First Data Corp. yesterday reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2007. This morning, the company held a conference call to discuss the results (presentation available). Also today, FDC filed its Form 10-K Annual Report with the SEC. FDC's 10-K also includes the financial results of Chase Paymentech due to the size of Chase Paymentech's contribution to FDC's financial results.

Andrea Coombes writes for MarketWatch.com that, according to a survey by IndexCreditCards.com, the average credit card interest rate is at a two year low of 13.29% on cards without rewards features. For cards with rewards programs, the average interest rate has dropped to 15.15%.

Revolution Money and Shipley Energy have announced that Shipley has become the first energy company to offer a co-branded RevolutionCard. Shipley plans to "periodically boast valuable incentives for consumers when they use their RevolutionCard for qualifying Shipley Energy purchases."   » Continue Reading

APACS, the UK payments association, has announced that "donations to charitable organisations on plastic cards reached £1.013 billion in 2007- up from £842 million in 2006. This is the first time donations on plastic have gone through the £1 billion barrier."   » Continue Reading

In an article titled ''Muscle' Silences Credit Card Adversaries', Vija Udenans writes for ABC News about yesterday's US House subcommittee hearing on credit card issuer practices and why five consumers who were originally scheduled to testify didn't. A webcast archive of the hearing is available. Elizabeth Warren (one of yesterday's witnesses) writes about the issue on the Credit Slips blog.

In an article titled 'Soaring rates of debit fraud prompt switch to smart cards' in today's Globe and Mail, Timothy Appleby writes about fraud on Interac debit cards and the planned migration to chip cards in Canada.

• WSJ: Bankruptcy Protection for Your Gift Cards
• Bruce Schneier: London Tube Smartcard Cracked
• Forrester: Non-Banks Make Their Way Into European Financial Services
• Storefront Backtalk: Trying A Bit Too Hard To Convince People That Contactless Is Secure
• TheStreet.com: Member Banks See Windfall in Visa IPO
• NY Times: Debt Collectors Try to Put on a Friendlier Face

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• O.B. Rawls has been named senior vice president of sales at TASQ Technology. Rawls previously was senior vice president of international sales for Hypercom.