Glenbrook has announced a new series of executive payments workshops.

Following a successful initial workshop series this spring, technology executives, venture investors, and product and business development managers from financial services companies all told us to "keep 'em coming", said Carol Coye Benson of Glenbrook.

The new series includes workshops on the U.S. payments landscape, on authentication in financial services, and on consumer payments in China.

Glenbrook's summer and fall series workshops will be held on both the East and the West Coasts and are now open for registration.

Liz Moyer writes for Forbes.com on today's annouced acquisition of MBNA by Bank of America.

It wouldn't be the first time Wachovia lost out to Bank of America. Last year, Bank of America acquired Boston-based FleetBoston Financial, once seen as a near-perfect fit for Wachovia.

Andrew Ross Sorkin writes for the New York Times filling in more details, namely that Wachovia's board had failed to approve the acquisition of MBNA after the deal had been negotiated between the two companies' management teams.

Robert Bruss reports for the Boston Globe on his experience with getting current credit reports and FICO scores from the three major credit bureaus.

Bank of America Corporation today announced a definitive agreement to acquire MBNA for $35 billion in cash and stock. Based upon Bank of America's current price, the deal values MBNA shares at about a 30 percent premium to MBNA's closing price yesterday.

Eric Dash reports for the New York Times on the vulnerabilities of the payment system and, in particular, the recent card data security breach at CardSystems Solutions.

And if CardSystems could have its data compromised, might it happen to another processor elsewhere? Industry experts say the likely answer is yes, given how lax Visa and MasterCard have been about enforcing rules with suspensions or fines. Visa and MasterCard maintain that their standards are rigorous, but they need to allow the processor companies time to upgrade systems.

• Wachovia lost out in MBNA bidding
• IBM Report: Phishing Attacks in May Jumped More Than 200 Percent; Email Viruses up 33 Percent
• Federal Agencies Release Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual
• More States Giving Consumers Power to Freeze Credit Files
• PayPal Payment Notifications on Your Phone
• Senselect’s Biometric Breakthrough answers UK ID Card Security Fears
• Digital Insight and Cyota Partner to Prevent Online Fraud and Protect Financial Institutions From Phishing
• Internet Has Become the Leading Medium for Most Financial Activities According to Yahoo! & OgilvyOne Worldwide Research
• Former Bank of America and Visa Executives Join LifeLock Boards
• Transaction Systems Architects to Acquire S2 Systems; Accretive Acquisition Strengthens Industry Leadership

Charles Kenney and Kristina Hickerson of law firm Morrison and Foerster write about two recent data security cases: BJ's Wholesale Club and shoe retailer DSW.

What is noteworthy is that for the first time, the FTC has acted against a company that gave no assurances to the public concerning its handling of customer information. After the BJ’s case, companies that say nothing about their data security practices are just as vulnerable to enforcement actions as those that do. This marks an aggressive shift in the FTC’s enforcement strategy and raises the bar for companies that store and handle customer information.

Mercator Advisory Group has published the first of three planned reports on prepaid products, the first one by Tim Sloane focusing on open prepaid solutions.

The FDIC has announced new findings regarding identity theft associated with Internet banking in an update to an earlier study issued last December.

"Identity theft, particularly account hijacking, continues to grow as a problem for the financial services industry and for consumers," said FDIC Chairman Don Powell.

"Our review illustrates that ID theft is evolving in more complicated ways and that more can and should be done to make online banking more secure."

TowerGroup this morning reported on new research regarding enterprise fraud management in financial services firms - asserting that while many financial institutions fight fraud effectively in certain areas of their business, many do so poorly - if at all - across their full spectrum of products and services.

• Semtek Innovative Solutions and Transaction Network Services Announce Alliance to Deliver Wireless Point of Sale Solutions
• Forget fingerprints and eye scans; the latest in biometrics is in vein
• PayPal Director: Merchants Want Control of Payment Flow
• Korea opens doors to foreign financial firms
• Smart Card Alliance Forms Healthcare Council to Address Rising Use of Smart Cards in Health Industries
• ChoicePoint(R) Engages Ernst & Young to Help Develop New Privacy and Compliance Program
• Fundtech Expands Cash Management Business with Four Additional Sales
• eFunds Signs With Société Générale Group to Manage Card Programs for International Retail Subsidiaries
• Corillian Corporate Banking Recognized as `Most User Friendly' Online Corporate Banking Application
• Introducing the FIRM(TM) Program, the First Teen Prepaid Visa(R) Card Married to a Financial Education Curriculum
• TCI Partners With Wright Express to Introduce Fuel Card
• Malaysia: Net Value: Mopping up credit card fraud
• Scan Alert and CardinalCommerce Partner to Boost Online Security through 3-D Secure Authentication
• ID Theft: What You Need to Know
• Breaches in security require new laws
• Authorize.Net Partners With AmbironTrustWave to Offer PCI Compliance
• Cart32 and CardinalCommerce Push Forward with Online Security
• Credit Chief Slams Free Reports
• Near-field comms initiative swells membership, sets up working groups
• Cell Phones vs. Credit Cards: The Battle Begins
• European E-Commerce Feeling Pinch from ID Theft
• GE unit to buy 40% of S. Korea Hyundai Card
• Hypercom to cut jobs in restructuring
• UK: Credit card debt on the rise

Matt Gouras reports for the Associated Press on a terse letter sent today to CardSystems Solutions, Inc. from the attorneys general of 44 states.

"It is the responsibility of CardSystems Solutions, Inc. to make sure the public is aware of this security breach ... and to take the appropriate action to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Tennessee Attorney General Paul Summers. The letter called the company's action "unacceptable."

Kelly Spors reports for the Wall St. Journal on yet another fee that Americans traveling abroad may encounter when using their credit and debit cards for purchases.

San Rafael, CA-based Rothken Law Firm has announced the filing of a class action lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against Cardsystems Solutions, Merrick Bank, Visa and MasterCard.

Joris Evers reports on the story for ZDNet News.

• India Times: Beware! US watchdog sniffing Indian BPOs
• Near Field Communication Forum Launches Four Technical Working Groups
• Direct Response Financial Services Launches Branded Stored Value Cash Card
• Cybertrust Online Compliance Program Ensures Adherence to PCI Data Security Standard
• Global Debit Cash Card, Inc. Subsidiary Announces New Private Label Debit Card Program
• UK: Pin number writers risk fraud
• Stored-value card gives travelers added security
• Plot strategy for cash conversion before traveling
• Shere Selects Hypercom to Provide Self-Serve Credit/Debit Card Payment for UK Railway Commuters

Update: See this blink Denver update posted Friday, August 12, 2005.

A very good friend of Glenbrook's, Linda Elliott, lives in the Denver area and just got her very own Chase blink card in the mail. She's just finished writing up part one of a report on her first day's experiences with that blink card in her hands. Great stuff - enjoy!

First Data Corp. has announced that its Primary Payments Systems (PPS) affiliate now covers an estimated 90 percent of all open and active US transaction accounts.

The near total coverage is expected to help save U.S. financial institutions an additional $100 million or more in fraud losses this year. Powered by the databases, the Early Warning deposit and payment risk assessment services help prevent fraud-related losses by notifying users of high-risk deposits and payments via transaction accounts, such as checking, demand deposit, negotiable order of withdrawal, automatic transfer service and credit union share draft accounts. The databases, which are used exclusively for fraud prevention, receive daily updates with non-public secure information regarding accounts, transactions and identities.

MedDirect Health Benefits, a provider of financing to patients seeking affordable ways to pay for healthcare procedures, has announced a strategic partnership with 1Point Solutions, a third party administrator in Dickson, Tennessee.

"MedDirect HSA Plus" offers a full range of other services necessary to administer HSAs.

Central to "MedDirect HSA Plus" is a savings account established with Bancorp Bank that offers superior interest rates, mutual funds and FDIC/SIPC protection, as well as overdraft protection offered through the MedDirect Bridge Line. This overdraft protection is an employer-sponsored benefit, and is available to all employees regardless of their creditworthiness.

The partnership with 1Point Solutions helps to enhance a key element of "MedDirect HSA Plus" - the Bridge Card, a smart debit MasterCard that can be used at the point-of-sale by subscribers for all HSA-eligible expenses.

Matthias Bekier and Kenny Lam write for the McKinsey Quarterly on what Chinese consumers want from their banks.

While Chinese consumers indicate some willingness to use foreign banks, their preference for local ones is stronger than ever: 78 percent of respondents say that doing business with local institutions is important to them, up from 66 percent in 1999.

CashEdge announced this morning that the Los Angeles Firemen's Credit Union, a credit union serving firefighters and their families in the state of California, is using CashEdge's OpenNow and FundNow services. OpenNow/FundNow enables prospective credit union members to securely open and fund a new account in real-time through the credit union's website.

Approximately 95 percent of new online account applicants drop out between enrollment and funding. By offering a single-session solution, CashEdge enables financial institutions to increase dramatically account completion rates among this valuable member-base. Online members are particularly attractive because they are less costly to acquire and more profitable, maintaining higher account balances, utilizing more services and exhibiting higher overall account activity.

• Equifax CEO: Identity Theft Is an Epidemic
• USA Today: Credit card fraud hits small online merchants hard
• National Consumer Group Warns Latest Merchant Lawsuit Against Credit Card Companies Poses Veiled Attempt to Pass Additional Costs Onto Consumer
• TSYS Announces Executive Promotions
• Huntington Protecting Customers From Third-Party Card Processor Breach
• Stored Value Systems Forms Strategic Alliance with Brand Keys, Offering ''Total Solution'' Loyalty Program Consultation
• Identity Theft Impacting the Uptake of On-Line Banking & E-Commerce
• UK: Forgetfulness dogs chip and pin cards
• Some consumers can freeze credit history from prying eyes
• Cyota's Anti-Phishing Data to Further Enhance EarthLink's ScamBlocker
• Days of Tax-Free Online Sales May Be Numbered
• Metavante to Acquire GHR Systems, Adding Consumer Finance and Residential Mortgage Origination Services to Financial Technologies
• Authorize.Net Launches New Integration Center
• FT: Biometrics companies scan a lucrative market
• Steps for Growing Your Purchasing Card Program
• UK: Economy 'at risk from card debt'
• USA Today Editorial: Give consumers the option to freeze out credit crooks
• Retailers go on higher alert to halt credit fraud
• Business as usual for card firms
• Merchant Losses from Online Payment Fraud, Which Amounted to the Seemingly Astronomical Sum of $2.6 Billion in 2004, Still Accounted for just 1.8% of Total Sales
• Newsweek: The Scary New World of Identity Theft

Simon Song writes for The Standard from Hong Kong about eBay's (and PayPal's) efforts in China.

The online auction giant would seem to have every incentive to introduce PayPal to China, which is already its third biggest market outside North America in registered-user terms.

So why is it taking so long?

This week's eAlert from the American Bankers Association reports on the FDIC's recent ID Theft Symposium held in Los Angeles that included the release of a supplement to the agency's recent study, "Putting an End to Account-Hijacking Theft."

Sara Reicks profiles Central Bancard, an emerging merchant card servicer, for the Quad City Times.

"We sign the merchant based on saving money and charging less than the bank or company they're with. We keep them based on a higher level of service."

Albert Crenshaw writes for the Washington Post on the increased fees now associated international use of credit cards.

Consumer Reports, the magazine of Consumers Union, recently compared a credit card, even with a 3 percent fee, with getting cash from a foreign ATM or an exchange shop or foreign bank, using traveler's checks or changing money at a hotel or airport, and found the credit card remained the least expensive way to go.

Lauren Mayk writes for the Lakeland, Florida Ledger on merchant frustrations with the costs of credit card acceptance.

Credit card companies say merchants are blowing the whole fee issue way out of proportion. The fees, known in the industry as "interchange" rates or fees, are set by the credit-card companies and paid to the bank that issues the cards.

Red Herring reports on the battle between eBay and Taobao in China.

“It’s a bit like the early days of the Internet,” says Paul Waide, an editor at Shanghai-based analyst firm Pacific Epoch. “They’re using metrics that don’t really mean anything. What everyone wants to know is how they’re going to turn those into revenues.”

Forrester's Michelle de Lussanet writes about yesterday's announcement that Simpay is shutting down.

The wait for a pan-European mobile payment scheme just got longer, with Simpay's announcement that it will not go ahead with its pan-European development. Forrester isn't surprised: The mobile channel isn't suited for large-scale payment collection because it's too unreliable and too expensive.

The Japan Times reports on losses resulting from the recent security breach at CardSystems Solutions.

The Tokyo office of Visa International Inc. said it has so far found the illicit use of 838 Japanese credit cards issued jointly with Visa, including 658 cases considered to have involved counterfeit cards at retailers. Losses caused through the use of forged cards totaled 79 million, yen or 86 percent, of all losses from unauthorized use following the theft of card information, the office said.

Leslie Walker reports for the Washington Post on eBay's 10th anniversary celebration.

Gary Neubert, a Tampa resident who has sold shipping supplies on eBay since 1999, said he has been steadily building traffic to his own Web site to bypass eBay's commissions whenever possible. Half his sales today come through his own site, he said. Neubert said he and others are increasingly exploring options outside eBay.