The Migration and Remittances Team at the World Bank has published a paper titled "Outlook for Remittance Flows 2008‐2010" . From the abstract: "After several years of strong growth, remittance flows to developing countries began to slow down in the third quarter of 2008. This slowdown is expected to deepen further in 2009 in response to the global financial crisis, although the exact magnitude of the growth moderation (or outright decline in some cases) is hard to predict given the uncertainties about global growth, commodity prices, and exchange rates."

Robin Arnfield, a Canadian banking industry reporter, has forwarded us a link to a recent article Robin wrote for ElectronicPaymentsInternational.com titled "Canada edges towards m-payments".

Shell Oil Products US has announced that it will be "the first major gasoline retailer to nationally launch an electronic check payment method when the Shell $aver Card becomes available to consumers on January 5, 2009. The Shell $aver Card will provide a convenient, new way to pay for purchases through a direct link to a consumer’s checking account, and offer a savings on each gallon of fuel pumped at participating Shell-branded stations. Shell wholesalers and retailers will benefit from the Shell $aver Card’s flat, per-transaction merchant service fee that is lower than third-party debit and credit cards."

Also, according to Shell, First Data will be handling the $aver Card transactions including using FDC's TeleCheck check verification services. READ MORE

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and MasterCard Canada have announced a new model credit card application form designed to help Canadian consumers better understand what they are applying for and the terminology used in the form. READ MORE

Yesterday, Discover Financial Services CEO David Nelms spoke at the Merrill Lynch Banking and Financial Services Conference. A webcast archive and a copy of his presentation slides are available online.

In a statement earlier today, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that new efforts are going to be made to address the currently difficult funding issues facing the non-bank consumer finance sector (defined as car loans, student loans, and credit cards primarily).

According to Paulson, "the illiquidity in this sector is raising the cost and reducing the availability of car loans, student loans and credit cards. This is creating a heavy burden on the American people and reducing the number of jobs in our economy. With the Federal Reserve we are exploring the development of a potential liquidity facility for highly-rated AAA asset-backed securities. We are looking at ways to possibly use the TARP to encourage private investors to come back to this troubled market, by providing them access to federal financing while protecting the taxpayers' investment."

We've just started a new group on LinkedIn for payments professionals involved in the merchant acquiring business. You can find the group home page here - just click on Join Group if you qualify and want to join. The first discussion topic is: "Hidden Fees in Merchant Statements?" [Update 4 PM PST: LinkedIn seems to be running behind in adding new members to the group - please be patient!]

In late September, RBC Royal Bank in Canada announced the launch of a trial of a text message-based mobile payment service called RBC Mobex. We recently heard from a colleague in Canada who's delighted with the service. READ MORE

BankServ has announced that its DepositNow remote deposit service has added the capability for small businesses to be paid directly from emailed invoices. READ MORE

In a press release this morning, Best Buy said that "falling consumer spending, driven by the recent turmoil in the financial markets and other macro economic factors, has resulted in lower-than-expected revenue for the consumer electronics retailer. The uncertainty regarding future consumer spending has limited the company’s ability to project revenue for the critical holiday shopping season and the balance of the fiscal year."

“Since mid-September, rapid, seismic changes in consumer behavior have created the most difficult climate we’ve ever seen. Best Buy simply can’t adjust fast enough to maintain our earnings momentum for this year,” said Brad Anderson, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Best Buy.

The PCI Security Standards Council, the standards body providing management of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), PIN Entry Device (PED) Security Requirements and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS), has announced it will be offering a complimentary webinar, "Understanding PCI DSS Version 1.2,” to be held on Tuesday Nov. 25, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. EST and at 7:30 p.m. EST. The session will be repeated on Wednesday Dec. 17, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. EST and 8:30 p.m. EST. READ MORE

• KSBY 6 Action News: Bankrupt retailers have some shoppers staying away from gift cards this holiday season
• Catalyst Code blog: How contactless payment cards keep payment leaders sticky, and not consumers
• Bankrate.com: Credit crunch may squeeze card users
• Zawya (Dubai): Firms set to adopt mobile money transfers
• Canada: RBC system lets users text money by cellphone
• Cellit Announces Mobile Coupon Redemption Solution at In-Store Marketing Expo
• Growing Financial Crime Threats: New Payment Methods, Identity Theft, and Eastern Europe
• IBC Bank Launches iPhone Mobile Banking Application from mFoundry on Apple App Store
• Seattle Tech Report: In tough times, retailers are offering bargains to Internet shoppers
• Juniper Research: Promotional Coupons sent via Mobile Phones to Exceed 200m Users by 2013
• Fitch: U.S. card losses could hit new highs in 2009
• BusinessWeek: American Express Banks on Federal Help
• San Francisco Business Times: BofA’s Barbara Desoer lands high on ‘Women to Watch’ list
• WSJ.com: AmEx Said to Request $3.5 Billion in U.S. Aid
• WSJ.com Heard on the Street: Risky Business for AmEx Holders