U.S. Bank has announced that it is "the first card issuer in the United States to add Visa payWave technology to an unembossed debit card that is issued instantly to an account holder upon opening an account. The instant-issue Visa payWave pilot is being tested at select U.S. Bank branches in Denver and Salt Lake City as part of U.S. Bank’s on-going innovation in payments." READ MORE »

Three new premium Visa credit cards have been announced by United and Chase Card Services including the United Mileage Plus Club Visa Card, The United Mileage Plus Access Visa Card and The United Mileage Plus Select Visa Card.

According to the companies, "with these new cards, cardholders will receive exclusive benefits, including Red Carpet Club membership, Economy Plus seating, up to 5,000 or 10,000 miles that count toward elite status, or double and triple miles toward redeeming an award ticket."

Note that these three new premium cards have annual fees ranging from $130 to $375 annually. READ MORE »

MoneyGram International and Affinity Global Services have announced an agreement "that will enable mobile money transfer receives in important markets around the globe, bringing greater convenience and extending the benefits of MoneyGram services to a new category of consumers. The MoneyGram and Affinity Global Services alliance will allow consumers to use MoneyGram’s agent network of over 180,000 locations around the world to send money to an account associated with a mobile device." READ MORE »

Martin Arnold reports for the Financial Times that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is preparing IPO plans for up to six of its portfolio companies - including First Data Corp. According to the report, an IPO could occur within the next 12 months.

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