eCommLink, a value-added prepaid processor, has announced that its investors, led by Syntek Capital, have provided $10 million in additional funding to support eCommLink’s domestic and international growth plans. READ MORE

Over on PaymentsViews.com, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson takes a look at mFoundry with her interview of CEO Drew Sievers.

Carol writes:

In the short-term, the killer app for mFoundry will be frequent-use, closed-loop stored value cards – delivered not by NFC but by the use of 2D bar codes. The Starbucks test announced last week is the first of what Sievers claims will be multiple announcements coming from mFoundry in the near future. 

Lloyd Constantine's new book "Priceless: The Case that Brought Down the Visa/MasterCard Bank Cartel" will be in stock and shipping from Amazon.com later this week. The book is quite a read - hard to put down - and highly recommended for payments professionals. See Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson's comments on the book.

INTERAC, Canada’s national debit network, and China Unionpay, China’s national bank card payment network, have announced the launch of a new service that will give China Unionpay cardholders traveling in Canada the ability to withdraw cash from ATMs of participating acquirers in Canada. READ MORE

Visa has released its annual global Commercial Consumption Expenditure (CCE) index estimating that global commercial spending grew to $90.2 trillion in 2008. The annual Visa CCE report provides standardized tracking of business and government spending globally and is recognized as an industry benchmark for measuring commercial spending. READ MORE

Diners Club International Ltd., a business unit of Discover, and Elavon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, have announced the signing of a merchant acquiring agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Elavon will add Diners Club card acceptance to its portfolio of payment processing services. This relationship will create more acceptance opportunities for Diners Club and Discover cardmembers, who eventually will be able to use their cards at Elavon merchants in the U.K. and western Europe. READ MORE

• Rutter's Launches Rutter's Rewards Card Powered by FuelLinks®
• Portals and Rails (FRB Atlanta): Coordinating roles in mobile paymentswho will we trust?
• The Moscow News: New payment system to rival MasterCard
• USATODAY.com: Britain plans to outlaw annual bonuses for bankers
• Shell $aver Card(SM) Promotion Helps College Students Budget, Offers Discount
• Bank of England: Oversight Of Payment Systems, 28 September 2009
• Elavon buys Diners Club portfolio from Citibank
• Consumers Reap Rewards of Fuel Discounts and Data Security With Shell $aver Card
• Accertify Signs Deal with Square Enix, Inc.
• Discover® Small Business Watch: Small Business Economic Confidence Slips; More Than Two-Thirds of Small Business Owners Still Feeling the Recession
• Engaging Gen Y: Cultivating a New Generation of Banking Customers
• Paymate Announces New CEO, Opens New Global Headquarters in Silicon Valley
• WSJ.com: Visa, MasterCard Targeted After Congressmen's Moves
• New Haven Register: Getting carded: Debit purchases may come with fees