Among a number of enhancements to its Member Rewards program, American Express has announced that its cardholders will now have the option to use Membership Rewards points toward federal, state and local income tax payments.

"Cardmembers can use points toward the actual tax payment when filing through Pay1040 (pay1040.com) and Official Payments Corp. (www.officialpayments.com), starting at 200 points. Cardmembers will be able to continue using Membership Rewards points toward applicable convenience and payment fees incurred when filing taxes online."

Elavon, the merchant acquiring subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp has announced the introduction of Fusebox - calling it a "next-generation hosted payment gateway that provides secure multi-point connectivity across a merchant’s enterprise." READ MORE »

Next week, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson and Scott Loftesness will be presenting our Payments Boot Camp in Santa Clara, California on Wednesday and Thursday, January 20-21. Enrollment for this session is still available.

The Glenbrook's Payments Boot Camp is a unique, two-day "deep dive" into all aspects of the US payment system. Our new series features an expanded focus on Mobile Payments – and introduces Glenbrook’s Mobile Payments Market Map.

ACI Worldwide has announced the availability of a report by Retail Systems Research (RSR), examining the future of retail payments. The research was sponsored by ACI Worldwide and "highlights the need for retailers to review and upgrade their payment systems, to ensure they can remain innovative and meet changing customer needs." READ MORE »

• FinanceAsia.com: The mobile payment revolution
• eMarketer: Consumers Take to Shopping by Smartphone
• ViVOtech Launches PCI 2.1 Certified Next Generation Customer-Facing Devices, ViVOpay 8800 and ViVOpay 8600, for Secure Mag-Stripe, Contactless and Mobile Payments, Near-Store and In-Store Mobile Marketing and Promotions
• Citigroup Appoints Manuel Medina-Mora Chief Executive Officer of Consumer Banking for the Americas and Chairman of Citi’s Global Consumer Council
• WSJ.com: Obama Administration Considers Fee on Banks to Recoup Bailout Funds
• NYTimes.com: Smartphones Helping Magazines Become Interactive
• The Future of the Internet... Malicious Apps in the Android Market (Mobile Banking)
• Ingenico Launches Secure Multimedia Powerhouse iSC350 to Kick-Off 99th NRF Show
• Digital Transactions: Best Buy Cuts off Visa Contactless with Little Risk to Sales
• David C. Webb to Join Equifax as Chief Information Officer
• PayPal Readies Improvements for January 21st Release
• Adeptra Survey Reveals Banks and Card Issuers Are Investing in Technology to Speed-up and Improve Reporting and Prevention of Fraud
• InComm and Medagate to Launch Government Backed Medicare Products
• Main Street Softworks Inc. Introduces CardShield(TM) Data Protection System for Credit Card and Debit Card Transactions
• MagnePrint® dynamic card authentication receives enthusiastic support by Merchant Warehouse to help retailers identify and decline counterfeit payment cards at the POS
• Microsoft Unveils New Dynamics ERP Retail Offering
• NCR's Coupon-to-Card Application Brings New Capabilities to Multichannel Offer Management Software
• Citi's Terri Dial to Step Down as CEO of North America Consumer Business, Will Become Senior Advisor
• BusinessWeek: Mint Makes a Quick Mark on Intuit
• VeriFone Announces First MX 800 Series PCI PED 2.1 Certification
• Coca-Cola Canada and Visa payWave bringing innovation to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games