Aite Group has published a new report titled "Acquisition and Retention in Today's Merchant Acquiring World" that "looks at the two most important challenges that acquirers and ISOs in the United States face: signing up new accounts and retaining the ones they have booked."

Bankrate has published its Fourth Annual Holiday Gift Card Study - surveying 31 issuers of gift cards, including American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa; major retailers; and the six largest shopping mall operators. The study examines new trends, expiration dates, fees, and dormancy policies associated with gift card purchases.

• Firethorn's Tripp Rackley Named One of Banking's Top Innovators of 2007
• Motorola Makes Strategic Investment in ViVOtech
• NACHA Announces Pay It Green Alliance
• Interview with Bruce Hansen, CEO of ID Analytics
• Google Announces $10 Million Android Developer Challenge
• NFC Forum Welcomes NTT DoCoMo as Sponsor Member
• American Express Charitable Gift Survey Reveals Opportunity for Charities to Optimize Gifts Through Increased Online Initiatives
• ClairMail Chosen as Mobile Commerce Innovator at BAI Retail Delivery Conference & Expo
• Diebold Publishes Research on Next-Generation Retail Banking Customers
• VeriFone Announces QX120 Contactless Solution
• ViVOtech announces ViVOpay 5000 Contactless Payment Reader for Use with Visa payWave programs in Canada, CEMEA, Europe, and Latin America

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Walt Levengood, has been name Chief Operations & Chief Information Officer of Merchant Cash & Capital, a business cash advance services company. Levengood was formerly Senior Vice President of The Bancorp Bank's Payment Services Group.