Are you interested in the future of mobile payments? Curious as to the
implications of Amazon's new payment platform - the Amazon Flexible Payment Service? If so, make plans now to join the first of Glenbrook's Roundtable on Emerging Payments being held on Friday, Februrary 22, in Santa Clara, CA. The roundtable is a half-day session (with brown bag lunch provided). Online registration and more information is available at Glenbrook's Payments Education website.

As part of an effort to improve ACH Network quality by reducing unrecognized transactions, "the voting membership of NACHA has approved the Company Name Identification Rule, an amendment to the NACHA Operating Rules that will enable consumers to more readily identify companies and other parties that are the sources of ACH transactions. Specifically, this rule will require a company to identify itself within the ACH transaction by the name that is known and readily recognized by the consumer."

Javelin Strategy and Research has published its 2008 Identity Fraud Survey Report finding that identity fraud is declining in most parts of the United States with a losses down about 12 percent over 2006. Javelin's James Van Dyke notes, however, that "there's a catch. In a back-to-the-future scenario, there was a sharp increase in "old-fashioned" mail and telephone fraud, including Vishing. These methods grew from 3% to 40%, pointing to thieves’ new creativity in gathering personal information by mail and telephone."

In a press release today, APACS, on behalf of the UK credit card industry, said it "welcomes the OFT’s report on improvements that can be made to help consumers compare credit cards. The industry is committed to working with the OFT and the FSA to deliver the full package of recommendations including the impartial comparison website. APACS believes this new website – to be developed and hosted by the FSA – will be an important additional tool in a customer’s arsenal to enable them to make informed choices about the card that best suits their need."

The UK's Office of Fair Trading has published its report into credit card comparisons , making a series of recommendations to help consumers choose a credit card. According to the OFT, "the report follows a super-complaint from Which? that highlighted that consumers choose credit cards without understanding all the issues that affect the cost of the card. OFT research shows that 70 percent of credit card holders did not shop around before selecting their current card, and that this meant they could be placing themselves at a financial disadvantage."

Ryan Kim reports for the San Francisco Chronicle about how TrialPay and FTD are teaming up. "Let's say you're shopping at Cnet's Download.com for some software but the price seems to be getting in your way. Well, TrialPay is offering to make the software free if you buy some flowers at FTD. They'll also take 10 percent off the price of your flower purchase." [Note: Glenbrook recently published a briefing about TrialPay titled "Converting Customers With TrialPay - A New Payment Alternative for Online Merchants" .]

Nancy Trejos writes for the Washington Post about how the recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have not made it any cheaper for consumers where credit card interest rates have remained high and "in many cases have even climbed." Last Thursday, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) introduced the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2008 (PDF). In a press release, Maloney said “A credit card agreement is supposed to be a contract, but in recent years cardholders have lost the ability to say no to unfair interest rate hikes and fees. This balanced, moderate bill simply levels the playing field between card companies and cardholders while fostering fair competition and free market values,” said Rep. Maloney. Here's a one page summary (PDF) of Maloney's bill.

• Mobilians International and NHN USA Sign Deal to Launch Phone-Based Payments for Online Gaming Purchases
• New Mercator Advisory Report: International B2B Payments: State and Future of the Marketplace
• CardinalCommerce Advisory Committee Formed to Examine Current State, Future of Mobile Commerce and eCommerce
• PCI Security Standards Council Announces Availability of PIN Entry Device (PED) Approval Listings
• PNC to Offer CHIPS for Wire Payments
• Digital River Expands E-Commerce Agreement with Skype
• Hypercom Issues Statement on Ingenico Inquiry
• Online Financial Innovations Announces FinovateStartup, a New Conference Showcasing Dozens of the Most Innovative Financial Technology Startups

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Sheila Narayan has been named
  executive vice president and general manager of its banking payments division at Online Resources Corporation. Narayan was formerly a partner at First Annapolis.