The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) has announced that it has launched a quality assurance program for Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) and Approved Scanning Vendors (ASVs). According to the PCI SSC, "the new program was designed to provide QSAs and ASVs with a set of requirements that helps ensure they provide consistent, quality validation and assessment services to merchants and service providers." READ MORE »

Chase Paymentech has launched its 2008 Cyber Holiday Pulse Index, an annual measurement of online shopping activity during the holiday season that tracks e-commerce spending activity across a sample of leading e-retailers. The measurement reflects the number of transactions and dollar value handled by Chase Paymentech’s global processing platforms. READ MORE »

NACHA has announced that Heidi Miller, CEO of J.P. Morgan’s Treasury & Securities Services, will keynote and open its PAYMENTS ‘09 conference being held April 5 - 9 at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Fla. Steve Case, chairman and CEO of Revolution LLC, will headline the Industry Agenda General Session. READ MORE »

Monitise Americas has announced that 23 additional financial institutions have signed agreements with Metavante to provide mobile services to their customers and members. READ MORE »

Citigroup held a Town Hall meeting with employees this morning - the presentation slides are available from the Investor Relations section of the Citigroup web site. Slide 15 shows Citi's planning to reduce headcount from 352,000 to 300,000 in the near-term. This reduction is in addition to about 23,000 layoffs already this year. More coverage: Reuters, Wall St. Journal, NY Times.

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