In an article titled "New Limits Imposed on Credit Card Companies", Nancy Trejos and Binyamin Appelbaum write for the Washington Post about new rules expected on Thursday from the Federal Reserve, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration with respect to credit card issuer practices.

In a Netbanker post titled "Open Letter to SEC: Leave Peer-to-Peer Lending Alone", Jim Bruene writes an open letter to SEC Chairman Chris Cox about his disappointment with the way the SEC has dealt with US peer-to-peer lending companies while not paying enough attention to major issues such as the Madoff affair (see today's New York Times story "S.E.C. Says It Missed Signals on Madoff Fraud Case").

Bruene writes: "Your agency came to the surprising conclusion that loans made between individuals in a regulated peer-to-peer market, are securities and needed SEC oversight. ... Had these companies been left alone, journalists would be writing stories about how P2P companies were stepping into the lending void left by the turmoil in the banking sector."

Jim's bottom line: "Leave the P2P lenders alone; their open approach is an order of magnitude better than the broken regulatory model employed on Wall St."

According to Lightspeed Research, "card issuers have sharpened their focus on moving accounts to variable-rate pricing, increasing variable-rate margins, while pulling back on credit card rewards earn rates." READ MORE »

LifeLock has announced that it has entered into "an agreement that will leverage TransUnion's secure, automated processes to expedite and enhance the delivery of identity theft services that LifeLock currently provides to its members." READ MORE »

In the UK, APACS has created an online, interactive map to demonstrate the varied payment attitudes, preferences and behaviours that can be seen in the different regions of the UK. READ MORE »

ClairMail has announced the latest release of its ClairMail mobile banking system that includes a mobile web solution optimized for the Apple iPhone. The iPhone solution includes the mobile banking and payments functionality found in ClairMail's traditional mobile web offering -- account management, fund transfers, bill payments, ATM/branch locators and more -- presented on the iPhone's rich user interface. READ MORE »

• CreditCards.com: Prepaid cards glitter in gloomy economy
• Sino Payments to Provide Card Processing for Asia's Largest Retailers
• Online Banking Report Publishes “Growing Deposits in the Digital Age: Seventeen Smart Strategies for Gathering Core Deposits While Building Your Brand"
• Bits Blog - NYTimes.com: Send Money Through Twitter With Twitpay
• eBay Selling Service Launched by Payday Loan Provider Approved Cash Advance
• NEXXO Financial Launches Extended Self-Serve Money Transfer Service in the Southwest
• New Barlow Research Report: Mobile Banking: a Viable Channel for Businesses
• Shift4 Releases Payment Data Security Strategy Podcast to Simplify PCI
• San Francisco Chronicle: Not so fast with that credit-card industry bailout
• BancTec to Provide Remittance Processing Services for Discover Financial Services
• AuctionBytes: ComScore Says Ecommerce Conversion Rates Are Down