Alas, the end is drawing near. Gavin Chan, Product Marketing Manager for Google Checkout, posted today on the Google Checkout blog that Google was extending the free transaction processing period for merchants through the holidays to February 1, 2008.

Celent has published a new report titled "Electronic Money: Contactless Payment in Japan".

Wesabe has announced the release of Wesabe Mobile, a free, secure banking platform for mobile devices, that "lets members use any web-enabled cell phone or PDA to monitor their account balances and recent transactions for thousands of banks and credit cards worldwide. Wesabe Mobile also provides members with an easy way to record and track where they are spending cash."

Laura Smitherman writes for the Baltimore Sun about home-town favorite Bill Me Later's recent deal with Amazon.com. "Amazon.com and other retailers choose Bill Me Later because its 3 million users tend to spend more than the average customer and to return more frequently to participating merchants." Saul Hansell of the New York Times blogs about Bill Me Later on the Times' Bits blog: "What Mr. Marino has built is a rare thing: a new widespread payment method."

Forrester has a new report out by Benjamin Ensor, Alexander Hesse titled "Will The iPhone Boost Mobile Banking?" - and they say "we think that the iPhone is an important evolutionary step for mobile banking."

edatanetworks USA has announced "a multi-year agreement with RBS Lynk to develop and launch a Visa gift card program that will operate within the Automated Cause Marketing (ACM) technology."

• Fair Isaac Fraud Detection Solutions Help Merchants Tackle Card-Not-Present Fraud
• Authorize.Net Announces New Safe Storage Option for eCommerce Transactions
• PC World: Nokia Invests in Chips that Enable Payment by Waving
• Study: Credit Card Issuers Target Heaviest Users
• MarketWatch: Cardtronics falls below IPO price
• Time: Gift Cards: the Non-Gift Gift
• Business Week: Why Wireless Isn't Wide Open
• NetBanker: Giving the Gift of Microfinance
• iKobo: National Survey Shows Cash Rules as Gift This Holiday Season