Standard & Poor's has announced results of a new survey finding that "as the downturn in the economy deepens, U.S. credit card users are increasingly having a difficult time managing their personal debt." READ MORE »

Citi’s ThankYou Network has announced it has made arrangements with Citi Prepaid Services to introduce a new prepaid card rewards option for members of ThankYou Network. The prepaid cards – available in three denominations, $25, $50 and $100 – can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. READ MORE »

Mountain View, California-based Victrio has introduced "a new credit risk management solution that identifies fraudsters by their voice during credit card authorization phone calls. It works by comparing the callers’ voice against a database of known criminals. If there is a match, authorization can be denied before the damage is done. The company is targeting big-ticket online merchants as well as banks and other credit card issuers." READ MORE »

JP Morgan Chase has reported financial results for the third quarter. In its Card Services business segment, the bank reported a 63% decline in net income on a year over year basis as its provision for credit losses was up substantially. Charge volume on its cards was up 5% year over year but essentially flat versus the second quarter. Merchant processing dollar volume at Chase Paymentech was up 9% with transaction volume up 14%.

The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for September, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $375.5 billion, a decrease of 1.2 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month and 1.0 percent (±0.7%) below September 2007.

The three highest-priced markets in the U.S. for average overdraft (OD) service fees on consumer checking accounts are Miami, Washington D.C. and Denver, while Florida ranks as the highest-priced state for OD fees, and the South leads as the highest-priced region for consumer OD fees, according to a nationwide survey conducted by Moebs Services. READ MORE »

The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, has announced that it is sponsoring and participating in the Mobile Transactions Workshop at the Mobile Internet World Conference and Expo, October 22 at 2:30 PM, at the Boston, Massachusetts Convention & Exhibition Center. READ MORE »

• Meta Payment Systems(R) Joins PCI Security Standards Council as Newest Participating Organization
• Allegiance Warns Banks: Monitor Customer Engagement to Avoid Losing Depositors
• WAUSAU Financial Systems Certifies Epson Scanner for First Product in Its Remote Corporate Capture Suite
• ArsTechnica: Hands on: Mint.com vs. Quicken Online
• Chicago Tribune: Discover settles with card rivals
• Sacramento Bee: Retail gift card hijacker sentenced in federal court
• Montgomery General Hospital Expands Payments Fraud Detection Capabilities with Bottomline Solution
• PreCash Expands Its Cash Bill Payment Services With the Addition of Nearly 100 New Billers
• Network Security Blog: Why is your company storing credit card numbers?
• ITnewsAfrica.com: New cellphone payment system launched today