HSA Bank has announced that its accountholders' average balances have increased by more than $350 to nearly $1,940 during the first six months of 2006. HSA Bank attributes the increase in balances to both a greater number of accountholders saving their HSA funds and an increased level of contributions to individual accounts.

Aleksandra Todorova writes for SmartMoney.com asking whether it's time to cancel your America Express card - based upon the changes Amex announced recently to increase card fees and reduce its rewards benefits.

Bank of America has announced it was named the best consumer Internet bank in North America by Global Finance magazine as part of its "World's Best Internet Banks" competition.

Javelin Strategy & Research has announced a new report: "The Consumer Adoption of Alerts Doubles: What Do Consumers Want Now?" that reviews how electronic alerts are growing rapidly and forecasts growth to double yet again. According to Javelin, "alert adoption by online households has grown steadily from 13% to 25% in the past two years -- with most users using email or even text-message alerts to receive timely updates of low balances, transfers, bills due or paid, and more."

Xign Corporation has announced the results of a study on the impact of Xign network validation on invoice exception processing. According to the study, the rate of problem invoice submissions falls from 1 in every 8 invoices during initial deployment (13%) to 1 in every 33 invoices by year 3 (3%). "Dirty" invoices are a leading cause of settlement delays and high processing costs as the errors are typically left undetected until after invoice data is posted for processing -- leaving the burden of exception handling and dispute resolution to the
buyer.

FotoTime has announced FotoStudio, a new service for amateur and professional digital photographers to easily and cost effectively setup an online storefront to sell prints and gifts showcasing their photos.

Brittani Lusk writes for the Deseret Morning News how Brigham Young University and other Utah-based colleges and universities are pushing their students to use echecks rather than credit or debit cards for making their tuition payments.

Payment Processing, Inc. has announced a partnership with mobile commerce provider Verrus to offer integrated credit card payment processing for pay by cell phone parking service.

Gail Liberman and Alan Lavine report for MarketWatch on emerging payment methods - saying that "newer online technologies, which include the ability to make a purchase by keying in a checking account number or PIN to debit a checking account, are moving mainstream." They cite a report by Celent's Dan Schatt who says that "although online alternatives to debit and credit accounted for just 12% of payments volume in 2005, they will more than double in the next three years to account for 26% of online payment volume. Credit-card volume will drop below 50% of online payment volume by 2009."

Adam Balkin writes for News 10 Now in Syracuse, NY about how to use your cell phone for payments - highlighting both PayPal Mobile and Obopay.

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