Intuit has soft-launched a new Intuit PaymentNetwork, calling it a "new and affordable way to send and receive payments over the Internet" for individuals and small businesses." A comprehensive set of help and support Q&A is available online.

For small businesses, the Intuit PaymentNetwork provides a low-cost payment alternative to credit cards for receiving payments - charging 50 cents per payment received irregardless of the amount (subject to certain limits). There are no monthly charges, equipment or set-up costs.

For individuals sending funds, you can send to anyone who is a member of the Intuit PaymentNetwork. If they're not already a member, they can join to receive their funds. At the present time, individuals can't receive funds.

More details available on the Intuit Small Business United blog.

FICO has announced the results of its study on the impact to consumer FICO® credit scores from lender reductions to credit card limits. FICO says "the study found that while U.S. lenders have made substantially deeper cuts into consumer credit card lines, their targeted approach has had minimal impact on the FICO credit scores of most card customers. The study also found that credit scores fare best when consumers keep balances low on their credit card accounts." READ MORE »

MasterCard has announced enhancements to its corporate meeting solutions portfolio that it says will "provide companies with greater control, efficiency and transparency around meeting planning and management. The company has partnered with two leading providers of online meeting solutions to address the needs of different stakeholders in today's fragmented corporate meetings market." READ MORE »

The New York Times today has an editorial titled "Debit Card Trap" on the subject of the overdraft fees that many banks collect on debit card transactions when there aren't sufficient funds in the consumer's checking account. The Times cites research by Moebs Services finding that banks in the US "will earn more than $38 billion this year from overdraft and bounced-check fees. Moebs also estimates that 90 percent of that amount will be paid by the poorest 10 percent of the customer base."

The Times is urging that regulators adopt new rules - currently under consideration by the Fed - that would require consumer opt-in and would require notification in real-time when a debit card charge is going to result in an overdraft fee being charged.

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