Jim Bruene posts on his new Mobile Money & Banking blog about his experience earlier this week at the Mobile Commerce Summit. Jim says "the most interesting part for me was hearing the results of the BancorpSouth pilot with AT&T, Firethorn, and CheckFree." Read his post for the details.

Mercator Advisory Group has announced a new report titled "Online and Mobile Digital Content Markets" that it says "frames the challenges and opportunities posed by digital content across multiple distribution channels and as advertising or paid content."

As anticipated earlier in a Wall St. Journal story, Danal, Inc., the US subsidiary of South Korea-based Danal Ltd. has announced that it has received $9.5 million in venture financing led by Morgenthaler Ventures with participation from the Korean parent company as well.

QSR Magazine is reporting that Sheetz has begun "testing an innovative new program that provides debit card customers with rewards similar to those available to credit customers — The Sheetz Debitz MasterCard" with Capital One. Rewards are available on purchases at both Sheetz as well as anywhere else MasterCard is accepted. This is the first merchant using Capital One's recently announced "Decoupled Debit" product that we've come across.

Obopay has announced the addition of several new mobile merchants and application providers to its Mobile Merchant Platform - including" innovative wireless community and media services provider Xringer Inc., mobile recycling program RIPMobile, online marketplace provider Chegg.com, mobile gaming platform developer Exit Games, and mobile search and advertising firm 4INFO."

MasterCard Worldwide and FIFA have announced that they "have reached agreement resolving the contract dispute related to MasterCard’s first right to acquire the sponsorship for the 2010 & 2014 FIFA World Cups. As a result of the agreement, MasterCard will discontinue its sponsorship of the 2010 & 2014 FIFA World Cups, with FIFA agreeing to compensate MasterCard for that discontinuation. Both parties also agreed to terminate legal proceedings in the U.S. and Switzerland. With this settlement, MasterCard and FIFA have found a mutually agreeable resolution of this dispute." Bloomberg is reporting that MasterCard was paid $90 million by FIFA as part of the settlement.

American Express has introduced new Membership Rewards program levels that the company says are "aligned with specific Card products designed to better meet Cardmember lifestyle and reward program usage needs."

According to a new survey commissioned by Visa, 82 percent of respondents agree that Quick Service Restaurant purchases made with debit or credit cards are more convenient than dealing with cash. And 68 percent say using payment cards is faster than paying with cash.

The Healthcare Solutions business of JPMorgan Chase and RelayHealth, the connectivity services company of McKesson Corporation, have announced a strategic relationship to offer an integrated set of claim and payment processing solutions. The two companies say "this relationship will transform the way that insurers, healthcare providers and consumers interact to settle claim payments, moving to a fully electronic model."

Rebecca Buckman writes for the Wall St. Journal about Danal Co., a Korean company about to enter the US offering mobile payments. She says Danal "is targeted at young people, some of whom don't have credit cards and want a quick, easy way to pay for low-cost digital goods." The US subsidiary is expected to be financially backed by Morgenthaler Ventures, according to Buckman.

We ran a Facebook poll last night asking those between 18 and 24 years of age "When you buy something online, how do you prefer to pay?" Here are the results - based upon a sample of over 400 responses - hardly scientific but interesting nonetheless:

No surprise, the debit card is most favored among this age group - but PayPal's showing is also especially strong. New entrant Google Checkout barely moves the needle in this particular survey and almost no one likes to pay by providing their checking account details (also known as eCheck).

According to the latest Experian study on the subprime lending market, subprime consumers -- those with an Experian credit score of 620 or lower -- are more likely to be 30 days or more late on their mortgage payments than on their unsecured bankcard obligations. As consumers have historically paid mortgage debt over bankcard debt, this finding represents a significant departure from conventional behavior.

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