In an article titled "Retailers Prepare to Fight Credit Card Fees" in Thursday's New York Times, Andrew Martin writes about how merchants in the US are mounting a "fresh offensive" against payment card interchange fees.

Martin reports that the retailers sense that the momentum has shifted in their favor - while the banks and payment card networks are gearing for a "furious battle on Capitol Hill."

Every once in a while we come across a new book that we think will be of interest to the payments professionals among our readership. (Note: you can find a selection of all of our prior book recommendations in our PaymentsNews Bookstore on Amazon.com).

The book "details how Williams painstakingly defeated the anti-forging features of the New Note, how Williams and his partner-in-crime wife converted fake bills into legitimate tender at shopping malls all over America, and how they stayed one step ahead of the Secret Service until trusting the wrong person brought them all down. A compulsively readable story of how having it all is never enough, The Art of Making Money is a stirring portrait of the rise and inevitable fall of a modern-day criminal mastermind."

It's a great read! Also available in a Kindle edition from Amazon.com. If you're interested in learning more about the book, you should listen to this excellent interview of the author by KQED's MIchael Kransny last week and this article on Time.com.

It's been a busy day today on Glenbrook's PaymentsViews.com where the following new articles have just been posted:

• Broken Windows and Card Payments Fraud - by Scott Loftesness
• The End of Cards as We Knew Them? - by Jacqueline Chilton
• Mobile Payment Gateway? – a Look at Billing Revolution - by Carol Coye Benson
• Digital Content & Mobile Phones – a Look at Zong - by Carol Coye Benson
• Wallets and Stickers and Phones, Oh My! – a Look at Blaze Mobile - by Carol Coye Benson
• Carriers United – a Look at Canada's Zoompass - by Carol Coye Benson

The Federal Reserve Board has approved an interim final rule amending Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) to require creditors to increase the amount of notice consumers receive before the rate on a credit card account is increased or a significant change is made to the account's terms. The amendments also allow consumers to reject such increases and changes by informing the creditor before the increase or change goes into effect. READ MORE »

Vindicia has announced raising $7.5 million in series D financing - bringing the total amount raised to over $21 million. ONSET Ventures led the financing in partnership with existing investors Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, DCM and Leader Ventures. The company also announced that ONSET Ventures General Partner David Lane and BDMI Principal Keith Titan have joined its board of directors. According to the company, "Titan offers deep expertise in digital media, while Lane brings to the board a track record for success in developing emerging IT infrastructure companies." READ MORE »

The US House Committee on Financial Services is holding a hearing in Washington today on the Obama administration's financial regulatory reform proposals. A number of speakers from the banking industry are testifying at the hearing.

Canada's Interac Association has announced a partnership with INSIDE Contactless, the world leader in open-standard contactless chip technologies to develop chips containing the specifications for INTERAC’s contactless payment service. According to the companies, this partnership will enable Interac Association and its members to offer their debit card users a “next generation” retail payments solution. READ MORE »

O2 has announced it has partnered with NatWest to launch of O2 Money, a new business within O2 that the company says 'will seek to advance the increasing synergies between mobile and money. The first products from O2 Money, supported by NatWest, are two cash cards, designed to give people greater control of their money." READ MORE »

According to research conducted by Moebs Services as part of its 22nd annual survey, "the national median for overdraft (OD) fees on consumer checking accounts, debit cards and ATMs increased to $26 per incident in 2009 from $25 per incident in 2008, a 4 percent increase, led primarily by Wall Street Banks – those with assets of more than $50 billion. These findings are the result of a just-completed nationwide survey of more than 2,000 commercial banks, savings institutions and credit unions." READ MORE »

In an article titled "Will that be cash, check or cell phone?" and subtitled "Mobile payments are the next frontier, but Americans are slow to adopt", Vanessa Richardson writes for CreditCards.com about the status of mobile payments in the US market - particularly for local, NFC-based payments using mobile phones at the point of sale.

Ingenico has announced a three-year partnership with Ryanair to develop the world’s first self-service passenger kiosks with chip and pin technology to allow passengers to purchase optional services such as priority boarding when they arrive at the airport. READ MORE »

• First Data: Merchant Solutions Signs Acquiring Agreement with JCB International
• Euronet Worldwide Launches New Name and Brand Identity for Prepaid Division
• Card Issuers Rise On Better-Than-Expected June Data
• Barrons: Stocks To Watch Today : Market Sees Evidence Of Consumer Turn In Credit Card Debt
• CNN.com: Glitch hits Visa users with more than $23 quadrillion charge
• WSJ.com: US Rep Frank: Credit Card Industry Moves Boost Case For New Agency
• New Aite Group Report: Mapping Opportunities in Merchant Acquiring
• Reuters: Capital One US credit card defaults rise in June