The Boston Fed has published a Public Policy Discussion Paper entitled "Account-to-Account Electronic Money Transfers: Recent Developments in the United States".

The paper analyzes the emerging decentralized market in which A2A money transfers are becoming available in the United States and compares it with the A2A market in other countries. The paper constructs analytical examples to explain and evaluate the structure of the emerging U.S. market and discusses possible policy actions that may enhance the use of A2A money transfers in the United States.

Fiserv announced the results of a survey of the mobile banking and payment plans of top-tier financial institutions.

The in-depth survey, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Fiserv in September 2011, evaluated the plans of 10 banks and credit unions that in total hold more than one-third of all U.S. deposit accounts. The results revealed that these financial institutions are moving beyond the basics to deliver increasingly sophisticated mobile capabilities. Transactional services such as remote deposit capture and mobile person-to-person payments will account for the bulk of mobile investment in 2012. However, despite a nearly unanimous commitment to expand overall mobile functionality, institutions remain split on plans to support mobile point-of-sale payments.

A white paper detailing the survey results can be downloaded from the Fiserv website.

A study recently published by SecurityMetrics shows 71% of merchants who entered the study were found to store unencrypted payment card data in 2011, which is an increase of 8% since 2010.

"There's so much going on in the security industry that it's sometimes difficult to target the most important things," said SecurityMetrics CEO Brad Caldwell. "We think these findings are a game changer for the security industry, and will help focus priorities on the bigger problem plaguing merchants today. After all, criminals can't steal card data merchants don't have."

LightSpeed has announced 'Show & Tell" support for the iPad, which "allows retailers to offer a next-level personalized selling experience combined with inventory scanning, wireless payments and the powerful retail workflows of LightSpeed, all on the world's most popular tablet." The LightSpeed website has more details and nice screen shots.

PaymentOne has announced the results of a recent survey that found "4 out of 5 consumers would spend more online if offered an easier and more secure way to pay. The survey also found that by a margin of almost 4 to 1, consumers believe direct carrier billed mobile payments are more secure than using credit and debit cards for online digital purchases."

On the web:

• Free Checking Isn t Cheap for Banks - American Banker
• Microsoft Clarifies Windows Mobile NFC Support - SlashGear
• Over 1M Merchants Now Use Square To Accept Credit Cards - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• Kabbage Closes on $12 Million Debt Facility from Western Technology Investment
• New TapBuy Technology Simplifying Checkout for Shoppers on Mobile Phones
• ROAM Data Launches Secure Mobile Card Reader with Extensive Device Coverage
• Sage ISV Program Gives Developers Access to an Integrated PCI Compliant Payments Environment
• FrontStream Payments Announces New C‐Round Investment Funding
• Computop (PayGate) Enters into Agreement with arvato Systems
• Red Robin Selects Transaction Wireless for Personalized Gift Cards
• New Juniper Research Report on Mobile Remittances