Zuora has announced Z-Commerce for Facebook - calling it "the missing link to making the Facebook Economy a reality. Until today, the vast majority of Facebook applications were limited to an advertising-based revenue model. Now, Zuora’s vision of the Business Cloud – the commerce engine for cloud-based services – is available to all Facebook developers who want to charge for their applications using recurring pricing, usage-based fees, one-time charges, or the subscription pricing model that best fits their service."

[Editor's note: For a perspective on this space from Glenbrook's Russ Jones, see A Subscription-based App Store? on PaymentsViews.com.] READ MORE »

CashStar, a new interactive gift card and incentives company, has announced the launch of a e-gifting, marketing and promotions platform that enables businesses and consumers to securely e-mail monetary value such as Interactive Gift Cards, rewards, incentives and rebates. The company says that "several companies, including Uno Chicago Grill, Travelocity Incentives and Gorham Bike & Ski, are already offering Interactive Gift Cards via the CashStar platform. In addition, the company disclosed that is has secured more than $4 million in funding." READ MORE »

In its annual earnings release today, HSBC announced that it was going to shut down its US HSBC Finance business:

It is now clear that models of direct personal lending that depend on wholesale markets for funding are no longer viable. In light of this, we have taken the difficult decision that, with the exception of credit cards, we will write no further consumer finance business through the HFC and Beneficial brands in the US and close the majority of the network. Thus, in terms of new business, we are drawing a line and we will run off our existing business, providing all necessary support to HSBC Finance to enable it to do so in a measured way and meet all its commitments. ... With the benefit of hindsight, this is an acquisition we wish we had not undertaken."

In an article titled "Visa Seeks to Usurp Cash as King", Suzanne Vranica writes for the Wall St. Journal about a new $140 million ad campaign that Visa will be starting later this week. She says that Visa is "dumping its three-year-old "Life Takes Visa" slogan in favor of "More People Go with Visa" - and that the campaign will focus largely on Visa's debit card products.

For more information, here's Visa's introduction to the new campaign along with it's press release, and some examples of the new ads.

In a story titled "Bruised AmEx Returns to Roots", Robin Sidel writes for the Wall St. Journal that "AmEx is reeling from late payments and defaults by customers it aggressively wooed before the U.S. economy tumbled into recession."

• Visa Inc. Files Schedule 14A Definitive Proxy Statement with the SEC
• NetBanker: Citibank Launches Dedicated iPhone Application
• CreditCards.com: Credit card charge-offs hit record high in January
• The Dallas Morning News: New CEO at Dallas-based Alliance Data Systems says the financial industry has stepped back from the brink
• SmartMoney.com: Card Issuers: Our Rewards Cards Aren't So Rewarding
• Financial Crisis News Center: Legal Analysis of TARP Investments Released
• Home-Account.com Unveils Consumer Service, Demystifies the Mortgage Process
• Shoebuy and Moneta Offer Online Shoppers Secure, Convenient, Responsible Payments
• The Associated Press: Survey: Credit card holders inattentive to changes
• PayRover Launches Disruptive Raw Cost Credit Card Processing Platform To Expose And Eliminate Hidden Fees In Tough Times
• ComputerWeekly.com (UK): Online card readers will become fraud target
• New York Times Editorial: Stress-Testing the Banks
• BBC News: Security review after bank raid