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.   » Continue Reading

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.   » Continue Reading

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.   » Continue Reading

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.   » Continue Reading

• 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.   » Continue Reading

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.   » Continue Reading

• 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!   » Continue Reading

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."   » Continue Reading

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.

• Seattle Times: Credit Card Data Breach Extends to Northwest

Tom Zeller Jr. reports for the New York Times on steps that "card not present" merchants take to defend themselves against credit card fraud.

"It's like dealing with the Velociraptors in 'Jurrasic Park,' " said Tracy L. Brown, a co-chairwoman of the Merchant Risk Council, an antifraud consortium of some of the largest retailers that accept credit cards online or over the phone.

"They systematically test the fence," Ms. Brown said. "They wait until the electricity is down on the fence and then they strike."

Matthew Haughey has posted an email he received from American Express inviting him to test Amex's new RSS feeds. [Hat tip: Scripting News]

Separately, Microsoft announced today that its next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, will include support for RSS.

“RSS is key to how people will use the Internet in the future by automatically delivering the information that is important to them,” said Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for “Longhorn” browsing and RSS at Microsoft.

“We are investing heavily in RSS for Windows ‘Longhorn’ to make it easy for users to discover, read and subscribe to RSS feeds as well as enable developers to deliver powerful, smart applications that act on the information on behalf of the user.”

First Data has announced that it has expanded its relationship with Citibank including signing a long-term processing agreement that includes expanding the existing relationship to include processing services for the Sears, Roebuck & Co. Card Portfolios.   » Continue Reading

The following notice was posted on Simpay's website this morning:

London — Friday 24th June 2005

Following the decision of one of its founding Members not to launch Simpay for the foreseeable future, the decision was made today at a General Meeting of Simpay not to pursue its activity on a pan-European scale as originally planned.

Instead, Simpay’s operations will be scaled back with immediate effect. Member operators will be able to exploit Simpay’s intellectual property rights at a national level, although international interoperability remains a goal. The members will make known their individual plans in due course.

All of the operators involved in Simpay continue to share the vision of the enormous potential of the mobile commerce market and the importance of providing a robust and straightforward payment facility to content providers.

A key characteristic of the mobile payment field is the high number of international industry initiatives that have eventually failed to produce concrete results. If this morning's announcement is confirmed, then there is a risk that Simpay may not reach the critical mass of operators that is necessary to get the full benefits from establishing an interoperable framework.

Michael Bazeley reports for the San Jose Mercury News on eBay's growth and challenges.

China is turning out to be more drama-filled than some anticipated. Yahoo, which forced eBay to retreat from Japan, is making a play in China. And a brash entrepreneur named Jack Ma has launched Taobao, an eBay clone that Ma says is giving eBay a run for its money. Taobao’s parent company, Alibaba, runs an established and profitable online business-to-business e-commerce site and counts investment companies Softbank and Fidelity Capital as partners.

• Cardholders prey in game of Go Phish
• NY Times: Teenagers and Their Plastic, the Rites of Passage
• PayPal founder on Google's Wallet
• Reducing the attack surface area of credit card data
• Forrester: Payment Card Security: Self-Assessment Is Not Enough
• Metavante to Acquire TREEV, Enhancing Digital Document Storage and Retrieval Solutions
• AP: Federal Laws Needed on ID Theft Notice
• HP ships biometric laptop
• eBay's Safety Chief Talks Security
• Is Pay-Per-View Next for the Search Heavyweights?
• Business Week: The Hacker Got Me
• MyLastStamp.org - National Web Site Promotes Easy Enrollment Into Direct Payment
• Travelers Beware: Bankrate.com Sheds Light on Hidden Credit Card Charges

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.   » Continue Reading

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."   » Continue Reading

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."   » Continue Reading

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

Jonathan Krim reports for the Washington Post on 2005, the "year of the data breach."

"We've used weak practices for some time," said Chuck Wade, an Internet security and commerce consultant. "The vulnerabilities are well known, and we have not been improving the security measures . . . as we should have been."

Morgan Stanley announced quarterly earnings results this morning for the quarter ending May 31, 2005 -- including results for its Credit Services unit which is primarily made up of Discover Card. Financial details were included in the Financial Supplement (PDF).

Discover reported 45.9 million accounts of which 19.3 million were active. Transaction volume increased 4 percent year over year to $25.4 billion and 314 million transactions for the first quarter at an average ticket of $80.89. Merchant, cardmember and other fees were $486 million, up 4 percent.

Managed credit card loans remained flat at $46.8 billion while net interest income fell $108 million due to a narrower interest rate spread. Average receivables per active account were $2,426, up 4 percent. Payment volume per active account was $1,306, up 8 percent. Net credit chargeoffs were the best in four years declining to 4.94 percent from 6.48 percent.

Credit Services also reported 452 million Pulse PIN debit transactions for the quarter.

Eric Dash reports for the New York Times on an investigation begun last week by the Federal Financial Institutions Examining Council into the security breach at CardSystems Solutions.

Visa USA has announced the launch of its Hispanic Financial Education Campaign, a new program aimed at providing Hispanic consumers with tools for financial decisions.   » Continue Reading

Union Bank of California has become the first west coast bank to offer its business customers the Universal Payment Identification Code (UPIC).

Developed by the Electronic Payments Network, the ACH business of The Clearing House Payments Co. L.L.C., a UPIC is a unique bank account identifier that allows companies to receive electronic payments without divulging their sensitive banking information. UPICs are for credit payments only and are portable from one institution to another.

Tony Adams of the Columbus, GA Ledger-Enquirer profiles TSYS' risk management efforts.

At his company's annual meeting in April, TSYS Chief Executive Officer Phil Tomlinson bluntly told shareholders the credit-card processor fends off 100,000 hacking attempts each week.

Here's a recent Ask Glenbrook question we received:

Q. How can you pay for AOL on your phone bill?

A. AOL does offer its customers the option to pay for their monthly subscriptions on their phone bills if they do not have credit cards, debit cards, or checking accounts available to pay them directly. Due to the additional processing cost involved, AOL charges an additional $5.00 per month for this service, which they obtain through a processor called PaymentOne.

• AP: Technology Finding New Ways to Pay
• NFIB and Visa USA Announce 2005 'Youth Entrepreneur of the Year' Winner
• Chiba Institute of Technology To Implement World's First Student I.D. System Using Fujitsu Palm Vein Authentication
• MoneyGram International Selected By Wal-Mart As Its Financial Services Supplier of the Year
• WSJ: Threatening eBay's Dominance, More Online Sellers Go It Alone
• AP: Consumers May Not Feel Safe About Plastic
• CardSystems Tightens Security
• Business Week: More Fun With Google Wallet
• 'Inside jobs' cripple financial firms: Deloitte
• FireOne Group and Phantom Fiber Partner to Provide Advanced Mobile Payment Solution
• San Jose Mercury News: eBay CEO Meg Whitman on Google Wallet
• USA Today: ID Thieves Search Ultimate Pot of Gold - Databases
• National Australia Bank raised alarm about credit card fraud
• How to prevent credit card fraud
• June issue of Smart Card Talk from the Smart Card Alliance

Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writer, reports on comments made earlier Tuesday by Google CEO Eric Schmidt in which Schmidt said Google does not intend to offer a person-to-person, stored-value payments system.

"The payment services we are working on are a natural evolution of Google's existing online products and advertising programs which today connect millions of consumers and advertisers," Schmidt said. He declined to elaborate.

Bruce Meyerson, AP Business Writer, reports on the use of cell phones for payments.

"The benefits of having a wallet on your phone with multiple cards are overblown," said Murdo Munro, a MasterCard executive involved with PayPass. "If a consumer has to boot up an application on the phone, and then go through four or five menus, and then choose a card to make a payment, that's an awful lot slower and less convenient than just taking a card out of your wallet."

A new study by Ohio State University of Ohio consumers suggests that savvy card users are shopping around, finding the cards with the lowest interest rates to minimize their payments.

Business Week's Silicon Valley Bureau chief Robert Hof reports on rumors of Google entering the electronic payment business.

So far, it hasn't paid to underestimate Google. But for all the potential firepower the search giant brings to this battle, it's still PayPal's to lose. Don't look for that to happen anytime soon.

Robert Berner and Adrienne Carter report for Business Week on credit card fraud.

Improved systems to detect bogus transactions have produced a decade-long decline in fraud as a percentage of overall dollar transactions. In 2004, illegal credit-card purchases totaled $788 million in the U.S., down from $882 million in 2003, according to Nilson Report, a trade publication. That represents just 4.7 cents for $100 worth of purchases, well down from a high of 15.7 cents in 1992.

• MasterCard scandal: More details emerge
• Hackers score big by thinking small, experts say
• Security Leak Reveals Weaknesses
• Union Bank of California Inks 5-Year Pact with IntraNet Worldwide
• Chase Puts An ATM At Every Duane Reade Store
• U.S. Bank Opens Coeur d'Alene Service Center
• TD Banknorth Expands Payment Options Through Princeton eCom's CollectPay One-Time Pay(TM) Solution
• New Study by Identity Theft 911 Shows Severe Impact of Identity Theft on New York State Residents
• Xign Celebrates Fifth Anniversary at the Forefront of Financial Supply Chain Transformation
• Should PayPal Fear Looming 'Google Wallet' Service?
• Seagate preps hard-disk encryption technology
• Hacking and phishing soars in May
• Zend Collaborates With PayPal to Strengthen PHP Web Services
• Japan: Card data theft threatens thousands
• Japan: 9 out of 10 banks reduce daily ATM limits

Tom Zeller Jr. reports for the New York Times in Tuesday's edition on the illicit trading in stolen credit card data that takes place on the Internet.

"There's so much to this," said Jim Melnick, a former Russian affairs analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency who is now the director of threat development at iDefense, a company in Reston, Va., that tracks cybercrime.

"The story that needs to be told is the larger, long-term threat to the American financial industry. It's a cancer. It's not going to kill you now, but slowly, over time."

Robin Sidel and Mitchell Pacelle report for the Wall St. Journal in Tuesday's edition on the banking industry implications of the security breach reported last Friday involving up to 40 million cardholders.

In the end, banks often conclude that it is more expensive to replace compromised cards than to step up account monitoring and absorb fraud losses when they occur. Visa estimates that when breaches do happen, only 2% of the exposed cards end up with any fraudulent charges on them.

MSNBC carries this evening's Associated Press update on the rumored Google payment service, reportedly codenamed Google Wallet.

AFP reported tonight on some of the implications for cardholders in Asia-Pacific following last Friday's announcement by MasterCard of a security breach at CardSystems Solutions.

In Australia, about 50,000 Mastercard and another 77,000 Visa card holders are believed to have been at risk, ABC radio reported Tuesday. However, the banks issuing the cards said that most of those affected have already been issued with replacements after irregular transactions were picked up as early as last December.

American Express has announced a number of organization and management changes driven in part by the previously announced retirement of David House.

Of note, Amex's Global Network Services business (it's bank co-branding initiative) will now report to CFO Gary Crittenden. In addition, Bill Glenn will assume worldwide responsibility for operations, pricing, marketing and strategy for the development of the American Express closed-loop merchant network.

RSA Security has announced two US banks (Allentown, Pennsylvania-based American Bank and West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Stonebridge Bank) who will be adopting RSA's SecurID two-factor authentication for use by their online banking customers.   » Continue Reading

A.T. Kearney has announced the results of a new study that concludes retail banking customers show little inherent attachment to their financial institutions   » Continue Reading

Eplaw's Ethan Preston explores some of the potential implications of the card data security breach at CardSystems Solutions announced late Friday by MasterCard.

Lee Gomes reports for the Wall St. Journal on inside the world of phishers and phishing attacks.

Phishers, not surprisingly, are savvy about their targets. For instance, it wasn't just a coincidence that Washington Mutual was a phisher favorite. Mr. Abad says it was widely known in the phishing underground that a flaw in the communications between the bank's ATM machines and its mainframe computers made it especially easy to manufacture fake Washington Mutual ATM cards.

Michele Chandler reports for the San Jose Mercury News on a new partnership between Pay By Touch and VeriFone.

Pay By Touch is negotiating to bring its technology to a Bay Area grocer sometime later this year, said John Morris, the company's president and chief operating officer. He said a deal could be formalized within the next two months with a food chain he declined to name. Pay By Touch is also in discussions with fast food restaurants, discount stores and convenience chains.

Subway's Independent Purchasing Cooperative (IPC) has announced the selection of Chockstone, Inc. as its partner for comprehensive gift and loyalty card services for all of its restaurant locations in the U.S. and Canada.   » Continue Reading

See the following Ask Glenbrook question we recently received:

I have a small business in the U.S. and outsource a bit of work to China, and I'm looking for a good way to send payment to them. Can you suggest a reliable, cost effective way to do this?

China FX is highly regulated, so beneficiaries must bring in paperwork to their banks to obtain funds, so delivery of actual funds can be delayed.

Eric Dash reports in Monday's New York Times on the card security breach reported on Friday by MasterCard.

The chief of the credit card processing company whose computer system was penetrated by data thieves, exposing 40 million cardholders to a risk of fraud, acknowledged yesterday that the company should not have been retaining those records.

• A look inside Google's Online Wallet
• Health Savings Accounts Build More Than Just Deposits
• Ebay shares sink on talk Google eyeing PayPal rival
• Users of PayPal seems to be rejoiced about Google Rumors
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