The Credit Card Interchange Blog was co-founded by Mitch Goldstone and Carl Berman of 30 Minute Photos Etc., one of five merchant plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit regarding credit card interchange fees filed earlier this week against Visa, MasterCard and card issuing and acquiring banks.

Earlier today they posted "Credit Card Interchange Fees: Issues and Background" - 24 leading issues affecting credit card interchange fees.

Timothy J. Muris shares his opinion in Friday's Wall St. Journal on the merchant class action lawsuit filed against Visa, MasterCard and bank card issuing banks by several merchants earlier this week.

Given the enormous benefits of payment cards, government efforts to interfere with this market are taken at great risk.

eBay this morning announced ProStores web store solution that allows small- to medium-sized businesses to create a customized e-commerce storefront, independent of the eBay marketplace.

Julia Wilkinson reports for AuctionBytes.com on yesterday afternoon's keynote panel at the eBay Developers Conference that included the following comment from PayPal CEO Jeff Jordan:

Chatwani asked about PayPal's expansion strategy. Jordan said that while 2004 was the year they went international, 2005 was the year of "going off eBay," saying that non-eBay commerce was 10 times that of eBay. "PayPal wants to be the standard off eBay as well as on eBay," said Jordan.

Gartner this morning announced results of a survey of 5,000 US adults that concludes that "increasing reports of lost consumer data files and disclosures of unauthorized access to sensitive personal data are taking a toll on consumers' confidence in online commerce."

"While online banking customers continue to access bank accounts over the Internet, they are changing their usage patterns," said Avivah Litan, vice president and research director at Gartner.

"Nearly 30 percent of the online bankers say that online attacks have influenced their online banking activities. Over three-quarters of this group log in less frequently, and nearly 14 percent of them have stopped paying bills via online banking."

The Conference Board reported this morning that its latest Consumer Internet Barometer survery of 10,000 households indicates that online consumers have growing concerns about identity theft with more than 13 percent of all Internet users saying they or a member of their household has already been a victim of identity theft. Importantly, the latest survey indicates that "more people are buying less online."

John Wilke and Robin Sidel report for the Wall St. Journal on merchants challenging credit card interchange fees and the lawsuit filed on behalf of merchants yesterday in Connecticut against Visa, Mastercard and their largest member banks (see next post).

Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi LLP announced this morning that it has filed an antitrust class action lawsuit "in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut against Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America, Citibank, Bank One, Chase Manhattan Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Fleet Bank, Capital One and other major banks on behalf of merchants alleging collusive practices of their setting, by horizontal agreement, credit card interchange fees at supra-competitive levels."

Mitchell Pacelle and Christopher Conkey report for the Wall St. Journal on moves by the banking industry to deal with moves in Congress to deal with data breaches or identity theft.

The unremitting wave of security breaches has generated an enormous push for action on Capitol Hill. Congress seems likely to pass some sort of notification requirement later this year -- a point conceded by nearly everyone in the debate. The question is whether industry lobbyists or consumer groups will prevail on the fine print.

Jane Kim reports for the Wall St. Journal on increases in fees for ATM usage.

One reason ATM fees are increasing is that more customers are using credit and debit cards more than cash, says Tony Hayes, managing director at Dove Consulting Group Inc. That means fewer trips to the ATM and less fee revenue for banks. So banks are making up for that loss of revenue.

• Japan: Credit card firms to seek compensation from U.S. data processor
• nCircle Announces Strategic Agreements to Support Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
• NY Times: Bank in Utah Says Its Data Was at Risk in Intrusion
• Washington Post: Cardholders Kept in Dark After Breach
• The Bank of New York Offers a Simpler and More Efficient Solution for International Payment Processing
• Fair Isaac and MicroBilt Announce Agreement to Sell myFICO.com Consumer Products to Lenders
• China's central bank urges related credit-card organizations deal with data-leakage of Chinese holders properly
• Japanese Edy e-money transactions to top 10 mln in June
• Seattle Times Editorial: The credit-card crash
• Credit-card users in China exposed to security breach
• Bottomline Technologies Explores Business Value of Straight-Through Payment Processes
• UK: Corporate ID Fraud Is On The Rise
• Fraud in Japan tied to data breach
• BBC: Are overseas call centres a fraud risk?
• G&D moves contactless technology forward for increased transit ridership and convenience
• Discover parent reconsiders spinoff
• Google's Payday Is Coming
• Digital Insight Renews, Expands Relationships With Key Credit Union Clients
• American Express and Clubplanet Launch New Program: 'GET:IN for IN:NYC(R) Cardmembers'
• Wachovia Announces Retail Banking Entry Into Long Island
• Sovereign Banks On Networking Services From AT&T
• CineVend Selects USA Technologies' e-Port To Provide Cashless Vending for Movies and Soundtracks
• ActivCard Signs a Multi Million U.S. Dollar Deal and Reestablishes Long Term Partnership With ForeningsSparbanken, Securing Over 2 Million Banking Customers