Mercator Advisory Group has published a new report titled "Roadmap to Profit's in China's Credit Card Issuing Market" that provides both qualitative and quantitative analyses on the profitability of China's credit card issuing market.

Ron Shevlin writes on his Marketing ROI blog about Capital One's Card Lab. Shevlin's verdict? "Card Lab is a winner"

From a syndicated Martha Stewart column in this morning's Boston Globe: "PayPal is perhaps the most secure option, especially if you're buying from individuals or smaller businesses. To use this service, you pay PayPal, which in turn pays the merchant for you. This additional layer of protection means there will be little chance of your personal information falling into the wrong hands."

In an article titled 'New gift-card rules riddled with loopholes, critics say', Karen Howlett reports for the Globe and Mail looks into the newly effective changes to law in Ontario affecting gift card terms - reporting that "it did not become apparent until this week that the legislation contains loopholes that allow gift cards for specific services, such as a massage, manicure or restaurant meal, to be exempt from the new rules."

In an article subtitled "Payment Firm VeriFone Can't Count Its Money", Troy Wolverton of the San Jose Mercury News reports on VeriFone's announcement earlier this week that it "had overstated its pre-tax profit by 80 percent this fiscal year." Wolverton says that "the situation is not without its ironies: a high-tech company felled by a low-tech problem; a company that helps customers count money, having trouble counting its own."

According to a new MasterCard SpendingPulse report on U.S. Retail Industry Segments, "retail sales in November improved in a number of sectors as the holiday season took off on a positive note." November’s year-over-year growth in the eCommerce channel was up by 21.7%.

iPhoneMatters.com shows Bank of America's new mobile banking application designed to take full advantage of the Apple iPhone's Mobile Safari web browser. A commenter complains, however, that it's only the first page that looks so good on the iPhone - saying "once you click thru, it’s the same old mobile banking site."

Lynn Tan writes for ZDNet Asia on comments by David Vander, Microsoft's managing director of banking for worldwide financial services, about mobile payments. Vander comments that "we all know that for widespread consumer adoption, that (ecosystem) has to be far more generalized and open."

• BizTech: Best Practices for PCI Compliance
• 'Tis the Season for a Chase Gift Card
• Aussies pay dearly for overseas currency conversions
• India: HDFC plans mobile wallets, remittances
• Australia: SMS two-factor authentication dead in 3 years: NAB

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Kevin Lee has been named CEO of Skylight Financial. The previous CEO, O.G. Greene, has become Vice-Chairman of the company.