Senator Chris Dodd has announced the The Fairness and Accountability in Receiving (FAIR) Overdraft Coverage Act, a new bill he is introducing to "protect Americans from excessive checking account overdraft fees." READ MORE

TCF National Bank has announced that it will begin offering a new checking account product to customers called TCF Convenience Checking during the first quarter of 2010. According to the bank, its new Convenience Checking account "will eliminate the per item NSF fee and the returned item fee as well as offer many FREE checking benefits." READ MORE

MasterCard has announced that Fifth Third Bank is now issuing the World Debit MasterCard card - which MasterCard calls "the industry’s only premium debit card that provides U.S. consumers with access to enhanced rewards, unique offers and savings opportunities and greater purchase protection. By offering World Debit MasterCard to its customers, Fifth Third Bank is now providing a custom-tailored debit product that meets the unique, everyday spending needs of its high-spend and reward-seeking debit cardholders." READ MORE

Mazooma, a real-time online debit payment solution for U.S. consumers, has announced that PETCO has signed an agreement to integrate the Mazooma solution on its Web site, PETCO.com. According to the two companies, "PETCO will now be able to provide a real time, bank authenticated debit payment option for its U.S. consumers, allowing online shoppers to easily and securely pay for their purchases with cash." READ MORE

Coinstar E-Payment Services has announced that it is expanding its Pay As You Go product offerings including a new Amazon MP3-branded Gift Card, a GoCash Game Card for prepaid online gaming offerings, and two new nFinanSe Discover® branded cards in the reloadable prepaid and gift card categories. READ MORE

The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association has announced that, according to an economic study recently completed by Michael Flores of Bretton Woods, "consumers who opt to use a network branded prepaid card could pay as much as 35-70% less in fees as compared to low balance checking and debit accounts, making prepaid cards a far more cost-effective, valuable financial tool for many." READ MORE

Commidea, a card payment processing solution provider in the UK, has announce the launch of Ocius Sentinel - calling it "the UK's first solution to offer both true end-to-end dual encryption and tokenisation. Ocius Sentinel has been fully certified for use by the major UK acquiring banks." READ MORE

In an article on PaymentsViews.com titled "Blinging it Home? A Look at Bling Nation", Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson takes a look at Bling Nation, a provider of a community payments service based on contactless technology and relationships with community financial institutions.

Over the last several weeks, Carol has been conducting a series of very interesting interviews with companies in the mobile payments space. Be sure to check them out!

Glenbrook's Jacqueline Chilton is attending this week's ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum 2009 in Las Vegas. You can follow her reports from the conference over on our PaymentsViews.com sister site.

Recently, US travelers to Europe have encountered problems having their magnetic stripe-based credit cards accepted at some merchants where Chip and PIN have been implemented. See, for example, "The End of Cards as We Knew Them?" by Glenbrook's Jacqueline Chilton.

Earlier today, JP Morgan announced several commercial card initiatives regarding expansion into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Included in that press release was mention of a new card that the bank will be issuing next year: J.P. Morgan’s International Dollar Card (USD) which the bank calls "a cross-border dollar solution complete with Chip and PIN security, and the ability to support clients’ needs in the Middle East, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia."

J.P. Morgan has announced that it has "significantly advanced its commercial card expansion initiative in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to provide corporate clients with higher degree of visibility and flexibility on spending and expenses in today’s challenging economic environment. As part of its continued investment in its global Treasury Services business, J.P. Morgan has introduced several new commercial card product offerings and service enhancements in the region, while a number of new product offerings are due to launch early next year." READ MORE

Tempo has introduced a new Web-based platform that it says "enables organizations to quickly and easily offer affinity and co-branded debit cards to customers, contributors and members. These organizations can now provide open loop debit cards and offer rewards ranging from cash-back to charitable contributions. The debit cards enabled by Tempo are issued by First Bank & Trust, of Brookings, SD, part of Fishback Financial Corporation. Tempo’s platform enables these cards to be linked to cardholders’ pre-existing checking accounts." READ MORE

CyberSource has announced the incorporation of automated account updating services into its Enterprise Payment Security 2.0 solutions. According to the company, "customer billing records tokenized in CyberSource's remote secure storage servers can now be automatically updated with new account information (such as bank card expiration data or replacement card number) via the CyberSource Account Updater Service." READ MORE

• AP via MSNBC.com: Citi closing Mastercards without warning
• In-Branch Channel is Key to Driving Card Growth, Says TNB Card Services
• Acxiom Study Reveals Valuable Insights Into Wireless Consumers
• US News and World Report: Checking Account Fees Reach Record Highs
• Washington Business Journal: Virginia Lottery launches gift card program
• The PayPal Blog: eBay and PayPal Now Offer Bill Me Later
• mocoNews: Ericsson Pitching SMS Payment System At Online Newspapers
• In an Uncertain Economy, Consumers Demand More Choice and Control Over How They Shop and Pay Their Bills
• Innovative Card Technologies Appoints Independent Board Member