The Board of Directors of Unisys Corporation has elected First Data Corp. Chairman and CEO Henry C. "Ric" Duques as non-executive Chairman effective Feb. 1. Duques has been on the Unisys board since 1998.

eMarketer.com explores PayPal's latest quarterly results and also reports that, based on a recent SG Cowen report, 91 percent of US online consumers have a PayPal account.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions has announced the acquisition of Card Management Corporation.

CheckFree is seeking a VP Payment Management to be based in either Atlanta, GA or Columbus, OH.

Julie Macintosh reports for Reuters that analysts expect First Data to update its plans regarding restructuring and potential divestiture at its analysts' meeting coming up this Thursday.

Scott McCartney writes in his Middle Seat column for this morning's Wall St. Journal about rewards cards - the traditional airline mileage variety vs. some of the newer cash-back rewards cards - and concludes that for many travelers, frequent-flier mileage cards may offer the better deal.

In an 8-K filing with the SEC yesterday, MasterCard disclosed the target annual incentive bonus levels for its top five executives as established by the Compensation Committee of its Board of Directors. The company said that these bonus payments for 2006 would be based on the Company’s achievement of a predetermined EBITDA target.

For the second time in as many years, eCommerce merchants named New York City as the riskiest North American metro area for eCommerce.

Xinhua reports that the People's Bank of China is pushing for wider use of non-cash payments this year to meet the needs of the mainland's developing economy.

Mary Catherine O'Connor reports for RFID Journal on the implementation of contactless payments at the McDonald's quick service restaurant chain and their recent announcement about also accepting American Express ExpressPay-equipped cards.

Matthew Boyle reports for Fortune on biometric-based payments and recent research by Sanford Bernstein analyst Emme Kozloff into their potential benefits for major retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and Costco.

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

• Healthia Announces HSA Partners Program for Banks
• VeriSign to Enhance Strong Authentication Platform With the Introduction of VeriSign(R) Unified Authentication - Smart Cards
• Industry Veterans Form Loyalty Management Firm--The Allegiant Group, Inc.
• Visa to Sponsor Inaugural Paralympic Hall of Fame at Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games