The Technology Quarterly in the current issue of The Economist has an article titled Secrets of the Digital Divide that explores fraud detection systems - saying that "with an estimated $250m in annual sales, and yearly growth topping 25%, the largest and fastest-growing category of fraud-detection software is that used to spot fraudulent credit-card transactions."

Michael Arrington reports on his TechCrunch blog about a new "dropbox" feature he says PayPal is preparing for a "select range of users."

At its Investor and Analyst Conference earlier this week, First Data CEO Ric Duques listed seven trends in the payments industry: economic globalization, increased consumerism in developing countries, payment options = competitive advantage, emerging potential in mobile payments, double-digit growth of prepaid cards, online payments will grow at double-digit rates, and evolving consumer expectations.

David Berlind blogs for ZDNet about how banks are dealing with the the FFIEC guidance issued last fall to strengthen online authentication while trying to avoid changes that inconvenience their customers. According to Berlind, "the trick has been to come up with "1b" or "single factor+" solutions: solutions that primarily rely on what you know, but that also emulate, to the extent that they can, what you have (the 2nd factor in true multifactor security)."

• Fidelity National Information Services Announces Enhancements to Digital Payment Processing Platform
• Wirecard Offers Global Acting Enterprises New Payout Channels for Suppliers and Partners
• Open Solutions Inc.(R) and Rosetta Technologies(R) Announce Partnership; Companies Partner to Provide Advanced Software for Printing and Managing IRDs and Image Cash Letters
• Now in Westport: Pay taxes with your credit card

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Ian Drysdale has been named President and COO of Franchise Payments Network, an electronic payments company that focuses entirely on the franchise industry.