First Data and InComm have announced that "they have mutually agreed to terminate the planned acquisition of InComm. Instead, First Data and InComm have signed a distribution agreement and will continue to support their joint customers with prepaid card processing, program management and a distribution network that allows First Data and its merchants to sell prepaid products in InComm prepaid card malls." READ MORE »

Vesdia has announced the addition of several new brands to its portfolio, including: Claim Jumper Restaurants, Dale and Thomas Popcorn, Gaiam, Mori Luggage & Gifts, Puritan's Pride Vitamins, and The North Face. These merchant brands are working with Vesdia to participate in partnership marketing programs with Citibank, Citizens Bank, Hawaiian Airlines, SunTrust Banks, Inc and others. Vesdia says its "partnership marketing programs drive direct results for each merchant partner, including a positive return on investment, increased brand exposure and incremental sales." READ MORE »

MasterCard and RATP have announced that "they are cooperating at developing the functional and technical requirements and feasibility of using MasterCard PayPass contactless payment cards to access public transport services." According to MasterCard, "the goal is to help French and foreign travellers gain faster access to public transportation by simply taping their MasterCard PayPass bank card in front of a validator. In association with la Banque Postale, lab and field tests could also be conducted in the course of 2009."

[Editor's note: Today seems to be the day for contactless transit payments - apparently the new "killer app" for contactless. Earlier, Visa also announced trials of its PayWave contactless payments as part of a strategy focusing on transit payments. Since widespread deployment contactless acceptance is a precursor to supporting local mobile payments, transit payments may be emerging as an ideal, high-frequency acceptance environment for mobile payments - as it has been in Japan for several years.] READ MORE »

Gemalto has announced that it has equipped over 300 shopping malls worldwide with its Dexxis Instant Issuance solution, "enabling on-the-spot delivery of one million credit cards per year in total." READ MORE »

Privier , a charlotte, NC-based company, has announced ATMSend, calling it "the world's 1st 'no-card', 'no-bank account', cash-to-cash ATM remittance service ... aimed at targeting the U.S 106 million unbanked users." READ MORE »

Visa and U.S. Bancorp have announced a pilot program designed to test consumer preferences for an alternative electronic payment device, the Visa Micro Tag, the smallest Visa payWave-enabled device currently available. The U.S. Bank Visa Micro Tag easily attaches to a key ring and allows Micro Tag holders to simply wave and pay. READ MORE »

As part of a strategy focused on enabling Visa card usage for transit payments, Visa has announced that it is working with the Los Angeles transit authority to allow train, subway and bus riders to speed through turnstiles and past fare boxes with a simple wave of their Visa payWave-enabled contactless card. In parallel, Visa Europe has announced it is collaborating with the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP), the major transit operator responsible for public transportation in Paris and its surroundings, to demonstrate that Visa payWave acceptance at a Paris metro fare gate is technically feasible. READ MORE »

mChek has announced it has been certified as compliant with the latest Payment Card Industry, Data Security Standard 1.2. mChek believes it is "one of the first payment products globally to be certified as PCI DSS 1.2 compliant." READ MORE »

• Baltimore Business Journal: EBay warns investors of Bill Me Later’s credit risk
• INSIDE Contactless Surpasses 100-Million MicroPass Unit Milestone
• Gemalto Unveils World's First Optical Reader for Online Banking that Fits in a Wallet
• The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW): First Look: Mobile Banking on AT&T
• Mobile Handset DesignLine: Under the Hood: Android dreams, GooglePhone delivers
• VeriFone Announces Contactless Version of Best-Selling PINPad 1000SE
• ViVOtech Launches ViVOpay Kiosk II for Rapid Integration of Contactless & NFC Technology with Customer-Facing Self-Service Payment Systems
• ViVOtech Enables the First Latin American NFC Mobile Phone Payment Pilot in Guatemala
• AP: MasterCard gets DOJ inquiry
• American Banker: Slow Growth Pays Dividend for Discover (Glenbrook's Bryan Derman quoted)
• PCI Blog - Compliance Demystified: Cloud computing security and PCI
• The Bankwatch: ShoreBank blog – excellent example of a bank blog
• The FinanSer: Wells Fargo: a lesson in Web 2.0