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!

Earlier today, we noticed a couple of tweets about a new service from Capital One known as Spark Pay.

Turns out that Spark Pay is the latest entrant in the market of providing card acceptance to small merchants using a smartphone or tablet. Spark Pay and its encrypting card reader allow small merchants to "start accepting all major credit cards immediately." The Spark Pay app is available on Android and iOS (iPhone and iPad).

Spark Pay is offering two pricing plans to merchants: a Pro Plan and a Go Plan. "The Pro Plan Pro offers a lower per swipe fee of 1.95% per swipe for Visa®, MasterCard®, and Discover® cards plus a $9.95 monthly fee. The Go Plan offers 2.70% per swipe for Visa®, MasterCard®, and Discover® cards with no monthly fee."

We expect to hear more about Spark Pay soon.

On the web:

• March Madness on the Hardwoods, Mobile Madness in the Payments Arena - Portals and Rails
• Capital One Offers $20 Incentive to Try ShopSavvy Mobile Wallet - NetBanker

On the wires:

• Western Union and Woodforest National Bank Sign Multi-Year Agreement

Capital One announced that it has teamed up with ShopSavvy to deliver personalized deals from the Capital One deals program to ShopSavvy app users while they shop and search for deals.

“Capital One is enhancing the shopping experience for our customers with in-store targeted merchant offers. With ShopSavvy, we’re providing a convenient service and an exciting opportunity for our customers to take advantage of the power of mobile commerce,” said Paul Sun, general manager, Capital One Deals. “Capital One is committed to giving our customers an easy way to save money without the hassle.”

Isis has announced the availability of the Isis Mobile Wallet in Austin and Salt Lake City. Consumers can visit their AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon retail location and select from nine Isis Ready handsets, with an expected 11 additional handsets coming to market by year end.

“The launch of the Isis Mobile Wallet in Austin and Salt Lake City represents a milestone for both Isis and the mobile commerce industry,” said Ryan Hughes, chief marketing officer, Isis. “With as many as 20 Isis Ready handsets headed to market by year end, we are experiencing an unprecedented level of support for NFC and consumer choice.”

American Express, Capital One, and Chase are the card issuing partners.

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

Isis has announced that Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard have entered into agreements to enable their credit, debit and prepaid cards to be placed into the Isis Mobile Wallet.

“Today’s announcement is testament to the vision and commitment of Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard to make mobile commerce a real and positive experience for their customers,” said Michael Abbott, CEO, Isis. “Mobile commerce is more than a new way to pay; it’s about extending the relationships consumers enjoy with their banks and merchants into a powerful and convenient new form factor.”

Capital One has launched the Capital One Cash card, "a new cash back credit card that offers 50% more value to customers without the restrictions commonly found in cash rewards cards. With this card, customers get 1% cash back on every purchase every day, a 50% anniversary bonus on cash earned on purchases in the previous year, and a one-time $100 bonus once they spend $500 in the first three months. And of course, as with all other Capital One cards, there are no foreign transaction fees."

On the web:

• Subway Launches NFC payments in U.S. - NFCNews

On the wires:

• ROAM Data Takes Number One Market Position for Secure Mobile Phone Card Reader Solutions
• HSBC Sells Its Card and Retail Services Business in the US to Capital One
• NCR Launches Bill Pay / SIM Card Kiosk for Telecom Providers in Middle East and Africa
• Sutherland Global Services USA, Partners With ElectraCard Services (ECS)
• Launch of PlayStation Network Card Supported by InComm
• Hypercom UK and Spain Acquired by Spire Payments
• New Aite Group Report on the Role of VARs/ISVs in Merchant Acquiring Market

Capital One has reported first quarter 2011 financial results. In its credit card business, first quarter Domestic Card purchase volumes grew $3.0 billion, or 13.8%, from 1Q2010 but declined by $2.0 billion, or 7.3%, compared to 4Q2010 due to seasonal patterns. The net charge-off rate for Domestic Cards improved 108 basis points to 6.20% from 7.28% in the prior quarter.

Capital One has launched Venture for Business, a premium rewards credit card offering small business owners double miles on every purchase, the opportunity to earn up to 15,000 bonus miles within the first three months and a flexible redemption process that eliminates the restrictions commonly found in rewards programs. According to Capital One, there are no limits on when, where or how double miles can be earned, no retailer specifications or spending categories, no separate rewards enrollment or re-enrollment requirements, and no limit on the number of miles cardholders can accumulate. READ MORE »

In an article titled "Capital One Looks to Adapt to Credit Card Laws", Thomas Heath writes for the Washington Post about Capital One's plans to "reinvent itself for a new age of regulation."

Capital One has launched Card Lab Connect, a credit card affinity program that Capital One says helps nonprofits expand their giving channels while providing their supporters with a convenient and meaningful way to donate to charity programs. Unlike most affinity card programs which generally cater to larger, national organizations, Capital One Card Lab Connect is available for nonprofits of all sizes. READ MORE »

Capital One has reported first quarter 2009 financial results. In its credit card business, credit card purchase volume declined 11.9% vs 1Q2008 and the number of loan accounts declined over 13%. The U.S. credit card charge-off rate increased to 8.4 percent for the first quarter of 2009 vs. 5.85% a year ago.

A group of credit card issuers and payments networks (Bank of America, Capital One, Citi and Discover Card along with MasterCard and Visa) have introduced Help With My Credit, a resource to assist and educate consumers struggling to make their credit card payments.

According to a press release issued late Tuesday, "Help With My Credit invites consumers to call a toll-free telephone number (1-866-941-1030) where operators will provide them with information about speaking with customer service representatives within participating credit card issuers or to accredited credit counseling agencies, depending on the individual’s situation and needs."

Consumers can also visit a new Web site, http://www.HelpWithMyCredit.org, which provides consumers information on how to manage credit cards and better communicate with their credit card companies, and how to identify and speak with an accredited credit counselor. READ MORE »

Capital One has reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2008. In Capital One's US Card business, purchase volume in the fourth quarter declined over 10% vs. 4Q2007 and was down 5% from the third quarter of 2008. Chargeoffs on the US Card business increased from 4.84% to 7.08% between 4Q2007 and 4Q2008.

Capital One Bank has announced it has introduced a Rewards Checking account that "allows customers to easily earn rewards for everyday banking activities." READ MORE »

Morriss Partee, CEO of EverythingCU.com, blogs on the Payment Industry Insider blog about an email he recently received from Capital One offering him "big rewards for his debit purchases - without changing banks." Partee writes: "No longer a regional effort tied to rewards at a supermarket chain, they now (presumably) have gone national, and have tied it to their own reward program. On top of that, they are charging the consumer $19.95 per year for the service."

You can read more about Capital One's Debit MasterCard at the Capital One web site. A comprehensive FAQ on the product is available. Rewards are only earned on signature-based (not PIN-based) purchases. Note that the new debit card is also "paperless" - a paper statement of account activity is only available upon request each month and has a $3.00 fee.

Orbitz Worldwide has introduced a new Orbitz Visa Credit Card powered by Capital One No Hassle Rewards, a new credit card that it says "makes it easy for travelers to earn triple Capital One No Hassle Rewards points by booking airfare, hotel accommodations and vacation packages on Orbitz.com." READ MORE »

New survey results announced by Capital One Canada find that "individual Canadians spend more than 115 hours - almost five days - each year waiting in line and paying for daily purchases" - and that contactless payments can help save between 28 and 46 hours of that time. READ MORE »

Will Wade reports for the American Banker (subscription required) that Capital One is shutting down two merchant pilots of its decoupled debit card product that was announced last May.

Jane J. Kim writes for the Wall St. Journal about Capital One's changing of interest rates on some of its credit cards from variable to fixed rates. With a fixed rate, any further reductions in interest rates as the result of Federal Reserve actions aren't passed along to the cardholder as lower interest charges.

Capital One has announced the Preferred No Hassles Miles card, a card that it says "offers small business owners double rewards for travel and entertainment purchases."

In an article titled 'High-End Cards Fall From Grace', the Wall St. Journal's Robin Sidel and David Enrich report on last week's news from American Express and Capital One about increasing delinquencies in their credit card portfolios. Later this week, other major issuers will report financial results - including JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup. Another very large issuer, Bank of America, will be reporting financial results next week.

Over the weekend, the New York Times' Floyd Norris reported on last week's Federal Reserve report about the recent surge in growth in consumer revolving debt.

Capital One has announced the addition of a new “personalized image” feature for its customers. All Capital One consumer credit card customers now have the option to visit the Capital One web site and upload their own photo images – family, friends, pets, or a favorite picture – to be printed on their card, at no cost.

Ron Shevlin writes on his Marketing ROI blog about Capital One's Card Lab. Shevlin's verdict? "Card Lab is a winner"

You've probably already seen the ads. Capital One Financial Corporation has announced the launch of the Capital One Card Lab, calling it "a convenient online tool designed to help consumers select from a menu of terms and options to build their own credit card. The Capital One Card Lab site offers an array of options related to interest rate, annual fee, rewards and even the design on the front of their card and allows consumers to select the combination of features that are most important to them."

Jane J. Kim writes for the Wall St. Journal about new credit cards from Capital One, Chase Card Services and Discover that offer more "flexibility and convenience" in their rewards programs - intended to make their cards "top of wallet" in terms of consumer preference.

Capital One and NetSpend have announced that "they have mutually agreed to the termination of their previously announced acquisition agreement and that they have entered into a Letter of Intent to expand their existing strategic relationship. As part of the expanded strategic relationship, Capital One intends to acquire a minority interest in NetSpend, a leading retail marketer of prepaid debit cards, along with an option to purchase additional shares of the company. In addition, the parties expect that a Capital One representative will join the NetSpend Board of Directors."

Capital One held its Annual Investor Conference yesterday. An audio replay along with accompanying slides are available online.