On Twitter:

Proud to be working with Google --> "Google closes Checkout, pushing thousands of merchants to Braintree" pandodaily.com/2013/05/20/goo…

— William Ready (@williamready) May 20, 2013

On the web:

• Square will challenge PayPal with its own peer-to-peer cash service - GigaOm - "We reached out to Square to get more details on the mysterious service, but the company isn’t revealing any more details for now."
• Google closes Checkout, pushing thousands of merchants into Braintree’s arms - PandoDaily - "For customers without their own way to process payments in-house, Google has partnered with Braintree, Shopify, and Freshbooks to offer discounted migration programs."
• Email Money to Friends With Square Cash (But Only if You Work For Twitter, Pinterest or Box) - AllThingsD - "Ultimately, this could be a faster way of getting more people to link up their checking accounts to Square’s service…"
• Bitcoin 2013 in review - CoinDesk - "The more than 1,000 Bitcoin enthusiasts who converged on San Jose were an impassioned bunch — some fired with the excitement of getting in on something big the ground floor…"
• ATM Cash-Outs: A Major Escalation - Portals and Rails - "This highly sophisticated and coordinated attack is a game changer for the security controls of all types of card management applications." Google I/O payment announcements: is a revolution with no insurgency possible? - TekFin (Yann Ranchere) - "The more interesting announcement was in my view Google Instant Buy…"
• How Amazon's Rising Headwaters Could Threaten Google - ReadWrite - "I’m convinced the day will come — sooner rather than later — when Amazon unleashes its data and announces itself as an advertising powerhouse."
• Google takes lessons from PayPal, Apple’s Passbook to drive mobile wallet adoption - Mobile Commerce Daily - "Google Wallet Objects is similar to Apple’s Passbook in that it enables developers to integrate their loyalty programs and offers into Google Wallet…"
• Apple retail revenues per visitor reach new record - Asymco - "In the US, on a sales per square foot basis, Apple retail continues to perform twice as well as Tiffany & Co…"
• NFC mobile payments – fixing the big issues - Mobile News - "The widespread introduction of NFC-based mobile payments could be delayed for years as retailers, operators and finance firms continue to disagree on how best to implement the system and the logistics of making payments."
• Mobile Payment Startup Payvia Buys Mogreet To Add Messaging-Based Marketing To Its Payment Platform - TechCrunch - "Payvia says that it has the largest direct carrier connected messaging and mobile payments platform in the U.S..."
• GrubHub to Merge With Seamless as Food Orders Go Mobile - Bloomberg - "Food-delivery sites and mobile applications are gaining in popularity as more people order their meals online..."
• Harnessing the Remittance Boom - "Adding up the cost of the transfer, travel, and time, remittances are far too expensive for people living in poverty."

On the wires:

• Intuit Realigns Organization to Accelerate Growth - "The new structure comes as the company increases its focus on two strategic outcomes: being the world’s small business operating system, and providing winning solutions to do the nations’ taxes in the U.S. and Canada."
• Tabbedout Now Offers Google Wallet as a Payment Option - "For a limited time, when a user pays with Google Wallet in the Tabbedout app, they'll get $7 off their next tab."
• Huntington Bank Introduces Commercial Card Featuring Payables Automation and Monthly Rebates
• NCR and LevelUp to Take Mobile Payments to More Restaurants - "NCR understands what it takes to help restaurants keep pace with technology, and by integrating LevelUp, we are helping them get the great tools they need to run their businesses better."
• PayAnywhere Launches Phase Two of Aggressive Retail Channel Rollout - "The partnership takes the PayAnywhere mobile point of sale (mPOS) solution beyond the big box retailers the company announced partnerships with in 2012…"
• CorFire™ and OLO Partner on Integrated Mobile Commerce Solution for Restaurants - "Instead of requiring separate mobile apps for mobile payment and mobile ordering, this integration will provide brands with a one-stop shop for all forms of mobile customer engagement through the industry’s proven, best-of-breed providers."

Last week, we looked at the history of counterfeit card fraud in Canada on Interac cards.

This week's chart of the week shows the growth in Apple iTunes accounts (with payment cards on file) over the last five years. Over that period, the number of accounts grew by an order of magnitude - from 50 million to over 500 million (as reported by Apple in March).

Horace Dediu, an analyst who follows Apple closely, has done a deep dive into Apple's iTunes business - with some fascinating results including that iTunes users purchase content and services at the rate of about $40 per year - resulting in a $16 billion annual run rate for that business. He also notes that the revenue growth rate has averaged 29 per quarter for more than six years.

On the web:

• Apple Advances their Future Shopping App Again & More - Patently Apple - "Today's patent application adds at least five major aspects to the "Shopping" apps patent claims."
• Half of Visa’s payments will be via mobile by 2020, says Visa Europe VP - The Drum - "...Hawkett said that Visa views mobile as the opportunity to “redefine” payments."
• How to build trust in the Bitcoin ecosystem - Jeremy Liew - "So what is needed to create trusted Bitcoin companies?"
• Can Google Be The Amazon.com For The Rest Of The Web? - ReadWrite - "Virtually every other payment provider lacks the social integration that Google includes."
• New Cash Registers Are Sexy, But What’s Beneath the Counter Matters More - Wired - "Payments are really the only online connection into every retail store that matters..."
• mPOS: Our Latest Disruptive Device For QSRs - GoPago Blog - "Our new mPOS will debut on the Nexus 4 with a card reader, rugged case and with our POS software already loaded for $49 a month."
• Safeway CEO has big plans for payment program that avoids bank debit card fees - San Francisco Business Times - "...Safeway is already hearing from other retailers eager to avoid fees associated with accepting debit cards carrying the MasterCard and Visa logos."
• The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - Udayan Goyal (commenting on Google Wallet) - "In terms of wider industry impact, I think that incumbents will have to completely rethink how they make money around payments."
• Blimpie expands mobile repertoire with gift cards - Mobile Commerce Daily - "…40 percent of Blimpie’s traffic comes from mobile devices."
• The Road Ahead for Mobile Payments - Mobile Future Institute - "Overall, I came away with the impression there’s still quite a ways to go for mobile payments…"
• PayPal, Groupon, Square focus on traditional POS to boost mobile strategies - "In order for consumers to ditch their physical wallets in favor of digital wallets, merchants need to get rid of their old cash registers…"
• The mobile money paradox – if everyone wants it, why is it doing so badly? - Tomorrow's Transactions - "There are in excess of 160 live MM services being operated around the world right now, but despite high expectations created by success in Kenya, only a handful have thus far reached critical mass."

On the wires:

• Marqeta Online-to-Offline Commerce Engine Powering the Multi-Retailer Facebook Card - "We are very proud that Facebook has adopted our technology, and look forward to a lasting partnership with them…"
• Marqeta Raises $14 Million Series B to Accelerate Wide Adoption of its +M Platform - "Instead of receiving points and product rewards, Marqeta merchants simply give consumers more money to spend in grocery, restaurants, dry cleaning and beyond."
• BitPay Raises $2 Million led by Founders Fund - "Businesses selling electronics, precious metals, and other low-margin products over the internet are seeing a large increase in profitability by accepting bitcoin payments."
• Mobile Banking Explodes and Keynote Announces Who Does It Best – One Billion Mobile Banking Consumers Expected by 2017 - "Chase achieved its third consecutive win for Overall Score, while also repeating were Wells Fargo in second place and Bank of America in third."

On the web:

• Nate Silver: What Big Data can't predict - Fortune - "It's important to know, too, that there's a difference between how good we are relative to our potential and how intrinsically predictable something might be."
• Two-factor or not two-factor? That is the security question - InfoWorld - "The case for two-factor authentication would appear to be a slam dunk. But not all security experts praise the solution as a remedy for all security ills."
• PayPal President Makes Surprise Commentary About Bitcoin: “We’re kinda thinking about it” - Silicon Angle - "It’s too far out to speculate on how PayPal would enable this, but if they did it could bring about an accessibility revolution overnight."
• PayPal Sees $20 Billion in Mobile Transactions - Bloomberg video interview with PayPal's David Marcus
• Visa and Fandango Mobilize Buying Movie Tickets - AdWeek - "If consumers opt in for the GPS-enabled Tixpress, they'll see a virtual marquee with movies that are showing nearby. With a couple of taps, they can view showtimes and purchase tickets if they've synced up Fandango app with their Visa account."
• Banks Should Act More Like Apple: Cap One's Innovation Chief - Bank Technology News - "The bank is additionally trying to learn lessons from other industries. It's been looking at, of all categories of companies, newspapers for inspiration..."
• Bitcoin takes an important step toward becoming part of every web browser on the planet - "Bitcoin just took an important step closer to becoming the universal, open, distributed payments glue that binds the world of digital money, anonymous transactions, and extra-governmental currencies together."
• Why banks FAIL at partnerships in mobile finance - "In summary, a bank now has to partner to deliver mobile finance. That means that the bank that used to do everything itself is now just part of a mixed value chain of solution providers covering hardware manufacturers, network operators, payments processors, information service providers and more."
• Smartphones Finally Surpass the Feature Phone - NY Times Bits Blog - "Manufacturers shipped 418.6 million cellphones, 216.2 million of which were smartphones, says IDC."

On the wires:

• Coming Soon!

On Twitter (follow us: @paymentsnews):

Banks,merchants,3rd parties all want to control mobile wallet experience. Don't consumers want to control their own experience?#PAYMENTS2013

— gschmeltzer (@gschmeltzer) April 23, 2013

Metaphor of the day: USAA exec compares MCX to the boat in "Life of Pi" #payments2013

— Aaron McPherson (@aaronmcpherson) April 23, 2013

Why can't the US have an FPS? They have laser beams and transistors and things don't they, same as us? #NACHA

— Dave Birch (@dgwbirch) April 23, 2013

50+% of all deposits are via mobile says Andrew Collins from USAA #payments2013 @chyppings

— Lanny Byers (@lannybyers) April 23, 2013

On the web:

• How Not to Install an ATM Skimmer - Krebs on Security - "Experts in the United States and Europe are tracking a marked increase in ATM skimmer scams."
• Macworld’s Transcript of Tim Cook’s Remarks on Today’s Earnings Call - Daring Fireball - "So he’s not talking about a new iPad or iPhone, he’s talking about an entirely new leg on the stool."
• Apple's Tim Cook on Mobile Payments: 'It's In Its Infancy' - MacRumors - "While he didn't address the topic directly, he did note that the mobile payments were "just getting started" and still "in its infancy."
• Payment Platform Startup ZooZ Raises $2M Series A To Add Product Functionality & Build Global Presence - TechCrunch - "The startup says that its user-friendly checkout platform helps prevent cart abandonment by frustrated mobile shoppers." (Zooz website)
• Passbook is standard for mobile wallets: Sumotext exec - Mobile Commerce Daily - "What I do like [about Apple] is that they didn’t wait for all of the payment stuff to shake out…"
• How Apple and Amazon Will Shape Mobile Payments - Bank Systems & Technology - "Although Apple already has a bridgehead into the payments business thanks to iTunes, experts seem to think Apple will refrain from entering the mobile payments business."

On the wires:

• The Center for Financial Services Innovation Awards $2.5 Million to Promote Financial Capability - "The eight organizations funded this year offer fresh perspectives on the industry’s efforts to foster positive financial behavior and provide concrete mechanisms for meeting consumer needs in new ways…"
• U.S. Bank Employees Testing Voice Command Feature on FlexPerks Visa Mobile App - "…allows U.S. Bank FlexPerks® Travel Rewards Visa Signature® customers to use their voice to view account balances, search transactions and make a payment on their accounts in the FlexPerks mobile app."
• ROAM Launches ROAMPay™ X4 - a new Mobile Point of Sale Application - "ROAMpay X4 is designed to help businesses of all sizes and geographies extend their traditional point of sale infrastructure onto Android and iOS-based smartphones and tablets."
• Vindicia and GlobalCollect help digital media distributors extend reach internationally
• Discover Financial Services Reports First Quarter Net Income of $673 Million or $1.33 Per Diluted Share - "Discover delivered strong profitability and growth in the first quarter, which combined with our outlook allowed us to increase our dividend by 43%..."
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Gives Cardholders New Reason to Celebrate Fridays - "The First Friday Favorites Facebook app, now available on Chase Sapphire’s Facebook page, allows consumers to interact with top restaurant lists in 17 U.S. cities by making reservations directly through OpenTable…"
• Fiserv Introduces Processing Services for Positive Pay and Account Reconciliation Solution - "ARP/SMS from Fiserv allows for immediate correction and updating of transactions as well as files and reports for real-time positive pay reporting, helping corporate customers gain tighter control over disbursements."
• ACI Worldwide Completes Expansion of Online Banking from the Desktop to the Mobile Device - "The solution delivers features to iPhone and Android smartphones previously limited to the desktop including personal financial management tools, integrated bill payment and account-to-account transfers."
• VeriFone Helps China PnR Address Growing Payments Complexity with POS Estate Managed Services Contract

On the web:

• Silicon Valley firms claim new California data disclosure bill is “overbroad” - ArsTechnica - "If passed, the bill would allow an unprecedented amount of access to individuals to find out what companies know about us."
• The Man (Jack Dorsey) Who Made the Cash Register Obsolete - Inc. - "One guiding philosophy at Square is that technology should be so intuitive that no one stops to question how difficult it must have been to create. That philosophy is paying off."
• With Tablets, Businesses Ring Up at More Fanciful Cash Registers - New York Times - "With the advent of tablets, particularly the iPad, many stores have traded in their clunky cash registers for mobile devices."
• "Bankalytics" – Banks and Analytics - BankInnovation - "I feel the future of banks depends on how relevant they stay to the target market, based on how they analyse the Big Data in their databases."
• Bitcoin’s Last Mile Problem - TechCrunch - "The world needs Bitcoins to exist, even if the mass of humanity doesn’t use it."
• Online Sales-Tax Bill Could Get Senate Votes This Week - Storefront Backtalk - "The bill, known as the “Marketplace Fairness Act,” would allow states to require online retailers to collect sales tax, even if the e-tailer doesn’t have a physical presence in the state."
• Dunkin’ Donut email campaign showcases ongoing mobile payment endeavors - Mobile Commerce Daily - "Mobile payments are on the rise. And, this campaign helps the company solidify its place in the space."
• Are You the Weakest Link? - Retail Payments Risk Forum - "A basic tenet of security that we often mention in Portals and Rails is that experienced criminals attack the weakest points in the system."
• Small Banks Lead the Innovation Agenda: Are They Making the Elephants Dance? - "Today, we are witnessing numerous instances of smaller players spawning innovations across social media, self-service channels, mobile banking, pricing, payments etc. to deliver customer delight."

On the wires:

• American Express OPEN Simplifies Expense Tracking for Small Business with Launch of ReceiptMatch
• Clear2Pay and Earthport partner on low value clearing - "With the OPF Earthport Connect module, clients of the Open Payment Framework (OPF) will have out of the box connectivity to Earthport’s global payments infrastructure in over 50 countries."
• Consumers Want a More Seamless and Personalized Customer Experience From Their Bank - Cisco - "Overall, the report demonstrates consumer interest in more personalized, timely and valuable connections with banks…"
• ACI Worldwide Paves the Way to True Enterprise Payments with Universal Payments Platform - "The Universal Payments Platform is a solution that provides purpose-built payments functionality to orchestrate all aspects of payments processing for any payment type, any channel, any currency and any network."
• With Consumer Optimism Rising, Chase Blueprint Unveils New Initiative to Reinforce Positive Spending Habits - Drawing upon the expertise of Chase and respected experts, the Resource Center for Mindful Spending is a free knowledge center available at Chase.com/MindfulSpending.
• USA Technologies To Demonstrate Two New Cashless Payment Devices at NAMA OneShow - "The ePort G9 represents a redesigned, feature-rich offering for USAT’s popular JumpStart program. It will include all of the functionality of USAT’s NFC-enabled ePort G8, plus new features…"
• Boulder Valley Credit Union Introduces Tyfone Mobile Banking Financial Services - "One Tyfone client has reported more than a 10 percent mobile adoption from non-PC bankers, which in turn increases the ROI for the financial institution."

On the web:

• Lawyers To Interchange Judge: Tell Our Clients To Shut Up - Storefront Backtalk
• PayPal Provides “In-Aisle Selling” and “Order Ahead” Capabilities for Magento Community - PayPal Blog
• Bitcoin Is Already Making A Big Comeback - Business Insider
• Helixion launches NFC payments platform - NFC World
• Mobile Payments In Austin - BP3 Blog
• Apple Passbook users are among Sephora’s best customers - Internet Retailer
• Could Apple Give Mobile Payments a Shakeup? - Connected World

On the wires:

• Zipmark Partners with Rearden Commerce to Facilitate Payments for Deem™ Merchants
• Fiserv Launches Solution to Help Government Agencies Reduce Improper Payments
• New Mobile Payment Patent Expands PayOne Portfolio for Frictionless Secure Mobile Payments Online and in Stores

On the web:

• Square Slapped With Cease And Desist By Illinois State Department Of Financial Regulation - TechCrunch
• Balanced Payouts API Introduces Same-Day Payments To Wells Fargo Customers - The Next Web
• Payments Startup Stripe Launches Limited Beta For UK Payments, With Euros On The Way - TechCrunch
• Lighten Your Key Chain or Wallet With Apple Passbook - NYTimes.com

On the wires:

• Harvard Square Businesses Use Leaf to Collect More than Spare Change for the Homeless

hyperWALLET has announced the integration of its prepaid card products and services with Apple Passbook.

“Our cardholders love our mobile apps and the ability to manage all aspects of their accounts from their phones. With passbook cardholders also receive balance updates and transaction notifications in real time in a native iPhone experience, providing even more convenience on the go”, states Lisa Shields, President & CEO of hyperWALLET Systems Inc.

On the web:

• Apple Files Patent For Passbook Coupons With A Touch Of NFC - CNET News
• Yandex, Sberbank Form JV To Support Online Payments in Russia - MediaPost
• PayPal President Predicts Industry Changes We'll See In 2013 - PayPal Blog

On the wires:

• All Stop Vending Selects USA Technologies as Exclusive Partner for Cashless Payments
• Fiserv Partners with TOPS Software to Improve Payment Processing for Property Managers

On the web:

• Apple Store App Gets Passbook Gift Card Support - iClarified
• Square Wallet… Software Above the Level of a Single Device - O'Reilly Radar
• Starbucks Now Accepting Square Wallet Mobile Payments - SlashGear

On the wires:

• NCR Silver Small Business POS Available Now at Staples Locations Nationwide
• Truaxis Partners with Transaction Wireless and Buca di Beppo on Digital Offers
• MasterCard’s DataCash Enables Payments On Brand New Taxi Mobile App in UK

On the web:

• European Square rival iZettle teams up with Deutsche Telekom to take on Payleven in Germany - The Next Web
• Brazil's Central Bank announces payment system via cell phone
• E2 Ways Apple Will Rule Mobile Payments - Motley Fool

On the web:

• PayPal Here goes on Sale at AT&T Stores - Engadget
• Apple's iPod Touch Is Fast Becoming The New Cash Register - InfoWorld
• National Retail Group Says Revised Card-Fee Settlement Still Fall Short - The Washington Post
• Big Brother Meets Big Data: Governments Start Scrutinizing Credit Card Records - NBCnews
• Dwolla Takes On PayPal By Offering Lower MassPay Fees - TechCrunch
• Ignorance Is No Excuse--Or Is It? - Portals and Rails

On the wires:

• Bango's One Billion Users Mobile Payments Milestone
• LightSpeed and Braintree Announce Partnership Agreement
• Vantiv Partners With nTelagent for Healthcare Payment Processing Services
• PayNearMe And AppFolio To Provide Integrated Cash Payment Solution To Property Owners

On the web:

• Many Retailers Balk at Card-Fee Settlement - WSJ.com
• When Fraud Hits Close to Home: Risk Management for Community Banks - Portals and Rails
• Apple Preparing To Soon Accept Apple Store Payment Cards Via Passbook - 9to5Mac
• Card Fee "Settlement" Just Start Of Big Legal Battle - CNBC

On the wires:

• Citi Launches Citi Payment Exchange
• Lucky Strike Implements Tabbedout Mobile Payments
• OTI Receives $2M in Orders for NFC and Contactless Termiinals for Use in the U.S.
• Fiserv to be Sole Provider of Walk-In Bill Payments for AT&T Wireline Services
• Paymode-X Network Surpasses 200,000 Vendors

On the web:

• Capital One Charges Into Developer Territory With Beta APIs - Programmable Web
• BillGuard Integrates With Passbook To Track All Your Credit Cards In One Place - TechCrunch
• European Square Clone Payleven Introduces 'Chip & PIN' solution - TheNextWeb
• Square Launches A Merchant Directory To Help Customers Discover New Places - TechCrunch
• Google Launches Micropayments Service For Web Content - Digital Trends
• Wal-Mart to Let Customers Reload Other Brands Prepaid Cards - American Banker

On the wires:

• New Celent Report on State of Remote Deposit Capture 2012
• Elavon's Chip and PIN MobileMerchant Enables Irish Businesses on the Move
• NCR and Vantiv to Grow Multivendor ATM Software Availability in U.S.
• TransCard Partners with Netchex to Offer 100% Paperless Payroll

On the web:

• Bitcoin Foundation Launches To Drive Bitcoin's Advancement - Forbes
• Walmart Exec Says 'No' To Google Wallet, NFC - MobilePaymentsToday.com
• Gap, Bed Bath, Other Merchants join MCX Mobile Wallet Service - Reuters
• RBS and Natwest Launch Mobile Payments Service For iPhone - Mobile Today
• Telefónica O2 Begins Mobile Payments Rollout In Germany With Contactless Stickers - NFC World
• Stripe Announces New 'Transparency' Policies - Stripe Blog

On the wires:

• Cardtronics Launches FeeAlert
• Koupon Media Platform Passbook-Enabled
• VersaPay and Chase Paymentech Renew Partnership
• Western Union Expands Money Transfer Network in Mexico
• IdentityMind Protects Magento e-commerce Stores from Fraud
• Western Union Sees Significant Increase in Use of Chinese Renminbi for Business Payments by U.S. Firms

On the web:

• Pay-By-Keyword Startup Seconds Refocuses As A Way To Make Anyone A Merchant - TechCrunch
• Summer Is Gone, but ACH Fraud Remains - Portals and Rails
• The World’s First Cashless Country (Somaliland) - Consult Hyperion
• Flat-Fee, Dongle-Free Mobile POS Startup Emu Opens For Business In U.K., Registrations In Europe -TechCrunch

On the wires:

• Valpak Integrates Local Coupons in New Apple Passbook
• Citi Launches New Payroll Payment Solutions
• Virtual Piggy Signs Up toddland
• TIO Networks Surpasses $100 Million in Mobile Bill Pay Transactions
• Direct Insite to Deliver Electronic Payments Platform to Major Hotel and Hospitality Company
• AmEx Announces Settlements with Bank Regulators Related to U.S. Card Practices
• VeriFone Unveils Next-Generation Media for Gas Stations and C-Stores
• MoneyGram Announces New Money Transfer Agreement with Walmart
• Salt Lake City Introduces Mobile Parking Payments With QuickPay
• eMerchantPay Offers a Prepaid Card for Online Gaming
• Heartland Payment Systems Credits Merchants with More than Quarter Billion Dollars in Durbin Debit Reform Savings

Gyft announced its complete application integration with Apple’s Passbook on iOS 6. Gyft offers retailers a simple way to push gift cards to Passbook while giving consumers even more flexibility and convenience for storing, sending, and redeeming their gift cards on Apple’s mobile devices.

“Gyft is thrilled to be fully integrated with Passbook for the launch of iOS 6 and the iPhone 5,” said Vinny Lingham, CEO of Gyft. “You can now conveniently sync any gift card from your Gyft wallet with Passbook. We are also powering our retail partners to connect directly with Passbook through Gyft’s digital gift card platform."

Gyft recently debuted its mobile app as a TechCrunch Disrupt finalist, launching with more than 200 major retailers, including Amazon.com, Brookstone, Lowe’s, and Sephora.

On the web:

• PassWallet Brings Apple's Passbook to Android - Lifehacker
• Carrier Billing: MACH Integrates With Vodafone, EE, Three And O2 In UK - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• NimbleCommerce Launches the First Ever Deal-Sharing Network
• Green Dot Invites Consumers to “Break Free” with National TV Ad Campaign
• Sage Introduces a Browser-Based Payment Terminal With Dynamic Couponing and Messaging
• NRF Says Swipe Reform Saving Up to $18 Million/Day

On the web:

• Startup Marqeta Issues Prepaid Cards Partially Loaded by Merchants‎ - Digital Transactions
• TicketBiscuit Makes Mobile Ticketing Easier With Apple Passbook Integration - TicketNews

On the wires:

• Walletini Expands Apple's Passbook to Give Users More Options for Ticket Buying
• Merchant Warehouse Announces Apple Passbook Acceptance for 'Genius' Platform
• Tikly Launches Event Ticket Industry's First Facebook Integration Utilizing Dwolla
• Digital River Introduces Automated Online Tax Management Solution for Google Play Store Merchants
• PCI Security Standards Council Releases Best Practices For Mobile Software Developers
• Payvision Partners With Rentabiliweb for Multi-Currency Processing

On the web:

• Visa Europe Puts Brakes On iZettle - TechCrunch
• Shedding Light on Cloud Payments Risk Management - Portals and Rails
• Apple Buys Mobile Security Firm AuthenTec for $356 Million - Reuters
• ‎Visa's Interlink Volume Falls as Durbin Routing Provisions Take Effect - Digital Transactions
• ViVOtech Restructuring, Selling Reader Business - MobilePaymentsToday.com
• Flood of Competition Weighs on Prepaid-Card Companies - Wall Street Journal
• Global Payments Expects Its Data-Breach Tab Could Hit $120 Million - Digital Transactions
• E-Commerce vs. M-commerce (InfoGraphic) - BigCommerce

On the wires:

• British Retail Consortium Releases UK Payments Mix Study
• ROAM Data Introduces New Mobile Software Developer Kit
• AJB Software Accelerates EMV Migration for Retailers
• Merchant Warehouse Announces Acquisition of AVATAS Payment Solutions
• mopay Extends its Mobile Payments Portfolio in the Middle East & North African Region
• 2.5 Million MasterCard Debit Cards Issued to Social Welfare Beneficiaries in South Africa
• Chase and Marriott Rewards Launch the Only Hotel Rewards Card in Canada with No Foreign Currency Transaction Charges

On the web:

• Chirpify is Building a Payments Company Around Twitter - American Banker
• Credit Cards No Longer Accepted At Medical Pot Dispensaries - MSNBC
• India’s Prizm Payments On Track To Hit $50B In Transactions - TechCrunch
• Inside Apple's Go-Slow Approach to Mobile Payments - WSJ.com
• Wal-Mart Said to Halt Amex Prepaid Card Pilot - American Banker

On the wires:

• C-SAM Extends Mobile Transactions Expertise Into User Experience
• Smart Card Alliance Launches 'EMV Connection' Website Dedicated to U.S. EMV Migration
• Brightwell Payments Acquires Directo and Expands Presence in U.S. Paycard Market
• UBPS to Acquire, Consolidate Three Payment Companies in Proposed $179 Million Transaction
• Virtual Piggy and Marmalade to Bring Youth Payments to the Gaming World
• Digital River White Paper on Global Spending Habits and Payment Preferences of Online Gamers
• Fifth Third Bank Launches RevLink Collect

There were a number of interesting reactions to yesterday's Passbook announcement from Apple. Glenbrook's own Scott Loftesness posted his take on the announcement over on Payments News. Jim Bruene, the creator of Finovate, took a look at Apple's new mobile wallet and wondered if Passbook is friend or foe of the banking industry?

Apple today announced key features of iOS 6, including an wallet-like app called "Passbook" that will be used to hold "boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards, and more", all things that it refers to as "passes".

Quick summary of key features: The app uses 2D barcode technology to present passes to the merchant, merchants can update things like "available balance" and " current points" in the background, and geolocation technology is used for relevancy within the Passbook app.

Apple demonstrated how the available balanced on your Starbucks card would be updated automatically within Passbook upon completion of a purchase. In related news, Apple also announced they now have over 400 million cards on file in iTunes.

On the web:

• Is NFC killing Google Wallet? - CNET News
• 'Bill Me Later' To Come To The UK - Tamebay
• TSYS Reveals Acquisition Plans - American Banker
• How The Future of Mobile Lies in the Developing World - TechCrunch
• MTS Launches Commercial NFC Payments Service In Russia - NFC World
• Are Social Security Numbers Still Secure Enough For Payments? - Portals and Rails
• CNP Processor Litle Reports Durbin Has Cut Debit Interchange in Half - Digital Transactions
• Big Jump In Mobile Payments Expected, But Not With NFC In U.S. - Computerworld
• Apple Rejects iOS App Integrating Flattr Micropayment Service - FierceMobileContent
• A Call for Standards in Currency Processing — Counting On Currency
• Mirth And Cardify Link Loyalty Rewards To Credit Cards - GigaOM
• In-App Subscriptions Now Available On Google Play - WebProNews
• Mobile Payments Heat Up in Sweden - WSJ

On the wires:

• Bank of America Merrill Lynch Enhances ePayables
• Global Prepaid Payments Processor Yalamanchili Launches in Europe
• New Aite Group Report on The Case For A New Payment Network

On the web:

• Many Competing Paths on the Road to a Phone Wallet - NYTimes.com
• J.P. Morgan Chase Adding Prepaid Cards To Its Product Menu - WSJ.com
• Apple Starts Testing Mobile Deals & Payments In-House With Pirq Partnership - Cult of Mac

On the wires:

• Bank of America Launches Three New Travel Rewards Credit Cards
• DataArt Delivers UPside Visa Mobile Banking App for Kindle Fire
• Heartland Payment Systems Launches SmartLink Managed Network Service for Restaurants
• PayAnywhere Mobile Payments App Now Available in BlackBerry App World
• ZipZap and SafetyPay Form Partnership

On the web:

• Apple: Sleeping Giant Within The Mobile Payment Industry - Seeking Alpha
• How Safe Are Mobile Payments? - US News and World Report

On the wires:

• Sell Anything On Pinterest With Pin2Sell
• Yodlee Interactive Announces New Accelerator/Incubator Programs
• Citibank Rolls Out New ThankYou Rewards Program for Small Business
• New Mercator Report on Prepaid Reload Payment Method Mix
• Payfirma Opens its Mobile Payment App for Integration

On the web:

• Apple to Remodel App Store this Summer - Rethink Wireless
• Mobile P2P Payments Startup Beamit Raises $2.4M From Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt & Others - TechCrunch
• Mobile Payments Platform to be Delayed Again by European Regulators - The Telegraph (UK)
• 41st Parameter Raises $13M From Kleiner Perkins And Others - TechCrunch
• Japanese Biometric ATM Reads Your Palm, Tells Fortune - Engadget
• The Rise of Mobile Payments (info graphic) - TruAxis

On the wires:

• TSYS Extends Payments Agreement With First Hawaiian Bank
• Cardtronics and 7-Eleven ATM Relationship Finds New Frontier in Canada
• MoneyGram Expands Online Money Transfers to Customers in the U.K.
• Elavon Leverages NewNet Payment Processing Solutions in South America
• Government of Canada Increasing the Use of Direct Deposit

On the web:

• Making Plastic Credit Cards Smarter at SXSW - CardSpring
• Isis’ campaign to win over consumers starts at SXSW
• Can Banks Avoid Being Friends with Facebook?
• 63 Minutes With Jack Dorsey
• No wallet? No problem. PayPal Now Available Through the Tabbedout Mobile App
• Luxury Daily: Are retailers ready for mobile payments?
• How mobile payments might drive health behavior change
• Apple Wins Patent for iWallet: The one that will rule the World
• AMEX’s new Twitter integration is “brilliant” marketing
• On the mobile payments front at MWC: Much ado about nothing
• Clover Raises $5.8M From Andreessen Horowitz; Launches As A One-Click Mobile Payments Platform
• 15M Facebook users bought virtual goods with Credits in 2011
• Virtual Currency Is The Next Big Platform
• Best Buy snags Starbucks tech guru

On the wires:

• Green Dot to Acquire Loopt
• Discover Financial Services and National Payment Corporation of India Announce Strategic Alliance Enabling Increased Network Acceptance

On the web:

• War Over the Digital Wallet - Wall Street Journal
• Verizon Blocks Google Wallet on Nexus - Rethink Wireless
• Launch of Apple's EasyPay Retail Self-Checkout Deemed a Success - AppleInsider
• One in Four Starbucks Transactions Now Done via Starbucks Card or Mobile App - Mashable
• AmEx Introduces 'Get $10, Share $10' Program for Serve Activations - Facebook
• Debit-Card Fee Cap Has Nasty Side Effect for Small Merchants - WSJ.com
• Small Businesses Use Square for Credit Deals – USATODAY.com

On the wires:

• Transaction Wireless Powers Finish Line Personalized E-Gift Cards for the Holidays
• Port Chester, New York Increases Parking Revenues by 40% With New Parking Meters From Digital Payment Technologies
• CHARGE Anywhere Adds Support For Bluetooth Card Reader & Receipt Printer
• New Mercator Report on Consumer Prepaid Distribution