The Microsoft “Millennials in Financial Services” survey, conducted by KRC Research of Washington, D.C., found that millennials born between 1981 and 2000 have less trust in banking and investment firms since the bailouts of AIG and global banks a year ago.

Millennials surveyed also believe that the U.S. financial industry is out of touch with the way they would like to communicate with their financial institutions. Based on the findings, millennials would prefer to communicate with their financial institutions through new channels including live online chats with banking representatives, personalized Web portals and financial applications for smartphones. READ MORE »

VeriFone Holdings has announced that it has signed an agreement to become the lead investor in a Series B financing of Semtek Corporation - saying it "has doubled its investment in the security technology developer and acquired an option at a future date to purchase the remaining shares in Semtek." READ MORE »

In an article titled "Chase Cards Today: No Wamu DNA", Maria Aspan writes for the American Banker in Thursday's edition about how Chase Card Services has been handling the Washington Mutual credit card portfolio it acquired when Chase took over WaMu earlier this year. Bottom line: Chase is much more risk averse and decided to exit much of WaMu's higher risk cardholders.

Aspan notes: "If there is one issuer from which JPMorgan Chase is taking lessons these days, it is all the way at the other end of the spectrum from Wamu and Providian: American Express Co. ..."

Bankrate.com has published results from a new study of bank fees showing that the costs of checking accounts have risen again this year to an all-time high. Bankrate's 2009 Checking Study details the average fees associated with using and maintaining an interest bearing account, including bounced check fees, ATM surcharges, and monthly services fees, plus tips on how to avoid them. READ MORE »

Visa has announced Visa IntelliLink Spend Management – calling it "a new global information tool that provides extensive reporting and expense management capabilities for organizations of all sizes on a single scalable platform." READ MORE »

Here are two new job postings now available on PaymentsJobs.com:

• CEO at Merchant Link (Silver Spring, Maryland)

• Fraud - Sr. Product Manager at Yahoo! (Sunnyvale, California)

Are you hiring? Be sure to post your job openings on PaymentsJobs.com!

Fiserv has announced the availability of Fraud Risk Manager 4.6, the newest version of its multi-channel fraud detection and management solution. Also available is AML Manager 4.6, the market-leading anti-money laundering solution.

"Both Fraud Risk Manager and AML Manager from Fiserv are designed to enhance and optimize financial institutions’ financial crime risk management operations, by delivering best-in-class fraud and anti-money laundering (AML) transaction monitoring solutions, integrated with a common platform for automated alert intelligence and investigation, case management and regulatory reporting." READ MORE »

The Federal Reserve Board has proposed rules amending Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) "to protect consumers who use credit cards from a number of potentially costly practices."

"This proposal is another step forward in the Federal Reserve's efforts to ensure that consumers who rely on credit cards are treated fairly," said Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth A. Duke. "The rule bans several harmful practices and requires greater transparency in the disclosure of the terms and conditions of credit card accounts." READ MORE »

Yesterday, Fiserv held an Investor Day in New York City. The presentation materials are available online.

• FT.com: Facebook makes it easier to Connect
• Official Google Checkout Blog: Sell with confidence using Google Checkout's fraud protection
• BusinessWeek: IBM's Encryption Breakthrough for the Web
• APWG Report: The Internet Has Never Been More Dangerous
• Don't Be Fooled by Convenience Store Stunt, Says the Electronic Payments Coalition
• Opinion - WSJ.com: Don't Let 7-Eleven Give Card Holders a "Big Gulp" of Big Government
• PayPal Adds Three Industry Veterans to Executive Team
• Bloomberg.com: American Express Kills Fee for Dormant Gift Cards
• CNNmoney.com: Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis to retire
• The Canadian Press: Mobile banking in its infancy in Canada but smartphones will push up its use
• Kelowna.com: Debit card fraud surprisingly simple despite its high-tech image
• 3Cinteractive Expands Mobile Payments Platform Through Billing Revolution Partnership
• Network Branded Prepaid Card Association Publishes Leading Practices for General Purpose Reloadable Prepaid Card Consumer Disclosures
• WSJ.com: Prepaid Card Industry Fears Impact Of US Consumer Agency Bill
• Citi Launches Relationship With Sony Music Entertainment
• Key Areas of Financial Services Remain Digitally Disconnected With Consumers
• MediaNama: mChek Closes Series-B Funding From Nexus
• Bank Fraud Forum: Internal Fraud - Top 10 Threats (Part 2)
• New Citi California Pulse™ Survey Shows Californians Surprisingly Optimistic About the Future Despite Weak Economy and Job Market
• NYTimes.com: I.M.F. Calls for Restructuring of Financial System
• The Financial Services Club's Blog: Webinar: When Payments Go Mobile Who's Accountable?
• USATODAY.com: Despite recession, banks charge record checking fees