Morgan Stanley announced this afternoon that it has decided to retain its Discover Financial Services unit, reversing a previous decision made a few months ago by the company's former CEO.

The company's new CEO, John Mack, said "having looked closely at the Discover business the Board and I are convinced that Discover is not only a strong business, but also an attractive asset for Morgan Stanley. It is a unique, successful franchise with growth opportunities that gives Morgan Stanley a consistent stream of stable, high-quality earnings and substantial cash flow, diversifies the Company's earnings and broadens our scale and capital base."   » Continue Reading

China Martens reports for the IDG News Service that Amazon.com will pay $40 million to Soverain Software "to settle two lawsuits alleging patent infringement."

TowerGroup has announced new research examining the impact that phishing attacks may be having on fraud perpetrated at ATMs and debit POS locations that concludes that losses from fraud due to phishing runs about $81 million annually in the US.   » Continue Reading

Peppercoin has announced that it has secured $8 million in additional funding from venture capital firm Wall Street Technology Partners and previous investor Pod Holding. Peppercoin also announced that Mark Friedman has been named president and chief executive officer.   » Continue Reading

alarm:clock profiles China's 99Bill.

Focused on eCommerce in China, 99Bill offers an email and mobile phone number-based online payment platform.

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