Jacqueline Chilton will be moderating a panel at the upcoming International CTIA WIRELESS 2010 conference on Monday March 22 in Las Vegas. The session is “Bank Perspectives” on innovation and consumer uptake of mobile within the Money Over Mobile track. Her panelists include: Matt Dill - SVP Digital Ventures, Western Union, Sarah Overcash - AVP, Mobile Banking Channel Mgr, Sun Trust Banks, Peter Ho - VP & Product Manager, Wells Fargo, Tim Ruhe - VP Mobile, FiServ. If you are attending, please reach out to Jacqueline.

In an article titled "Under Attack! Threats to Deposit Accounts: an Interview with FICO Fraud Solutions", Glenbrook's Jacqueline Chilton talks with Mike Urban, FICO Senior Director of Fraud Solutions, about how criminals are enhancing their margins in ATM and debit card fraud.

• Payment Talk: You would think Visa would know better....RightCliq? You must be kidding!
• WSJ.com: EBay's PayPal In Talks With Alibaba Intl MarketPlace
• Javelin Strategy: 2010 Mobile Marketing and Advertising: Financial Institutions Losing Revenue Opportunities, While Telcos Charge Ahead
• Bits Blog - NYTimes.com: When Will Location-Based Coupons Take Off?
• Volusion Makes Mobile Commerce a Reality for Thousands of Online Storeowners
• Kount Submits New Patent to Increase Protection of Device Fingerprinting and Proxy Piercing Technologies
• AuctionBytes: PayPal Developers Contest Includes Mobile Apps Marketplace
• Digital Transactions: Capellas Leaves First Data As Hints of Recovery Appear on the Horizon
• Washington Post - Michelle Singletary: Finding solid footing as banks' overdrafts get overhauled
• Discover Financial Services Announces Actions to Further Enhance Loan Loss Reserve
• BusinessWeek: Target appoints Wells Fargo chief to board
• TechCrunch: Amidst Controversy Storm, Kwedit Reveals Repayment Rate Already At 26%
• CashEdge's Risk Management Services Prevent More than $139 Million in Client Fraud Losses in 2009
• Federal Court Rules Consumers' Claims Against Nation’s Leading Banks for Excessive Overdraft Fees May Proceed
• New Mercator Advisory Group Report: Venture Capital in Payments 2010: How VC Funding Drives Global Payments Innovation

Visa held an Investor Day today - replays of the morning and afternoon sessions are available online. Here are the slides for the morning and afternoon sessions.

In an 8-K filing with the SEC this morning, Visa updated some selected volume data:

• February, U.S. aggregate payments volume growth was positive 12% versus the prior year period. Further broken down, U.S. credit payments volume growth was positive 2% and debit payments volume growth was positive 20%.
• February cross border payments volume on a constant dollar basis was positive 11% over the prior year period.
• February processed transactions grew positive 13% globally.
• 2011 free cash flow is expected to exceed $2 billion.

First Data's board of directors has announced the appointment of board member Joe Forehand, former chairman and CEO of Accenture, as chairman and interim chief executive officer (CEO). Forehand will succeed Michael Capellas on March 31, 2010. Capellas, after serving as CEO for three years, has accepted a new role as senior advisor at KKR focusing on technology. He will continue to support First Data in an advisory capacity. READ MORE »

• Wells Fargo Customers Save 100,000 Trees Through Online Statements and Envelope-Free ATMs
• TIO Launches Mobile Payment Platform
• Devices Connected to USA Technologies Network Increases to Approximately 71,000
• Lights, Camera, Action: Vesdia Goes to the Movies
• First Data Reports Fourth Quarter 2009 Revenue of $2.6 Billion, Full-Year 2009 Revenue of $9.3 Billion

Visa is holding an Investor Day on Thursday, March 11, beginning at 8 AM Pacific time. Here are the links for the webcasts of the morning session and the afternoon session.

Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg and Carol Coye Benson will be attending next week's annual conference of the Merchant Risk Council. Together, they'll be teaching the MRC Payments Workshop on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 18th. On Tuesday mornng, Allen will be joining a panel discussion about Universal Identity - Trust in e-Commerce Transactions as part of the MRC Platinum Meeting. If you're going to this year's MRC annual conference, be sure to say hello to Allen and Carol!

Bank of America has announced that "beginning this summer it will only authorize single debit card transactions at the point of sale if a customer has enough money in their account at the time. This change will help customers by reducing the likelihood they may inadvertently overdraw their account and thus eliminate unexpected overdraft fees on these transactions. Customers will still have the choice to link their checking account to another account through Overdraft Protection to cover these types of transactions." READ MORE »

• AP: Credit card users not making big dent in debt -
• Financial Post (Canada) - The Wealthy Boomer: Why debit card criminals may soon migrate from Canada to the USA
• Reuters: Geithner urges U.S. banks to cut fees
• MoneyBuilder - Forbes.com: How The End Of Overdraft Fees Could Wind Up Costing Cardholders
• Digital Transactions: In Prepaid, Issuers And Networks Will See Fastest Revenue Growth
• ABC News: Credit Card Users: Not So Responsible After All?
• eMarketer: Gen Y Goes for Online Banking
• Cardlytics CEO Scott Grimes Addresses 2010 Montgomery Technology Conference
• Secure Remote Payment Council: Webinar: The State of Secure Remote Debit Payments - Wednesday, March 31, 2010
• Wireless Week: China Mobile Bets $5.8B on E-Commerce
• Rev Worldwide Expands to North America
• American Banker: With Mobile Model Playing Well in India, Citi Turns to U.S.
• VentureBeat - Steve Klebe: What will it take to make mobile payments mainstream in the US?
• FLEET ONE Supports U.S. Troops Through Operation Homefront
• Bucks Blog - NYTimes.com: Credit Card Rewards for Volunteers (American Express)
• Visa Extends FIFA-Themed Marketing Campaign to Global Audience
• Biometrics: What, Where and Why - CSO Online - Security and Risk
• More than Half of Social Gamers Willing to Complete a Marketing Action to Earn Virtual Currency, According to Study for Offerpal Media by comScore
• Peanut Labs Media Announces New Strategic Partners
• Atlanta Business Chronicle: InComm buys virtual currency play, Zeevex
• Target Launches First-Ever Scannable Mobile Coupon Program
• Calypso Canada Attains Mastercard EMV Approval
• The Bancorp Bank Teams Up with EPS Financial and Drake Software
• nFinanSe Announces Fee Reductions for ATM Withdrawals and Bill Pay Transactions
• CFSI Innovators Roundtable Convenes in Chicago, Welcomes Sears

The Merchant Risk Council (MRC), a merchant-led trade association focused on electronic commerce risk and payment strategies, has announced the results of its Annual Merchant Fraud Survey, sponsored by CyberSource Corporation. According to the MRC, "this year’s survey again confirms that MRC Platinum Members are best in class at reducing revenue losses due to cyber theft, while also leading the way in reviewer productivity for both domestic and international orders." READ MORE »

The UK Payments Council has released new data on fraud losses for the full year 2009 that show that "total fraud losses on UK cards fell by 28 per cent between 2008 and 2009 to £440.3 million – a decrease of £170 million on the previous year’s total."

According to the Council, "the combined force of industry initiatives such as: chip and PIN; the increasing use of sophisticated fraud detection tools by banks and retailers; and the work of the DCPCU , the banking-sponsored special police unit, have all helped contribute to this fall. It is the first time that card fraud has decreased since 2006." READ MORE »

The NFC Forum has announced 19 new members from 14 countries. "The new NFC Forum members are from several sectors of the NFC ecosystem, the numerous industries that are stakeholders and contributors to NFC technology. Industries represented include semiconductor and terminal manufacturers, higher education, service providers, compliance and testing organizations and systems integrators." READ MORE »

Vindicia has announced the addition of two game publishers, HitGrab and Arbopals, to its customer portfolio providing on-demand billing solutions in the online gaming industry. According to the company, "with these additions, Vindicia's CashBox continues to expand its reach into a wide variety of game genres, such as MMOs, casual games, social games and virtual worlds. With the online game market expected to reach $24.8 billion in 2013, according to Strategy Analytics, publishers who seek to stand out from the pack must establish a business model that is fine-tuned to monetize their games, regardless of genre or style." READ MORE »

First Data Corporation has released its First Data SpendTrend™ analysis for February 2010 - finding that "same-store dollar volume was up 8.4% (7.4% excluding gasoline stations) with employment showing signs of stabilization. Average tickets were up 1.4%, the first year-over-year increase since July 2008." SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations. READ MORE »

• Official Google Blog: Open for business: the Google Apps Marketplace
• AsiaPay Launches PesoPay Online Payment Service with Globe GCASH
• USATODAY.com: Bank of America to deny debit card overdrafts
• USATODAY.com: Lower credit card debt traced mainly to charge-offs
• Huffington Post: Patrice Peyret: Green Dot vs. Kwedit: Innovation vs. Exploitation
• YellowPepper Meets Growing Demand for Mobile Financial Solutions in Latin America
• Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Taps Merchant Links TransactionVault to Secure T.G.I. Fridays(R) Restaurants Credit Card Data
• Guardian Analytics: Independent Study Reveals Banks Have a New Troubled Asset: Their Customers
• hyperWALLET Launches Global Mobile Airtime Top-Ups for Canada
• ContactlessNews: Miami-Dade makes launching a contactless fare collection system easy
• GigaOM: Pay for Drinks at SXSW Using Your iPhone (TabbedOut iPhone app)
• Official Obopay blog: Obopay CEO Shares Strategy to Transform Mobile Payments
• pymnts.com: How the iPhone Invisible Engine Provided a Catalyst for the Mobile Phone Industry
• The San Diego Union-Tribune Consolidates Paper and Electronic Payments on Hosted US Dataworks Platform
• epay Powers PlayStation(R)Network Cards
• ProfitStars(R) Reports Strong Remote Deposit Capture Growth with Record Transaction Volume
• New Aite Group Report: The Branded Prepaid Market in 2010 and Beyond
• New Mercator Advisory Group Report: Healthcare Payments: Pay Now or Pay Later - Preparation Meets Opportunity
• Mobile Commerce Daily: Contactless payments tipping point is at hand: First Data
• Scott Galit Joins i2c Inc. as President
• CreditCards.com: Credit card issuers' financial cell phone apps
• NACS Online: Ottawa Puts Credit Card Industry on Notice

Vesta Corporation has announced the launch of Prepaid.com, a recharge portal that allows mobile customers to send airtime to friends and family worldwide. According to Vesta, "the portal features immediate, no-fee recharging for prepaid mobile phone accounts and allows expatriates and immigrants to maintain strong family ties, regardless of distance and borders." READ MORE »

The Mobey Forum has released a new white paper titled "Alternatives for Banks to Offer Secure Mobile Payments" that "examines the important role of the secure element in delivering mobile payment services to end users." (Both the white paper itself and accompanying slides are available for download). It provides an analysis of the mobile financial ecosystem, the stakeholders, and the value chain positions that can be achieved by banks though different business models.

According to the Forum, "the paper’s key focus is on the role of the secure element, a tamper-resistant hardware element located within a mobile device, which is required to securely facilitate mobile financial services, such as near field communication (NFC) and contactless payments. It highlights the features, application and impact of different secure element technologies including stickers, secure micro SD cards, universal integrated circuit cards (UICC), embedded secure elements and trusted mobile bases." READ MORE »

• Magento and PayPal Expand Relationship to Drive e-Commerce Innovation
• TechCrunch: Forrester Forecast: Online Retail Sales Will Grow To $250 Billion By 2014
• Washington Post: Second Life's virtual money can become real-life cash
• Los Angeles Times: Blippy.com gives the world a peek inside your wallet -- and that's the point
• Mobile Viewpoints by Bob Egan: Mobile Payments have to be as easy as mobile voice
• CreditCards.com: Consumers shying away from credit cards when shopping online
• Rush Card® Joins Green Dot® Network, Providing Additional Cash Reload Options for All Cardholders
• Increasing Online Identity Fraud Highlights the Need for Consumers to Better Protect Themselves
• Visa Inc. Appoints Elizabeth Buse Group Executive, International
• Vancouver Sun: Wirelesss carriers offer a system to turn your cellphone into a payment machine (Zoompass/Canada)

In a post titled "Is Square a Threat to Verifone?" on his blog, Aneace Haddad writes about whether Square would pass his basic framework to evaluate the chances of success of a new project or venture. In his analysis of new ventures, he asks "three fundamental questions: so what, who cares, and why me?" Read his post to see what he concludes about Square.