The time has come for a last call for registrations for Glenbrook's Payments Boot Camp next week (Tuesday-Wednesday, March 18-19) in Atlanta, Georgia. If you're interested in attending, please register right away!

Glenbrook's Payments Boot Camps provide a "deep dive" on U.S. payments systems - covering soup-to-nuts, basics through emerging payments. After the Atlanta Payments Boot Camp next week, our next Payments Book Camp will be held in New York City on April 16-17.

At its 7th Annual Debit Conference, MasterCard Europe has announced what it calls "the emergence of a series of significant cross-border purchasing trends in Europe coinciding with the official launch of the Single Euro(pean) Payments Area (SEPA)."

The Association for Financial Professionals reports results from its 2008 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey concluding that" "payments fraud continues to challenge treasury and finance professionals, with almost one third of respondents to a new AFP survey reporting that incidents of fraud increased in 2007 compared to 2006."

In today's "Heard on the Street" column in the Wall St. Journal, Peter Eavis looks at the growth in Target's credit card outstandings - up 29% to $8.62 billion vs. last year.

Experian has announced the launch of Emerging Credit Score, a new credit scoring tool developed with eBureau designed to assist lenders in evaluating the creditworthiness of unbanked and underbanked consumers.

In an article titled 'Mobile Payments--A Growing Threat', the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the US Department of State discusses mobile payments and worries about them saying that 'there are already indications that money launderers and those that finance terrorism will avail themselves of the new m-payment systems.' The article concludes by saying that 'much work and creative thinking will be required to maintain the advantages NPMs ('new payment methods'), including m-payments offer, while at the same time preventing exploitation and misuse by money launderers and terrorist financiers and simultaneously protecting user privacy and the integrity of the global financial systems.'

• Blackboard OneCard: New college debit card program launched to boost Hackettstown shops
• eLUXURY.com Extends Bill Me Later's Convenience and Flexibility to Consumers
• SVPCO: Check Image Volume Climbs Strongly in February
• iovation Partners with PayByCash(TM) to Provide Online Merchants with Stronger Protection Against Payment and Credit Card Fraud
• PRBC and NCRA Announce New Data Quality Standard
• INSIDE Wins Visa Certification for MicroPass Intelligent Payment Platform
• AuctionBytes: eBay Requires Enrollment for PayPal Extended Seller Protection