Jane J. Kim reports for the Wall St. Journal about Charles Schwab's launch of the Schwab Bank Invest First Visa Signature credit card - 2% cash rebate on all purchases, with no spending limits. Cardholders must have a Schwab brokerage account which is where the rebates will be deposited monthly. More details here.

Glenbrook's Denver Payments Boot Camp kicked off this morning with Carol Coye Benson and Linda Elliott teaching this session. It will wrap up tomorrow afternoon.

Our next Payments Boot Camp is scheduled for January 20-21 in Santa Clara, California. You can get more information about our Boot Camp curriculum here - or enroll here. READ MORE »

Visa has announced signing a seven-year agreement to renew its partnership with Wisconsin-based Marshall & Ilsley Bank (M&I Bank), an affiliate of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation. M&I Bank’s relationship with Visa began in 1977. READ MORE »

Yesterday, we highlighted Chase Paymentech's Pulse Index results for Cyber Monday - with ecommerce purchase transactions up 14.5% but actual sales volume up less than half of one percent. If you do the math on Paymentech's numbers, the average purchase amount has declined from $58.81 to $51.62 from 2007 to 2008.

This morning, Nielsen and comScore have both issued press releases talking about the growth in traffic to ecommerce sites on Cyber Monday. Nielsen is measuring web traffic, not actual purchases. comScore, however, is reporting a 15% increase in ecommerce sales - in conflict with the Pulse index results which is based upon seeing actual purchase activity from a sample of ecommerce merchants.

Amazon.com has announced that its Amazon application for iPhone and iPod touch is now available on the Apple App Store. Amazon says its app "offers an easy way for users to search and browse for products offered by Amazon and thousands of retailers like Target and Macy’s, access Amazon’s popular shopping features such as Customer Reviews, and purchase using 1-Click Shopping and Amazon Prime." READ MORE »

Citi’s ThankYou Rewards Network has announced that it now allows its members to redeem ThankYou Points for products fulfilled through Amazon.com. According to Citi, "members can enjoy using their points to shop the millions of items Citi has made available to them from Amazon.com, the online retailer that features earth’s biggest selection." READ MORE »

MetraTech Corp., a charging, billing, settlement and customer care product provider, has announced that its MetraNet product has been deployed by Microsoft as the billing and partner settlement solution for Microsoft Online Services, Microsoft’s new cloud computing services. READ MORE »

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• iovation Partners with The 3rd Man to Stop Card-Not-Present Fraud
• More Online Retailers Help Customers Shop and Manage Finances by Offering eBillme
• Digital Money Forum podcast: Claire Maslen, O2 (re: London NFC trial)
• The PayPal Blog: Tips for Safe Online Shopping - Podcast
• MasterCard Easy Savings(TM) Program Continues to Expand With Even More New Merchant Partners
• PULSE: Debit Cards Can Help Consumers Manage Spending During Holidays
• Forrester Research: 2008 US Bank Public Web Site Rankings by Brad Strothkamp
• Official Obopay blog: Obopay Interview at Banktastic
• Bank Technology News: A Very Tenacious Idea: Online PIN Debit
• UK: Dialogue launches Payforit Single Click
• Sydney Morning Herald: Get in the loop (Open Loop Prepaid Cards in Australia)
• Zappos.com Offers PayPal for Online Purchases
• TrialPay Reaches 15 Million Users and 7,500 Merchants
• SmartMoney.com: 7 Things to Know About Buying Gift Cards