The Federal Reserve has published its latest G.19 Consumer Credit report for August 2008 showing that overall consumer credit decreased at an annual rate of 3-3/4 percent in August. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 3/4 percent and nonrevolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 5-1/2 percent.

Experian has announced the results of a study that analyzed delinquency trends across consumer risk segments to uncover the shifting patterns in consumer payment behavior and the geographies most affected. "The changing delinquency trends highlight the severe affect of the mortgage crisis on subprime consumers and its continuing permeation into the prime consumer segment. The study's findings suggest that the conventional wisdom -- consumers who hold a mortgage are less risky than those who don't -- may need to be rethought in light of the mortgage market turmoil." READ MORE

Libercard, ViVOtech and Inteligensa have announced they have "collaborated to develop the first Transit & Retail combination contactless payment implementation in Latin America. With the new technology, Brazilians in the city of Fortaleza use a single contactless payment card to ride local transit and make retail purchases. Libercard has enabled tens of thousands of transit riders with dual-purpose prepaid contactless cards to ride transit, pay for purchases and perform top-ups at several hundred retail stores in Fortaleza that use ViVOtech contactless payment devices implemented with Inteligensa integration expertise." READ MORE

Zuora has announced the release of Z-Payments, a complete payment solution built for subscription businesses that comes pre-integrated with the ability to accept PayPal payments. Z-Payments allows subscription-based businesses "to offer their customers flexible and secure online payment options, manage the complexities of collecting recurring subscription payments, and ultimately get paid faster." READ MORE

Over on the Digital Money Forum blog, Dave Birch writes about a student In London who spends a whole day using just his Barclays OnePulse card - and then comes home to find his wallet (with his cash) on the kitchen table. Some believe that, in a few years, he wouldn't even need his card - just his ever-present mobile phone!

INSIDE Contactless has announced that "samples of its first MicroPass contactless prelam for use in mobile handset stickers for secure payments are now available for card manufacturers. INSIDE’s new sticker technology combines the award-winning MicroPass 4003 contactless payment platform – designed from the ground up to support open loop contactless payment applications – with a tuned RF antenna in a compact, shielded prelam for payment sticker applications. The contactless sticker form-factor is rapidly gaining popularity as a way to turn mobile phones, company IDs or just about anything else into a convenient payment device." READ MORE

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