BITS has released a 10 year retrospective titled "Decade of Difference" that takes a look back at the contributions made since BITS was founded in 1996.

First Data Corp. today announced that it has completed the distribution of a tax-free special dividend to its shareholders consisting of approximately 765 million shares of common stock of The Western Union Company. First Data is distributing one share of common stock of Western Union for each share of First Data common stock to First Data shareholders as of September 22, 2006. As a result of that distribution, First Data will no longer own shares of Western Union, and Western Union will be an independent company. Western Union common stock has been authorized for listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and will trade under the symbol "WU."   » Continue Reading

The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) has announced the inaugural members of its Innovators Roundtable: Citigroup, eFunds, Experian, H&R Block and Wells Fargo. According to the Center's Director, Jennifer Teacher, these companies were selected for their pioneering work in the underbanked market space, their national prominence, and the range of approaches and industry areas they represent.   » Continue Reading

Shell Oil Products US has announced it has re-introduced a credit card incentive and marketing campaign for the Shell Platinum MasterCard® from Citi Cards. Shell and Citibank will triple the rebates on Shell gasoline to 15 percent for new cardholders who apply for the card between Oct. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2006. That can mean a savings of 41 cents per gallon at $2.75 per gallon when using their Shell Platinum MasterCard from Citi Cards.   » Continue Reading

The Reserve Bank of Australia has announced revisions to interchange fees to take effect November 1. The bank said that, using data supplied by issuers of credit cards and Visa and MasterCard, it has calculated that "the common benchmark to apply for the three years from 1 November 2006 is 0.50 per cent. This compares with the current average interchange fee in these schemes of a little under 0.55 per cent." For Visa Debit, "the Reserve Bank has calculated that the benchmark applying for the three years from 1 November 2006 is 12 cents. For a Visa Debit transaction of average size, the introduction of this Standard will result in a fall in the interchange fee from around 44 cents to under 12 cents." The bank has also suspended the "no surcharge" rule - allowing merchants to surcharge Visa Debit transactions if they so choose.

ING Direct has been an amazing success story. Earlier this week, ING Group held an Investor Relations Symposium in London to review the performance of its various business units - including ING Direct. The presentation slides (PDF) are available online. ING Direct USA's CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann was recently profiled in US News & World Report. He's also one of the heroes of the new book Mavericks at Work by William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre.

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Vaman Sriraman, formerly Managing Director and Global Head of Fraud Risk Management of Citigroup, has been named CEO of Quatrro Risk Mgmt Services Pte Ltd. Phone: +65.6235.3830.