Robert Guy Matthews reports for the Wall St. Journal on efforts by 18 states to begin collecting sales taxes on online purchases.

The issue is increasingly important to cash-hungry states as online sales skyrocket. A recent study by William Fox, an economist at the University of Tennessee, estimates that states and local governments will lose $18 billion in online sales tax in 2005. To ensure that they get their share, 18 states have banded together to simplify their myriad tax rules, regulations and quirks.

Clint Swett reports for the Sacramento Bee on mobile commerce applications.

So you're stuck in a meeting, but outside where your car is parked, the meter is ticking and a city parking enforcer is cruising like a shark. No problem. Just feed the meter from your cell phone.

• Global Payments Provides Comprehensive Transaction Processing Solutions for Alpha Card Services
• JCB Joins MasterCard and Visa in Global PIN Entry Device Security Requirements
• TIME: Questions for Meg Whitman
• ICBA Bancard Announces Remote Deposit for Community Banks

American Express has announced the IN:LA Card, a fee-free credit card that is the latest in its suite of "city cards". See the IN:LA website for more details.   » Continue Reading

Ina Steiner reports for AuctionBytes this morning on plans by Amazon.com to enable buyers to pay for their purchases through their bank accounts rather than using credit or debit cards.

Amazon.com will create an electronic funds transfer or bank draft, which will be presented to the buyer's bank or financial institution for payment from their bank account. Bank accounts must be valid automated clearing house ("ACH")-enabled at a U.S.-based financial institution, and transactions must be payable in U.S. dollars.

Just a reminder that we'll be holding an online workshop on mobile payments as announced earlier.

We'll be kicking things off next Monday. If you've already contacted me to participate, great. If you haven't and would like to join the group, please email me right away and tell me more about your interest and why you'd like to participate. No charge to participate. It should be fun and a learning experience for all of us!

Robin Sidel and Evan Perez report for the Wall St. Journal on the role some credit card issuers and acquirers are having to play as airlines with co-branded cards struggle financially to recover.

In another example of the maneuvering between card companies and airlines, Atlanta-based Delta yesterday finally signed a new two-year card-processing agreement with U.S. Bancorp, which handles the airline's Visa and MasterCard transactions. The deal ended a months-long dispute in which the bank was demanding a protective cash cushion -- now estimated by Delta to be between $600 million and $800 million -- in case Delta went out of business.

• U.S. Banker Ranks the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking
• Visa USA delays plan to cut ties with CardSystems
• ACI and SIDE International Announce Global Partnership for Anti Money Laundering Solutions
• CompuCredit to Acquire CardWorks
• New Prepaid Credit Card Features from USA Paycard, Inc.
• Australia: Get the card chip or risk fraud: VISA

CNN reports on the ABA's second quarter analysis of credit card delinquency rates which hit an all-time record at 4.81 percent of credit card accounts.

"The last two quarters have not been pretty. Gas prices are taking huge chunks out of wallets, leaving some individuals with little left to meet their financial obligations," said ABA chief economist James Chessen in a statement.

Visa USA has announced it will be holding a summit of security-minded professionals on October 5th in Washington, DC.   » Continue Reading

Bank of America today announced a free nationwide remittance service for sending money to Mexico that eliminates transfer fees.   » Continue Reading

Glenbrook's newest partner, Linda Elliott, an identity (and payments industry) "insider", will be joining Carol Coye Benson as one of the instructors at our upcoming Glenbrook Authentication Boot Camp being held on October 13th in Mountain View, California.

The Authentication Boot Camp is meant both for financial institutions and for technology vendors and service providers who want to better understand current thinking - and plans within the financial services community - regarding online banking access and eCommerce payment security.

More information, including registration details, is available at the Glenbrook Authentication Boot Camp Course Overview.

Ted Griffith reports for the Wilmington (DE) News Journal on a public hearing yesterday by the Delaware bank commissioner looking into Bank of America's proposed acquisition of MBNA.

At the hearing, Bank of America executive Henry Fulton repeated that the bank has not made decisions on the location of job losses. MBNA is the state's largest private employer with about 10,500 employees; Bank of America employs about 1,300 here in credit card call centers in Dover and near Christiana.

• First Data Elects Peter Ellwood to Board of Directors; Bernard Schwartz Resigns from Board of Directors After 14 Years of Service
• $10 Note Gets a New Look
• ZDNet: Australia proposes smart cards for millions
• Click&Buy Unveils Secure Mobile Payment Platform for SanDisk's TrustedFlash(TM) Card
• Digital Insight and Compass Bank Renew, Expand Agreement for Corporate Banking Services Through 2008
• eFunds Launches Prepaid Gift Card Solution for Small to Mid-Sized Financial Institutions and Credit Unions
• Axalto and ChamberSign France to Secure French Companies' Online Administrative Procedures
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Partners with Wells Fargo
• Quantum Loyalty Systems Selects FSV to Launch Prepaid Card-Based Movie Admissions

Visa USA announced today the "10-year anniversary of the integrated marketing campaign that enabled an innovative, ground-breaking product to transform the way people pay for goods and services throughout the country - the Visa check card."   » Continue Reading

The Wall St. Journal reports this morning on Bank of America's national rollout of a free money transfer service to Mexico tied to the bank's checking accounts. More information on the bank's SafeSend program is available on the bank's web site.

In remarks yesterday, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis provided some background on the bank's recent decision to invest $3 billion in China Construction Bank.   » Continue Reading

• New Study: Online Merchants Miss $5.5 Billion Opportunity in Digital Commerce
• The New Mio(TM) Money Prepaid MasterCard(R) and Mio(TM) Now Card Provide a Safe and Flexible Way to Pay
• Barclays US Credit Card Operation Announces Creation of 450 New Jobs in Colorado Springs
• TriCipher Launches Online Fraud Prevention Solution for the Financial Services Industry
• Yodlee Partners with KUBRA to Expand Biller Network
• Pantech Launches Biometric Cell Phone Featuring AuthenTec Fingerprint Sensor
• ViVOtech Secures 18.25 Million in Series B Funding from Draper Fisher Jurveston, Nokia Growth Partners, DFJ Gotham and Alloy Ventures
• Hypercom Names Neil P. Hudd Senior Vice President, Global Product Marketing
• S1 Delivers Advanced Internet Banking Platform to National Savings and Investments

Marketwatch is reporting that four major merchant associations have filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging that some banks and credit card companies are engaging in collusive practices by setting credit-card interchange fees at high levels.   » Continue Reading

ViVOtech has announced the industry's first end-to-end Near Field Communication (NFC) payment solution.

The new ViVOnfc solution provides a secure infrastructure that will accelerate the adoption and usage of NFC enabled mobile phones. With ViVOnfc, users with NFC phones will be able to "carry their credit and debit cards virtually" and make Contactless payments at merchant locations.

NFC technology provides short-range wireless connectivity -- over a typical distance of just 2-4 inches. Since NFC devices do not operate over a carrier's radio spectrum, they can be used anywhere.

• SmartMoney.com: The Best Credit-Card Rewards Programs
• Mobile Payment Forum to Hold Public Webinar Sept. 30, on State of the M-Payment Industry and Forum Activities
• Fair Isaac Partners with Major Data Providers to Deliver Stronger Identity Fraud Protection
• Digital Resolve Adds Website Authentication Module™ To Fraud Analyst Line
• GeoTrust Introduces Industry's First Trusted Search Service Aimed at Avoiding Online Fraud, Phishing and Identity Theft
• Utix Signs Distribution and Marketing Agreements With Industry Leaders: Points.com and Vertrue, Inc.
• Freedom Point: Introducing a Prepaid Card Designed for People in Debt
• Heartland Payment Systems to Repurchase Merchant Portfolio
• Leap Inks Agreement with Motricity to Integrate Its Fuel Platform for Enriched Mobile Content Delivery
• Asia Pay Establishes NETS Connectivity for e-Commerce Merchants into Southeast Asia

Michelle Singletary writes a great column for the Washington Post clearing up the distinction between changes to the US bankruptcy law about to take effect and unrelated changes to credit card minimum payments resulting from pressures on credit card issuers from financial regulators.   » Continue Reading

Jonathan Epstein reports for the Buffalo News on contactless payments.

Such "contactless" payments are the newest effort by banks, credit card companies and merchants to extend the reach of plastic payments and reduce Americans' reliance on cash. The goal is to make it possible to pay for small-dollar purchases by using credit or debit cards where they haven't been used before, but without tying up the consumer and merchant.

Joe Light reports for the Boston Globe on how easy it is to get personal information.

If I chose, not only could I drain her bank account and rack up charges on the Visa, but with her Social Security number, I could probably open new credit cards -- maybe even a mortgage -- long before she discovered a problem. Ultimately, she would likely not be responsible for the charges, but it might take days -- or months -- to rectify her credit.

Margaret Webb Pressier reports for the Washington Post on how credit card companies are benefiting from the increased price of gasoline.

So a year ago, when gas prices averaged $1.87, banks involved in credit card processing made about $12.5 million a day on fees. Now, with prices averaging $2.75 nationally, the credit card companies are raking in $18.4 million a day. That is $183 million more a month, or nearly $2.2 billion dollars on an annual basis in extra money paid to the nation's banking giants just because of rising gasoline prices.

Katherine Heine reports for the Cox News Service on the evolution and future of mobile commerce and mobile payments.

The benefits are obvious: being able to make quick transactions from anywhere and customizing repeat purchases. But the number of businesses and banks equipped to deal with mobile wireless transactions is limited because of the relative newness of the technology in the States. And the technology used to convert Internet pages into user-friendly images on a cell phone screen is still being worked on.

A California judge ruled Friday that Visa USA and MasterCard don't have to send individual warnings to thousands of consumers whose personal account information was stolen during the breach at CardSystems earlier this year.

"I don't see the emergency," San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer said in rejecting a request for an order against the nation's two largest credit card associations. "I don't think there is an immediate threat of irreparable injury" to consumers.

Debitman has announced the closing of a $3.6 million equity financing led by Cardinal Venture Capital with participation by Selby Venture Partners. Eric Dunn, General Partner of Cardinal and Jim Marshall, General Partner of Selby have joined the company's board of directors. Dunn will also be chairman of the board.   » Continue Reading

CyberSource this morning announced it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to acquire the assets of CardSystems Solutions.

"We are excited about this acquisition," said Bill McKiernan, chairman and CEO of CyberSource. "It will mean a strategic expansion of CyberSource's payment platform, and allow current CardSystems customers and partners to continue processing without interruption. The addition of the CardSystems technology extends CyberSource's capability to offer innovative, end-to-end payment solutions to its customers."

Eric Dash reports for the New York Times on rumors that CyberSource is close to submitting a letter of intent to buy CardSystems.

Roman Friedrich, Johannes Bussmann, Olaf Acker, and Niklas Dieterich of Booz Allen Hamilton have written a new white paper titled "Making Mobile Payment Work for Everyone."

ecent advances in handset, chip, and mobile network technologies and upgrades to the point-of-sale infrastructure along with better teamwork among the players have dramatically improved the environment for mobile payment solutions across the globe.

Robin Sidel reports for the Wall St. Journal on American Express' efforts to attract younger consumers to its cards and away from bank debit cards.

So now American Express is on a high-stakes hunt for young customers, forcing the company to learn the byways of an unfamiliar new marketplace. At the center of its quest is a new series of no-fee credit cards for urbanites who are single, age 25 to 35, dine out often, like to drink and aspire to be hip.

• AuthenTec to Showcase Biometric Cell Phone Applications During TCG ''Security and Mobile Devices'' Seminar at CTIA Wireless Conference
• Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Announce Coordinated Encryption Standards
• Marriott Rewards(R) and Visa Offer Double Points to Members
• Wachovia to Purchase International Banking Business of Union Bank of California

The San Francisco Business Times reports that Wells Fargo president and COO John Stumpf has been elected chairman of Visa USA.

Stumpf has served on Visa's board since 2002. As part of this week's move to Visa USA's chairmanship, Stumpf will resign his posts on the Visa International and Inovant boards.

Stumpf takes over the position of chairman from Pat Phillips, Bank of America's president of premier banking and investments. Phillips, a member of the Visa USA board since 1990, retires as Visa USA chairman, a post he has held for two years. Philips also retires from the Visa International board where he has served since 1995.

Glenbrook Partners has announced that industry executive Linda Elliott has joined the firm as a partner.   » Continue Reading

Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York held a conference on "Antitrust Activity in Card-Based Payment Systems: Causes and Consequences." A number of the papers presented at the conference are now available online.

James Kelleher reports for Reuters on comments from industry analysts yesterday saying that the U.S. credit card industry is heading into a "perfect storm" that could trigger a radical reshaping of the business.

Competition from mortgage lenders, lawsuits over transaction fees, growing regulatory scrutiny about consumer disclosures and the almost universal elimination of annual fees are largely to blame for the troubles.

• Retalix and Pay By Touch to Deliver Biometric Payment Integration for Grocery Retailers; Alliance Will Allow Consumers to ``Pay By Touch'' at Supermarkets
• Surviving the Credit Crunch: Increased Minimum Credit Card Payments Burden the Debt Distressed
• GE Money Canada launches business MasterCard for small- and medium-sized businesses
• XConnect, eBIZ.mobility - Micro-Payments System Opens New Revenue Stream for Internet Telephony Service Providers
• Wired: Fraud Sinks Subway's Sub Club
• NetBank CEO Elected New Chairman of BAI Board
• Diebold Announces New Corporate Structure
• Beware: Businesses are charging 'processing fees' for debit cards
• Ingenico opts for Hand Held Products' Image Engines for Spanish Lottery
• Ben Cukier Named Partner at FTVentures
• Mobile phones are more than just phones in China
• VeriFone Prices Follow-On Offering

• Leadpile.com Says Online Commerce to Pass One Trillion Dollar Mark by 2012
• Infonox Launches Comprehensive Fraud Prevention Solution
• AuctionBytes: eBay-Owned PayPal Says Problems with Debit Cards Continue
• Coinamatic Selects New Hypercom T7Plus Credit/Debit Card Terminals for Innovative SmartCity(R) Smart Card Reload System
• Pittsburgh: Counterfeiters blanket area with funny money
• Analysts: Microsoft's Latest Move into Identity Management Could Signal Smart-Card Renaissance
• Iveri And SIMTEL Implement Mobile Payments In Rwanda

Rob Lieber reports in the new Saturday edition of the Wall St. Journal on how the new batch of cash rewards credit cards are offering better deals than frequent flier rewards cards.

Getting up to five cents back for every dollar charged instead of one mile for every dollar spent (which is what most of the airline mile cards offer) makes sense only if a mile is worth less than five cents. Is it? The short answer is, almost always.

James Kelleher reports for Reuters on comments today by Ruth Ann Marshall, MasterCard's president for the Americas, saying that MasterCard expects there will be four million PayPass contactless cards in circulation by the end of the year.

Marshall said the pay-pass cards were "easier to use than cash" and were one of the products MasterCard was counting on to increase revenue and profits as it faces a variety of challenges in the marketplace, including new rivals and regulatory scrutiny.

Metris and Discover have announced a definitive agreement for Metris to issue a new credit card on the Discover network.   » Continue Reading

American Express has announced the IN:CHICAGO Card, "a fee-free credit card designed for young and social Chicago residents that offers exclusive rewards at some of the city's hottest restaurants, swank clubs, live entertainment, and cultural institutions."   » Continue Reading

Financial institutions face serious repercussions should they suffer a data security breach according to the 2005 EDS Financial Services Privacy and Customer Relationship Management Survey.

The survey indicates 30 percent of consumers would close all accounts and move their business to another financial institution if their personal information was compromised and a further 10 percent would close some of their accounts and use another bank. In addition, 55 percent would discontinue banking until they felt the crisis was resolved.   » Continue Reading

• Online fraud 'ahead' of credit-card companies-experts
• FSTC Leads the Industry in Dealing With Identity Theft; Twenty Industry Leaders Convene to Examine Solutions and Develop Framework
• Phoenix Technologies Ltd. and Cogent Systems Partner to Create First Biometric Solution Tied to Core System Security; Partnership Will Offer Stronger Multifactor Authentication and Enhanced Security
• Oberthur Card Systems provides Smart Cards for Orlando Registered Traveler ''Clear'' Program
• CashEdge Expands Risk Management Services
• Merchant Advisory on Mailing of Claim Forms for the Distribution of Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation Settlement Fund
• Sovereign Introduces Banking Program that Rewards Small Business Owners
• Rogers Trials New Payment Technology by MINT and MasterCard
• Microsoft Acquires Identity and Access Management Solutions Provider Alacris
• Visa launches bill pay in India
• KeyBank Expands Identity Theft Protection

[Update: 2/16/06 - The MasterCard IPO is delayed due to the CEO having surgery for prostate cancer.]

I took a bit of time this weekend to read through the MasterCard IPO S-1 registration filing filed mid-week with the SEC. These are my notes on some of the more interesting comments I found. Note that you can add your own comments by clicking on the link Comments below.   » Continue Reading

• The Marvin Companies Creates New Consumer Credit Program; GE Consumer Finance to Provide Private Label Credit Card Financing
• Arizona Republic: Credit cards are not the root of all debt
• AP: A financial storm: Hurricane victims piling up credit card debt
• Great Falls Tribune: Money isn't only thing identity thieves target
• AP: Phishing underworld flourishing online
• International Herald Tribune: Wireless: Smart cards make inroads in European transit

David Birch of Consult Hyperion writes for Principia on contactless payments and how they deliver appropriate levels of security and privacy.

In a typical retail environment the retailer's point-of-sale (POS) terminal and the payment token both contain a microprocessor; the microprocessors communicate using a payment protocol (on top of the ISO 14443 protocol for basic data exchange).

When it is time to pay, the customer brings their tag close to the POS terminal. The terminal interrogates the card and gets back the serial number and a cryptogram (a one-time code calculated inside the token). It feeds these to the acquiring bank, which passes them back to the issuer. From the serial number, the issuer knows which account to authorise and from the cryptogram the issuer knows that the token is valid.

The cryptogram is made up from the serial number and a transaction counter, encrypted using the token security key. This key is inserted in the token during manufacturing; it is derived from the serial number and a bank master key. Once in the token, it is never divulged.

[Update: 2/1/06 - See this post for updated links to new bank investor presentations!] The Lehman Brothers 2005 Financial Services Conference was held earlier this week and many banks participated with updated presentations on their strategies, etc.

Here are some links to those presentations (mostly PDF's): Bank of America, Commerce, Fifth Third, Huntington, JP Morgan Chase, KeyCorp, M&T Bank, National City, PNC, SunTrust, Synovus, US Bank, Wachovia, Washington Mutual/Providian, and Wells Fargo.

Presumably at next year's conference MasterCard will be presenting as a public company!   » Continue Reading

First Data Corp. held one of its semi-annual investor conferences yesterday in Denver focused on its international businesses. The slides from the conference presentation (PPT) are available online.

Coinbridge, a new point of payment consulting, integration and research firm has just launched its new web site.

Coinbridge was founded by Ryan Donahue. A founding member of the PayPal design and user research group, Donahue was instrumental in the strategic design of PayPal's merchant services and played a key role in defining the customer experience for many of PayPal's most successful products from 2000-2005.

The Globe and Mail carries a Bloomberg report on MasterCard's IPO plans.

The $5-billion valuation gives Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard a price-to-earnings multiple of 11.7 times, similar to that of Capital One Financial Corp. The sale may push Visa International Service Association, the largest card company, to consider an IPO that could value it at triple MasterCard, said David Robertson, publisher of Nilson Report, a credit card newsletter.

"Now that there's a firm valuation to MasterCard, investment bankers and others are going to be pressuring Visa to make a similar move," Mr. Robertson said. "There's tremendous unrealized value in Visa."

• UK: High street stores start accepting mobile vouchers
• Australia: Banks divided over biometrics

AP Technology Writer Brian Bergstein reviews the MobileLime mobile payment service from Watertown, Mass.-based Vayusa Inc.

Most attractive are the discounts many MobileLime merchants offer in exchange for being able to track your spending. I got two freshly made smoothies for a total of just $1.09 thanks to the combination of two such deals. But that's about the only real advantage. It's not like you actually can leave your wallet at home.

MasterCard has announced it has filed a registration statement with the SEC for its proposed IPO.   » Continue Reading

Fidelity National Financial and Certegy have announced the signing of a definitive Merger Agreement under which Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. and Certegy will combine operations to form a single publicly traded entity.   » Continue Reading

Dan Ilett reports for Silicon.com on Gartner's report on PayPal's micropayments pricing written by Avivah Litan that we reported on last week.

Banks and vendors should sell PayPal payments to retail customers, instead of trying to compete with the online company, an analyst has claimed.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports on the Reserve Bank of Australia's September bulletin showing a contraction in the value of credit card transactions to $13.544 billion in July from $14.209 billion in June.

CommSec chief equities analyst Craig James said there had been a noticeable slowdown in credit card activity in 2005. "The remarkable thing is the average credit card balance is actually lower now than what it was in December of last year," Mr James said. "So for a seven month period, you've actually seen the balance contract rather than expand and that's just unheard of."

• Attention shoppers: More retail card deals seen
• Australia: Banks to adopt fingerprint id security
• MobileLime Review: Mobile Payment Has Growing Pains
• VeriFone and McAfee Deliver Payment Antivirus Solution
• Coca-Cola vending machines to offer mobile content
• First Data Names David Dibble Chief Technology Officer
• Qpass Creates Faster Path to Profit for Mobile and Media Industries with New Content Services Offering; Launches Fully-Managed Service for Creating Content-Heavy Digital Superstores
• PayPal Problems Continue to Plague Debit-Card Holders
• Citibank to lift stake in Shanghai Pudong Dev Bank to 19.9 pct - report
• The Identity Theft Resource Center(TM) (ITRC) Releases Its Second Identity Theft Victimization Study - 'Identity Theft: The Aftermath 2004'
• Alliance Data Systems Signs Multi-Year Agreements With Leading Building Material Supplier
• Asia Pay Continues to Increase Transaction Processing Volumes
• Affluent Americans More Concerned About Identify Theft Than Terrorism

The UK's Competition Commission has announced that it has provisionally concluded that the market for private label store cards and associated insurance isn't competitive. In a press release (PDF), the Commission said:

The Competition Commission (CC) has provisionally concluded that there is an adverse effect on competition in connection with the supply of consumer credit through store cards and associated insurance in the UK. It has estimated that in broad terms, store card APRs are on average some 10 to 20 per cent higher across the store card market as a whole than they would have been had they reflected providers’ costs, including the cost of capital. The detriment to cardholders in terms of the excess prices paid for credit and insurance is in the region of £80 million to £100 million a year.

• Big cash is being tucked into wallet phones
• Rowe International Selects Peppercoin to Credit Card-Enable Jukeboxes
• Comerica Data Vault Provides 'Safe Haven' For Banking Company's Business Customers
• Robert Lipp to join JPMorganChase as Senior Advisor
• CSC and Fidelity Information Services Form Alliance to Offer Top-Tier Banks Innovative Services
• Wells Fargo Introduces Stagecoach Island - Industry's First Virtual Reality Online Game to Help Young Adults with Financial Literacy
• American Bankers Association Renews and Expands Exclusive Endorsement of Digital Insight Products and Services Through 2008
• Taipei: Visa turns to debit cards to boost its market share
• India success story excites GE Money

HSBC Bank USA has announced that is has begun issuing new debit cards with MasterCard PayPass contactless technology. The bank said it expects to issue about 1 million cards through the end of 2005 and will be the first bank to completely reissue its debit cards to include PayPass.   » Continue Reading

Coinstar and Amazon.com have announced the two companies will team to provide a convenient new way for consumers to use cash to make online purchases. The Coinstar and Amazon agreement makes it possible for customers to exchange coins and also bills at Coinstar Centers -- with no transaction fee -- for a gift certificate redeemable at Amazon.com.   » Continue Reading

China's TOM Online has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with UMPAY (Union Mobile Pay Ltd.) to jointly develop and market bank card, debit card and credit card-based mobile payment products and services in China.   » Continue Reading

• Citigroup Global Consumer Group Announces New Organizational Structure to Increase Customer Focus and Leverage Deep Bench of Talent
• Global Payments Introduces ATM Cash @dvantage(R) Product for Gaming Industry
• MetroPCS and Visa Make It Easier for Subscribers to Connect With Funds Using New Prepaid Visa Card
• Digital Envoy Creates New Business Unit Devoted To Online Fraud And Identity Theft Prevention
• Verid Completes Funding with Investment from Fidelity Ventures
• Bankers Systems and S1 Corporation Expand Alliance
• Hypercom Launches Unified Tactical Initiative to Expand Global Market Share
• Leading Industry Expert in Mobile Technology & Information Security Joins Towergroup as Director of Emerging Technologies
• Weak tone seen for Japan's wallet phones in Asia
• Chinese to use Citigroup cash machines abroad
• Third Screen Media Joins Forces with Crisp Wireless to Create Mobile Promotions Management Suite
• Authorize.Net, a Service of Lightbridge, Announces Additional eCheck.Net(R) Enhancements for Merchants and Resellers
• Asia Pay Enters Into Partnership With NETS

Evan Schuman writes for Ziff Davis Internet on PayPal's recent modification to its pricing for micropayments - defined as purchases typically less than $2.

The Center for Financial Services Innovation has announced its nonprofit grant recipients for 2005.   » Continue Reading

BankFirst and Next Estate Communications have announced a master agreement allowing BankFirst's 150+ prepaid card programs to be reloaded at Next Estate Communications' Green Dot(TM) Financial Network retail locations.   » Continue Reading

[Update: eBay has posted on its web site the presentation (PDF) used in its investor call earlier this morning.]

eBay has announced an agreement to acquire Skype Technologies SA for $2.6 billion plus additional performance-based compensation.

The acquisition will strengthen eBay's global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business and creating significant new monetization opportunities for the company. The deal also represents a major opportunity for Skype to advance its leadership in Internet voice communications and offer people worldwide new ways to communicate in a global online era. Skype, eBay and PayPal will create an unparalleled ecommerce and communications engine for buyers and sellers around the world.

PayPal and Skype also make a powerful combination. For example, a PayPal wallet associated with each Skype account could make it much easier for users to pay for Skype fee-based services, adding to the number of PayPal accounts and increasing payment volume.

• Fortune: Why Skype? EBay's Still Thinking Big
• FT.com: ebay looks to mirror pay-pal’s success
• Global Payments Announces Appointment of Tony Abruzzio to Vice President, U.S. Merchant Product Solutions
• Corillian Awarded Global Security Certification
• MoneyGram Selects MessageWay(R) as B2B Gateway Provider
• Rahaxi Processing Oy. Brings New Hypercom Electronic Payment Terminals to Local Businesses
• OTI and Venue1 Implement Mastercard PayPass(TM) With the Seattle Seahawks
• Axalto and Bioscrypt Team Up to Deliver Smart Card-based Biometric Access from Door to Desktop
• Alibaba to set up European headquarters in London
• Lipman Receives Order from the CBORD(R) Group, Inc.
• Optimus Leads the Industry with Fully Outsourced Mobile Content Proposition from End2End
• Newsday: Fraud Reveals Workings of Internet Theft
• Bango enables mobile phone users to pay for content using PayPal
• Banks Plan New IT Purchases to Keep Up with Compliance Laws and Regs
• Wachovia Corporation to Acquire Westcorp and WFS Financial Inc in $3.91 Billion Transaction

Don Lee reports for the Los Angeles Times on the state of affairs with Chinese banks.

Chinese banks have made progress, but they're still loaded with bad debt and operate inefficiently. Weak corporate management and corruption remain a problem at many banks. Last weekend, China's bank regulator reported that 1,700 employees were held for embezzlement and other bank crimes in the first half of this year. There could be more trouble ahead.

Dana Sanchez reports for the Bradenton (Florida) Herald on Morgan Beaumont, a local company that has developed a national platform for loading funds onto stored value abd debit cards.   » Continue Reading

Ted Griffith reports for the Wilmington News Journal on the potential loss of $50 million in tax revenue to the state of Delaware if Bank of America moves MBNA's bank charter to another state.

Industry observers believe Bank of America has selected Arizona as the legal home for its credit card bank in the past because the tax bill there is lower than what the bank would have to pay in other states, including Delaware.

Prasad Paturi writes an opinion piece for RFID Journal on why the new contactless RFID-based payment cards should include a switch to turn them on/off.

The antenna of a passive RFID tag is the powerhouse for the microchip that stores and transmits data. If a card were fitted with a switch to make or break the connection between the chip and antenna, the cardholder could squeeze the switch to turn on the card and wave it before a reader to make payments. Ideally, this feature should come as a default with the credit card, ensuring no data is captured from the card and no payment is made without the notice and permission of the owner.

Anthony Santomero, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, spoke earlier today at the annual convention of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers. His subject was the evolution of payments in the U.S.

Markets and consumers led us to a multiplicity of banks and a payments system that has been paper intensive. This is changing, as cards are replacing checks, and electronic clearing is truncating the maze of paper that fills our mailboxes. Our progress, while promising, occurs largely in fits and starts. We are a large nation with many providers, much complexity, and a philosophy of market-based solutions.

This has presented challenges for the Federal Reserve as a provider of financial services. It has necessitated restructurings, plant closings, and difficult decisions. Yet, we at the Federal Reserve are charged with the dual role of a regulator seeking to maintain the stability and efficiency of the payments system, even as we remain a provider of payment services. At times, these roles present different challenges. This is one of those times.

Nonetheless, as payments technology moves forward, our payments system will continue to change as evolutionary forces generate new innovations in payments and new ways to deliver them. This is why, in our own Reserve Bank , we have established a Payment Cards Center to add to our understanding of the use of electronic payment vehicles by consumers and their broader impact on the financial system.

Doug Young and David Lin report for Reuters on China's Alibaba and its plans following the major investment by Yahoo!

Xinhua Online reports on plans by China's central bank to launch interbank money transfers by the middle of 2006.

David Lazarus reports for the San Francisco Chronicle on Wells Fargo's relationship with Visa.

The UK's APACS reported yesterday on the release of its 2004 yearbook "The Way We Pay - A Market Review of the Plastic Card Industry in 2004".   » Continue Reading

• American Bank Note Holographics and MasterCard Expand Their Relationship with the Addition of HoloMag
• The Authentication Battle
• Trading credit card debt for home equity debt
• India: Shop till your cell drops!
• Phishing Liability Concerns Online Banks
• Bank of America Remote Deposit Service Exceeds $2 Billion in Checks Processed
• U.S. Bank Introduces Latina Style Credit Card That Generates Scholarships for Latinas
• eBay Runs 'PayPal Buyer Credit' Promotion, Eliminates BillPay
• Debit Card Giveaway Goes Awry in Houston
• Spectrum Settlement Recovery Expects Millions of Eligible Businesses to Overlook $3 Billion VISA/MasterCard Settlement