Intuit and Electronic Clearing House have announced they have "signed a definitive agreement for Intuit to acquire ECHO. Under the terms of the agreement, Intuit will pay $17 per share in cash in exchange for each share of ECHO common stock, including shares issuable upon exercise of options. The total purchase price is approximately $131 million on a fully diluted basis."

MasterCard Europe has announced that "it will appeal to the European Court of First Instance today's decision by the European Commission regarding MasterCard Europe's default cross-border interchange fees."

This morning, Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition Policy, announced that the European Commission has "adopted a decision that MasterCard's multilateral interchange fees, or MIF, for cross-border payment card transactions with MasterCard and Maestro branded debit and consumer credit cards in the European Economic Area (EEA) violate EC Treaty rules on restrictive business practices." MasterCard has six months to comply with the Commission's order to withdraw the fees. A number of documents about the decision are available online in PDF form including her speech, a press release, and an FAQ.

With respect to Visa, Kroes went on to add: "Let me finally say a few words regarding the other large payment card scheme in Europe, VISA. Back in 2002, the Commission adopted an exemption decision concerning VISA's MIF. This exemption expires in a few days, on 31 December and from that moment on VISA will be responsible to ensure that its system is in full compliance with EU competition rules."

Jim Bruene's announced the latest edition of his Online Banking Report newsletter - this issue titled on "Person-to-Person Lending 2.0: Disruptive service or market niche?".

From the abstract: "Person-to-person lending is the perfect product for the Web 2.0-social-networked consumer. Why, then, has growth been relatively slow compared to other networked services? Because it’s a difficult business. Not only are P2P lenders competing with 20,000 other financial institutions for good borrowers, the are up against thousands of investment alternatives for funds to lend, all the while waging a fierce battle with fraudsters and deadbeats. It’s not a business for the faint of heart. "

The AP is reporting that the China Banking Regulatory Commission has announced that "Citigroup Inc. and four other banks will become the first foreign institutions allowed to issue credit cards on their own in China once they meet regulatory standards"

• CyberSource's BidPay Subsidiary to Cease Operations
• Bill Me Later, Inc. Named a Red Herring Global 100 Winner
• NCR First to Offer Self-Checkout with Two-Sided Receipt Printing
• USA Technologies Chooses ViVOtech to Provide Contactless Card Readers for e-Port
• AIte Group: Payment Networks and Mobile Transactions: The Mobile Operator Perspective
• Reuters: EU executive gives MasterCard 6 months to alter fee

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Brett Smith has been named Chief Technology Officer at eCommLink. Previously, Smith served as Senior Executive VP of MBNA America.