Experian has announced a new cardholder verification service for online merchants.   » Continue Reading

SearchStorage.com profiles Viewpointe Archive Services, a check archiving company that has images of some 40% of US checks in its archive.

Ellen Rosen reports in this morning's New York Times about some of the challenges small businesses face in "getting a credit card terminal up and running."   » Continue Reading

Intuit held its annual Investor Day yesterday. Jill Ward's Quickbooks-Related presentation (PDF) includes a discussion of Intuit's card merchant acquiring activities. Scott Cook's presentation on Intuit's Customer Driven Innovation process also makes interesting reading.

Alas, summer's over and it's time to get back to work! The September edition of Glenbrook's Flash newsletter is now available. Read about what we've been up to lately!

Robin Sidel and Ron Lieber report in Thursday's Wall St. Journal on American Express' plans (subscription required) to effectively compete with itself by enlisting card issuing partners among US banks.

American Express has announced the launch of Identity Theft Assistance, a new no-cost benefit available to all American Express cardholders. More information about the new program is available online.

CR80News reports on MasterCard's plans for a "staged national rollout" of its PayPass proximity payment product.   » Continue Reading

The Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe have released the results of a national study that concluded that seven out of ten online consumers have unintentionally visited a spoofed web site with 15 percent admitting to having provided sensitive private information. In total, a little more than 2 percent believe they've experienced a direct monetary loss resulting from a phishing attack. The study estimated a loss to this group of approximately $500 million.

Dow Jones Newswires reports on a discussion about bank cards in China with with Willie Fung, senior vice president of MasterCard International.

In a nation of 1.3 billion people, only 100 million Chinese have a clear idea of what a bank card is, based on a Mastercard survey focusing on China's emerging middle-class household conducted in May, said Fung. But by 2010, the number of Chinese middle-class households with annual income above US$5,000 will rise to 150 million from 65 million currently, based on MasterCard data.

Business 2.0's G. Pascal Zachary takes a look at First Data Corp.'s Charlie Fote and Western Union (subscribers only).

Fote not only earned himself a promotion (he was named First Data's CEO in 2002) but also pulled off a remarkable feat: He turned one of America's best-known brands into a trusted household name among foreigners -- a market that most U.S. businesses still haven't learned how to serve.

"Bankers are struggling to understand this trend," says Dean Seifert, Western Union's vice president for product development. "We're riding it."

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has released the text of a letter she's written to the US Comptroller of the Currency questioning various regulations adopted by the OCC that may invalidate some of the core protections of California's SB1 financial privacy law.

I cannot emphasize how concerned I am that your new regulations may very well wreak havoc with the privacy laws that California has established for its residents, and with the state's banking laws more generally. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that it had filed charges against the former Chairman, CEO and three other senior officers of NextCard, Inc., a San Francisco, California-based credit card issuer. NextCard, which is now in bankruptcy, was the first major credit card issuer to offer cards exclusively over the Internet.

Steven Marlin reports in Information Week on MasterCard's new CIO Roy Dunbar.   » Continue Reading

I've been admiring ING Direct from a distance for a long time. Maybe now I'll actually become a customer!

I just received a gift of a book from a friend. Included in the box from Amazon along with the shipping paperwork was a simple, no-nonsense flyer from ING Direct offering me a $25 bonus for opening an ING Direct Orange Savings Account. Odds are that Amazon customers are online capable.

There's a reason that ING Direct has grown over the last two or three years from almost nothing to something like the fortieth largest bank in the US in terms of deposits! Want to learn more? See their recent Investor Relations Symposium presentation (PDF).

VeriFone has announced an enhanced communications strategy for its point-of-sale devices based upon IP-based broadband networking.

"VeriFone's message to the marketplace is: 'The Wait is Over' at the point-of-sale," said Douglas G. Bergeron, Chairman and CEO of VeriFone. "Enhanced Communications solutions from VeriFone deliver fast and secure payment processing that can greatly improve speed of service and profitability."

First Data Corp.'s BidPay.com has introduced a new direct-to-bank payment option for online auction payments. Sellers can receive payments from BidPay within approximately three banking business days. The BidPay service is free to sellers with buyers paying all of the BidPay service fees starting at a minimum of $1.95 per transaction.

Update - 2/25/06: See Google Payments in the Payments News Archive for the latest postings on this topic.

Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker published an initial report on Google this morning, initiating coverage with an Overweight-V rating. Included in the report is an interesting comment regarding Google's current lack of an integrated payment system.   » Continue Reading

Citi has announced a new CitiBusiness card which participates in its ThankYou Network rewards program. Details at http://www.citibusinesscreditcards.com.

Designed to respond to the unique and diverse needs of everyday small business owners, the credit card is enhanced with extra features and capabilities -- all with no annual fee -- and offers everything from a business-size credit line to unlimited free employee cards to a superior rewards program, and a suite of business services and solutions.

Seth Lubove writes in Forbes.com about the latest regarding iBill and its merchant payment processor relationships.

First Data Corp. will be hosting a client conference for card issuing customers in Omaha on November 17-19, 2004.

Visa USA and Harris Interactive have announced results of a recent poll of debit card holding consumers who say that they will use their debit cards more for fall shopping this year. Visa USA also reported that for the first two weeks of September payment volume on Visa check cards increased 26 percent over the same period last year.

Triversity has announced that the Army and Air Force Exchange Service has selected its Transactionware Enterprise POS solution for deployment at over 1,000 stores worldwide.

ATMmarketplace.com interviews Genpass CEO Bipin Shah.

Visa International and the Commonwealth Business Council have announced publication of a new white paper "Payment Solutions for Modernising Economies".   » Continue Reading

Business Week reports on the growth in consumer credit in Russia.   » Continue Reading

CR80 News reports on a new vending machine by Accelitec that encodes and dispenses RFID-equipped cards and keyfobs so that they're ready for immediate use.   » Continue Reading

Michele Singletary writes in the Washington Post about electronic check conversion -- actually the conversion of paper checks to electronic ACH items at various points in the process.

NACHA estimates that about 225 million (2 to 3 percent) of checks written in retail stores are converted to e-checks. And approximately 10 percent of all consumer bill payments made by check are now converted into electronic payments, the group says.

Mellody Hobson of ABC News takes a look at the kinds of rewards programs now available on many credit cards. Today, credit card rewards programs are what many card issuers are using to try to attract new consumers.   » Continue Reading

Michelle Singletary reports on the increasing use of e-checks.

An e-check is a one-time electronic debit made from your checking account. So, your checking account statement would reflect an electronic funds transfer. Under electronic check conversion, your check is simply used to obtain information -- bank routing number, check number, etc. -- to process your purchase or payment. All that information is used to make an electronic withdrawal from your account using the Automated Clearing House network (ACH).

Research and Markets has a new report available that looks at consumer preferences and actual behavior with respect to paying bills online.   » Continue Reading

The Association for Financial Professionals has announced that it is partnering with Informa Research Services to provide its members with information about prices that banks charge for nearly 200 frequently used cash management services.

Wireless Developer Network reports on a roundtable held in London recently that explored the impact that mobile payments will have on established payment methods including cards.

Instead of replacing the credit card, mobile payments will evolve in two directions: managing transactions for small digital purchases and, in the long term, being integrated with credit cards so that phone users can trigger a larger credit card purchase from their phone. In this way mobile payments will complement, not replace the credit card model.

MSNBC's technology correspondent Bob Sullivan reports on the growth in card compromises.

Eric Jackson's new book PayPal Wars will be published later this month.

Wells Fargo has announced the results of a recent consumer survey that shows that many Internet users are confused about which online activities are safe and which are not.   » Continue Reading

MasterCard International today announced that W. Roy Dunbar has been named president, Global Technology and Operations succeeding Jerry McElhatton who is retiring.   » Continue Reading

Peppercoin and Moneris Solutions have announced a strategic alliance to make Peppercoin's 2.0 service available to merchants by the end of the year.   » Continue Reading

O'Reilly's new book PayPal Hacks by Shannon Sofield, David Nielsen, and Dave Burchell has just been published -- I received my advance order copy today. More details here -- including the ability to purchase the book from O'Reilly online using your PayPal account.

Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg recently keynoted the Direct Response Forum's conference in San Francisco. Allen spoke on key issues and opportunities affecting card-not-present merchants.

Allen has turned his DRF presentation into an article titled Payments 2004: The Merchant Perspective that is now available on the Glenbrook web site.

Netcraft reports on distributed denial of service attacks against payment processor Authorize.net. The company has also posted an update about the attacks on its home page.

AOL and RSA Security announced this morning the launch of AOL PassCode, a new premium service that offers members a second level of AOL account protection through the use of a keychain-sized device that generates and displays a unique six-digit numeric code every 60 seconds.

AOL is offering AOL PassCode as a premium service to AOL members for a one-time cost of $9.95 for each device plus an additional $1.95 - $4.95 per month, depending on the number of screen names on the account that are secured to an AOL PassCode device.   » Continue Reading

TRM Corporation has announced that it is acquiring over 17,000 ATM's in the US and Canada from eFunds for $150 million. The portfolio is comprised of approximately 2,200 full placement and 15,000 merchant owned units located in geographically diverse retail locations. Following this acquisition, TRM will be the largest operator of ATM's in the world.

Amey Stone reports in Business Week Online about credit cards for elite consumers.   » Continue Reading

iBill and DuoCash have announced a joint marketing agreement that allows iBill's online merchants to accept prepaid phone cards as an alternative to credit cards for payment.   » Continue Reading

CR80 News reports on the implementation of contactless payment systems at three of the National Football League stadiums using Smart Systems Technologies PowerPay or MasterCard's PayPass solutions.   » Continue Reading

David Gallagher writes in the New York Times about the continuing stream of email-based phishing attacks.

Separately, Symantec is releasing the latest update of its Internet Security Threat Report today. Of particular concern is the increasing use of bot networks of compromised PC's in perpetrating various attacks.

Carolyn Said reports in today's San Francisco Chronicle on Russell Simmons' RushCard, a prepaid Visa debit card for the "unbanked" offered by Unirush Financial Services.   » Continue Reading

Betsy Hammond reports in the Oregonian on the smart parking meters developed by Sweden's Cale Access AB that are being deployed in the city of Portland and how they're a model for other cities considering similar systems.

So-called SmartMeters require motorists to walk as far as 100 feet from their cars to pay for a receipt to stick on the vehicle window. But the solar-powered machines have proved a hit in Portland, city officials say, because they take debit and credit cards -- the option chosen by more than half the Portland parkers given the choice.

The AP's Eileen Alt Powell reports on the pluses and minuses of payroll cards for workers.

Regina Marie Glick writes in Newsday about new card technologies.

Experts can't predict specifically when smart cards will be in wide use in place of traditional magnetic stripe credit and debit cards, but they say that improving technology and the expanding list of uses for such cards bring that day ever closer.

Yahoo! Finance is carrying Bankrate.com's article by Peter Davidson about the top ten hidden dangers of credit cards.

Credit cards. It may seem very difficult to get by without them in this day and age, but the fact of the matter is it's becoming more and more expensive to live with them.

That's because credit card companies have managed to stack the deck in their favor, thanks to obliging lawmakers and regulators who have allowed them to gouge consumers for exorbitant fees and unconscionable interest rates.

Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times writes on Forbes.com about some of the potential implications of the breakup of the JP Morgan Chase outsourcing deal with IBM.

CardForum reports that the Food Marketing Institute has filed testimony with the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit urging Congress to investigate "skyrocketing" electronic transaction interchange fees and the lack of controls on those fees. The FMI testimony is available online as well as earlier comments it also provided to the Federal Reserve earlier this summer on this same subject.   » Continue Reading

The Chicago Federal Reserve Bank has published a summary of the payments conference titled "An Electronic Supply Chain: Will Payments Follow?" (PDF) that it held in May 2004. The conference agenda and presentations are also available for downloading.

NPR's Rick Karr examines paying for music in the Internet age -- including a look at online micropayments.

Eve Mitchell reports in the Oakland Tribune on the growth in debit card usage, displacing paper checks.   » Continue Reading

Jennifer Bjorhus writes in the Pioneer Press about 3M's new supplier electronic payment plan -- and some supplier reactions to 3M's fees.   » Continue Reading

ATM&Debit News has released its 2005 EFT Data Book which includes details about ATM and POS volumes for the various debit networks.

Philips and ViVOtech have announced a new initiative to deploy Philip's Near Field Communication (NFC) technology-based contactless payment solutions at merchant locations allowing an NFC-enabled mobile phone to be used as a payment and promotion device.   » Continue Reading

First Data Corp. has announced entering into a letter of intent with Bank of America to provide new and expanded services.   » Continue Reading

JP Morgan Chase and IBM announced this morning that JP Morgan Chase will be bringing various technology infrastructure functions currently outsourced to IBM back in-house.   » Continue Reading

Citi has launched a new rewards card, the Citi PremierPass MasterCard.   » Continue Reading

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued a new advisory letter regarding certain credit card practices of card issuers.   » Continue Reading

ING held an Investor Relations Symposium recently in New York. Among the interesting presentations is an update on ING Direct (PDF). Over the last four years, ING Direct has grown in the US market to become the 39th largest bank as represented by funds on deposit.

The Department of the Treasury has completed a study on why some individuals still prefer to receive their Social Security payments via paper check rather than direct deposit via ACH.   » Continue Reading

The Federal Reserve is requesting public comment on proposed changes to Regulation E that would provide guidance regarding the rights, liabilities, and responsibilities of parties engaged in electronic check conversion transactions.

The proposed changes also provide that payroll card accounts are "accounts" and are covered by Regulation E.

The full text of the proposed changes as well as commentary explaining the changes is available for downloading online (PDF).   » Continue Reading

Ron Lieber reports in today's Wall St. Journal about the escalating battle of the perks (subscription reqd.) between credit card issuers as highlighted by today's launch of the Citi PremierPass.

The PremierPass further escalates this battle of the perks. In addition to giving you points for the money you spend (one point per dollar generally; double that for groceries, gas, drugstores, parking garages, subways and commuter trains), the new card offers bonus points for miles flown.

Rewards Network has announced it has signed RBC Royal Bank to provide the bank's Visa cardholders the opportunity to earn rewards points when dining at restaurants in both Canada and the US.

The American Bankers Association announced this morning that a recent survey indicates banks have increased marketing expenditures this year 5 per cent over 2003.

Spending reflected the continuing boom in retail banking. On average, 66.5 percent of marketing expenditures promoted services to court consumers, 23.2 percent was allocated to the small business market. Commercial lending commanded the remainder of the expenditure pie with 7.4 percent dedicated to mid-market businesses and 1.3 percent for large corporations.

Karen Robinson-Jacobs reports for the Dallas Morning News on the growing acceptance of card-based payments at fast food restaurants.

Robin Palmer writes a comprehensive article on identity theft for the Sunday magazine of the Barre Montpelier (VT) Times Arcus.

Lorene Yue writes in the Hartford Courant about PayPal's recent alliance with GE Consumer Finance.

USNews.com reports on the demise of paper checks and the upcoming implementation of new Check 21 rules.

The rise of cheaper and faster payment alternatives such as credit cards, debit cards, and online banking started eating into the check's market share in the 1990s. And next month, a new law takes effect that will eliminate many of the check's few remaining advantages for consumers. As a result, the current 4 percent-a-year decline in check writing is expected to accelerate. Within a generation, checks are likely to be a rarity, used only by a few stubborn oldsters or in special situations, such as giving a nephew money as a graduation gift.

Lisa Baertlein reports for Reuters on a new policy announced by PayPal that it will soon begin fining users up to $500 for uses related to gambling, adult content or services, and buying or selling prescription drugs from noncertified sellers.

Digital Transactions reports that Canada's five major banks will roll out PIN debit payments on the Internet next spring.

The service, called iDebit, has been at least 18 months in the making and is expected to be the first major initiative in North America to allow the use of PIN debit cards as a payment option in e-commerce. The banks behind iDebit-- Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, and TD Canada Trust—control nearly all PIN debit card accounts in Canada.

An FT Deutschland article reports that MasterCard will allow retailers to begin adding surcharge fees to its credit card transactions beginning in January 2005. Here's a rough English translation of the original German article.

Jay Pfeifer writes in the Charlotte Business Journal about new debit card rewards programs being introduced by Wachovia and Bank of America.

Ken Kavanagh, debit and prepaid card executive for Bank of America, says rewards are an important step in boosting the use of debit cards. "A lot of people using credit cards are using them to get rewards," he says. "They're not revolving credit, they're just paying off their balance and getting reward points. With our debit reward program, we can convert those customers."

The Straits Times reports on the use of biometrics to identify renters at DVD kiosks using technology developed by Berkeley, California-based Upek.

MasterCard International has announced that the number of its Maestro debit cards issued globally increased to over 545 million cards in the second quarter of 2004, a growth of 10.2% over the same quarter last year.

First Data Corp. announced this morning the extension of its processing agreement with Nationwide Building Society in the UK.

The federal bank, thrift and credit union agencies today announced the publication of a brochure with information to help consumers identify and combat a new type of Internet scam known as "phishing." The brochure is available for downloading.

First Data Corp. this morning is holding its annual Investor Day in New York. Presentations at the meeting are focusing primarily on FDC's international business (Pam Patsley) and on the Western Union business (Christina Gold). A webcast replay of the presentations is available at the FDC web site.

Dan Fost reports in the San Francisco Chronicle on the micropayments market including the latest round of funding received by BitPass as well as some of the other companies pursuing the micropayments market.

First Data Corp. has announced that it is adding support for JCB to its VisionPLUS card processing system. The updated software will allow FDC's VisionPLUS customers to issue and acquire JCB cards.

Melbourne's Herald Sun reports on the launch by Travelex of a dynamic currency conversion system that allows travelers in Australia to pay by credit cards in their own currency. With the new system, revenues from currency conversion fees that used to go to the card issuers are now split between Travelex and participating merchants.

Matt Hines reports for CNET News.com on the resurgence of micropayments.

Separately, BitPass has announced that it has raised $11.75 million in Series B financing from Worldview Technology Partners, Steamboat Ventures (the venture capital arm of the The Walt Disney Company), RRE Ventures and others. James Robinson III, former Chairman and CEO of the American Express Company and a General Partner at RRE Ventures, will join BitPass' Board of Directors along with Peter Goettner, Venture Partner, Worldview, and John R. Ball, Managing Director, Steamboat.

Melbourne's Herald Sun reports on a new credit card surcharge of 1 per cent that the discount supermarket chain Aldi has begun imposing on Visa, MasterCard and Bankcard credit card purchases at its stores in Australia. Previously, Aldi only accepted cash and EFTPOS.

MSNBC's Bob Sullivan reports on the upcoming implementation of Check 21.   » Continue Reading

SVPCO has announced the official production launch of its Image Exchange Network following a two month trial period with KeyBank and JPMorgan Chase.   » Continue Reading

MSN Money columnist Liz Pulliam Weston opines about online bill payment and why banks should make it available (as many are) for free.

Most of all, I like the security and the certainty of online bill payment. That may surprise consumers who have never used it, since those who still pay by check often say they’re concerned about security or glitches that could prevent their bills from being paid. But I’ve found online bill payment to be more secure and less glitch-prone than the U.S. mail.

American Express and CostCo have announced the launch of two new co-branded credit cards - one targeting consumers, the second targeting businesses. The new "TrueEarnings" cards provide increased rewards for eating out and traveling.

In a new Insight report, Edgar, Dunn & Company's Robert White examines the impact of Australia's recent credit card regulatory changes on that country's payments value chain.

Ecommerce Times reports on the use of biometrics as part of the registered traveler program being piloted by the Transportation Security Administration.

The program offers the first wide application of iris-scanning technology, which had previously been used only for government employees with access to classified sites or for employees with access to nuclear facilities, said Paul Mirenda, director of field operations for LG Electronics, one of the TSA's contractors that makes the scanners.

First Data Corp. has announced that it will be handling more than nine million new private label accounts for GE Consumer Finance based upon GE winning new business with Dillard's and Mervyn's. FDC currently processes more than 170 million private label accounts.   » Continue Reading