JB King writes in SearchCRM.com about smart cards getting smarter. READ MORE »

Palo Alto Weekly reporter Elizabeth White writes about Palo Alto-based micropayment provider BitPass. READ MORE »

Wachovia Bank says it's the best at respecting its online customers based upon a study completed by the Customer Respect Group. READ MORE »

Journalism.co.uk reports on increased consumer response to paid digital content.

"Consumers are not afraid to pay for things - they do it everyday," said Mr Law. "Those of you sitting on the side lines - don't intellectualise about it. Just dive in and do something!"

[Update: 9/1/05 - FDC announced the resignation of James L. Schoedinger.]

First Data Corp. announced this morning the appointment of James L. Schoedinger, 45, as president of its Card Issuing Services business unit. READ MORE »

The New York Times reports on the deal announced yesterday between American Express and MBNA. READ MORE »

Phishing attacks are a rapidly growing problem on the Internet. I've just posted on the Glenbrook web site a recent analysis of phishing attacks which includes some implications for financial institutions, a recommended action plan, etc.

The Financial Services Roundtable and BITS have announced the formation of the Identity Theft Assistance Corporation, a non-profit industry consortium formed to pilot the Identity Theft Assistance Center (ITAC). READ MORE »

While American Express and MBNA are cheering their new partnership, merchants in the US have to get ready for the inevitable effects this new competition for card issuance will have on their costs. READ MORE »

American Express and MBNA announced this morning a card issuing alliance where MBNA will issue American Express cards in the US, Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom. READ MORE »

POS terminal supplier Lipman Electronic Engineering, Ltd. announced yesterday that it had completed an initial public offering on NASDAQ under the symbol LPMA.

MasterCard has announced that Norman McLuskie has been named chairman of the MasterCard Europe board of directors replacing Mr Jean-Pierre Ledru, Senior Vice President of Crédit Agricole S.A., France. McLuskie is currently Chairman (formerly Chief Executive) of the Retail Direct division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group in the UK.

NACHA's Internet Council is holding its next meeting at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco next week. The meeting agenda is available online.

Yesterday InfoSpace reported quarterly financial results including results for its Authorize.net payments business. READ MORE »

Pay By Touch has announced an agreement with IBM to offer retailers using IBM point of sale systems the ability for their customers to pay by touch. READ MORE »

Investors Business Daily reports on iPayment's strategy of focusing on small merchants.

The company serves 90,000 small merchants across the country. The average processed transaction is $75, with each merchant typically creating less than $250,000 a year in charge volume.

China View is reporting on plans by the Chinese government to issue new intelligent ID cards to its 1.3 million people.

Newsweek's Jennifer Barrett reports on the problem of phishing attacks.

“It’s not an annoyance, it’s a threat [to businesses]. It is real loss,” says David Jevans, chairman of the U.S.-based Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), a consortium of more than 60 banks, retailers, and security firms that have joined forces since last fall to tackle the issue.

PayPal has introduced a new PayPal Payment Wizard for use with Microsoft's Outlook email software to allow the addition of PayPal payment buttons to outgoing email enabled senders to receive funds without having a website.

Amazon this afternoon announced financial results for the fourth quarter 2003. Sales were up 36 percent over the same period in 2002 while operating income grew to 7 percent of net sales, up from 5 percent of net sales in Q4 2002. Interestingly, much of the growth in the fourth quarter came from international sales which grew at a 74 percent rate totaling slightly over 41% of total sales.

Timex is offering Speedpass-enabled watches on its website. The site says the watches will be available for a limited time only.

Edgar Dunn this morning reports the results of their PaymentDynamics 2004 Preferred Card Study. READ MORE »

Business Week writer Amey Stone takes a look at Bank One CEO Jamie Dimon's return to New York as he ultimate becomes CEO of JP Morgan Chase following its merger with Bank One. READ MORE »

FinanceAsia shares a perspective from Yahoo! and HSBC on the future of consumer electronic payments with specific examples from Yahoo! PayDirect.

J. Lynn Lunsford reports in today's Wall St. Journal (subscription required) on the impact of electronic check imaging on the current "freight dogs" who haul paper checks around the country every evening.

American Express earlier today reported earnings for 4Q 2003. For the full year 2003, revenues were up 9 percent compared to 2002. Merchant discount revenues grew 11 percent reflecting a 13 percent increase in cardholder spending.

Notes from CFO Gary Crittenden's earnings conference call (available online) include mention that he is confident of doing a network related deal with a US bank sometime in 2004.

Concord EFS put out a press release earlier today saying that the lawsuit filed by NYCE last week is without merit.

"Contrary to the claims made in the NYCE complaint, Concord is in full compliance with all provisions of the 1993 agreement with NYCE," said Ronald V. Congemi, president of Concord Network Services. "The STAR(SM) network routing rules were specifically amended to support the NYCE agreement when STAR was acquired by Concord in 2001. STAR's network rules, which are established by its member financial institutions, support an open and flexible business environment that allows for collaboration, cooperation, and the resolution of issues when conflicting network rules come into play. The NYCE complaint attempts to undermine these rules by improperly extending to the entire STAR network the terms of an agreement expressly limited to the small number of financial institutions who are members of both the MAC and NYCE networks."

Robert Scoble blogs his chance encounter airplane conversation with REI CEO Dennis Madsen.

New service they are working on? New gift registry. Connects online, instore. All 70 stores nationwide will have it. Took 18 months to develop. Turns on in two weeks.

The Economist takes a look at the explosive growth in online retailing happening in the UK. Generally high retail prices along with the relative inconvenience of retail shopping in the UK help make consumers appreciate the convenience of online shopping.

Amazon.com is seeking a Global Payments manager based in Seattle.

The successful candidate should have extensive experience in the payments processing world with in depth knowledge of payment systems both internationally and domestically; will have 10+ years in the payments industry, preferably with experience at one of the Card Companies or with a major bank or acquirer; and will have the ability to be effective in a highly dynamic environment.