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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