Yesterday, we pointed to several holiday discount deal sites from various payment providers.

In addition to those, eBillme has a ShopDebtFree discount site that features deals of the day and discounts for shoppers who prefer to pay with cash from their checking accounts instead of the other forms of payment. The site has products from the over 800 online retailers offering eBillme as a checkout option.

eBillme has also introduced a Black Friday website which will extend throughout the entire holiday shopping season, with deals, coupons, sales, specials and tips. The deals page features bargains that are updated regularly and special coupon codes for additional discounts being offered by eBillme on top of merchant sales.

• The Atlantic Business Channel: Should the US Reform Interchange Fees on Credit Cards?
• San Francisco Chronicle: Dollars and Sense : The case against gift cards
• NY Daily News Editorial: Swiping your money: Banks' tricky debit card rules can empty your wallet
• WalletBlog: Is the Switch from Fixed to Variable APR a Big Deal?
• WSJ.com: Credit-Card Companies Look To Black Friday For Clues
• Salvation Army kettles can now accept credit cards - USATODAY.com

Some nifty discounts are available - almost any way you want to pay online.

Both PayPal and Google Checkout are serving up discounts for purchases this holiday season. Here's PayPal's Deal page - and here's Google Checkout's Deal page.

Not to be outdone, Amazon Payments is also offering special holiday deals if you shop with Amazon Payments.

American Express also has its Daily Wish specials promotion underway this week while Discover is promoting special discounts along with a 5% cashback offer. And, if you'd prefer to just pay with Visa or MasterCard, they have their discount pages as well.

With just a few extra clicks while shopping online this holiday season, you can find some valuable savings!

In partnership with BMO Bank of Montreal and Research In Motion, MasterCard Canada has announced that it is bringing mobile payments to BlackBerry smartphones through its MasterCard PayPass 'tap and go' contactless payment technology. MasterCard is beginning a four-month trial in which participants will use PayPass Mobile Tag-equipped BlackBerry smartphones to make purchases at any of the 8,500 merchant locations in Canada that accept MasterCard PayPass. As announced, the trial is contactless sticker-based and doesn't appear to include any application integration with the Blackberry handsets. READ MORE »

In an article titled "Qualcomm’s Mobile Payment Strategy: Fix the “Costanza Wallet", Colin Gibbs writes for GigaOm about Qualcomm's mobile payments strategy based on an interview with Tripp Rackley, Qualcomm senior vice president and division president of Firethorn. Gibbs writes that "Qualcomm is continuing to invest in a space that it hopes will become a pillar of its business several years down the road."

Gosh, it's almost Thanksgiving again - the holiday that many folks (including me!) think of as just the best holiday in the US. At Glenbrook, we've got a lot to be thankful for again this year.

Across the industry, many payments professionals have worked hard to make sure everything in the card payment systems is ready for the upcoming annual "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" onslaught of volume. Chase Paymentech's Pulse Index will be tracking ecommerce sales trends over the holiday weekend - so we can watch how the currently challenged US consumer economy is doing vs. last year. So far, the big news is that, while transaction volumes are up almost 23%, there is currently a 12.5 percent decline from 2008 in the average ticket.

We hope our US-based friends and readers enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends! It's just the best! We'll see you on the other side.

Last night, PBS aired the Frontline documentary "The Card Game" about credit cards, credit card debt, fees and consumer loans in the US. The PBS website has an online version that can be watched along with additional interviews, background, analysis, press reaction and a discussion area.

In an article titled "Bar Owner Stood Firm and Won Lower Fees", Keith Bradsher writes for the New York Times from Sydney, Australia about how The Merivale Group, Sydney’s largest operator of upscale restaurants and bars, successfully negotiated a lower merchant fee for acceptance of American Express cards. The tactic they used? In a word: Surcharging. The regulatory environment in Australia allows merchants to surcharge card fees to consumers.

• Inside Facebook: Facebook Talking to Developers About New Plans for Its Virtual Currency
• Individual Donations Add Up With Capital One’s No Hassle Giving Program
• Chase Offers Holiday Discounts, Bonus Rewards From Top Retailers Through the Ultimate RewardsSM Holiday Program
• The Atlantic Business Channel: How Credit Cards Rob the Poor to Spoil the Rich
• WSJ.com: Christmas Shopping - The Best Way to Pay for Holiday Purchases
• Bulletproof Blog: What’s Next: The Plaintiff’s Perspective – Banks Face Two-Front Battle on Overdraft Fees
• CNNMoney.com: Credit card rates: No holiday help from Congress
• Bankrate.com: Should you get a credit union credit card?
• MSN Money UK: HSBC launches combined debit and credit card
• MintLife Blog: Black Friday 2009 - Black Friday Sales Numbers Walmart, Best Buy, Target
• GE, SABIC Innovative Plastics to Enable Ultimate Secure ID Card of the Future
• GE Money, Sales Finance Plays Key Role in American Renewal
• New Mercator Advisory Group Reports: Shifting Gears? Cards and Electronic Payments in China 2009, The Global Contactless Payment Card Market: Increased Adoption in Close Proximity?
• KSL-TV: Transaction fees are big business for credit card companies
• Digits - WSJ: Online Shopping Up From Last Year, but Well Below Trend
• The Boston Globe: For the frugal, a debit card seems like the best choice, but think twice
• New Celent Report: Paper-to-Electronic Processing in Healthcare: Generic Pain Relief for Paper Congestion
• Individual Donations Add Up With Capital One's No Hassle Giving Program
• Mint.com from Quicken Spending Points to Strong Black Friday Sales at Bellwether Merchants

In an article titled "Shady Shoppers Beware" in today's Wall St. Journal, Emily Maltby writes about how some merchants are fighting customers who tend to chargeback purchases by using services such as those offered by BadCustomer.com and Ignify.

In an article titled "In Australia, Curbs on Credit Card Fees Backfired", Keith Bradsher writes for the New York Times about the adjustments to payment card interchange fees made several years ago in Australia by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Bradsher notes: "Now, as Congress debates how to rein in credit and debit card companies in the United States, Australia’s experience is being pointed to as an example of just how tricky that can be: for one thing, if regulators limit one fee or rate, banks are likely to find another way to keep revenue flowing."

Scotiabank has announced a partnership with M-Com to bring mobile banking to Scotiabank customers in the spring of 2010. Scotiabank’s mobile banking service will provide personal and small business customers with easy access to their Scotiabank accounts from their mobile device, regardless of their mobile service provider. Customers will be able to view balances and transaction history, pay bills and make transfers. READ MORE »

American Express says it is "making holiday shopping a more rewarding experience for Charge Cardmembers enrolled in the Membership Rewards program by offering generous bonus Membership Rewards promotions for online shopping. From Black Friday (November 27th) through Cyber Monday (November 30th), American Express is exclusively offering to eligible Charge Cardmembers triple Membership Rewards points on every purchase, up to $5,000, made on Amazon.com, which offers a large selection of great gifts for the holidays."

Visa and SHPS have announced "the renewal of a collaborative agreement which pairs the world’s largest electronic payments network with one of the nation’s largest providers of account-based, consumer-driven healthcare solutions. Under terms of the renewal, Visa remains the preferred payment brand for employee benefit card programs administered by SHPS, which serves large and mid-sized employers, health insurance carriers, and government agencies." READ MORE »

TowerGroup says it is finding that the popularity of private label store gift cards is "plummeting." According to the research firm, "he reduction in card spending is reflective of a weakened economy, decreased holiday sales and less confidence in retailer inventories and stability. TowerGroup expects store gift card spending volume to fall by 7%, with a modest increase of 3% in general purpose cards in 2009." READ MORE »

• Bloomberg.com: U.S. Overdraft-Fee Limits May Cost Banks $15 Billion
• The PayPal Blog: Bill Me Later Outstanding Offers
• Majority of Americans Plan to Skip 'Black Friday' Holiday Shopping
• CNNMoney: What banks can do to attract consumers' deposits
• CNNMoney.com: Banks' newest game: Debit card fees
• G.A. Wright Predicts Consumers Will Return to Stores for the Holidays, but Sales Won't Reach 2008 Holiday Levels
• MSNBC - The Red Tape Chronicles: Life after overdraft fees: ‘advances’ at 120% interest!
• Pan American Bank (Los Angeles) Launches Social Media Presence
• Wells Fargo/Gallup Survey: Small Business Owners Re-Think Technology Usage as They Navigate Tough Economy
• U.K.'s National Express Chooses CyberSource's Fraud Management Solutions
• BMO Financial to buy Diners Club North American ops
• eBay® Serves Up Bargains to Consumers Around the Clock with New "Deals" Application for iPhone® and iPod Touch®
• Selling Power Names Heartland Payment Systems Best Service Company to Sell For
• SmartMoney.com: The Best Holiday Credit-Card Strategies
• Bloomberg.com: Monster Debit Card Leads to $40 Pizza, 24,000 Percent Interest
• Chicago Sun-Times: Consumers get better grip on credit card debt

In an article titled "The Check is in the Email? Electronic Payments Orders Could Be An Opportunity for Banks" over on our sister site PaymentsViews.com, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson takes a look at the opportunity for banks with Electronic Payment Orders.

Carol writes that "the EPO concept is a way for banks to leverage their existing investment in checking – and check imaging – and enhance the somewhat surprising success of remote deposit capture."

In an article titled "In Love Affair With Credit, It’s Business as Usual", Eric Mink writes for the New York Times about the PBS Frontline episode titled "The Card Game" that's scheduled to air tomorrow evening. Mink writes that "the program, a co-production with The New York Times, springs from the enactment in May of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009."

Wesabe has announced the launched of GetSpringboard.com, "a personal finance management (PFM) platform that is available via a cloud-based services model for financial institutions that want award-winning personal finance management tools without the engineering requirements of hosting the platform in-house."

Wesabe CEO Marc Hedlund notes that Wesabe is offering "a new model for deploying banking software. Instead of going back and forth for weeks (or months) with a salesperson to get a quote, and then spending months with consultants charging for "integration," our new site lets banks and credit unions see pricing, sign up, launch, configure, and control their sites all over the web. We've had people deploy a full PFM suite for their site in under 10 minutes. We think this is a new way to get and deploy banking software, more akin to Salesforce.com or 37signals.com than to traditional banking software."

Chase Paymentech has launched an updated version of its Cyber Holiday Pulse Index to track online shopping activity throughout the 2009 holiday shopping season. Chase Paymentech says its Pulse Index this year will track over one million payment transactions made daily at 50 of the top U.S. retail Web sites as ranked by Internet Retailer magazine. READ MORE »

Discover has announced the launch of ItPaystoDiscover.com, a new web site that describes all the ways Discover's cardmembers can get the most value from their Cashback Bonus rewards. READ MORE »

Mobile Money Ventures (MMV) and CPNI Inc. (CPNI) have announced they will be partnering to offer financial institutions "a comprehensive solution that integrates CPNI's mobile commerce solutions into MMV's mobile financial services platform. The multifaceted relationship will combine CPNI's PATsend remote mobile payment technology into MMV's next generation mobile platform, with the opportunity to integrate PATbuy mobile purchases in the next phase." READ MORE »

In yesterday's The Haggler column in the New York Times, David Segal writes about how he had been throwing away his credit card bill because it had begun arriving in a plain envelope with no return address on the outside. "The Haggler can’t prove it, but this seemed like a brilliant, low-cost way to pocket a fortune in late fees." The bank, Bank of America, said it changed the envelope after the "acquisition of several credit card companies" in 2006 and denied that it was trying to fool people.

• Digital Transactions: After the GAO Report, Outlook for Interchange Regulation Is Cloudy
• Consumers in a Frugal Holiday Mood, The Conference Board Reports
• Buy.com(R) Enhances Payment Options with Checkout by Amazon and Amazon PayPhrase
• MoneyGram International and the Italian Post Office Bring Mobile Money Transfer Service to Italy
• Gemalto in exclusive talks with XIRING to acquire XIRING's banking activity
• Fiserv Recognized as a Top Online Bill Payment Provider by Aite Group
• S&P and Experian Announce Strategic Alliance to Provide Consumer Credit Data on Collateral in Securitized Loans
• American Express launches new gift card in Canada
• Baltimore Sun: Seniors on the Go: No End to Credit Card Problem in Europe
• The Associated Press: Late payments on credit cards drop in 3rd quarter
• Advertising Age: Will Retailers or Consumers Come Out on Top on Black Friday?
• Wachovia Visa Gift Card, Toys for Tots Join Forces to Put Presents Under the Tree for Less Fortunate Children
• WSJ.com: Experian Forms JV With 7 Indian Fincl Services Institutions
• Bloomberg.com: PayPal to Work With Australia Regulator on Reporting Standards
• TIO Networks Launches Nationwide Real-Time Bill Payment Processing Service for Cox Communications
• Xcellink Defines Mobile Payments Marketplace as It Develops Applications and Rolls Out Its Patented Technology
• Verizon Makes Online Billing Even Easier and More Helpful for Businesses
• The Mississippi Press: Avoiding credit card debt difficult but necessary