One of our research initiatives at Glenbrook this fall has been exploring innovation in electronic payments - how payments innovations happen, the characteristics of the most important drivers of them (including the impacts of key people, industry structure, and any important technologies) that enable innovations, and how to best measure and define their success.

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Rahul Gupta has been named Group President, Payments and Industry Products and Thomas Warsop has been named Group President, Financial Institutions, both for Fiserv.

The latest edition of The Internet Retailer has arrived - with its ranking of this year's top 50 best ecommerce sites. According to the magazine, "the best e-retailers of 2006 have leapt forward, soaring ahead of myriad other retail sites by adding the latest features and functions that, according to some industry observers, are starting to help differentiate successful e-commerce sites from middling ones." Highlights are sites adding video content, hosting customer reviews and enabling social networking on their sites.

Visa USA will be holding a webinar next Tuesday, December 12, 2006 beginning at 10 AM Pacific time to discuss PCI DSS Compliance for the restaurant industry.

Harris Interactive has completed a new Harris Poll surveying 2,429 U.S. adults asking them what's most important this holiday season. Here's a hint - no, it's not all about receiving gift cards!

Elizabeth Gillespie writes for the Associated Press about Starbuck's success with its Starbucks Card, launched five years ago. "The card has exceeded our expectations, absolutely," said Sandra Stark, Starbucks' director of marketing program management. "We knew it would be a great program. We had no idea that we would reach 12 percent of tender."

Green Dot Corporation and InComm have announced today that they have signed a distribution agreement that "will enable the two companies to share technology, retail networks, and marketing opportunities."

Authorize.Net has announced the launch of the Authorize.Net Verified Merchant Seal - designed to confirm to consumers that Web sites displaying the seal are verified Authorize.Net merchants. According to the company, "the seal is available free of charge to Authorize.Net's 158,000 merchants for display on their Web sites to create confidence for consumers who may be concerned about the security of making online purchases."

American Express has announced that it is launching a suite of source-to-settle electronic solutions named S2S designed to help companies drive greater levels of cost savings while improving control and compliance requirements. Amex claims this combination will leverage its commercial card business with its procurement capabilities. American Express also announced it will acquire Harbor Payments, an Atlanta-based technology provider that delivers e-invoice and e-payment capabilities.

Consumer Reports takes a look at several online payment services, including Google Checkout, PayPal and Bill Me Later, that it says "can offer added security in an electronic world vulnerable to credit-card fraud and identity theft." The article adds "but they’re far from foolproof."

• Signature Days Partners With InComm to Expand Retail Presence
• SUBWAY(R) Restaurant Chain Introduces Electronic Cash Cards
• Bremer Financial Partners with Corillian for Next-Generation Online Banking and Payment Services
• DataWiz Technologies Announces Launch of Mobile Banker - Mobile Banking Solution for the Mass Consumer Market