A coalition of U.S. merchants opposed to unfair credit card fees says it welcomed a ruling by the European Union (EU) Competition Commission that MasterCard’s credit card interchange fees for consumers must be cut across the 26 member nations of the European community.

Discover Financial Services has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2007 reporting that its U.S. Card managed loans reached $48.2 billion, up 5% from last year driven by a 6% increase in credit card sales volume. Discover says that its "U.S. Card credit quality remained strong, although delinquency rates increased from last quarter reflecting weakening in the U.S. economy. The fourth quarter managed credit card net charge-off rate was 3.84% and the 30+ days delinquency rate was 3.59%."

Rachana Khanzode reports for the Financial Express in India about Atom Cards - a mobile optical payment technique using 2D-bar codes displayed on the mobile handset and captured by the retailer.

Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) has announced "a partnership with HomeATM ePayment Solutions, a global online payment solution and web security engineering firm. The partnership will initially offer an alternative payment option to the global commercial airline community."

The Economist takes a look at the growth in holiday season shopping online - with a nice graph showing US online shopping spending each year since 2003 based on comScore data.

Hypercom has announced that "It has entered into exclusive negotiations with Thales SA, a leading international electronics and systems group serving defense, aerospace and security markets worldwide, to acquire the e-Transactions business line of Thales." The company also announced that it has obtained a $60 million financing commitment from Francisco Partners and that Philippe Tartavull has been named Chief Executive Officer and President of Hypercom Corporation.

In a move it says is "aimed at enabling consumers in Mainland China to buy directly online from North American retailers," Alipay has announced a cooperation agreement with Philliou Selwanes Partners (PSP), a New York City based consulting and advisory firm, to promote the acceptance of its Chinese payment service to North American merchants.

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• WSJ: EU Raps MasterCard Over Fees