Donna Bogatin blogs on ZDNet about comments made yesterday by Alan Eustace, Google SVP Engineering & Research during a Q&A at Citigroup's 13th Annual Global Technology Conference (webcast) in New York City. According to Eustace, "Payment right now on the Web is a disaster. Everybody who has ever tried to buy anything on the Web right now, you don’t know who the person who is selling the goods are, you have to input your credit card to a thousand different places out there, who knows what those people are doing with my credit card...."

The Federal Reserve reported today that the growth in consumer credit increased at a slower annual rate of 2-3/4 percent in July, down from a 6.6 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter.

Steve Stasiukonis, VP and founder of Secure Network Technologies Inc., writes for Dr. Dobb's about one example of a successful social engineering attack that could have resulted in identity theft. Stasiukonis writes "in a recent project, my penetration testing firm was able to gain an alarming amount of access to personal information -- and even financial accounts -- with only a birth date to go on."

Transversal has announced that Barclays is its first customer to deploy Transversal's Sales Engine on its main UK site. The company claims that Sales Engine is "the first online marketing solution able to serve up targeted content, advertising and sales promotions in response to naturally phrased questions asked by customers via an organisation's website."

Consumers have received more credit card direct mail for the first half of this year than in 2005, according to Mintel Comperemedia, a competitive intelligence service that analyzes direct mail and print media. The service estimates that close to 4.2 billion direct mail pieces were distributed to U.S. consumers during the first half of 2006, up from 3.9 billion pieces during the same time period. The mailings include acquisition, cross-selling, and follow-up mailings.

Saks Fifth Avenue yesterday announced the launch of The Saks Fifth Avenue World Elite MasterCard, its first co-branded credit card, issued by HSBC. Steve Sadove, Chief Executive Officer of Saks Incorporated, noted, "We have a valued and long-standing strategic alliance with HSBC, and we are delighted to once again team up with them and to work with MasterCard Worldwide to introduce The Saks Fifth Avenue World Elite MasterCard card. This card exemplifies what is already one of the retail industry's most rewarding programs, SaksFirst, and enhances our customers' benefits. It allows us to extend our relationship with our best customers and provide them with rewards and benefits that solidify their loyalty to Saks. Saks Fifth Avenue's customers have a variety of interests, including a passion for international travel, and MasterCard has an unparalleled global presence. The World Elite MasterCard card has worldwide acceptance and travel benefits that deliver on our customers' expectations for premium service."

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