Earlier this week, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., introduced legislation to "stop some of the most egregious credit card practices that unfairly deepen or prolong credit card debt held by consumers. The Stop Unfair Practices in Credit Cards Act (PDF) follows an investigation and hearing by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which Levin chairs and on which McCaskill serves."

In his floor statement introducing the bill, Sen. Levin said that the bill "would stop credit card companies from charging interest on debt that is paid on time. It would crack down on abusive fees, including repeated late fees and over-the-limit fees, as well as fees to pay your bill. It would also prohibit the charging of interest on those fees. It would establish guidelines on interest rate increases, including a cap on penalty interest rate hikes at no more than seven percent. And it would require that increased interest rates apply only to future credit card debt, and not to debt already incurred."   » Continue Reading

Wells Fargo has announced the launch of Returned Item & Deposit Details, an enhancement to its Wells Fargo Business Online Banking service. According to the bank, "with this rollout, Wells Fargo is one of the first major U.S. financial institutions to offer small- to mid-sized business customers access to electronic images of returned items, as well as an array of other electronic images, including cleared checks and deposited checks - as part of its online banking service."   » Continue Reading

Wayne Heilman writes for the Colorado Springs Gazette about debit card cash reward programs offered by credit unions and provided by Rainbow Rewards USA Inc.

USA Today's Christine Dugas writes about all manner of rewards cards available to consumers today - noting that "some rewards cards can be misleading, especially if you neglect to study the fine print."

• PayPal Promotes Express Checkout with New Partner Program
• Fair Isaac’s Industry-Leading Fraud Detection Technology Tackles ‘Faster Payments’ Fraud in the UK

Bored with your current gig and looking to move on to a new one? Our PaymentsJobs.com jobs listings help payments professionals find the best new opportunities.

Here are some of the new listings:

• Tempo Payments seeks a Product Manager based in San Mateo, California
• Accenture is looking for Payments Consultants/Managers based in Charlotte, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco
• The US Department of the Treasury is seeking a Financial Program Specialist (Project Manager) based in Washington, DC
• The Payments Card Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is looking for a Payments Card Industry Specialist based in Philadelphia
• JetPay Merchant Services is seeking a Senior Business Development Manager based in Franklin, Michigan
• PayPal is seeking a Senior Product Marking Manager based in San Jose, California

Wells Fargo has announced its CEO Mobile service to a select group of customers, saying it has become "the first major U.S. financial services company to offer mobile service for businesses."   » Continue Reading

Celent has published a new report titled "US Mobile Banking: Beyond the Buzz" concluding that "mobile banking is here to stay and will grow significantly faster than online banking."   » Continue Reading

Evolution Benefits and The Bancorp Bank have announced an agreement to "provide an integrated solution combining The Bancorp Bank’s health savings accounts and EB’s prepaid benefits card known as Benny to support advanced consumer-directed healthcare programs. The companies’ integrated product will be available in early June."   » Continue Reading

Brink’s U.S. and Metavante have announced the launch of Metavante’s Sendpoint distributed image capture service to Brinks’ cash vaults across the country. Metavante’s Sendpoint service provides for the remote image capture and image exchange of deposits and payments received from Brink's Vaults, accelerating deposit capture from receipt through posting and presentment.   » Continue Reading

Virgin USA has announced that it has acquired a majority stake in CircleLending, Inc., a financial services company that "pioneered the business of managing loans between relatives and friends."   » Continue Reading

Acxiom has announced that it has "entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Silver Lake, the leading investment firm focused on large-scale investments in technology-driven growth industries, and ValueAct Capital, one of the largest investment firms that makes strategic block and control investments in public and private companies. Silver Lake and ValueAct Capital will acquire 100 percent of the outstanding equity interests in the company in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.0 billion, including the assumption of approximately $756 million of debt."   » Continue Reading

Alliance Data Systems Corporation has announced that it has "entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Blackstone Capital Partners V L.P., an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, in a transaction valued at approximately $7.8 billion, including the assumption of certain debt. Under the terms of the agreement, Blackstone will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Alliance Data for $81.75 per share in cash. The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 30 percent over Alliance Data's closing share price of $62.96 on May 16, 2007."   » Continue Reading

Dan Fost writes for the San Francisco Chronicle about the latest technology for payments that he saw at this week's CardTech/SecureTech show in San Francisco. "Allen Weinberg, a managing partner at Glenbrook Partners, a payments industry consultant in Menlo Park, said new payment methods are already showing up in places like McDonald's and 7-Eleven. He described a friend who, despite being a "mileage hound" who charged nearly every purchase to earn frequent-flier points, was reluctant to pay for his bag of burgers at McDonald's with his Visa card. Then Weinberg tapped his wallet on the reader, it beeped, and the transaction was done. "He said, 'I would do that,' " Weinberg said. "The overriding theme is speed and convenience."

Consumer Action and American Express have announced plans to expand their jointly developed credit card education program called "Credit Cards: What You Need to Know." The program is centered on a training module with a curriculum and educational brochures, translated into five languages, that are distributed to the more than 9,000 community-based organizations within Consumer Action's network to educate consumers about how to best choose and use credit cards.   » Continue Reading

Aetna has announced it is "working with Medical Funding Services (MFS) to introduce expanded electronic options to simplify billing and reimbursement. MFS will offer its financial services and related electronic payment solutions to network health care providers in select markets. These include an online solution that combines the health plan and patient portions of a medical bill into a single payment to health care providers."   » Continue Reading

Visa International has announced results from a recent global survey titled, "Global Commercial Payment Cards: Cutting Costs and Boosting Control on a Global Stage" that finds "companies worldwide primarily implement corporate card programs for enhanced visibility into spend (nearly 70 percent), and that the number one priority for companies around the world for implementing purchasing card (P-card) programs is reducing administrative costs for transaction processing (86 percent), but the goals and growth drivers for the programs differ by region."   » Continue Reading

• PayPal Launches New Partner Program for E-Commerce Service Providers
• Fourth Annual Citi(R) Credit-Ed(R) Survey Reveals College Upperclassmen Practicing Positive Credit Management, But Still Apprehensive About Financial Responsibilities After Graduation
• JPMorgan Chase Closes Acquisition of Xign

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Debra A. Janssen has been elected to the Board of Directors of Online Resources Corporation. Earlier, she served as President of First Data Debit Services (Star Network), and as President and CEO of eFunds Corporation.
• Jerry Bartlett has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Development for First Data Resources (FDR). Bartlett was most recently with TD AMERITRADE where he oversaw all information technology (IT) initiatives.
• Chris Shultz and Claudia Zane have joined MeritCard, as equity owners, to help promote that company's Agent program. Both Chris and Claudia were with Chase Paymentech for 12 years as Regional Managers in the Strategic Partner Channel.

Andrea-Marie Vassou writes for Computeract!ve about a decision by HSBC to not deploy to customers chip card readers that other major banks in the UK are deploying to help deal with online banking and ecommerce fraud.

Kerry Miller reports for Business Week about a two-year-old company called National Payment Card that enables payments using a consumer's driver's license and a PIN - with the transaction linked directly to the consumers checking account. According to Miller, "NPC started piloting the patent-pending technology at a handful of gas stations in Texas this January. Since then the company has signed contracts to roll out the system to five regional convenience store chains starting in June."

Ephraim Schwartz writes for InfoWorld about plans by American Express to "launch a consumer service in the fourth quarter that will give American Express cardholders access to American Express's own negotiated rates for thousands of products that it buys annually."

Yesterday, Visa announced that Joseph W. Saunders would be the chairman and chief executive officer of Visa Inc. The San Jose Mercury News personal finance reporter Mark Schwanhausser interviewed Saunders yesterday.

Metavante has announced it is expanding its Points2U rewards program to include its online bill payment service. Financial institutions now have the option of deploying an integrated rewards program for any combination of credit, debit or electronic bill payment services.   » Continue Reading

ID Analytics has announced it has closed $20 million in a Series C financing that was led by Investor Growth Capital and included existing investors Canaan Partners, Trinity Ventures and Mission Ventures.   » Continue Reading

• Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" DVD Gift Cards Available in Circuit City Stores Nationwide Mid May
• ClairMail to Power Bank of Stockton’s Mobile Banking Services

Last week, we "soft launched" the new Glenbrook Partners web site. The new "minimalist" design of glenbrook.com is the first major update to the site since we launched it about five years ago. Learn more about who we are - we'd really welcome your visit!

Chase Card Services and Mall Networks have announced the launch of Chase Rewards Plus, calling it "a dynamic shopping program that provides cardmembers with a rewarding online shopping experience. With Chase Rewards Plus, millions of Chase rewards cardmembers will now be able to earn unlimited bonus rewards and take advantage of special offers and discounts while shopping at hundreds of leading online retailers through www.chase.com/rewardsplus."   » Continue Reading

American Express has announced what it is calling "a unique online initiative called The Members Project that enables American Express Cardmembers to come together as a community by submitting and sharing their project ideas for making a positive impact in the world."   » Continue Reading

TowerGroup has announced new research finding that the "adoption of online banking by U.S. consumers is going strong, outpacing growth rates for every other method of retail banking delivery" - including everything from ATM to call centers. The firm says that "the long touted promise of online banking is now hitting its stride."   » Continue Reading

Tempo Payments has announced that "Murphy USA has joined the Tempo Payment Network and is initiating a system-wide implementation of Murphy-branded PIN debit cards at more than 1,000 gas stations, with an initial roll-out to 111 stores in Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Houston." Tempo said that Murphy USA will reward consumers using the card with a one cent per gallon discount at the pump.   » Continue Reading

Javelin Strategy & Research has announced new research that it says "uncovers significant product marketing requirements for building banks' consumer usage of mobile services. While consumers are better primed for mobile banking now than they were in 2000, financial institutions (FIs) should not consider the mere availability of mobile banking a guarantee of success. FIs should prepare for measured, rather than widespread and immediate, adoption, even though consumers, handsets and mobile networks have made tremendous advancements."   » Continue Reading

MobileCrunch writes about Geezeo Mobile, a Massachusetts-based startup company that has launched a beta service that enables mobile phone users to register multiple bank accounts and then access account balance information while on the move. A screencast provides the details on the service. A blog post by the company's CTO Theron Parlin addresses questions about the security of the service - noting that they're using CashEdge as their third party information provider.

Visa has announced that Joseph (Joe) W. Saunders has been named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. Visa's regional boards of directors unanimously approved Saunders's appointment after an extensive six-month search. Saunders previously had been named the designated Executive Chairman of Visa Inc.'s Board of Directors, a role he assumed in February 2007.   » Continue Reading

PayPal has announced it has been granted a banking license for the European Union by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg, effective July 2, 2007. According to PayPal, "under this new charter, PayPal will be able to continue its European expansion by offering its services to more online merchants across Europe. In addition, PayPal will be moving its European headquarters to Luxembourg."   » Continue Reading

SVPCO, the check image and paper check business of The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., has announced that its average daily check image items and dollar value exceeded its paper check items and dollar value for the first time in its history during April.   » Continue Reading

• CheckFree Completes Acquisition of Corillian Corporation
• International Reach Leads United Commercial Bank to Join PULSE® ATM/Debit Network
• Fiserv and NetEconomy Launch NetPractice, a Thought Leadership Best Practice Community to Advance the Fight Against Financial Crime and Fraud
• UK: Chip and pin for online banking
• New anti-counterfeit teams in place as Canada lags internationally in bogus bills
• MagTek Develops Tri-band Card Reader with PC/SC Support
• Changes Sweep Mobile Roaming, Financial And Data Clearing Industry - Cibernet merges with MACH to create super company
• Commercial Bank of Qatar issues its first EMV Chip Card with TSYS Card Tech
• Qatar National Bank Goes Live with TSYS Card Tech's PRIME 3
• Survey Suggests Significant Progress Toward PCI Compliance Among Restaurant Chains

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Kate Lepow has been named director of global payments for Arvato Finance Services based in Mountain View, California. Earlier, Lepow spent nearly 10 years with Apple in various positions, including as director of global payment processing where she was responsible for all commerce areas, including online and iTunes storefronts, and as director of global treasury operations. Lepow holds a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor of science in commerce, both from Santa Clara University.

GTCR has announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell TransFirst to Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe for $683 million. TransFirst is a provider of transaction processing services and payment enabling technologies. The company currently processes approximately $25 billion in annual sales volume for more than 155,000 merchants and 965 financial institutions. Originally founded as ACS Merchant Services in 1995, GTCR partnered with TransFirst CEO Thomas Rouse to re-capitalize the company in 2000.   » Continue Reading

Mercator Advisory Group has announced the availability of a new report titled "U.S. B2B Payments: State of the Market." According to Mercator, this report "delivers a B2B payments growth forecast, an overview of Business-to-Business (B2B) payments, how businesses communicate their payments and information, major payments network basics, and leading bank processors."   » Continue Reading

In an article titled 'Startup aims to link cash economy with online retail", Francine Brevetti, Business Writer for InsideBayArea.com takes a look at Oakland-based Retail Expansion Network and its PaidByCash service.

Dave Birch blogs about the rapidly growing prepaid card market in Europe - which MasterCard Europe recently forecast would grow to "$164 billion in three year's time."

Coinstar and First Data Corp. have announced an agreement between Money Network Financial LLC, a First Data company, and Coinstar E-Payment Services Inc., a Coinstar company, to offer the Money Network Pay Card through select Coinstar kiosks.   » Continue Reading

Visa International has announced that total volume for Visa consumer debit and prepaid programs, including cash transactions, grew by 17.0 percent in 2006, reaching US$2.68 trillion as compared to US$2.29 trillion for the same period in 2005. Debit and prepaid now account for 60 percent of Visa global total consumer volume and over 67 percent of the number of Visa transactions, based on total consumer volume of US$4.4 trillion and 59.9 billion total transactions.   » Continue Reading

Obopay has announced the availability of a new AIM Obopay plugin for users of AOL's AIM service, the largest instant messaging community in the U.S. According to the company, "this new plugin allows eligible AIM users to launch Obopay and use it to make payments directly from the AIM Buddy List feature. Users can sign up for Obopay and download the free AIM Obopay plugin at http://www.obopay.com/aim."   » Continue Reading

• Solupay and ECHO to Offer New Grocery Electronic Check Conversion Payment Solution for Merchants
• OTI and ST Introduce the First Fully Certified Product Device to Support Both MasterCard and Visa Contactless Programs on a Single Chip
• Viewpointe Archive Reaches 100 Billion Images in Six Years
• Hypercom Executives to Present at CardTech SecurTech
• Global Cash Access (''GCA'') to Provide State-of-the-Art Cash Access Services to Patrons of France’s Largest Casino Operator
• CPI Card Group Launches Contactless Initiative for New MasterCard(R) Issuers
• Discover Card Wedding Shopping Survey Reveals Groomsmen Spend More than Bridesmaids on Pre-Wedding Festivities, Gifts, Travel
• MasterCard Worldwide and The Home Depot Announce ``$100,000 Backyard Retreat'' Sweepstakes