Visa Asia Pacific has released new information that shows international travelers to and within the region spent a total of US$6.8 billion on their Visa cards during the first quarter of 2006 - 13 percent more than the same period a year ago. According to Visa, the increase in spending can be attributed not only to more arrivals but also to an increase in the issuance of Visa cards across the region. In Visa's Asia Pacific region, there were 287 million Visa cards in circulation in the first quarter of 2006, an increase of 17 percent over the year before.

John Blau writes for PC Advisor that "train passengers in Germany can now purchase tickets with Internet-enabled mobile phones through the travel portal of the railway company Deutsche Bahn and receive a ticket in the form of a bar code sent via MMS that conductors scan to confirm the ticket."

Mike Reagan, Managing Principal of Carreker’s Global Payments Consulting, has published an opinion piece (PDF) about what he calls "All-Consumer Check Conversion (ACC): the automatic conversion of any consumer-written check to ACH at the earliest point possible." Reagan says "The key variable is the willingness of the banking industry to move in a direction that looks at checks not by the way they are processed but by the value they deliver. It is not a question of championing one payments silo over the other, but advancing the electronification agenda in the manner that delivers to customers and derives for banks the best "win-win"
value scenario."

In the UK, The Logic Group is surveying retailers regarding their views and awareness of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Bill Brohaugh of Colloquy writes for DMNews.com about the benefits of letting customers decide what loyalty options make the most sense for them. He mentions Turkey's Garanti Bank and its Flexi card that allows customers to "select from numerous options covering interest rates, reward percentages, fees and so on. For example, choose a higher interest rate for unpaid balances and offset it with a higher reward return percentage on purchases." Brohaugh concludes that "Garanti’s offer of multiple additional reward opportunities amounts to customer self-segmentation."

Hilary Osborne reports for the UK's Guardian Unlimited that "new borrowing on credit cards fell to an all-time low in July as consumers continued to rein in their exposure to unsecured debt." A press release by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) said "new borrowing on credit cards totalled £7,083mn in July, the lowest July figure since 2002. With repayments exceeding spending and after seasonal adjustment, net lending contracted by £348mn, continuing the recent subdued picture of demand."

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• John A. MacAllister has been named Principal at Dorado Industries, a a successor company to Benton Consulting Partners and Benton International where Mr. MacAllister was the Managing Director and President, respectively. Phone: +1.310.544.1316.
• Jay Chang, Vice President, Global Consumer Products for Visa International writes that he's got the same job and title but with an increasing focus on opportunities in emerging consumer lending markets. He welcomes industry contacts to share mutual experiences in developing consumer lending infrastructure and lending capabilities in emerging markets.
• Aaron Schneider has been named Vice President, Corporate Sales at Bank of America Merchant Services. Phone: +1.954.765.2660.
• George Barby has been named Vice President, Operations for CyberSource. Phone: +1.650.965.6540.
• Carolyn Brackett has been named Vice President, Channels & Alliances, for CyberSource. Phone: +1.650.965.6516.
• Michael Yakel has been named Vice President of Professional Services, eCommerce, at The 41st Parameter.
• David Britton has been named Vice President of Product Management at The 41st Parameter.
• Russell Atkinson has been named Managing Director of Blackhawk Network, UK