It's getting to be about that time when we take a look back at the major news stories in the world of payments during 2005.  We've examined our archives month by month and have culled the the most important and interesting highlights.  We'll be posting each month's highlights over the next few days.

Jennifer Kingson reports for the New York Times on the increasing use of wireless point of sale acceptance devices by merchants now that wireless coverage is nearly everywhere with POS devices working with wireless networks in combination to be much more reliable.

Karla Ward writes for the Lexington KY Herald-Leader on the new faces of holiday gift cards this year.

Thomas Lee writes for the Minneapolis - St. Paul Star-Tribune on bank interest in marketing health savings accounts.

Harsimran Singh reports for India's Financial Express on the importance of financial services and insurance clients to India's IT and business process outsourcing boom.

• Visa: Spending jumps as season opens
• ShopperTrak: Black Friday Sales Flat as Holiday Shopping Season Begins
• Bloomberg: U.S. Retail Sales Little Changed Friday, Close to '04 Record
• MSNBC: Online privacy fears are real
• Morgan Stanley launches ultra-premium i24 card
• WSJ: Identity-Theft Bills Stall in Congress
• India: Most ATMs not equipped to use new card security features

Robert Terry reports for the Washington Business Journal on I4 Commerce's Bill Me Later.

Mylene Mangalindan of The Wall Street Journal reports on the Monday after Thanksgiving -  the expected peak shopping day for online ecommerce retailers.

Pete Barlas reports for Investors Business Daily on Visa USA's report that Thanksgiving Day online shopping peaked at $205 million, up 41% from Thanksgiving last year.

Attempting to address the nature of competition between card schemes as it relates to the level of interchange fees, the Payments System Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia has announced a revised Standard to apply to the setting of interchange fees in the designated Bankcard, MasterCard and Visa credit card schemes in Australia.

Kris Hudson reports for the Wall St. Journal on new features being used to personalize gift cards with personal photos, messages, or music as well as major new gift card marketing initiatives by Wal-Mart and McDonald's.

Rhonda Abrams reports for USA Today on how businesses can use gift cards as promotion tools.

Phil Kerpen, Policy Director of the Free Enterprise Fund, writes an op-ed piece in today's Boston Globe about "frivolous litigation and pleas for unnecessary regulation" by merchants regarding credit card interchange fees.

David Milstead reports for the Rocky Mountain News that Wells Fargo will abandon its "OneLook" account aggregation service early next year.

Valerie Bauerlein reports for the Wall St. Journal that Bank of America appears to have just barely cleared one potential hurdle that could have blocked its ability to acquire MBNA.  At the end of September, the combined assets of BofA and MBNA were 9.8% of total US deposits, just below the 10% U.S. federal cap on the percentage of deposits that can be held by a single bank.

• Citibank Horrors: How hard is everyday banking?
• WSJ: Identity-Theft Bills Stall in Congress
• BioPay Looks for Big Year for Biometric Payments in 2006
• David Hendricks: Credit card fees resisted, but they have their place
• MBNA Canada Selected to Issue Sony MasterCard
• ACG working with MasterCard to develop radio frequency antennas for PayPass key fobs
• Hitachi, MasterCard to set up smart card venture
• UK phishing scam takes a new tack

Catherine McLean reports for Canada's Globe and Mail on the efforts by Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility and Rogers Wireless to develop a standardized mobile commerce system called Wireless Payment Services.

Bankrate.com has released the results of its Second Annual Holiday Gift Card Survey that profiled gift cards available from 20 leading retailers and the top four credit card issuers.

Alekansandra Todorova reports for SmartMoney Consumer Action on contactless payments.

• Business Week: It's a Merry Time for E-Tailers
• From paper to plastic: How credit cards change our lives
• Absence of Fee Break Could Hinder RFID's Penetration of Cash
• Givex survey shows gift cards most popular with women
• Microsoft's Xbox Gamble: Micropayments, Personalization, and Digital Media
• Canada: Debit card fraud on the rise at gas stations
• iTunes Music Store Cracks Top 10 List of Leading U.S. Music Retailers in Q3 2005
• Bankrate Releases Holiday Gift Card Survey
• Shanghai Daily: Mobile phone fraud immobilizes bill payments
• Discover Wants Its Cell Phone Payment Program To Become A Miniature ATM
• Australia: Mastercard joins debit card fray

Alliance Data Systems Corporation has announced that it has modified its market-facing name, dropping the word "systems" and will now be known as Alliance Data. A new logo accompanies this change.

The Economist Intelligence Unit has announced a new white paper sponsored by Visa International that assesses the
evolution of electronic payments systems in the six largest Latin American countries, as well as prospects for overcoming obstacles to full modernization. The study found that across the region collaboration between governments and the financial services industry has led to greater penetration of electronic payment products.

US Bank currently has a promotion on Health Savings Accounts running whereby new accounts opened before February 28, 2006 will have the $3.50 monthly maintenance fee waived for the life of the account.

Online Resources Corp. has released results of a study on the impact of its premium online financial management service, Money HQ, on deposit account balances showing that for those consumers who were enrolled in Money HQ for one year, deposit account balances increased 115 percent more than those of consumers who were not enrolled.

Washington Mutual has announced the launch of the Washington Mutual MasterCard Gift Card. The card costs $3.95 plus a $1.00 first class shipping and handling charge in addition to the value loaded onto the card.

First Data's TeleCheck Services has announced that it has significantly expanded its check services relationship with Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores.

• American Express Incentive Services Acquires New Patent Licensing Rights
• Many California DMV Offices to Accept ATM/Debit Cards
• Prepaid Cards Support Broader Consumer-Finance Propositions, TSYS Reports
• ViVOtech and USA Technologies Partner to Develop Contactless Payment System for the $1.32 Trillion Micro-Payments Segment
• Banks near deal on technology to speed up money transfer
• Majority of U.S. Adults Believe They Are More Susceptible to Identity Theft During the Holiday Season
• Austin Logistics Appoints New Advisory Board Members
• AOL Shopping Survey Finds High Gas Prices Provoke More Online Holiday Shopping
• UPS Survey Finds Shipping Critical to Online Buying Experience
• SF Chronicle: Health debit card offered - Visa, Blue Cross and Blue Shield will join forces
• Research Shows that Consumers Prefer Co-Branded Credit Cards - A Typical Co-Branded Credit Card Generates EUR37 More Profit Yearly than a Bank-Only Card
• Pre-paid credit cards coming to Manitoba soon
• Russia's St. Petersburg Times: Credit Cards Still Inspire Mistrust
• Newsday: Credit cards feature ethnic ties to Israel
• India: No unsolicited credit cards: RBI tells Banks/NBFCs
• Money, Gift Giving, Health and Workload Cause Holiday Stress According to FranklinCovey Survey
• Metavante to Acquire AdminiSource, Expanding Consumer-Directed Health Care Payments

Missy Baxter reports for ATMmarketplace.com on some criticisms from consumer representatives about Bank of America's recently introduced "Keep the Change" program tied to its debit card accounts.

The Federal Reserve Board has approved amendments to its Regulation CC that define "remotely created checks" and create transfer and presentment warranties to shift liability for an unauthorized remotely created check to the institution where it is first deposited.