WePay has announced a $7.5 million funding round led by Highland Capital Partners, with participation from existing investor August Capital. WePay also indicated that it has experienced 'dramatic' early growth since its April 2010 launch, with payment volume increasing 80% in July.

The New York Times Bits column recently profiled WePay. Glenbrook also looked at group payments earlier this year.

FIS has announced that Banco Bradesco has recommitted to a Joint Venture and expanded card processing relationship.

According to the MOU and under the ten-year services agreement, FPS will provide comprehensive, fully outsourced card processing, call center, collection and back office services for Banco Bradesco’s private label and bankcard portfolios. FPS and Bradesco are working to complete the conversion of Bradesco’s 14 million bankcards during the fourth quarter of 2010, bringing the total number of cards processed on behalf of all FPS clients to more than 40 million.

First Data has released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of July 2010 compared to July 2009.

After three consecutive months of decelerating growth, July 2010 card spending growth improved due in part to an easy year-over-year comparison. Same-store dollar volume growth was 8.5% (8.2% excluding Gasoline Stations) and transaction growth was also higher at 9.2% (9.1% excluding Gasoline Stations) in July, compared to June’s growth of 6.8% and 7.3%, respectively.

PayPal and DBS Bank, Singapore's largest bank, announced the immediate availability of a new service that lets DBS/POSB customers use their bank accounts to fund their PayPal accounts. Funds are pushed from a DBS iBanking session using bill pay. The details are here; PayPal blogs about it here.

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• Survey Says There is Growing for Online Personal Finance Tools in UK
• New Mercator Report on Mobile Payments Acceptance: Squares and Sleds
• Digital Money Blog: Walk a Mile With My Shoehorn (POS Innovation)
• Bankrate.com: Fed Delays Gift Card Rules
• CNET Blog: Hands-on with Bling Nation's PayPal Patch
• Internet Retailer: Vortx Acquires Shopping Cart Vendor AspDotNetStorefront
• eMarketer: Women Account for Bulk of Online Buying
• Bank Systems & Technology: New Zeus Trojan Targets Online Banking, Steals $1 Million from British Accounts
• Business Week: PayPal Said to Be in Talks With Google About Android
• NFC World: Apple Hires NFC Expert as Mobile Commerce Product Manager

According to a recent Mintel Comperemedia consumer survey, awareness of the new Reg E overdraft legislation is surprisingly high with 60% of online adults aware of the upcoming changes.

But "Most consumers are unable to define exactly what Reg E will cover, making banks' efforts to promote it that much more difficult," comments Susan Wolfe, VP of financial services at Mintel Comperemedia. "In other words, consumers are aware that changes are coming to their overdraft programs, but are not exactly sure what it means for them."

Bling Nation today announced partnerships with American National Bank and Guaranty Bond Bank, to offer mobile POS payments to customers and local businesses in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. Bling Nation now has agreements with more than 15 banks and its service has been deployed in communities across the US including Palo Alto, CA; Woodland Park, CO; Saratoga Springs, NY and Clarksville, TN.

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• Coinstar Invests in ecoATM
• Survey Says PayPal Seen as More Secure than Credit Cards for Online Shopping
• Open Range Launches Large-Scale Subscription Billing Solution With Zuora
• New Mercator Study Finds Consumers Won’t Tolerate Debit Card Fees
• EntroPay Partners With LinkTrust to Streamline Affiliate Network and Merchant Payout Process
• SafetyPay Brings Intelligent Payment Solution to US Banks and Merchants Through Retail Pilot Program
• Fifth Third Processing Solutions and edo Interactive Announce Personalized Offers for Payment Cards
• New Celent Case Study on a Mobile-Centric Financial Institution (Jibun Bank)
• CBS Moneywatch.com: Paying by Cell Phone–No Apps Yet for Consumer Protection
• CGAP Blog: Mobile Money’s Innovation Crisis
• The New York Times: Wells Fargo Loses Ruling on Overdraft Fees
• Portland Examiner: Portland To Get It's Own Currency

KeyBank is among the first US banks to offer mobile banking to all customers, independent of online banking enrollment -- it can be used by those who use online banking as well as offline clients who use the branch channel. Mobile Money from Fiserv incorporates technology from Atlanta-based mobile banking and payments solution provider M-Com. READ MORE »

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• Visa Enhances Visa Business Network With New Capabilities for Small Businesses
• WAUSAU Financial Systems and Aite Group Uncover Receivables Processing Pain Points for Corporations
• OfferIQ’s Virtual Incentive Platform Expands Reach Through Chase Paymentech
• 41st Parameter Teams With Horus Fraud Prevention Solutions to Fight Online Fraud in South America
• Discover to Process Firethorn SWAGG
• ViVOtech Offers Voltage Security End-to-End Encryption for Its Contactless Payment Systems
• Wall Street Journal: BankSimple: Betting That Customers Want Online Banks to Be Simpler
• BBC News: Survey Says Brits Want Faster Checkout

A new study of debit cards in the US market commissioned by PULSE indicates financial institutions are employing new tactics to increase debit card use:

According to the fifth-annual study, 72 percent of issuers view improving the performance of their debit portfolios by increasing penetration, activation and usage as a top priority this year. One of the key tactics issuers are using to accomplish this objective is the deployment of instant issuance technology.

First Data reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010 with consolidated revenue of $2.6 billion, up 18% - primarily driven by the Bank of America Merchant Services alliance.

For the quarter, the net loss attributable to First Data was $171 million, a 13% improvement from the $196 million loss reported a year earlier.

comScore has released its Q2 2010 U.S. retail eCommerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $32.9 billion for the quarter, up 9% versus year ago. This growth rate represented the third consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth following a year of flat or negative growth rates. READ MORE »

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• Hello Kitty Online MMOG to use PlaySpan’s UltimatePay
• Almost 50% of Gift Card Shoppers Wait Until the Last Minute to Purchase a Gift
• M-Com Announces World First Plug-and-Play SaaS Platform for Mobile Banking, Alerting and Payments
• Mazooma Signs Etronics.com To Use Real-time Online Debit Solution
• Citi Ranked #1 US Corporate Card Issuer by The Nilson Report
• eNational Payments Partners With Mocapay on Mobile Solutions
• First Federal Savings of Lorain Chooses Fiserv
• Digital Transactions: NACHA Mulls Recurring TEL Debits and Other E-Check Changes
• NetBanker: The First Location-Based Fraud Monitoring Service, Finsphere’s PinPoint

Qualcomm's Firethorn subsidiary announced that American Apparel is the latest retailer to sign up for its upcoming SWAGG mobile application. What is SWAGG?

SWAGG is Firethorn’s direct-to-consumer offering, with “smart” technology that gives consumers the ability to purchase, personalize and exchange gift cards directly from a mobile device. SWAGG will also provide consumers mobile access to account information, special offers and loyalty programs.

Experian has released its findings on credit card trends, which provide insight into U.S. card usage. The results show that "New Yorkers lead the way with the highest number of open cards, and Phoenix residents have the fewest. A closer look at New York reveals that while its residents have more open cards, the data shows they aren't using those cards as much as some of the other cities, such as Atlanta, where the highest average monthly balance is $6,753 on revolving accounts. San Francisco and Houston have the lowest average monthly balance, with $5,323 and $5,328, respectively."

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• New Mercator Report - Payment Hubs: Shrinking the Elephant
• Citi Launches Meeting Card Solutions
• Bank of America Introduces eBanking Checking Account
• SFgate.com: What makes a bank -- or a customer -- give up the fight over a fee?
• TechCrunch: Google Buys Jambool; Gets In-Game Payments, Virtual Currency, and Subscriptions
• VentureBeat: Rixty Launches Promo with Coinstar to Pull More Users into Facebook Credits
• Digital Transactions: FinCen Prepaid Rules To Cover Non-Banks As Well As Banks
• TechCrunch: What Games, Places, Music And News Could Mean For Google Checkout
• This Is Money: 'Tap and Go' Bankcards in the UK
• People's Daily Online: China UnionPay opens cross-border payment services for HK residents