Valerie Bauerlein reports for the Wall St. Journal on comments by Bank of America's CEO Ken Lewis that "he may be interested in starting a credit-card processing network and a new brand of card to compete with Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express."

Tim Johnson reports from Tokyo for the Knight Ridder Newspapers about mobile phones and payments. "Japanese consumers can purchase from vending machines, buy train tickets, order a bowl of noodles, trade stock, bid at online auctions and change channels on a TV set."

TowerGroup says that self-service banking is alive and well in the United States and finds that self-service banking will undergo an explosion in both quantity and quality, relative to the kinds of transactions that consumers can perform unaided by bank staff. TowerGroup estimates that by 2010, retail banking customers in the U.S. will conduct nearly 60 billion self-service transactions every year -- an increase of nearly 50% over self-service transaction volumes forecasted for 2006.

Umpqua Bank has introduced Discover Local Music, a music-on-demand project and online music store, at http://www.umpquamusic.com. Umpqua's Discover Local Music project identifies high-quality independent musicians throughout the West Coast and makes their music available online and in Umpqua's 96 bank branch "stores".

Zhang Fengming reports for the Shanghai Daily that policy makers in China at the country's central bank are considering "preferential tax plans to boost its bank card-based consumption".

Jane Kim reports for the Wall St. Journal on the launch of UBS-branded American Express and Visa Signature credit cards (issued by Barclay's Juniper Bank) along with a rewards program for brokerage customers fulfilled via the cards.

In a column titled "Cash preferable to credit for kids", the Washington Post's Michelle Singletary writes about her views on why credit cards (including prepaid cards) are just bad news for kids and teens.

• MarketWatch: Rewards cards are all the rage, but compare the fine print
• Digital Transactons: PCI’s POS Costs Slow Retailer Adoption, Terminal Exec Says
• London Times: PayPal to start mobile payment service
• Cybertrust Online Compliance Program Reaches Customer Milestone
• NetDeposit Reports Significant Increase in Transaction Volumes and Adoption Rates
• Money Network, Wal-Mart Launch No Fee Option for Payroll Check Cashing
• Wells Fargo Says 'Thank You' to Small Business Customers
• Seattle Times: Traveling afar? Have backup to ATM card
• MiBill Selects PayAllNow As Preferred Provider Of Its Unified Billing Platform Solution
• Are ATM cash machines heading for extinction?
• World-class GPRS POS Terminal launched by SPECTRA Technologies
• Scotiabank's Global Transaction Banking Unit Announces Expanded Services for U.S. Clients
• FISC Chooses Alogent for Deposit Automation Solutions
• Taipei Times: Visa sees only a single-digit rise in card consumption
• Creditz Digital Currency Introduces Digital Prizing and Micro-Payments for Broadcast Industry
• 45% growth in online banking in Pakistan
• MICHELLE SINGLETARY: Cash preferable to credit for kids