cards issued from multiple banks under the MasterCard, Visa and Discover Network brands.

• The Next Wireless Industry Wave - Mobile Payments and Banking Services - Featured in Special Interest Seminar at CTIA Wireless 2007
• Boston Globe: Firms prodded to try smarter credit cards
• Global Finance Magazine Names MasterCard Worldwide 'Best Corporate Cards and Expense Services Provider'
• ICBA and Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Partner to Offer Community Banks 'One'
• Reserve Bank of Australia provides update on Payments Systems Issues
• Secure Check RCK Selected by Fast Transact to Provide Electronic Check Recovery
• Digital Envoy Acquires Transaction Monitoring Technology Company Cydelity
• eFunds Corporation Becomes EFD, the Payments Solutions Company
• Hitachi’s Finger Vein Authentication Technology Selected by Shinkin Central Bank (SCB) New York Branch
• Gemplus Chosen by Commonwealth Bank of Australia for First MasterCard PayPass Pilot
• ePayments Corp. Prepared for Back-office Check Conversion Rules