Visa has announced a reorganization of the company's executive management team's responsibilities "to heighten organizational effectiveness and increase the pace of Visa's global alignment."

As part of the changes, John C. (Hans) Morris will step down as President - although he will remain with the company in a transition role through year-end. "Hans played an important role as we created Visa Inc., executed the IPO and transitioned Visa to a high performing public company," said Joseph W. (Joe) Saunders, Chairman and CEO of Visa. "We've benefitted from his energy, insight and counsel."

Visa's global sales, client service, marketing, product development and innovation functions will be consolidated, effective immediately, under John M. Partridge, Chief Operating Officer. READ MORE »

Figures published by The UK Cards Association show that donations to charitable organisations on plastic cards reached £1.19 billion in 2008 – up from £1.01 billion in 2007 – an increase of 18%. In terms of the number of donations made on plastic cards there was an overall increase of 13% from 2007 to 2008. Donations on debit cards increased by 16% (up from 13 million in 2007 to 15.1 million last year) while credit card transactions rose 9% (9.6 million in 2007 to 10.5 million last year). READ MORE »

In an article titled "Put It on MasterCard", Bill Alpert writes for Barron's about MasterCard's prospects - comparing it to Visa and writing that "a swelling chorus on Wall Street says MasterCard is underrated and may be the better play in an economic recovery."

Alpert notes that MasterCard isn't participating in the growth of debit cards to the extent that Visa has - but says it is emphasizing innovation to try to gain share in debit.

He concludes by noting that pending litigation about interchange fees could, depending upon how court decisions play out, affect both companies - and noting that Visa has set aside some funds to cover any potential liability from the litigation while MasterCard hasn't.

MasterCard has announced that The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, will begin accepting MasterCard PayPass cards at its 1,974 retail locations across the United States. "With MasterCard PayPass, The Home Depot customers can enjoy faster transactions and greater payment convenience by simply tapping their MasterCard PayPass cards or devices on a PayPass reader at checkout to complete their purchases." READ MORE »

DIscover reports that "economic confidence among small business owners rose for the second consecutive month, although concerns about being able to pay their bills jumped significantly in July as measured by the latest Discover Small Business Watch. The index rose to 82.1, up from 80.9 in June."

But the details of the report indicate small business owners are "cranky" about a number of issues! For example, "Cash flow concerns in July hit the highest level in the Watch’s three-year existence. More than half of small business owners, 53 percent, say that in the past 90 days they have encountered temporary cash flow issues that caused them to hold off on paying some bills, up from 42 percent in June."

They also strongly oppose proposals making healthcare for employees mandatory and more disapprove than approve of Obama's handling of the US economy. READ MORE »

US Airways, Barclaycard and MasterCard have announced a new suite of Dividend Miles Select benefits for US Airways Premier World MasterCard that enable award travel with fewer miles.

The results of a recent survey by MasterCard "demonstrated the heightened importance of travel rewards value in the current economy. More than half of surveyed Americans (51 percent) agree that the current economy has made them more conscious of the value and benefits of rewards credit cards, such as an airline co-brand card. Visiting family and friends is also now the most appealing vacation for the majority of travelers (54 percent) - particularly for college graduates, parents and married adults." READ MORE »

• Financial Times: PayPal plots offline expansion
• DealBook Blog - NYTimes.com: Another View: A Golden Age for Venture Capital - Profile of Azure Capital Partners, investor in Bill Me Later
• SiliconIndia: PayPal set to become global payment platform
• Credit Union Times: CUs Largely Sitting Out Most Recent Card Flap
• Santa Monica Daily Press: Credit card fees wallop merchants
• Oprah.com: Suze Orman Says Forget Your Credit Score - Save Money Now
• NY Daily News: Worst strategy to tackle debt: Taking no action at all
• Economix Blog - NYTimes.com: Are Credit Unions Superheroes?
• CreditCards.com: Considering bankruptcy? Use the 'divide by 60' test to see if you should
• AuctionBytes: PayPal Publishes Policy Updates
• Intelligent Enterprise: Chockstone's Loyalty Card Marketing Meets Location Intelligence
• Digital Money Forum: Hubs and spokes - Dave Birtch takes a look at inter-operator roaming re: mobile payments and remittances
• Chicago Sun-Times: Stiff bank fees may be driving more to switch
• FICO: Court Order Clears Way for Consumer Credit Scoring Trial
• Visa Inc. Declares Dividend and Announces Record Date for 2010 Annual Meeting Date
• Zoompass Blog (Canada): Where to Use Your Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard
• NYTimes.com: Inside Europe - Don't Expect Big Banks to Stay at Home
• Finextra: Police foil London ATM hijackers