Visa Inc. has announced its financial results for the fiscal first quarter 2009 ended December 31, 2008.

"Net operating revenue in the fiscal first quarter of 2009 was $1.7 billion, an increase of 17% over the prior year, driven by strong contributions across all revenue categories. Payments volume and processed transactions remained solid, in particular in the Asia Pacific (AP), Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA), and Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) regions."

Today's conference call presentation and a set of supplemental operational performance data are available online. READ MORE »

Before the market opens tomorrow morning, MasterCard Worldwide is scheduled to announce its financial results for 4Q 2008. A conference call has been scheduled for 9 AM Eastern Thursday, 2/5.

MasterCard has announced "a contract extension and five-year Debit MasterCard signature and PIN brand exclusivity agreement with H&R Block Bank, owned by H&R Block Inc., the world’s preeminent tax services provider. Under the multi-year agreement, H&R Block Bank will participate exclusively in the MasterCard network, to take advantage of simpler processes, more control and greater cardholder insight when managing its debit portfolio." READ MORE »

The Center for American Progress has released a new report titled "Putting Credit Card Debt on Notice - Using electronic reminders to give consumers the right information at the right time" by Tim Westrich, Research Associate for Economic Policy at American Progress.

One simple technological solution could help level the playing field between cardholders and credit card companies and put money back into families’ budgets. Text messages— or a similarly rapid electronic method—could allow a financial institution to transfer information to cardholders at the “teachable moment” when they need it the most.

[Editor's note: This may not have any immediate banking/financial services application - but it's yet another example of what's happening with mobile technology becoming the "sensor-based platform" of the future!]

This morning Google introduced Google Latitude, a new service that uses mobile phone positioning data to let you see where your friends are in real-time on Google Maps. More information - including a brief introductory video - is available here.

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