Wells Fargo has announced that it has enhanced its rewards program by adding the Earn More Mall with bonus point opportunities, the ability to purchase retail gift cards, new travel features and benefits, five times as many redemption options, and a redesigned site for easier navigation and improved search capabilities. READ MORE

Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) and American Express have announced a strategic new partnership under which PenFed will issue American Express-branded credit cards. The new PenFed Premium Travel Rewards American Express Card will carry the American Express logo and will be accepted on American Express' global merchant network.

According to the two companies, PenFed and American Express have an exclusive arrangement under which, for a limited time, PenFed will be the only credit union to issue an American Express-branded card in the United States. READ MORE

Dogster, Inc., creator of the web destinations Dogster and Catster, has announced it is now offering affinity debit cards that members can personalize with a photo of their pet that are enabled by Tempo’s Web-based debit card platform. READ MORE

Discover has announced a variety of ways that "Discover Cardmembers can take advantage of extra cash rewards when shopping this holiday season, including the opportunity to earn Double Cashback Bonus on all online purchases, as well as at department stores, jewelry and apparel retailers." READ MORE

Vesdia has announced that it has been selected by Upromise, a free online service that helps its members earn money for college, as its new preferred provider of brick-and-mortar and catalog merchant services.

Vesdia says it "will provide more ways to save through a consistently expanding network of leading national, regional and local brick-and-mortar merchants. Through the Vesdia network, Upromise members can now earn money in their college savings account or pay down eligible student loans when shopping at an increased assortment of new retailers, and Vesdia merchant partners will be marketed through one of the most coveted loyalty programs in the United States." READ MORE

Starbucks has announced a new customer loyalty card program called My Starbucks Rewards, which will launch on Dec. 26, 2009 in all U.S. Starbucks stores. Consolidating its two current programs, Starbucks Card Rewards and Starbucks Gold card, the new program "delivers value with no annual fee, allows members to use one registered card (any Starbucks Card) and provides customized rewards that increase with frequency of use." READ MORE

MasterCard has announced that Fifth Third Bank is now issuing the World Debit MasterCard card - which MasterCard calls "the industry’s only premium debit card that provides U.S. consumers with access to enhanced rewards, unique offers and savings opportunities and greater purchase protection. By offering World Debit MasterCard to its customers, Fifth Third Bank is now providing a custom-tailored debit product that meets the unique, everyday spending needs of its high-spend and reward-seeking debit cardholders." READ MORE

In an AP story titled "BofA to charge annual fees on rewards cards", Bank of America says it is testing annual fees ranging from $29 to $99 on its credit cards.

Saying it is "focused on providing relevant rewards during these difficult economic times," American Express has announced several enhancements to its Membership Rewards program including the a feature that allows Amex cardholders to use points toward “everyday” charges within their online statement. Amex also announced the launch of Membership Rewards Specials - a program featuring "great deals on popular rewards." In addition, a number of new partners have been added to the Membership Rewards program. READ MORE

In an article titled "Card Act's Collateral Damage: Networks", Maria Aspan writes for the Monday edition of the American Banker about Citi "slashing some travel insurance benefits on its high-end credit cards." According to Aspan, "Citi said last week that it is reducing the amount of "travel accident insurance" it offers on several elite cards, in some cases to a quarter of the former coverage levels, effective Oct. 1."

Discover has announced it has launched a new series of advertisements "that celebrates cardmembers and highlights what they “get back” from their Cashback Bonus – both literally and emotionally. The new ads are intended to portray the sense of optimism that many of our cardmembers seek, the everyday things that make them happy, as well as Discover’s cash rewards leadership." READ MORE

Metavante has announced that Danversbank has deployed its expanded rewards and loyalty product to offer Danversbank's clients a blended rewards program that combines issuer- and merchant-funded rewards. "Through its deployment of Points2U Plus, Danversbank now awards cardholders with bonus points for debit card-based transactions made at participating retailers — this is in addition to the points a cardholder already earns by using their Dansverbank-issued debit card. The bank is also leveraging Points2U Plus to award double points for card use during seasonal promotions, as well as to reward cardholders with additional loyalty points for the use of other Danversbank services." READ MORE

Chase Card Services has announced the launch of Chase Sapphire - calling it "the next generation rewards card designed for the affluent market." According to Chase, "Sapphire has been built from the ground up to address the needs of the top 15 percent of U.S. households by income who expect premium rewards, outstanding value, and exceptional service."

Earlier this summer, Chase had announced the Ultimate Rewards program where Sapphire was initially mentioned. READ MORE

In an article titled "There Goes The Prize", Nancy Trejos writes for the Washington Post's Sunday edition about how credit card issuers are adjusting their reward programs to be "suddenly less rewarding."

Chase has announced a new program that gives its checking account customers "more rewards on every purchase when they use their Chase Freedom credit card."

“This is one more way to thank customers for doing more business with Chase,” said Scott Powell, head, Consumer Banking. “That’s especially important as consumers watch every dollar they earn and spend.”

According to Chase, its "Chase Exclusives program rewards Chase checking account customers with better rates, more rewards and bigger discounts on nearly all the financial products offered through Chase’s bank branches." READ MORE

Three new premium Visa credit cards have been announced by United and Chase Card Services including the United Mileage Plus Club Visa Card, The United Mileage Plus Access Visa Card and The United Mileage Plus Select Visa Card.

According to the companies, "with these new cards, cardholders will receive exclusive benefits, including Red Carpet Club membership, Economy Plus seating, up to 5,000 or 10,000 miles that count toward elite status, or double and triple miles toward redeeming an award ticket."

Note that these three new premium cards have annual fees ranging from $130 to $375 annually. READ MORE

US Airways, Barclaycard and MasterCard have announced a new suite of Dividend Miles Select benefits for US Airways Premier World MasterCard that enable award travel with fewer miles.

The results of a recent survey by MasterCard "demonstrated the heightened importance of travel rewards value in the current economy. More than half of surveyed Americans (51 percent) agree that the current economy has made them more conscious of the value and benefits of rewards credit cards, such as an airline co-brand card. Visiting family and friends is also now the most appealing vacation for the majority of travelers (54 percent) - particularly for college graduates, parents and married adults." READ MORE

eBillme has announced it will give consumers 1% cash back for every purchase made using its cash checkout option. According to the company, "in order to qualify, online shoppers select eBillme for checkout at one of over 800 online merchant sites offering the credit card alternative payment option. Consumers can then sign-up for eBillme's cash back rewards and immediately start earning 1% cash back for every order. Once $10 in rewards has been earned, the cash can be redeemed on eBillme merchant sites, or shoppers may choose to continue earning before redeeming." READ MORE

SunTrust and Delta Air Lines have announced that consumers and businesses will soon be able to earn Delta miles on all signature-based purchases made with a new SunTrust SkyMiles Check Card, launching June 22. According to the two companies, "this will be the first time Delta has offered mileage-earning opportunities through a check card, and is the first co-branded check card relationship for SunTrust." The card will have a minimum annual fee of $20. READ MORE

Barclaycard has announced that it plans to introduce a retailer rewards scheme in partnership with Welcome Real-time "that will enable Barclaycard customers to benefit from a retailer rewards scheme that is expected to encompass retailers ranging from sole traders to major high street names." READ MORE

In an article titled "Frequent Fliers, Choose Your Card", Justin Bachman writes for BusinessWeek about the battle between US Bank and American Express over the former US Bank/Northwest Airlines WorldPerks cardholders - now that Northwest is about to merge with Delta, longtime partner with American Express. Bachman writes: "The fight over this customer base has been ferocious."

In an article titled "Revealing the Hidden Cost Of Credit Cards" in tomorrow's Sunday Washington Post, Michelle Singletary writes that "transactors" (those who pay off their credit card bills every month - sometimes called "convenience users") may soon see the return of "widespread annual fees" on their credit cards.

Could this result in a further acceleration of spending away from credit cards and toward debit cards - as transactors finally decide the float/rewards benefits of their credit cards just aren't worth the new money they might cost?

Who wins in that scenario? Debit cards are cheaper for merchants to accept. Would they be the beneficiaries?

MasterCard Worldwide has announced that the U.S. Postal Service and Dunkin' Donuts have joined the list of merchants that provide small businesses with automatic discounts and savings through the MasterCard Easy Savings Program. Eligible MasterCard business credit and signature debit, U.S. cardholders enrolled in the program will now receive an automatic 5 percent rebate on Click 'N Ship purchases made with the United States Postal Service at usps.com, and an automatic 5 percent rebate on purchases at Dunkin' Donuts. READ MORE

American Express has announced a number of new benefits available through its Delta SkyMiles Credit Cards as well as the launch of what it is calling "a 360-degree marketing campaign to build awareness for the Cards in key Delta hubs that were formerly Northwest hubs within the U.S. including Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Memphis." READ MORE

Maria Aspan reports for the American Banker in Monday's edition that "U.S. Bancorp and American Express Co. are squaring off for a marketing battle that will be waged with reward programs but could be won on reputation." At stake are the cardholders of the Northwest WorldPerks Visa card (issued by US Bank) - with US Bank also competing for those cardholders with a new FlexPerks Visa card! See the next story for late news tonight about litigation brought by Northwest against US Bank.

Suzanne Ziegler reports for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune about a lawsuit filed today by Northwest Airlines (now merged into Delta) against US Bank trying to stop the bank's efforts to migrate cardholders from the soon to be defunct Northwest Worldperks Visa card (issued by US Bank) to U.S. Bank's new FlexPerks Visa card. Delta is, of course, planning to move those cardholders to its American Express SkyMiles card.

U.S. Bank has announced that its customers who have been earning miles on Northwest Airlines by using their WorldPerks Visa cards will now be able to earn points toward free flights on over 150 airlines with no blackout dates or award ticket redemption fees with new U.S. Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa cards. READ MORE

In an article titled "Credit card companies should stay out of the debit card market", Craig McInnes writes for the Vancouver Sun about the costs to merchants of payment card acceptance. He discusses both the costs of rewards cards to merchants as well as a concern that replacing Interac debit cards would also increase costs to merchants. According to McInnes, "that would drive up the price of everything we buy."

Bank of America has announced the launch of a new online shopping site that "allows enrolled customers to earn up to 20% cash back on their purchases at more than 270 online retailers, including top names such as Walmart.com, BestBuy.com and Barnes & Noble.com. Customers with a current Bank of America credit or check card who are enrolled in online banking can register for free through the Add It Up site at http://www.bankofamerica.com/additup." READ MORE