First Data Corp. has announced an agreement for the acquisition of GZS by First Data. GZS is Germany's leading processor of cashless, card-based payment transactions. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the second quarter 2006, is subject to approval of relevant authorities.

Technorati Tags: First Data Corp.

Vanessa Richardson reports for MSNBC on the movement by banks to stronger authentication beyond simple userids and passwords.

Technorati Tags: FFIEC, PassMark Security, SiteKey, Two-Factor Authentication

Natalie Gott reports for the Associated Press on Bank of America's plans to complete the acquisition of MBNA this Sunday, January 1, 2006.

Peter Burrows reports for Business Week on I4 Commerce's Bill Me Later.

Technorati Tags: Bill Me Later, Ecommerce Payments

Note: Throughout the day, as Payments News happens, this post is updated.

• China to monitor mobile phone payments in search for porn sites
• UK: Banks criticised over lending practices
• Dept. of Homeland Security Completes Foundation Of Biometric Entry System

Technorati Tags: China Payments, Mobile Payments, UK Payments