Payments News: November 20, 2008

MasterCard Survey: 'Tis the Season of the Smart Shopper

MasterCard has released a new survey finding that nearly one third of Americans (29%) plan to seek out bargains more this year than they did last year when shopping for the holidays. "Findings show that Americans will shop smarter this year by using a variety of cost-saving strategies and shifting spend towards practical gifts, such as gift certificates or gift cards." READ MORE

New Mercator Advisory Group Report: Prepaid Market Forecasts to 2011
Digital Transactions: PayPal’s Chief Proposes Direct Links Between Banks And PayPal
U.S. Consumers Planning Dramatic Shifts in Personal Spending, According to L.E.K. Consulting Study
PayPartners to Provide Its Pay Card Services to Mobile FarmWare LLC
Former Banker Makes Millions Inventing Baby Dolls
Bill Me Later Fast Tracks Holiday Shopping with Cool Gifts and Hot Deals
NYTimes.com: Online Sites Are Waging Preholiday Price Wars
InformationWeek: Cell Phones As Wallets One Step Closer
The Boston Globe: Gift cards seen as no holiday bargain in tough times
Vesdia: Reward Card Incentives Expected to Drive Holiday Sales
Consumer Reports Poll: More Consumers to Hit Stores This Year Despite Economy
Capital One Launches Back to Business Payroll – an Enhanced Online Payroll Product for Small Business Owners
The Bankwatch: Text Mint.com to retrieve account balances

Note: Throughout the day, as Payments News happens, this post is updated. For job opportunities available for payments professionals, visit PaymentsJobs.com. Employers looking to hire payments professionals can post their job openings there as well.

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