Apple made a slew of announcements yesterday largely focused on its consumer entertainment franchise. If you're into consumer gadgets, gizmodo has a nice run down on what was announced. On the payments front, Apple also boasted that there are now 160 million iTunes accounts, each one of which has a payment card on file. The company also mentioned that it now supports 1-click shopping in 23 countries.

The Direct Response Forum (DRF) has released survey results from this years annual event held in Memphis in August. The merchant survey showed interchange fees the #1 concern of payment professionals (57% of the respondents), CNP Chargeback Rules are #2 concern, and PCI compliance the #3 concern. The DRF is a forum for CNP merchants; this year event attracted 420 payment professionals that collectively represent billions of dollars in card-not-present credit and debit card transactions every year.

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• iPhone Credit Card Reader Now Shipping for Inner Fence Card Acceptance App
• Payment Network in Brazil Deploying 30,000 Hypercom Terminals

• TechCrunch: ReadyForZero Wants To Help Consumers Get Control Of Credit Card Debt
• New York Times: Mobile Apps to Manage Loyalty Cards
• ThisIsMoney: "Big Six" UK banks Hit by 11,000 Complaints a Day

A recent Airline Information survey, sponsored by Adyen, found that:

• 33% of airlines are accepting payments from mobile devices
• 50% of airlines are able to accept payments via self-service kiosks
• 70% of airlines are not planning to surcharge for credit card payments (even if they are legally permitted to do so)

Giftango today announced the release of a mobile developer's toolkit that helps mobile app developers issue national brand virtual gift cards from within their own mobile applications, while also allowing merchants to set clear standards the mobile development community can follow. Merchants using virtual gift cards built through the Giftango developer platform today include JCPenney, ®Lowe's, Papa John's, Fandango, and Cabela's.

BankServ and NetDeposit recently announced the signing of a definitive agreement wherein BankServ will acquire substantially all of the assets of NetDeposit, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zions Bancorporation. With this acquisition, the combined operation will be the largest privately held, bank-independent processor of remote deposit capture transactions in the U.S.

First Data today announced the public availability of the First Data TransArmorSM solution. TransArmor protects payment card data from the moment it enters the merchant environment by replacing the card data with a token number that preserves the value of card data for merchant business operations but removes all value for fraudsters. As a result, "merchants are able to significantly reduce the scope, risk and costs associated with Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance without requiring new hardware or extensive changes to existing business processes."

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• MicroBilt and CL Verify to Merge
• VeriFone Acquires WAY Systems
• New Mercator Closed-Loop Prepaid Card Market Assessment

• Internet Retailer: What Card Company eCommerce Initiatives Mean to eRetailers
• Foreign Policy: The M-Banking Revolution
• eMarketer: Cybercrime Still a Major Concern
• USA Today: Target to Sell Facebook Credits Gift Cards
• Toronto Star: How Panhandlers Use Free Credit Cards

Blackhawk Network today announced a new Reloadit Pack that gives prepaid card consumers "a safe and easy alternative to using cash to reload and transfer funds onto Blackhawk Network and third party partners' prepaid debit cards." From the www.reloadit.com website or companion IVR consumers simply provide the prepaid card account number and Reloadit Pack scratch off number to transfer the purchased load amount to the prepaid card.

A new survey commissioned by the ABA shows 46% of bank customers report they did - or will - opt in to their bank's overdraft program, saying they are willing to pay a fee for the service to ensure that debit card transactions will be approved even if their account is overdrawn. Prior to the new federal regulations (effective 8/15/2010) no permission was required to provide and charge customers for overdrafts.

Inc. Magazine is out with its annual list of fastest growing private companies in the U.S. In the world of ISOs, Century Payments is ranked #11 (and they are delighted) with 10471% growth over the last three years. Central Payment, Electronic Data Payment systems, Electronic Payments, Gravity Payments, Nationwide Payment Solutions, Payment Alliance International, Payment PRocessing, PaymentMax, and United Payment Services also make the list.

It's also fun to finally see some revenue numbers of otherwise private companies. PlaySpan is ranked #752 (with $11.1M in 2009 revenue) and Vindicia (who is also delighted) is ranked #1,068 (with $4.4M in 2009 revenue). Let us know if you spot any other interesting payments companies.

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) 2010 Annual Conference Registration is Open
• BillMyParents Named Official Currency Partner of Street League Skateboarding
• Southwest Airlines to Provide Bill Payment Services for Their Employees
• Zuora Announces Z-Commerce for the Cloud - VMware Edition
• Visa Data Shows 20% Increase in Inbound US Tourism Spending During First Half of 2010
• Sony Style Europe Partners With Accertify for Online Fraud Protection
• ThreatMetrix Opens European Data Center to Support Fraud Solution Demand
• The Age: Can You Get Sick from Dirty Money?

Compete recently released the findings of its quarterly Online Shopper Intelligence Study, revealing that 83% of consumers are shopping online at least weekly. The Q2 report was compiled from a survey of 3,119 online purchasers between May and July 2010. READ MORE »

Atos Origin today announced the acquisition of Venture Infotek, the leading independent player in the Indian payments market. Created in 1991, Venture Infotek operates in merchant acquiring, card processing, loyalty programs, government benefits programs on behalf of the Indian banks and major retailers. Venture Infotek operates in the major cities of India.

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• New Mercator Report on Branch Banking in a Multichannel World
• Fiserv Launches New Revenue Expansion Program for Financial Institutions
• MasterCard and Borderlinx Collaborate to Enhance Global E-Commerce
• CA Technologies Acquires Arcot Systems
• CNET Asia: Smartphones the Wallet of the Future?
• Wall Street Journal: Beware of New Offers for a 'Professional Card'
• Portals and Rails: ACH Fraud - On the Rise, but Under Control
• CreditCardGuide.com: Discover Card Acceptance Hits New Record