In an article titled "Is This The Beginning of the End of Free Checking?", Kelly Evans looks at Probity Financial Services - who offers checking accounts that aren’t free. Probity thinks its monthly charges are an attractive alternative to most banks’ standard practices with respect to overdraft fees, etc.

In an article titled "Cutting Off Mom & Pop Credit", Andrew Martin writes for the New York Times about how a "crackdown on credit limits by card companies is squeezing the nation’s 27 million small businesses, exacerbating the problems brought on by a stagnant economy."

See this earlier post about the drastic action that Advanta had to take against its small business borrowers.

In an article titled "Reg Plan Could Force GE, Retailers to Divest Banks" in today's American Banker, Maria Aspan writes that the Obama administration proposals for financial industry regulatory reform could result in certain kinds of special purpose banks, such as retailer-owned credit card banks, being eliminated.

As part of her reporting this story, Aspan spoke to a number of industry participants who "stressed that it remained early to understand the proposed reforms' full implications. But they agreed that, if the proposals are enacted as written, the days when retailers could issue their own credit cards would end — forcing the few remaining players to sell or close down their lending arms."

Norway's central bank, Norges Bank, used Twitter yesterday to communicate its latest interest rate decision. "We believe we are the first in the world to use Twitter this way," Norges Bank spokeswoman Siv Meisingseth told Reuters. Follow Norges Bank on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/norgesbank

Discover Financial Services has reported results for its second quarter ending May 31, 2009. According to Discover, US sales volume decreased 4% versus the second quarter of 2008, reflecting lower gas prices and a general decline in consumer spending. Managed loans ended the quarter at $51 billion, essentially unchanged from the prior quarter and up 7% from the prior year. The managed net charge-off rate increased to 7.79% for the second quarter of 2009, up 131 basis points and 280 basis points from the prior quarter and the prior year, respectively. The managed net charge-off rate for the third quarter of 2009 is expected to be between 8.5% and 9%.

“While the rise in unemployment continued to have a significant impact on our financial results, I am pleased with our strong relative performance in both credit management and sales volumes,” said David Nelms, chairman and chief executive officer of Discover Financial Services. “We continue to focus on reducing expenses and maintaining a strong capital position as we manage through these challenging times.”

BusinessWeek's Douglas MacMillan writes about meeting with PayPal president Scott Thompson recently where he dispelled rumors that PayPal might follow its sister business unit Skype and be spun out of eBay. Thompson noted that the acquisition last fall of Bill Me Later was easier to accomplish with the strength of eBay's balance sheet.

In an article titled "Banks Brace for Fight Over an Agency Meant to Bolster Consumer Protection", Andrew Martin and Louise Story write for the New York Times about concern among bankers about the Obama administration's regulatory changes that were proposed yesterday. The authors write: "Banks “are really dumbfounded by the scope of this agency,” Edward L. Yingling, the president of the American Bankers Association, said."

• NYTimes.com: Cutting Off Mom and Pop Credit
• Brazil's Visanet Set For World's Biggest IPO So Far In 2009
• Credit cards that make you money
• StorefrontBacktalk: Will Mobile Payment Morph Into A Less Cumbersome Form Factor?
• AllTrust Networks Granted Electronic Depositing Patent