The UK's OFT has announced a new work effort with the UK credit card industry and consumer bodies to "make the cost of credit cards easier for consumers to understand."

Visa announced today that Hans Morris has been appointed President of Visa Inc., effective September 1, 2007.

Visa USA has announced that John Philip Coghlan, President and Chief Executive Officer, has resigned. According to Visa, "Coghlan led the U.S. region of Visa since July 2005. During that time he oversaw efforts to prepare Visa USA for its restructuring, undertaking a series of initiatives to enhance Visa's financial performance and reporting. John Partridge, President of Inovant LLC, will assume the expanded responsibilities of interim President of Visa USA."

Celent has announced a new Healthcare Banking research service and an inaugural report titled "Healthcare Transactions: What’s in the Forecast for Financial Institutions". The report addresses the complexities of healthcare transaction processing as well as the opportunities the market presents to financial institutions.

A global study of banking, retail and payment services executives' attitudes towards the burgeoning Chinese payments market conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of First Data International has revealed that the vast majority of respondents are optimistic about the prospects for electronic payments in China. Eighty-five percent of respondents, for example, believe the prospects for credit cards are either highly or somewhat promising. While bankers recognize the considerable challenges, they are bullish about the opportunities and are committed to this rapidly growing market.

Bloomberg reports that Experian has agreed to buy a majority stake in Brazil's Serasa, that country's largest credit bureau.

Experian has announced a new fraud detection solution that the company says "integrates data authentication with consumer challenge questions to create the most comprehensive approach for detecting fraud and managing the associated risk. The new product, Knowledge IQSM, is the first system to merge two essential elements in the fight against fraud."

Dave Birch writes about the 40th anniversary of the ATM - noting that "John Shepherd-Baron, the former De La Rue executive credited with inventing that machine in 1967, now believes that the ubiquitous ATM will be made redundant within the next three to five years by the demise of paper cash." Birch concludes saying "I am now fascinated to determine the genesis of the modern ATM. Any -- and I mean any -- relevant details would be gratefully received."

The International Herald Tribune has published an AP story about PayPal's La Vista, Nebraska, operations center - noting that "more than 2,000 of PayPal's nearly 7,000 employees worldwide work at the company's La Vista complex providing customer support, fraud protection and resolving customer problems in more than a dozen languages."

Tyfone has announced the launch of Harmony - a middleware communications gateway that Tyfone says "enables secure, two-way bank-to-mobile-phone interactions, and Over-the-Air (OTA) customization for mobile banking, mobile payments – including card account customization – and on-demand merchant relationship services."

In an article titled 'Credit Bureaus Fight Consumer-Ordered Freezes", Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz write for USA Today about the Consumer Data Industry Association and its efforts on behalf of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) to slow legislative efforts at the state level regarding laws that enable consumers to freeze access to their credit histories. They write that "by far the best protection against new-account fraud is a credit freeze, say credit consultants and fraud investigators. A credit freeze bars the credit bureaus from issuing your credit report — the summary of loans and payments that forms the basis of your credit score."

• Cardtronics Announces ATM Branding Deal With ING DIRECT
• TriCipher Secures Online Financial Transactions
• Federal Reserve Banks Announce Changes To Increase Check Service Efficiency
• Washington Post: In China, Cash Carries the Weight
• TSYS and Norwich Union Launch Rewards Card Programme
• eGistics Names George F. Thomas to Board of Directors
• Ping Identity Announces SignOn.com
• Credit Cards: Get You In, Keep You In, Keep You Spending
• The skinny on checks: Where do they end up?
• Securing Communications with SSL/TLS: A High-Level Overview
• Mobile Ticketing in the UK: Paperless Tickets Hit The Right Note At 2000 Trees Music Festival
• Citi Launches an Exclusive Credit Card, New Citi Chairman American Express Card, to Smith Barney and Citi Private Bank Clients