Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg and Jay DeWitt are participating in this year's Merchant Risk Council e-Commerce Payments and Risk Conference this week in Las Vegas. This is the seventh year for the conference and it's completely sold out.

On our new PaymentsViews.com web site, Allen has posted his highlights from today's morning and afternoon Platinum Day sessions. Today's topics included the CyberSource 2008 Fraud Survey findings and PIN-debit for eCommerce.

Jay will be leading a panel discussion on Thursday on "Payments as Business Strategy" - highlighting how payments management is an important part of any eCommerce Merchant's overall strategy, both in keeping expenses in line but also, and, even more importantly, contributing to top line merchant revenues.

Stay tuned for more updates here by Allen and Jay from this important annual conference for eCommerce merchants.

One of the regular publications (updated every two weeks) from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is a summary of the key national economic indicators.

The bank is just out with the latest edition today - it includes some pretty amazing charts - like the following:

In a press release, Fitch Ratings says that "U.S. consumers are falling further behind on their credit card bills as the economy continues to unravel, setting the stage for record default rates going forward. For the second consecutive month, credit card delinquencies breached all-time highs according to the latest Fitch Credit Card Index results. At January month end, the 60 plus day delinquency rate was 4.04%. The results come amid an unending parade of troubling economic data from surging unemployment to steeper declines home and equity market values." READ MORE »

Bank of America has announced the launch of a new online shopping site that "allows enrolled customers to earn up to 20% cash back on their purchases at more than 270 online retailers, including top names such as Walmart.com, BestBuy.com and Barnes & Noble.com. Customers with a current Bank of America credit or check card who are enrolled in online banking can register for free through the Add It Up site at http://www.bankofamerica.com/additup." READ MORE »

ThreatMetrix has announced an upgrade to its isoftware-as-a-service fraud and abuse-prevention solution. Calling it "the first major release of the product since ThreatMetrix relocated to the United States from Australia at the end of last year, ThreatMetrix Fraud Prevention 2.0 includes more than two dozen feature enhancements, all of which are designed to help merchants and financial institutions thwart cyber criminals before the first transaction." READ MORE »

Vindicia has announced that it has integrated its on-demand CashBox billing system with Merchant e-Solutions' (MeS) e-Commerce payment platform. In conjunction with the Merchant Risk Council Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Vindicia and Merchant e-Solutions are also announcing that Custom Builders USA (CB/USA) has selected the integrated solution to meet its subscription billing requirements. READ MORE »

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke gave a speech this morning titled "Financial Reform to Address Systemic Risk" at the Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, D.C.

In my remarks today, I have emphasized the need to address the problems posed by firms that are perceived to be too big to fail, the importance of efforts to strengthen the financial infrastructure, the desirability of reducing the procyclical effects of capital regulation and accounting rules, and the potential benefits of taking a more macroprudential approach to the supervision and regulation of financial firms.

FSV Payment Systems has announced that Ballast Point Ventures and North Hill Ventures have invested a total of $6 million in the Company. FSV, a privately-held company, is a provider of open loop prepaid card processing and program management services. The Company provides payroll cards, general purpose reloadable, rebate, incentive, gift and healthcare card solutions to corporations, financial institutions and government agencies. READ MORE »

In an op-ed titled "Credit Cards Are the Next Credit Crunch" in today's Wall St. Journal, Meredith Whitney raises her concerns about the reductions underway in US consumer credit lines associated with credit cards - and the potential unintended consequences of "taking credit away from people who have the ability to pay their bills."

MoneyGram International and Visa have announced plans to introduce Visa ReadyLink – Visa’s prepaid load network – in MoneyGram’s 40,000 agent locations across the United States, providing financially underserved consumers with more convenient options to add funds to their Visa reloadable prepaid cards. READ MORE »

• WSJ.com: Cardholders Buy Peace of Mind, if Not Security
• OCC News: OCC Focuses on Stabilizing Communities Affected by Foreclosures
• Network Branded Prepaid Card Association Wins Best Prepaid Marketing or Awareness-Building Program at the Prepaid Card Expo
• Mobile Payments Move Closer to the Mainstream, Report Finds
• M2 Global Ltd. and Altair Technologies Ltd. Form Strategic Relationship to Strengthen Competitive Position in Global Prepaid Card Market
• TechCrunch: Paymo Strikes Deal With hi5 To Use Mobile Payments For Virtual Goods
• Guru.com Extends Payout Suite Through Partnership with Payoneer
• Rail Europe Goes the Extra Mile with Bill Me Later
• Prepaid Expo: Managing the Technical Requirements for Incorporating Mobile Payments into Your Business
• The Simple Dollar: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your Credit Card Interest Rates Reduced
• ThinkMoney (UK): Caution Needed Over Credit Card Debt
• Bloomberg: Credit Cards Raise ‘Canary in Coal Mine’ Alert at Canada Banks
• GXS to Present on New Ways to Achieve B2B Integration at Microsoft Convergence Conference
• TRUSTe Survey Findings Indicate Majority of Small Businesses Neglect Vital Privacy Measures
• CNNMoney: Banks' future woes in one word: plastic
• Springbok Sets Industry Standard for Prepaid Card Carrier Personalization