Robin Sidel reports for the Wall St. Journal on Visa USA's new CEO John Philip Coghlan.

Mr. Coghlan said he placed a call yesterday to Mallory Duncan, senior vice president and general counsel of the National Retail Federation, a trade organization that has harshly criticized Visa's and MasterCard's fee structures.

"Merchants are under tremendous pressures. I want to be engaged with merchants," said Mr. Coghlan, who ran a grocery-distribution company for five years in the 1980s.

Visa USA has announced the appointment of John Philip Coghlan, 54, as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Coghlan joins Visa following 17 years at Charles Schwab and Company, where he most recently served as vice chairman of The Charles Schwab Corporation and as president of the Schwab Individual Investor Group. Coghlan succeeds Carl F. Pascarella, who held the chief executive officer and president positions for Visa USA since 1993.

Caroline Mayer reports for the Washington Post on credit card rewards programs, the latest form of enticement being used by card issuers to sign new customers.

MBNA says its reward cardholders charge twice as much as its regular cardholders, while American Express says its reward customers charge more than four times as much.

As American Express spokeswoman Desiree Fish said, "We make our money by encouraging consumers to spend with us, be loyal to us -- and we do that by rewards promotions."

First Data Corp. has announced a significantly expanded presence in China and North Asia including new deals with JCB and China's ICBC.

PayPal has announced the launch of PayPal China, a new service specifically designed for Chinese Internet users. Forbes.com has some more background on the announcement of the service from an interview of PayPal International vice president Mathias Entenmann.

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