Jennifer Saranow reports in the Wall St. Journal on research by Javelin Strategy & Research that ranked 40 banks on their online identity theft prevention, detection and resolution services.

The study found that no major bank offers to send its customers alerts when there are changes to credit bureau information, and many don't offer e-mail alerts when unusual account activity occurs or when personal information on file at the bank -- such as a phone number, or personal identification number for a bank card -- has been changed.

Frontline and the New York Times have joined forces to examine the credit card industry in Secret History of the Credit Card to be aired Tuesday, November 23, at 9 PM on PBS.

According to Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren, the credit card companies are misleading consumers and making up their own rules. "These guys have figured out the best way to compete is to put a smiley face in your commercials, a low introductory rate, and hire a team of MBAs to lay traps in the fine print," Warren tells FRONTLINE.

Heise Online reports on testing by the Fraunhofer Institute of German bank websites and their protection against phishing attacks.

Wells Fargo has announced the introduction of a new account-to-account money transfer service for its customers.

Currently, Wells Fargo is one of relatively few large financial institutions offering a service that can move funds between consumer accounts in real-time. This new capability represents a giant step toward reducing the number of paper checks exchanged between individuals, saving customers the time they would have otherwise spent visiting a store or ATM.

Wells Fargo's new service was developed in direct response to input from customers on their money transfer needs. The bank's research showed that a very significant portion of its customer base moves money between account holders. Close to half the people surveyed by Wells Fargo indicated a strong interest in the new money transfer service.

ZDNet UK reports on a speech by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in Copenhagen where he commented on the weakness of passwords.

"Unfortunately with the type of critical information on these systems, we aren't going to be able to rely on passwords. Moving to biometric and smart cards is a wave that is coming and we see our leading customers doing this."

Cyota reports its anti-phishing command center is seeing a surge in new phishing attacks against financial institutions not previously targeted.

eFunds has announced that it is partnering with WildCard Systems to deliver a single source for both EFT and stored value processing capabilities.