Manilla has announced "a new free personal account management service that helps consumers securely manage all of their household accounts including bills, finances, travel rewards programs and subscriptions in one place online. With a single sign-on, Manilla gives customers an automated, organized view of all their current account information, reminders to pay bills and free lifetime storage of all their account statements, notices, offers and bills."

The service is in beta now; Citibank and Comcast are both launch partners. Website is www.manilla.com.

The State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) of North Carolina is one of the first financial institutions in the US to announce it will add EMV (chip) technology to its debit card portfolio.

Leanne Phelps, Senior Vice President of SECU's Card Services department states, "SECU's goal is to provide products and services which offer enhanced value and protection. The EMV technology enables us to offer members increased fraud protection along with stress-free use of their card worldwide."

A new Deloitte Research study, Cell me the money: Unlocking the value in the mobile payment ecosystem, examines the challenges and benefits of mobile commerce in the United States.

The report is based on a survey of senior executives from the mobile payment value chain. Survey results shed light on the key barriers that have traditionally challenged the mobile payment market in the United States, including the lack of revenue-sharing agreements, a dearth of consumer knowledge, low levels of demand and competing platforms in a fragmented market.

On the wires:

• Reserve Bank of Australia on Payments System Issues Related to Multi-Function Cards
• TIO Network Surpasses 58,000 Physical Locations through MoneyGram Strategic Alliance
• Tyfone and Dexim Bring NFC Contactless Payments to the iPhone
• Arcos Dorados Selects VeriFone PAYware Merchant for Latin America McDonald’s Restaurants
• Digital Payment Technologies and Streetline Form Partnership

On the web:

• Rethink Wireless: Google May Get Tough On In-app Purchasing Too
• ReadWriteWeb: NFC in 2011: What's NFC, and Why Do I Care?
• Portals and Rails: Gains Made in Reducing Identity Theft, but Significant Fraud Losses Still Loom
• eMarketer: Consumers Continue Switch to Online Banking
• MIT Technology Review: Mobile Payments Try to Take Root in Afghanistan

hi5, a social game platform, has announced the launch of the SocioPay monetization platform designed to maximize revenue for social games.

"SocioPay dynamically determines the optimal monetization solution for every commerce opportunity, including identifying players who are less likely to purchase and offering advertising as an alternative to traditional payment options. The launch of the new SocioPay platform marks the first public release of a robust ad/commerce hybridization model for the social games industry.

VeriFone is urging "aspiring mobile payment service companies to engage with retailers in determining market requirements to enable mobile phone-initiated payments and services at the retail point of sale."

Responding to growing interest from major industry players intent on claiming a stake in emerging mobile commerce opportunities, VeriFone CEO Douglas G. Bergeron articulated key guidelines to ensure that mobile payments don’t follow the path of previous alternative payment schemes that only succeeded in alienating merchants.

The Direct Response Forum (DRF) has announced it will hold its annual forum on Monday August 8th through Wednesday August 10th, 2011 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina. According to the DRF, "This year's Direct Response Forum, Cruising Through Payment Challenges, will provide a variety of educational sessions designed to give direct merchants real-time strategies for streamlining payment processes and cutting costs."

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that by the end of 2012 readers across the whole TfL network will have been upgraded so that a touch of a contactless bank or credit card will allow passengers to pay for travel on the bus, Tube, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), Tram, and London Overground network.

Bankrate's 2nd annual Credit Union Checking Study reveals that free checking accounts are alive and well at many of the nation's top credit unions.

"Bankrate.com found that 96% of the nation's largest credit unions offer a checking account that is free, or can become free with minimal effort," said Greg McBride, CFA, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com. "Even with continued declines in the prevalence of free checking, it remains within the grasp of most Americans and credit unions are a viable option."

On the wires:

• Every Major National Bank and Credit Union Trade Association Joins to Urge Fundamental Fundamental Revision of Federal Reserve's Debit Card Rule
• Retailers Say Federal Reserve Proposal to Lower Debit Card Swipe Fees Doesn’t Go Far Enough
• Digby Enhances Its Mobile Commerce Software Platform by Adding PayPal Mobile Express Checkout
• Affluent Consumers Are Finding eLayaway a Smarter Way to Plan and Pay
• New Aite Group Report on Trends in Bank-Supported, Business-Initiated Payments
• Wirecard Bank Partners With China UnionPay

On the web:

• SabDesi: PayPal Will Trial Several Payment Systems at Retail This Year
• Visa Blog: Speeding Up P2P Payments with New Visa Service
• Internet Retailer: PayPal Warily Eyes the Fed’s Forthcoming Debit Card Rule

Upcoming payments boot camps, more webinars, eCommerce market analysis reports, and private payment workshops...

Payments Boot Camps – Two day “deep dive” into the industry, $1995

Apr 13-14, 2011: New York City - with Bryan Derman and Carol Coye Benson

May 18-19, 2011: Santa Clara, CA - with Scott Loftesness and Carol Coye Benson

Payments Essentials Webinars – Tuesdays from 10:30AM -11:30AM PST, $149

March 1, 2011: Local Country Payments - with Erin McCune

March 8, 2011: Bill-to-Mobile Payments - with Scott Loftesness

eCommerce Market Analysis Reports

Three new reports on India, South Korea, and South Africa bring our total up to eight detailed reports on global online payments acceptance in various markets around the world.

Private Payment Workshops

New agendas are available, including the Advanced Payments Workshop, Advanced Card Payments Workshop, The Merchant’s Perspective, Global eCommerce, Business-to-Business Payments, and Digital Content and Payments. Get your team up to speed!

eBillme has announced that the payment option will now be available on the Discover Network through CardinalCommerce’s Centinel Universal Merchant Platform. As a result of this new partnership, online merchants will now be able to quickly integrate eBillme acceptance with integrated settlement and reporting via the Discover Network.

Intuit has announced that it "has equipped the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio with its GoPayment mobile payment app, including a free Intuit credit card reader, and reduced pricing on transaction fees. GoPayment provides them with an easy and affordable way to process credit card payments on their mobile devices while protecting sensitive credit card information with industry-leading data encryption."

On the wires:

• TNS Launches Enhanced Payment Gateway Service in UK and Ireland
• MoneyGram, Iris Wireless and Globe Telecom Partner to Provide Mobile Top-Up to Philippines
• Paydiant Closes Series A Funding for Mobile Payments Venture
• Zeevex Chosen by Leading Online Game Publishers to Provide Open Virtual Currency Solution
• Zuora’s February ’11 Release Brings Deeper Integration with PayPal and Easy Connections to Third Party Subscription Commerce Systems

On the web:

• Inside Mobile Apps: Are In-App Payments and Facebook Credits on a Collision Course?
• Springwise: Peer-to-Peer Currency Exchange Puts Users in Control
• TechCrunch Europe: SponsorPay Takes Funding from Nokia Growth Partners to Target Mobile
• RFPConnect: NetSpend Unveils iPhone App
• TrialPay Blog: The History of Video Game Monetization

Fortumo has announced a partnership with BilltoMobile that brings direct mobile billing in the US to online game developers in Europe and Asia.

Direct billing has significantly lower transaction fees as compared to Premium SMS, which means that developers will earn more from every transaction. In addition to that direct billing also brings improved security.

Fiserv has announced that Discover Financial Services is now offering electronic bills through the more than 3,000 banks and credit unions in the Fiserv bill payment network. Cardmembers who pay their Discover bill online at their financial institution website will see an icon notifying them that a paperless, electronic version of their bill is now available at that site, and will be able to sign up for the service immediately.

On the wires:

• U.S. Credit Card Delinquencies Fall by More Than 32% Compared to Same Time Last Year
• NetSecure Technologies Introduces Enhanced Endpoint Security Product Suite
• FICO Offers Telrock Mobile Payment Apps to Help Clients Improve Customer Service and Payments
• ACCEL/Exchange Network Sets New Growth Records in 2010
• Authentify Celebrates 10 Years of Providing Phone Based Authentication Services

On the web:

• eMarketer: Mobile Payments Take Hold Around the World
• NPR: Mobile Payments Challenge Credit Cards
• Portals and Rails: Third-party service provider risk and the Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices rule
• Square: Square Drops Fixed Component of Swipe Pricing

On the wires:

• Logica signs deal to provide managed fuel cards service for Shell
• Fiserv Delivers Web and Mobile Self-Service Channels for Loan Servicing
• MyCommerce Rolls Out Revamped eCommerce Web Platform

On the web:

• Phone Beta: Deutsche Telekom announced rolling out mobile payments in 2011-2012
• CrunchGear: Video Interview: Boku’s Ron Hirson Describes Their Mobile Payments Service
• CNET: Mobile Phone e-wallets Get Closer to Reality | Mobile World Congress Review

BilltoMobile has announced an agreement to provide Sprint customers the ability to charge online purchases directly to their Sprint bill using BilltoMobile’s Direct Mobile Billing technology. This makes BilltoMobile the first mobile payments company to establish a direct billing connection to Sprint as well as the only mobile payments company to have a direct billing connection to with three major U.S. carriers (AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint).

On the wires:

• Creativity Pays - Introducing Cleeng, the First Social Alternative to Paywalls
• hyperWALLET Announces Partnership with WIP (Wireless Industry Partnership)
• ACI Worldwide and Integrated Research Launch Payment Service Management for Fraud Prevention
• AuraPortal Launches the First BPM Software with a Seamlessly Integrated e-Commerce System
• Stream Media Raises Series A Funding to Provide Global Payment Platform for Mobile In-App Transactions
• LexisNexis Releases New Comprehensive, Hosted Collections Platform

On the web:

• TechCrunch: Tradeshift Integrates PayPal into its Free Invoicing Platform
• GigaOM: Phones Becoming Frontline in Credit Card Fraud Battle
• Digital Transactions: With Signed Merchants Onboard, ISIS Looks at Transit, Fast Food, and Groceries
• iNewp.com: Mobgets Exposes Verified by Visa Flaws on Mobile Devices
• Vator.tv: Danny Shader Interview on PayNearMe's Consumer Demographic (Video)
• Digital Money: Davd Birch's Impression on GSMA Mobile World Congress
• MIT Technology Review: The New Money - Square Profile

The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Hearing on the "Implications and Consequences of the Durbin Amendment" was held today. The House website has a video webcast of the hearing and the written testimony of all the different stakeholders. The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is also holding a hearing on the Dodd-Frank Act today.

Various outlets have different takes on how the proposed Federal Reserve rules are being received in the industry:

• Bloomberg: Banks, Retailers Renew Fight Over Debit ‘Swipe’ Fees
• USA Today: Fed Reconsiders 12-cent Cap on Debit Card Fees
• New York Times: Bernanke Says Fed Has Learned Lessons From the Recession

ClairMail has announced a new mobile fraud management solution for banks and their customers to oversee and quickly respond to fraudulent transactions directly through the mobile channel.

ClairMail's Fraud Solution works with existing FI fraud systems and processes to help mitigate card, Direct Deposit Account (DDA), online banking and identity fraud by leveraging all the capabilities of the ubiquitous mobile device and the robust alerting and orchestration capabilities of the ClairMail platform.

BB&T has announced the launch of the BB&T MoneyAccount, which is a prepaid transaction account tied to a Visa-branded debit card.

"Nearly 60 million Americans do not have a bank account today or they are underbanked," noted Scott Qualls. "The BB&T MoneyAccount is a prepaid solution that provides our clients with a secure and easy way to access their funds. It also features a simple, transparent fee structure."

On the wires:

• eBillme and CashStar Partner to Process Cash Payments for eGift Cards
• Mobile Tag Launches the 1st Universal Platform for 2D, 1D and NFC Barcodes
• BillMyParents Partners With MovieTickets.com
• eps, giropay and iDEAL Promote Pan-European Online Banking Payment Scheme

On the web:

• Internet Retailer: eRetail sales rise 14.8% in 2010
• TechCrunch: Paperless Billing Service Doxo Raises $10 Million In Series B Funding

Glenbrook has expanded its series of eCommerce Market Analysis Reports with new profiles of India, South Korea, and South Africa.

These reports are designed to help U.S. companies better understand eCommerce markets around the world — what local acceptance practices make each unique, what payment options are necessary to reach a critical mass of online buyers, and which payment providers can assist with market entry.

Google has announced Google One Pass, their new digital content service that lets publishers set their own prices and terms for access to premium content.

Readers who purchase from a One Pass publisher can access their content on tablets, smartphones and websites using a single sign-on with an email and password. Importantly, the service helps publishers authenticate existing subscribers so that readers don’t have to re-subscribe in order to access their content on new devices.

Website is here; blog announcement is here.

On the wires:

• Credit Card Clarity: CARD Act Makes Pricing Clearer, More Competitive
• Western Union and Etisalat to Introduce International Mobile Money Transfer Service in 18 Countries
• BillingTree Supplies Pulaski Electric System with Text Billing and Payment Solution
• Intuit Extends GoPayment No Monthly Fee and Free Credit Card Reader Offer

On the web:

• Bank Info Security: SWIFT Audio Interview on Globalization and Regulation
• MasterCard Blog: Addressing the “D” Word
• Dow Jones: PayPal Launches Payment Services with China UnionPay

Yankee Group has announced a new report that indicates while mobile transaction usage is growing, consumers show little willingness to pay for these services.

The company’s forecasts predict unprecedented growth in mobile transactions worldwide, with the total value of global mobile transactions increasing from $162 billion in 2010 to $984 billion in 2014. However, Yankee Group’s consumer survey results show that less than 10 percent of respondents would be willing to pay extra for mobile transaction services such as mobile banking, mobile coupons and mobile payments.

Utiba has announced a new initiative targeting the international mobile remittances market. "The new initiative offers a neutral corridor routing and currency exchange clearinghouse for mobile-to-mobile and traditional money remittances."

VeriFone and LifeNexus, the developer of the iChip and Personal Health Card, have announced an agreement to provide iChip acceptance software on VeriFone payment acceptance solutions. "The LifeNexus Personal Health Card is the first multi-purpose electronic health card utilizing the embedded iChip for securely maintaining an individual’s health record and incorporates a payment card option."