In an article titled "Card Issuers, Geithner To Meet", Nancy Trejos and Binyamin Appelbaum write for the Washington Post's Friday edition that "top executives of 14 of the nation's largest credit card companies are heading to the White House on Thursday for a meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Lawrence H. Summers, the president's chief economic adviser." The meeting hasn't been publicly announced.

The Center for Financial Services Innovation has released a new report titled "A Tool for Getting By or Getting Ahead? - Consumers' Views on Prepaid Cards (PDF of the full report)." The authors studied both AccountNow and NetSpend and said: "Prepaid cards are a helpful financial tool, and users appreciate their features. Prepaid cards may also help consumers achieve short-term financial goals, such as paying off debt and accumulating emergency savings. However, achieving longer-term financial goals will likely require more intensive and comprehensive services and products that extend beyond what prepaid cards currently offers."

MasterCard Canada, in partnership with Citi Cards Canada and Bell Mobility, has completed the first near-field communications (NFC) trial of Mobile PayPass in Canada. The four month long closed trial allowed participants to use Bell Mobility's wireless network to make purchases using their mobile device at MasterCard PayPass acceptance locations across Canada. READ MORE »

JPMorgan Chase & Co. this morning reported first-quarter 2009 net income of $2.1 billion, compared with net income of $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2008. Earnings per share were $0.40, compared with $0.67 in the first quarter of 2008.

In its Card Services unit, the net loss was $547 million, a decline of $1.2 billion from the prior year. The decrease was driven by a higher provision for credit losses, partially offset by higher net revenue. End-of-period managed loans were $176.1 billion, an increase of $25.2 billion, or 17%, from the prior year and a decrease of $14.2 billion, or 7%, from the prior quarter. Charge volume was $76.0 billion, a decrease of $9.4 billion, or 11%, from the prior year. Merchant processing volume was $94.4 billion on 4.1 billion in total transactions processed.

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