The Payment Card Center (PCC) of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has announced a new discussion paper: "How Effective Were the Financial Safety Nets in the Aftermath of Katrina?" (PDF), written by Julia S. Cheney of the PCC and Sherrie L.W. Rhine of the Office of Regional and Community Affairs at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

RSA Security has announced that Japan Net Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation have selected RSA SecurID strong authentication tokens to better protect online banking customers in Japan. Japan Net Bank will be the first to deliver two-factor authentication tokens to over one million online banking customers.

Yomirui Shimbun reports on plans by Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. to introduce a service later this year to allow ATM access by customers using mobile phones equipped with contactless chips in lieu of cards - plus the customer's PIN number. The bank says it will remodel about 7,000 ATMs to provide the new service.

American Express has announced the American Express RED Card - currently only available in the UK - that contributes a percentage of purchases on the card to the Global Fund, a leading funder of programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Expansion Management reports on PayPal's expansion in Omaha, adding a new 125,000 square foot building at its La Vista operations center.

Richard Burnett of the Orlando Sentinel reports on a debate between some consumer groups and Chase over whether the new contactless technology being used in Chase's new 'blink' cards makes credit card fraud any easier.

Kim Crompton reports for the Spokane Journal of Business on an accelerating decline in the use and popularity of paper checks.

Heartland Payment Systems has announced that it is making a strategic investment in Parcxmart Technologies, an electronics payments company.

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

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