First Data Corporation has released First Data SpendTrend transaction data for November 2009. SpendTrend tracks same store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations.

Overall transactions for the month showed a growth of 8.9% over 2008, despite one less shopping day in November 2009. Transactions in the month of October 2009 were 8.2% higher than the previous year. READ MORE »

Yesterday, MasterCard's Tim Murphy presented at the Goldman Sachs US Financial Services Conference. The presentation and webcast are available online. Of particular interest is one of the slides (slide 7) that illustrates where debit card growth is coming from - and that it's not at the expense of credit cards.

Discover Financial Services has released its annual Holiday Shopping Survey finding that "shoppers plan to spend 15 percent less on holiday gifts compared to last year. Forty-eight percent of shoppers who plan to spend less said the economy was very influential on their decision to cut back on holiday spending this season. But of those spending less, nearly 80 percent say it will not put a damper on their holiday spirit." READ MORE »

Blackhawk Network has announced that it now provides Facebook users with a new way to purchase and send iTunes Online Gifts. iTunes Online Gifts can be used to purchase and download content from the iTunes Store. The new service is now available in the U.S. exclusively on the iTunes Fan Page on Facebook. (The iTunes Fan Page on Facebook has over 2 million fans!) READ MORE »

In an article titled "American Express Zync: Will Young Adults Want a Charge Card?", Ron Lieber writes for the New York Times about this new card that Amex is targeting at young adults who want a charge card (requires payment in full each month) with a relatively rich rewards program - but with an annual fee, etc.

Western Union and InComm have announced an agreement to offer the Western Union GoCashSM service, a new U.S. in-lane prepaid money-transfer service from Western Union. READ MORE »

The Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA), the payments industry self- regulatory body, has released the latest fraud statistics for cheques, debit cards and credit and charge cards for the 12 months ending 30 June 2009. During the period Australia’s total rate of fraud (cheque and payment cards) has risen by 2 cents for every $1,000 of payments from 7 cents to 9 cents in every $1,000. READ MORE »

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• Washington Times: New underground economy
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