The Federal Reserve's latest G.19 Consumer Credit report is now available showing that revolving consumer credit outstanding grew at a 6.8 percent annualized rate in June to a total of $968.4 billion.

Viewpointe and PaymentsNation have jointly announced that "Viewpointe has agreed to purchase the assets of PaymentsNation. The announcement follows the successful vote by the overwhelming majority of PaymentsNations’ members to approve the transaction. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both organizations are working diligently to complete the conditions of closing in the near future. When closing conditions are met and the deal is completed, the company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Viewpointe, LLC." READ MORE »

Jo Best writes for Silicon.com about Barclays efforts in contactless cards in the UK - quoting the head of contactless card development as saying they'll have over a million contactless cards in the market soon. Over 5 million contactless cards in total are expected to have been issued in the UK by the end of this year. Contactless POS rollouts are continuing - moving beyond just the London area.

NACHA has announced that its PAYMENTS 2009 annual conference will be held April 5 - 9, 2009, at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Fla.

A new webinar series produced in partnership by the Smart Card Alliance and the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) will hold its first webinar on the topic of "Smart Cards in Mobile Payment/Near Field Communications (NFC)" on September 25th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET. Registration is available for the event at http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/activities-events-web-seminars. READ MORE »

In an article titled "Interac seeks shift to for-profit status", Tara Perkins reports for the Globe and Mail that the company is in discussions "with the Competition Bureau about a restructuring that would likely allow it to make a profit." Interac, under a 1996 agreement with the Competition Bureau, is currently run as a not-for-profit company.

Metavante has announced that Corporate Network eCom, LLC (eCom) has selected Metavante as its provider of mobile banking and payments solutions and will resell Metavante Mobile Financial Services, powered by Monitise Americas. eCom provides electronic financial services to the Corporate Credit Union Network, which in turn serves the nation’s nearly 8,400 consumer credit unions. READ MORE »

Billeo has announced the debut of Splendid Search - a new feature that "allows consumers, for the first time, to store, track and search receipts and records of their online transactions." READ MORE »

In an article titled "Retailers, Banks Battle over Credit-Card Fees", Sarah More McCann writes for the Christian Science Monitor about interchange fees. McCann notes proposals by Adam Levitin, associate professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center, who suggests that either rewards programs should be banned altogether or that merchants should be allowed to charge consumers a fee for the use of credit cards.

• Mail Online: Barclaycard unveils plans for paying using your mobile phone, key fob or fingerprints
• TechCrunch: Zong Lets You Bill Web Apps To Your Phone
• MarketWatch: With Consumer Debt at an All-Time High, Organizations Are Taking the Issue to the Road
• 41st Parameter Leading Airlines Battle on Card Not Present Fraud
• Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Joins Forces With Safe Banking Systems to Enhance Identity Verification Solution
• Australian IT: RBA to review PayPal, eBay link
• Fair Isaac Partners With Innovative Receivables Management Firm
• New Experian Research Highlights the Effects of the Mortgage Meltdown on Small Businesses
• Alan H. Fishman Joins Washington Mutual as Chief Executive Officer