Bruce Schneier recently linked to this detailed analysis of a recent Verified by Visa phishing attack. As he said, it's a great example of how the sophistication of these attacks is ever-increasing. This particular attack combined several features -- all designed to improve the chances of enticing a cardholder to hand over important card information.

From time to time, we at Glenbrook come across companies doing new things we think are pretty cool. When we do, we'll profile them in this new "Who We're Watching" section here on Payments News.

This morning, Glenbrook's Russ Jones writes about his latest discovery: Garanti Bank in Turkey. READ MORE »

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that CardSystems Solutions, Inc. and its successor, Solidus Networks, Inc., doing business as Pay By Touch Solutions, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that CardSystems' failure to take appropriate security measures to protect the sensitive information of tens of millions of consumers was an unfair practice that violated federal law.

In a speech today at the California Identity Theft Summit being held in Los Angeles by the California Department of Consumer Affairs, FTC Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras spoke on "Teaming Up Against Identity Theft" (PDF).

Standard & Poor's Isabelle Sender reports for Business Week on how global banks are rushing to increase their presence in India.

Over the last few days, Skype has announced the addition of new payment options for Skype users. Skype says "it has never been easier, quicker or more convenient for customers to buy products from Skype.com." Customers wanting to top up their Skype Credit to pay for Skype's offerings can now take advantage of online payment methods, special vouchers and scratch cards bought from high street stores.

GlobalCollect has announced it has been selected by Skype to process payments for its premium offerings. For Skype, GlobalCollect will process local bank transfer payments in local currencies worldwide, including real-time online bank transfers in countries where this payment method is available.

Kathleen Day reports for the Journal News on Wal-Mart's request to obtain a banking charter for an industrial loan corporation in Utah. Wal-Mart's competitor Target has owned Target Bank, an ILC, since 2004.

JCB has announced that Transcard AD, Bulgaria's largest credit card issuer and acquirer, will roll out the JCB branded TRANSCARD JCB card in March. This will mark the first time for a JCB card compliant with EMV to be issued in Europe, and will bring the number of countries in which JCB cards are issued to 20.

Gregg Keizer reports for Information Week on Charles Schwab's announcement yesterday that the online broker will provide a guarantee against any and all losses from unauthorized account access. Called the Schwab Security Guarantee, it is an effort intended to help calm customer concerns about phishing and identity theft.

Reuters has announced an agreement with MasterCard Advisors LLC, the global professional services organization of MasterCard International, to provide a U.S. retail economic service exclusively to Reuters clients. The service, known as SpendingPulse, provides granular measures of the U.S. retail economy, both nationally and regionally, with a degree of speed and a level of detail surpassing spending data estimates from traditional sources.

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

• Global Payments Inc. Renews Payment Processing Agreement with Kaiser Permanente
• Corillian and StrikeForce Partner to Fight Fraud by Strengthening Online Authentication for Financial Institutions
• RetailWire Webinar: Getting Real with RFID