Ann Carrns reports for the Wall St. Journal on the "just ask for it discount" that some consumers are getting from their credit card issuers by calling customer service and requesting a lower interest rate. Carrns cites one recent survey that conclude the odds were good - "more than 75% of those who asked to pay less said they got their rate reduced."

Apple this morning introduced the iPhone, combining three products: a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and what Apple calls a "breakthrough Internet communications" into one device. While the iPhone isn't going to be available for sale until June, t's interesting to speculate about the potential implications of this new device for banks - and their customers.

TRUSTe has announced the results of a consumer survey that concludes that eighty-two percent of Americans support the use of biometric identification on passports, three-quarters of Americans support the addition of biometric information to driver's licenses and nearly as many (72.6 percent) support adding it to Social Security cards. Three out of five Americans support adding biometric data to credit cards (64 percent) and debit cards (62 percent), but are much less likely to want that information on a retail store loyalty card (27 percent). This corresponds to other findings in the survey that 76 percent of respondents trusted banks and financial institutions "always" or "most of the time" as compared to 41 percent of respondents trusting retail stores "always" or "most of the time."

Xign has announced a partnership with Comdata to promote MasterCard e-P3 powered by Xign. According to the two companies, the first Comdata-Xign customer, U.S. Xpress Enterprises based in Chattanooga, TN, is using the Xign-powered electronic payment solution to expand its corporate payment card program to include accounts payable spend.

Chuck Williams reports for the Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer about TSYS shutting down its New York office -where its TSYS Prepaid unit has been based - and moving it to an existing TSYS facility in the metro Atlanta area.

The Charlotte Business journal picks up on the news about a recent MasterCard SEC filing that disclosed it had amended an agreement with Bank of America "to include new pricing arrangements in exchange for transaction volumes related to the issuance of MasterCard-branded debit cards."

Portland, OR-based Tyfone and Bank of Oswego have announced a partnership for the implementation of Tyfone’s secure mobile financial services technology. "Tyfone’s technology will enable Bank of Oswego customers to use their mobile handsets for secure mobile banking and merchant programs and services."

The tenth annual Digital Money Forum will held in London on March 28-29. Dave Birch writes "We're going to have a series of panels looking back over the last decade and forward to the next one and we'll have old friends as well as new to discuss and debate the leading edge of retail electronic payments. There's also going to be a charity Electronic Monopoly™ tournament. As always, it's going to be limited to 100 delegates, so book early to avoid disappointment." More details here.

A new report by Change Sciences Group titled "Winning Credit Card Customers Online: Customer Experience Benchmarks and Best Practices" looks at what people experience as they shop for a credit card on leading credit card web sites - finding that most credit card sites have yet to learn from industry leaders. The longest online credit card application takes four times more effort to complete than the shortest.

Banker and blogger Colin Henderson examines innovation (or the relative lack thereof) in online banking - saying "the problem with working in a Bank is that everything looks like a Bank. You can always tell a Banker because your hear a ton of acronyms, and words like channel, multi channel, integration, etc." He asks "where is the point of differentiation that sets a Bank apart from the competition?"

The Merchants Payments Coalition, a group of merchant trade associations formed to address "soaring credit and debit card interchange fees", has announced it began new newspaper and radio advertising campaign this week to educate consumers about interchange fees.

Metavante has announced that Tampa Electric has begun using Metavante's Just Pay It Convenience solution -which enables billers to accept credit and debit card-based expedited bill payments with a same-day posting capability.

TowerGroup reports that enterprise security today has become an everyday concern from the corner office to the boardroom -- and financial services institutions are finding it increasingly difficult to manage security in-house and asserts that now is the time for financial institutions to consider outsourcing the IT portions of security.

Caren Weiner Campbell writes for Bankrate.com writes about "how best to introduce kids to the temptations of swipe-and-sign" in an article about teens and cards titled "Educating Teens About Credit".

• Top 10 U. S. Bank Selects Alogent’s Remote Deposit
• Placer Sierra Bancshares Agrees to Join Wells Fargo
• AmbironTrustWave Acquires SecurePipe
• MiCash Partners With Provitel Solutions Providers
• Fiserv: Credit Union Members Gain Secure Internet Banking Access Anytime, Thanks to Enhanced Security of MFA
• MCAP Partners with MBNA Canada Bank
• Daylight Forensic & Advisory Announces Continued Expansion with Opening of Regional Office in Miami
• Digital Resolve Reports Record Online Fraud and Identify Theft Solution Deployments in December 2006
• Processing Agreement with Alfalah Bank Extends First Data's Reach into Pakistan
• Consumers Favor Cards for Payments in Increasing Numbers
• Network International and JCB Announce Alliance in the UAE
• KBC Bank (Belgium) Offers Secure Retail E-banking and E-commerce with Digipass 810
• mFormation Named as One of Ten Emerging Mobile Players to Watch in 2007
• LaSalle Bank Corporation and Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. Settle Patent Lawsuit and Enter Into License Agreement