Gosh, it's that time of year again - what many (including me) think of as just the best holiday in the US - Thanksgiving. At Glenbrook, we've got a lot to be thankful for again this year.

Across the industry, many payments professionals have worked hard to make sure everything in the card payment systems is ready for the upcoming annual "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" onslaught of volume. Chase Paymentech's Pulse Index will be tracking things over the weekend - so you can see how the currently challenged US consumer economy is doing vs. the last two years in the ecommerce realm. So far, the big news is a 12.8 percent decline in the average ticket.

Meanwhile, enjoy the holiday with friends and family! Remember, it's just the best!

Public radio's Marketplace features a 7-minute video by Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch describing how credit card debt gets turned into asset-backed securities.

See also the OCC's Credit Card Lending handbook and the FDIC's Credit Card Securitization Manual.

TrialPay has announced the launch of a new shopping web site where "shoppers can buy gifts from their favorite brands—and get a free present for themselves in the process (movie tickets, software licenses, game subscriptions, career advice and more)." READ MORE »

Citigroup's CEO Vikram Pandit was on the Charlie Rose Show last night. A video archive of the 54 minute discussion is available online. Highly recommended!

The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the US Commerce Department has published its latest Personal Income and Outlays report for October 2008. The report shows that "personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased $102.8 billion, or 1.0 percent" and that "personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income was 2.4 percent in October, compared with 1.0 percent in September." Further evidence that US consumers are hunkering down.

Holiday shoppers are not planning to reduce their spending significantly, despite news of financial turbulence, according to a new survey released today by ING DIRECT. The survey is part of ING DIRECT's new "We the Savers" campaign calling on committed savers to sign the online "Declaration of Financial Independence"; participate in informative online polls; and use "We the Savers" savings calculators, social networking and IM icons, online forums and more.

According to ING DIRECT's survey findings: "Although Americans seem more concerned about holiday spending during the current economic climate, half of them actually plan to spend the same if not more on holiday gifts this year as compared to last year. Most surveyed also indicate they plan to spend between $300 to over $1,000 on gifts. While this may help struggling retailers, the spending habits of consumers are not improving and their wallets are continuing to stretch. In plain terms, Americans are nowhere near where they should be in terms of saving their money." READ MORE »

• WSJ.com: U.K. Credit Cards to Give Borrowers Extra 60 Days to Pay
• Convenience Store News: Giant Eagle Gives fuelperks! to Citizens Bank Debit Card Customers
• New American Express Spot Showcases Personal Stories Shared by Well-Known Cardmembers about the Moments in Their Lives That They Became Cardmembers
• American Banker: Pulling Back in a Big Way in Small-Business Cards (Subscription Required)
• First Data Commences Cash Tender Offers for $115.2 Million of its Outstanding Debt Securities
• TechCrunch: SEC Outlines Its Reasoning For Shutting Down P2P Lender Prosper
• Obopay's Tips to Survive the Holidays in a Lump-of-Coal Economy: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
• New Report From Aite Group: Overcoming Challenges in Credit Card Issuing
• Forrester Research: How The Financial Crisis Will Affect Bank Customer Loyalty
• Idaho Statesman: Consumer alert: Nervous about gift cards? Try a pre-paid bank card
• Global Payments Wins Top Internet Card Processing Award from MasterCard Worldwide
• Seeking Alpha: FDIC Graphs Show the Extent of the Financial Crisis
• Boston Globe: Will online offers get consumers spending again?