Firethorn Holdings has confirmed that "Verizon Wireless is
working with Firethorn to introduce its mobile banking and payments
solution. The announcement demonstrates growing support among the nation's
leading wireless carriers for Firethorn's unique federation strategy for
making the mobile banking and payments marketplace."

The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association has announced results from a recent survey about paying for health care finding that consumers with prepaid health care cards, as part of their flexible spending account (FSA), were far more satisfied with being able to easily and efficiently pay for eligible health care expenses.*

In his keynote address today to the CTIA Wireless conference, Visa USA President and CEO John Philip Coghlan said that mobile payment is "at a critical moment in its development, and realizing its full potential will require close collaboration between the wireless and payment card industries. Given the striking similarities in the paths our two industries have traveled, it is only natural we have arrived at a moment of convergence,” Coghlan said. “In fact, the convergence of payments and mobile communications is not just logical – it is inevitable.”

First Data Corp. has amended its 10-K annual report filing with the SEC to include the financial statements of Chase Paymentech. Chase Payment is 51% owned by JP Morgan Chase and 49% owned by First Data Corp. First Data made the updated 10-K filing under an SEC rule requiring it as a result of FDC’s equity earnings in Chase Paymentech having exceeded 20% of FDC’s consolidated income from continuing operations before income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2006. The filing reports Chase Paymentech's 2006 revenues as $1.2 billion (up 49% from 2005) with net income of $476 million before some miscellaneous adjustments.

A press release from National In-Store says that one in ten shoppers leaving a store without making a purchase cited the wait to check out as a factor in their decision not to buy and notes that customer satisfaction levels, when forced to wait in line in excess of 4 minutes, fall below 80%. [Editor's note: bank branch managers - a/k/a store managers - take note!]

The Ask the Advisor blog posts a 24-point recovery checklist outlining actions recommended for identity theft victims - noting that "you can reduce your risks for identity theft, but you don't have control over government agencies, hospitals, or retail stores that manage to lose your personal information."

Netbanker's Jim Bruene is tracking the recent announcements of mobile banking services by US banks in a Mobile Banking Scorecard he's posted.

Kelli B. Grant writes for SmartMoney about the differences in consumer protections between credit cards and debit cards - including "zero liability" protections.

Obopay has announced the introduction of Obopay Checkout, calling it "an industry-first capability that enables mobile merchants to offer consumers effortless, instant payments that monetize digital and physical offerings."

• Intervoice and RSA Work Together to Deliver Multifactor Authentication Solutions for Telephone Banking to the Financial Industry
• dotMobi Announces Strategic Investment From Visa
• Ecrio Announces Strategic Investment by Visa
• FEED Tribes Taps Air2Web to Support New Mobile Commerce and Payment Application Using Short Message Service Technology
• Capital One and Consumer Action Sponsor Free Financial Literacy Training for Local Nonprofit Community Organizations
• Corillian Tops Celent’s Retail Internet Banking Report for Second Time in a Row
• VeriSign Supports Visa Mobile Platform to Advance Fast-Growing Mobile Commerce Market
• Interest in Near Field Communication Brings Growth for NFC Forum; Membership Now Tops 110 Organizations
• American Express Membership Rewards Program Launches Flight Finder and Room Finder For Charge Cardmembers
• Fair Isaac Global FICO Score Reaches New Market through Alliance with Korea Credit Bureau
• Scan One Forms Strategic Partnership with BancTec to Focus on Accounts Payable Document Capture