• California bill would ban tracking chips in IDs
• JPMorgan Chase Environmental Policy Triggers Tipping Point for US Bank Sustainability

VeriFone completed its initial public offering this morning. Its new stock symbol is PAY. The IPO was priced at $10 per share, down from its expected pricing range of $12 to $14 per share. VeriFone's latest SEC S-1/A filing is available online.

MBNA and Ixe Banco have announced signing a definitive agreement to form Ixe-MBNA SOFOLasa, a joint venture that will issue and service credit cards and consumer loans in Mexico. Each partner will contribute 50% of the necessary capital.

"Partnering with Ixe Banco is a terrific fit for MBNA," said John Cochran, MBNA's Chief Operating Officer. "Ixe is led by a proven management team and the Mexican market for credit card products and consumer loans is large and growing. The demographics of the customers who are attracted to Ixe are ideal for MBNA. We will benefit from Ixe's experience in Mexico, and Ixe will benefit from MBNA's experience in marketing and servicing credit cards. Together, Ixe and MBNA will offer an exceptional range of products, backed by outstanding Customer service."

• CitiBusiness Credit Cards Helps Protect Small Business Owners with Identity Theft Solutions
• Motley Fool: Why's My FICO Score Wacky?
• Slashdot: Would You Submit Biometric Data to Join a Gym?
• ChevronTexaco Lowers Credit and Debit Card Processing Fees for Summer Driving Season
• Citi Cards Call Center Opens In Greensboro
• Wachovia Launches Web-Based Loan Fulfillment System
• Paying in dollars costs more when using credit card abroad
• Finextra (UK): Net threat
• Synovus execs celebrate past growth, predict more of same

The Evening Times reports on unauthorized withdrawals from ATM's in Glascow, Scotland over the last ten days.

• Your Credit Card Companies on Capitol Hill
• Lightbridge Announces First Quarter 2005 Financial Results
• Heasley Resigns From Board of Fair Isaac
• ActivCard Signs Agreement With Mastercard to Deliver First Multi-Channel Cap Authentication Server

Visa USA reported today that Verified by Visa's share of e-commerce transactions has grown over 40$ with transaction volume during the first quarter of 2005 increasing more than 230% over last year.

MarketWatch publishes Renaissance Capital's report on the upcoming initial public offering of VeriFone.

EE Times reports that NTT Docomo has announced a new phone-based credit card service.

NTT Docomo will collaborate with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (SMFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) to establish a platform for a credit-payment service using Docomo's phones equipped with the Felica wireless IC chip for cashless payments.

Under the deal, Docomo will shortly launch a new credit card brand and acquire 34 percent of the equity of Mitsui Card, paying approximately 98 billion yen (about $925 million). Docomo expects that Sumitomo's card network will accelerate deployment of its new credit card network.

Business Week reports on S&P's downgrade of Visa International's credit rating from A+ to A.

S&P believes Visa's risk profile has significantly changed in the past decade, with its ongoing legal challenges having emerged as a major risk component. The speed, number, and potential severity of events in aggregate elevate business risk to new levels. Concerns about legal risk and, to a lesser extent, changing industry dynamics, reduce the ratings on Visa by one notch. The negative outlook highlights further potential ratings pressure due to the negative effect of current litigations.

• Moneris Solutions President & CEO Jim Baumgartner Named Electronic Transactions Association Member of the Year
• Bank of America Launches Hispanic Savings Program in Miami
• ASK to Further Deliver 700,000 Contactless Cards for Taipei
• Pay By Touch Introduced in Discover Financial Services' Company Cafeteria
• Metavante Announces Record Financial Technology Contract Renewals for 2004
• CyberSource Launches Payment Card Industry Security Compliance Service
• Blair Corporation and Alliance Data Systems Announce New Private Label Credit Agreement
• Student Sues eBay And Paypal
• india: MasterCard, SBI & BPCL announce debit card tie-up

David Bank reports for the Wall St. Journal on a lawsuit filed by BJ's Wholesale Club against IBM seeking compensation for losses following a compromise of credit card information.

The sensitive information encoded in the magnetic stripe on credit cards "was out there more than we thought," says John Shaughnessy, senior vice president for risk management at Visa USA. These secret codes are "jewels" for thieves, Mr. Shaughnessy says. "The fact that it's stored anywhere is troublesome."

American Express reported first quarter financial results today with net income rising 19 percent to $946 million for the quarter on a 10 percent increase in revenues.

Cards in force grew 7 percent to 66.1 million while card payment volume grew 15 percent to $109.3 billion. Amex's Global Network Services payment volume rose over 35% reflecting growth in non-US partner volumes and MBNA-related volumes in the US. Average lending balances grew 4%. Amex grew its marketing, promotion, and rewards expenses aggressively in the quarter -- growing 29 percent.

The Financial Times reports this morning that Lloyds TSB will announce today that it will begin issuing American Express cards in the UK.

[Update: American Express has issued a press release confirming the Lloyds TSB relationship.]

VeriSign has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lightbridge's PrePayIN platform and customer base for $17.45 million in cash plus the assumption of certain contractual liabilities.

"Adding the PrepayIN(TM) platform to our existing pre-paid and billing portfolio is a compliment to our already extensive solution offering," said Vernon Irvin, executive vice president, VeriSign Communications Services. "This is a system that will enrich our prepaid offering domestically, while extending our customer base to markets internationally."

Separately, Lightbridge also announced that it has engaged investment bankers to advise the company on strategic alternatives for its Telecom Decisioning Services business.

• Japan Times: Credit card fraud -- how they do it and how to protect yourself
• Wright Express Reports First-Quarter 2005 Results
• Ariba Adds GE vPayment Tool to Ariba Supplier Network
• InterContinental Hotels Group Launches 'Any Hotel, Anywhere' Card
• U.S. Bank E-Commerce Suite Delivers Cost-Saving Results
• FinCen: GUIDANCE TO MONEY SERVICES BUSINESSES ON OBTAINING AND MAINTAINING BANKING SERVICES (PDF)
• FinCen: Interagency Interpretive Guidance on Providing Banking Services to Money Services Businesses Operating in the United States (PDF)
• Parascript Partners With SQN Banking Systems to Combat Fraud
• MasterCard International Announces New Program to Empower Consumers with the Tools to Manage Debt
• Taipei Times: MasterCard offering firms a line of corporate credit
• VeriSign Achieves Three Industry Security Certifications for Payments Services

Tricia Duryee reports for the Seattle Times on Qpass.

Last month Qpass' customers sold almost $57 million in data on a retail basis. That represents a jump of almost 300 percent from the year-ago period.

Moneris Solutions has announced a new end-to-end wireless payment processing solution for merchants.

Greg Farrell reports for USA Today on American Express CEO Ken Chenault.

Mercedes-Benz and Bank of America have announced two new rewards-based credit cards.

• ABC News: Pharming Your Identity
• Regal Entertainment Group Casts MasterCard PayPass in Starring Role As New Payment Option for Movie Fans
• Ritz Camera Centers to Expand Acceptance of MasterCard PayPass to Over 1200 Locations
• Wachovia Introduces New Enhancements to Its Web Site
• VeriSign Introduces Three-Year SSL Certificates
• American Express Redefines Spring Fever with New 'My WishList' Online Shopping Experience
• Get paid with prepaid products
• Gemplus Announces Agreement to Acquire Setec
• Pay By Touch Announces Chief Financial Officer
• Your Credit Card Companies: Understanding Information in Your Credit Card Statement Can Improve Overall Credit Management
• Wachovia No. 1 in Small Business Lending by Dollar Volume for Third Year in a Row
• Encryption and Smart Card Technology Leaders Develop Identifier-Based Encryption for Portable Formats
• Yodlee Congratulates Its Customers Bank of America and E*TRADE on Winning Forbes Awards
• Bloomberg: HSBC to Double Workers, Add More Branches in China

Bill Bishop reports on his blog re: news from China about eBay's Eachnet cutting its listing fees as of May 1st.

I doubt they would be cutting prices if business were booming for them in China. I believe Alibaba's Taobao continues to take share from Ebay in China.

PayPal has a handy online calculator that allows merchants to compare their current bank card acceptance pricing with that of PayPal's.

We're often asked if a PayPal Business account is more or less expensive than a traditional online merchant account. The inquirer is often surprised when we say that a PayPal Business account is less expensive, even for multi-million dollar online businesses.

GTnews.com is published a six-part series in association with HSBC on the effective use of payment cards in business. The first two parts are now available: Introduction to Payment Card Business and Corporate Travel & Entertainment Cards.

• Slate: AMERICANS Pay Off Credit Card Debt!
• USA Today: 'Pharmers' hit online bank users with fraud scam
• ZDNet: Retailers feel security heat
• USA Today: New credit card fees take a further swipe at dollar
• Fair Isaac Appoints Campbell to Lead Global Product Organization
• Delaware Online.com: MBNA sees sharp decline in earnings

MBNA has reported financial results for the first quarter.

The Corporation's results were further impacted by unexpectedly high payment volumes from U.S. credit card customers.

While sales volume on MBNA credit cards grew 9.5%, MBNA's credit card loans outstanding declined 9.4% over the same quarter a year ago and 8.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2004. MBNA has posted is first quarter business results presentation online (PDF).

Discover has announced that Federated's 450 Macy's and Bloomingdale stores began accepting Discover cards on April 1.

Ted Griffith reports for Delaware Online on Chase's first quarter earnings.

Craig Woker, an analyst with Morningstar in Chicago, called Chase's card business one of the "bright spots" in the first quarter, offsetting what he described as weakness in other areas, such as commercial lending.

• Beijing: Citigroup Announces Approval to Provide Renminbi Currency Services
• TRX Powers Data Integration for MasterCard Hotel Folio Initiative
• VECTORsgi Introduces Replacement for Paper-Based Capture Systems; Solution Manages Transition from Paper to Electronic Image Exchange
• California's Save Mart to Speed Checkouts with NCR Point-of-Sale Solution
• Ussery To Retire From TSYS After 40 Years of Service Retaining Position as Chairman of the Board
• Fortis Bank Live on IntraNet Worldwide's iMTS Solution; iMTS Solution Provides Bank with Best-of-Breed Payment Processing Functionality
• Govolution to Offer Lower Cost Bill Payment Option: PIN-less Debit
• EBay Looks to China for Growth
• LAN Airline Alliance Carriers and Western Union Offer Travelers Additional Payment Options
• Students and the credit card binge
• Revitalizing the Pay-Per-Call System
• Digital Insight's Proprietary Marketing Programs Drive Significant Growth for Banks and Credit Unions
• People's Daily Online: POS terminals are installed on the Xisha Islands in Hainan
• China Daily: China Merchants Bank sets sights on elite customers
• Remarks by President Bush in Signing the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005
• A&B Vending Begins Installing the Cashless e-Port(R) in Vending Machines at Roadside Rest Stops

As part of today's announcement of eBay's first quarter financial results (PDF), PayPal reported a 44% increase in total payment volume to $6.2 billion with 71% of that volume associated with auction payments.

PayPal reported total payment accounts (both registered and unregistered users) grew 57% to 71.6 million. Active accounts were 22.1 million in the quarter. In the conference call, eBay CEO Meg Whitman pointed out that PayPal's user base exceeds that of Discover and is over twice the size of Bank of America's.

PayPal's transaction revenue rate grew slightly from 3.60% to 3.64% while the transaction processing expense rate declined from 1.25% to 1.15%. PayPal's transaction loss rate ticked up slightly from 0.27% to 0.30%.

Overall, PayPal's net revenues for the quarter were $233.1 million, up 47% over last year.