We spoke last week with Matt Sexstone, head of business development in Capital One's Merchant Client Services unit about their plans to challenge the status quo in the merchant co-brand market. Based on our discussion, Capital One "gets it" with respect to merchants seeking new payments solutions that drive incremental sales and customer loyalty - and has begun offering a unique approach that seems well suited to major retail merchants. Read on for details.   » Continue Reading

Kim Leonard reports for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about what some businesses in the Pittsburgh area feel about payment card interchange fees. Leonard reports that "as merchants have watched interchange fees rise from an average 1.5 percent to around 2 percent in the past five years or so, they've tried to enlist consumers, courts and political leaders in their campaign for changes."

Bonna de la Cruz writes for the Gannett News Service reports on how cards are displacing cash for purchase payments - reporting that "in the amount of time it takes to reach into your wallet, you could wave a credit card in front of a sensor and be halfway to the exit."

Paul Nussbaum writes for the Philadelphia Enquirer about the increasing use of smart cards by transit agencies in major cities around the US - including the upcoming launch of smart cards by Philadelphia's PATCO. Nussbaum reports that "Washington, Boston, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle and Houston are among the regions moving to transit smart cards, with plans to eventually enable the cards to pay for parking, coffee, newspapers and other sundries of the commuting life."

Paul Nussbaum writes for the Philadelphia Enquirer about Gemalto North America's card plant in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania, calling it the "biggest manufacturer of transit "smart cards" in the United States."

Loren Steffy, business columnist for the Houston Chronicle, writes about his observations on the use of credit in America from watching the movie Maxed Out, "a documentary about consumer debt by filmmaker James D. Scurlock that will be released on DVD in early June."

Rob Walker writes for the Boston Globe about "skins" for credit cards - introduced by a company named CreditCovers - that contain "special designs that consumers can stick over the fronts of their cards, theoretically transforming them from mere financial tools to emblems of identity and potential conversation starters."

Miles Brignall reports for The Guardian that Barclaycard in the UK is considering imposing fees on cardholders who don't use their Barclaycards "enough". Lloyds TSB began a similar practice earlier this year.

George Chen reports for Reuters from Shanghai about plans by China's Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to double its credit card issuance this year to 20 million cards. "Beijing is encouraging officials to use credit cards to pay for goods and services as a way to reduce corruption, as they can help it to trace transaction records, government and regulatory sources have said."

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