Reuters is reporting this morning that PayPal Europe is expected to launch soon.

Online auctioneer eBay Inc. began alerting customers this week it would launch a European business unit for its PayPal service, aiming to boost an overseas operation crucial to the firm's top-line growth. Over the past few days, the Silicon Valley-based firm has been notifying customers of its online payment service, via email, that it was setting up PayPal Europe Ltd., a firm based in the United Kingdom with a customer service centre in Dublin.

Nicole Maestri reports on Reuters about increases in the fees US credit card issuers are getting.

Consumers are expected to pay $43.1 billion in late fees, over-the-limit fees, finance charges and other fees on their credit cards this year, up from $39.6 billion last year. That figure is set to rise again in 2004, according to R.K. Hammer Investment Bankers, which follows the credit-card industry. "You've got more fees, charged to more people, triggered more quickly than ever before," said Robert Hammer, chairman and chief executive officer of R.K. Hammer.

Reuters reports this morning on the entry of two major banks into the credit card market in China.

U.S. giant Citibank and HSBC Holdings Plc, the world's two biggest banks by market value, have become the first foreign lenders to get their feet in the door of China's credit card industry. Offering technical and management expertise to their local partners, who have won approval to issue credit cards to Chinese customers, both banks can begin to make their mark on a highly lucrative but largely closed business in China. Still, analysts said on Friday the road remained long, since China was not committed to opening its retail banking sector until 2007 under pledges made on joining the World Trade Organization.