JPMorgan Chase and First Data Corp. have announced that they have agreed to end their current joint venture, Chase Paymentech Solutions, a global payments and merchant acquiring entity, by the end of 2008.   » Continue Reading

SCM Microsystems has announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Sony Corporation to develop and supply FeliCa contactless card readers for international markets. Under the arrangement, SCM will develop its own line of FeliCa products targeting the enterprise, mobile and banking markets.   » Continue Reading

MasterCard Canada has announced it conducting a four month trial of Near Field Communications (NFC)-enabled phones with MasterCard PayPass capability on Bell Mobility's wireless network.   » Continue Reading

In a multi-part series of posts, Sramana Mitra interviews Obopay founder and CEO Carol Realini about "bringing banking to the cell phone masses." Realini talks about her exposure to the use of cell phones in the Congo: "I walked into the prepaid cell phone store and it looked exactly like a bank. People were standing in line with their bags of money in queues."

Saying that they "forecast that transportation applications will be essential to the take-off of NFC services on mobile phones", Gemalto has announced that it has been selected by TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile), a telecom operator in Italy, to support the launch of an new NFC (Near Field Communication) program in Trento that enables transport applications embedded in the SIM cards to allow TIM customers to use their mobile phone as a convenient access and payment device for public transportation.   » Continue Reading

Peter Burrows writes for Business Week about Pelago, a mobile startup funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as part of its $100 million iFund intended to help finance innovative new iPhone-based applications and services. "There's going to be a "what's going on around me right now" button, says Kleiner Perkins partner Matt Murphy. "You're always one button away from that immediate context." Pelago calls it Whrrl.

APACS has confirmed that the infrastructure for the new Faster Payments Service is now live, with payments from midnight being processed through the new system. According to APACS, by 7 AM this morning 898 payments had been made with a value of £461,383.43.   » Continue Reading

Charlie LeDuff writes for The Detroit News about the Detroit branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and one of its missions: culling and destroying beat-up US currency and removing it from circulation. "A tally is kept of the destroyed money and an invoice is sent to the United States Treasury, which prints new notes to replace the old ones and return them to the Detroit location by armored car."

• Reuters: Senators want detailed [interchange] credit card fee info
• Scotiabank(R) and Berkeley Payment Solutions bring a unique new suite of prepaid Visa(x) cards to the Canadian marketplace
• PayPal Adds Delta Air Lines to List of Merchants
• Navy Federal Credit Union Opens Doors to Air Force and Army Personnel
• Dynamic Card Solutions Announces the Release of CardWizard(R) 4.0
• Business Owners Have “False Sense of Security” When It Comes to Data Breaches
• Retail Anywhere Integrates Its POS With Mercury Payment Systems
• New Aite Group Reports: Mistakes Banks Make When Serving Small Businesses, Segmenting Rewards Program Members
• Discover(R) Small Business Watch(SM): Small Business Economic Confidence Picks up as Cash Flow Issues Improve
• Postilion's Next Generation Voice Banking Solution Gains Increasing Customer Traction
• China Daily: China UnionPay offers more to help quake-hit regions
• The Hindu (India): The next big thing: Electronic payments through mobile
• Washington Times editorial: Conyers' wallets - by Eric Grover