TSYS has announced it is now certified to support open-loop prepaid cards in Europe on the MasterCard network. The certification includes capability for chip-and-PIN processing on MasterCard's network.

GE Money (formerly GE Consumer Finance) is holding a security analysts' meeting today in New York City. Copies of presentations by Dave Nissen, President and CEO of GE Money, and other members of the senior management team are available online.

YeePay has announced a partnership with the largest online retailer in China - Dang Dang, to provide exclusive payment service for Dang Dang Mall (mall.dangdang.com), a new online store hosting program that allows merchants to sell their goods through Dang Dang's network.

US Bank Canada has announced it has acquired CIBC's Visa purchasing and Visa corporate credit card portfolio. U.S. Bank Canada is a division of U.S. Bank, which is a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, one of the world's largest issuers of Visa commercial cards.

CIGNA HealthCare has announced HealthePass, "a comprehensive new solution designed to simplify and improve payment processes to help patients anticipate and manage their health care costs, shorten provider revenue cycle and help address patient bad debt."

Cardways.com has announced the launch of its new Web site that offers consumers the opportunity to customize gift cards and greeting cards, allowing them to add their own personal touch to an already popular gift.

Prosper has announced that its membership has topped the 100,000 mark and that it has generated more than $20 million in loans since launching in February 2006.

Moneyweb reports on how First National Bank in South Africa has enabled prepaid electricity, telephone and cellular phone services to people in even the remotest of areas using their mobile phones. "FNB has recognized the huge uptake of cellphones in South Africa, estimated at about 30 million users, and invested heavily over the past two years towards a technology that enables people to transact using any cellphone device on any mobile network."

Arcot Systems has announced a partnership with Yodlee to deliver multi-factor authentication capabilities with the full suite of Yodlee’s solutions and services.

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Robert R. Craig has been named executive vice president and general manager of eCommerce Services at Online Resources Corporation. Craig most recently served as head of business development for First Data's remittance processing business.
• Kazem Aminaee has been named Senior Vice President and General Manager, Hypercom EMEA.

According to the latest Experian-Gallup Personal Credit Index survey, one in five (19 percent) consumers report that they have had their financial information stolen including a bank or credit card number. Approximately one in seven (14 percent) say they have had their personal information stolen, such as a birth certificate, driver's license or Social Security number. Combined, 26 percent of Americans report being the victim of one type of theft, while 7 percent report experiencing both.

• Bolton Landing man wins MasterCard "Priceless" ad contest
• Comdata® Acquires HQ Gift Cards, LLC
• Safeway Installs New Equipment to Protect Financial Privacy of Shoppers With Visual Impairments
• Acxiom Announces New Canadian Data Centre
• Frost National Bank’s Paul Olivier to Chair PULSE® Financial Institution Oversight Committee
• ACS Adds U.S. Bank as Custodial Choice for HSA Partners and Clients
• SkyeTek’s Readers Enable Cashless Payment at Cold-Drink Vending Machines
• INSIDE’s microread® Addresses the Requirements Needed to Bring NFC Technology to Consumer Electronic Devices on a Mass-Market Scale
• Merchants Says MasterCard Interchange Rates Only One Piece of Puzzle
• Viewpoint: Banks Should Not Have to Monitor MSBs
• ADP Signs Agreement to Acquire Taxware From First Data

First Data's Independent Sales Services group has recently announced several "services and tools specifically designed to give small and medium-sized businesses an advantage in today's competitive landscape."

MasterCard has announced that its interchange rates that apply to US merchants are now posted on its website, "along with the comprehensive information merchants need to understand the rates and how they apply."

Greg McBride reports on the results of Bankrate.com's latest Checking Account Pricing Study - finding that the "average bounced-check fee, often referred to as a nonsufficient-funds fee, or NSF fee, by your financial institution, is now at a record high of $27.40." The average ATM surcharge is now $1.64 and is assessed by 98.3 percent of banks owning ATMs. Bankrate estimates that Americans pay $4.2 billion per year in ATM fees. Here's a Bankrate.com press release summarizing many of the study's findings.

Mary Wisniewski, Business Reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, takes a look at Netspend's All-Access National Savings Program, which has begun paying 3 percent on deposits, more than double the average rate currently paid by banks on consumer checking accounts.

• Visa and MasterCard Rules & Regulation Clarification Is Now Just a Click Away; JetPay Merchant Services Debuts "AskJetPay.com"
• SunTrust Enhances Online Cash Manager Tool for Small and Mid-Market Businesses
• New Yorkers Gain Right to Protect Identity, Personal Information as ID Theft Laws Become Active This Week

We've just launched a new payments event calendar here on Payments News. We're using Google's online calendar feature to host the calendar - making it easy to share. If you're on a Mac, you can use this link to point iCal at the calendar. If you're aware of an event that should be listed, please click the link on the calendar page and send us an email with the details for the event.

Mary Jacoby writes for the Wall St. Journal about upcoming hearings scheduled on November 14 and 15 in Brussels for EU regulators to examine MasterCard's interchange fees. The EU regulators view interchange fees as "obstacles to creating a single payment area in the EU".

Dana Dratch writes for Bankrate.com about "spend to save" credit cards such as the American Express One card launched a year ago that deposits 1% of the amount purchased into a high-yield savings account.

MasterCard Worldwide has been awarded the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award for its performance in the contactless payment market.

• Jinny to enable mobile banking solution for Southern African Tier 1 operator
• Mortgage Fraud: The Worst Crime You've Never Heard Of
• Bank of America Chooses USA Technologies' e-Port(R) for Credit Vending Program
• OTI to Provide USA Technologies Next Generation Contactless Payment Readers

Javelin Strategy & Research has published a new report concluding that "Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) represent a paradox for banking and payment leaders: Banks cannot overlook the long-term opportunities for asset growth, yet must plan to address problematic consumer awareness and interest along with other thorny healthcare industry issues."

Earlier this week, we announced that we'd implemented a new, customized search engine here on Payments News - taking advantage of a feature that Google announced on Monday. What's unique about this search engine is that we can provide it with a list of sites that should be searched - rather than searching the whole World Wide Web. For payments professionals, the search results from the Payments News Search Engine are much more likely to be results of interest vs. a standard Google search. We've further enhanced the list of sites searched this morning - with the list now totaling about 80 payments-related sites. You may want to bookmark our search page if you find it useful.

The US Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Secret Service issued their third collaborative report (PDF) on the use and counterfeiting of U.S. currency abroad - concluding that, of U.S. notes in circulation abroad and at home, about one note in 10,000 is counterfeit. The report estimated that about $450 billion of the $760 billion in circulation as of December 2005 is held abroad. According to the report, "Colombia registers first on the counterfeiting threat list because it has been the chief supplier of counterfeit notes to the U.S. market. ... During FY 2005, approximately 15 percent ($8 million out of a total of $56.2 million) of all counterfeit currency passed within the United States originated in Colombia."

Target has announced the launch of a Prepaid Photo Card that allow purchasers to save up to 20 percent on photofinishing services.

Wells Fargo has announced that the number of deposits its business customers have made via the Internet -- eliminating the need for physical deposit of paper checks at the bank (called "remote deposit capture" in the banking industry -- nearly doubled in the past three months. This paper-less process was made legal by the "Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act" signed into law two years ago.

Bank of America and Caremark Rx have announced the launch of a new Caremark Visa credit card program that offers cardholders a rewards program for making beneficial decisions related to their use of prescription medications, including choosing generic and preferred drugs.

The October issue of Smart Card Talk, a publication of the Smart Card Alliance, is now available. This issue features an interview with Mohammed Khan, President and Founder of ViVOtech along with a look at Transit and Contactless Financial Payments.

Coinstar has announced a new Coinstar Direct Coin Deposit service that will allow bank and credit union customers to electronically transfer coin into their personal accounts. In addition, Coinstar’s making available a new "Madison" coin-counting kiosk specifically designed for retail financial institution branches.