Visa Inc. has announced enhancements to its Visa Offers platform that delivers targeted rewards to Visa cardholders.

Visa says that "the enhanced service has the potential to eliminate paper coupons, allowing consumers, who opt in, to earn points and discounts as well as redeem special offers instantly at checkout by simply using their enrolled Visa card."

Smarter commerce means having the right offer, delivered to the right customer at the right time,” said Jim McCarthy, global head of Products, Visa Inc. “Visa’s new real-time point-of-sale redemption platform is a great example of Visa’s ability to apply its processing and technology expertise to simplify the use of offers and discounts, bringing benefits to merchants, acquirers, issuers and consumers.”

• Fully Customizable Offer Content - Retailers and financial institutions can deliver offers that are tailored to individual customers, through email, web and mobile.
• Real-Time Offer Relevancy - The platform also provides retailers and issuers data insights and analytics to measure the point-of-sale redemption rate, allowing them to create customized and more relevant offers.
• Consumer Loyalty Qualification - Retailers and issuers can use real-time messaging capabilities to identify and uniquely reward loyal customers.
• Multiple Redemption Options - Support for real-time redemption of offers and rewards at the point-of-sale - complementing the existing statement credit capability.
• Support for Multiple Offers Programs - Supports both Visa-specific and third-party offer programs.

On the web:

• Other Drivers of Debit Consolidation - Tom Noyes - "The paradigms of debit and credit networks are ripe for disruption."
• Amazon Issued Patent To Make Mobile Purchases Anonymous - Storefront Backtalk
• Podcast: FIs Can Serve More Customers with Prepaid Cards - The Members Group Blog - "Konrad pointed out that although prepaid cards were once targeted to mostly underserved consumers, interest in them has now broadened to include customers with access to credit cards and other traditional banking products."
• Tracking your card purchases: Big data becoming big business - Taking Charge Blog - "Making money off of credit card users' purchase histories is an idea that's been floating around the business world for a while."
• Browser pays - Consult Hyperion's Tommorow's Transactions Blog - "...I remain convinced that there may be a way forward on this and perhaps the Mozilla API will stimulate more thought and perhaps make for a sea change in web economics."

On the wires:

• Dr. Gavin Michael Joins JPMorgan Chase As Head of Digital for Consumer and Community Banking - "Gavin has more than 20 years of experience across Retail Banking technology, including governance, organization, strategy, and innovation."

American Express and Zynga have announced the launch of Zynga Serve Rewards, a new program that is tied to the Serve digital wallet.

“We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with Zynga and provide an easy way for players to earn Zynga virtual game cash by learning about Serve and signing up to receive the many benefits of our digital wallet,” said Dan Schulman, President of Enterprise Growth, American Express. “As the commerce landscape continues to change, and online and offline spending converges, Serve is focused on partnering with companies like Zynga to create unique value for our customers in the environments they love.”

Swipely announced that it "is expanding to the Boston area to help more than 150 area retailers turn credit card transactions into interactions. Swipely gives these new merchant members a hassle-free way to understand, retain and engage customers with loyalty rewards and personalized offers without coupons or keychain cards. The system works with the credit and debit cards more than 90 percent of consumers already carry, and with existing point of sale systems most retailers already use."

Bank of America has announced that it is "launching BankAmericard Cash Rewards and Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard credit cards that reward customers with up to 3 percent cash back on certain purchases. In addition, the BankAmericard Cash Rewards card includes a 10 percent bonus when customers deposit their cash rewards into their Bank of America checking or savings account. Both cards have no expiration on rewards."

American Express and Groupon Hong Kong have announced that the two companies are partnering to let American Express Cardmembers redeem Membership Rewards for Groupon cash vouchers at a 60% discount.

The collaboration sets a major milestone for both American Express and Groupon Hong Kong. Groupon Hong Kong has become the first Membership Rewards partner of American Express from the online group-buying category, adding a new dimension to the American Express Membership Rewards program and offering American Express Cardmembers broader choice in their rewards selection.

In related news, American Express also announced a new reward card for business customers that earns double points for spending on online advertising.

Cartera Commerce and Barclaycard US have announced a strategic partnership to reward Barclaycard customers for their shopping purchases.

“The pressure for card issuers to deliver more value to their customers has never been greater. We’re delighted to partner with Barclaycard to help proactively meet this challenge by making it easy for Barclaycard customers to earn rewards faster with card-linked offers,” commented Tom Beecher, President and CEO of Cartera Commerce. “When Barclaycard customers realize they can now earn merchandise or a dream trip faster than before by shopping with participating merchants, their loyalty credit card moves to top of wallet.”

Barclaycard US has announced an exclusive multi-year agreement with the National Football League to market credit cards bearing the NFL shield logo and the logos of each of the 32 NFL clubs.Fans may obtain these credit cards from Barclaycard starting in September via the web, at stadium displays, through in-bound telephone applications and via email and direct mail invitations." READ MORE »

Target has announced that beginning this fall customers will receive 5 percent off at check-out every day when they use a REDcard at any Target store or on Target.com. Target’s REDcards include the Target Credit Card, Target Visa Credit Card and Target Check Card debit product. READ MORE »

RewardsNOW has announced closing a $7.5 million investment from Edison Venture Fund. The company provides customer loyalty programs to more than 300 financial institutions. Founded in 1997, RewardsNOW designs, implements and manages turnkey direct marketing and loyalty programs for the full range of financial services including credit cards, debit cards, loans, deposits and online banking. READ MORE »

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 »

Billeo has announced that its Offer Assistant has been expanded to include Discover's ShopDiscover rewards and PayPal Shopping deals. According to the company, "discounts from nine of the most popular loyalty and rewards programs appear right when online shoppers search for products and services on Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Billeo's Offer Assistant is one of the many ways the company saves people time and money in all types of online transactions, from shopping to bill pay." READ MORE »

Cardlytics and Vesdia have announced a partnership to provide banks with a comprehensive approach to delivering merchant-funded rewards and retailers access to additional marketing platforms. According to the companies, "the partnership will enable banks to provide targeted rewards based on customers' debit, credit and bill-pay transactions, as well as deploy a broad-based rewards strategy that includes online malls and multi-channel marketing. This approach is fully merchant-funded, enabling banks to deploy an effective loyalty program at no fee." READ MORE »

Visa has announced additional companies joining Visa SavingsEdge, Visa’s small business savings program, including Staples, Orbitz, USA TODAY, La Quinta Inns & Suites and Box.net. Visa SavingsEdge is available to cardholders of participating issuers who enroll by registering their card at: http://www.visasavingsedge.com. READ MORE »

Tempo has announced that its affinity debit platform is being utilized by the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope to provide donors with debit cards that support the Barry Manilow-created nonprofit organization’s campaign to save public school music programs “one swipe at a time.” Each time a Manilow Fund for Health and Hope debit card is used to make a purchase, the organization will receive a portion of standard transaction fees, utilizing cardholders’ purchasing power instead of out-of-pocket money to increase the Fund’s revenue. Proceeds will be used by the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope’s Manilow Music Project to put musical instruments into the hands of public school students across the U.S. READ MORE »

In an article titled "Banks Focus on People Who Can Pay More for Credit Cards", Eric Dash reports for the New York Times on how US credit card issuers are focusing on heavy "transactors" - "the moneyed users of rewards programs who spend big and pay their bills on time." Dash sees issuers charging higher fees for new rewards programs targeting these users - as issuers emphasize a focus on spending vs. lending.

American Express has announced the launch of LoyaltyEdge - a new line of business that will "work with strategic business partners and merchants to create, implement, and/or enhance their customer loyalty programs in order to help attract and retain customers, thus driving incremental business growth. Long-time strategic partner, Delta Air Lines, is the first to utilize the services of LoyaltyEdge." READ MORE »

Among a number of enhancements to its Member Rewards program, American Express has announced that its cardholders will now have the option to use Membership Rewards points toward federal, state and local income tax payments.

"Cardmembers can use points toward the actual tax payment when filing through Pay1040 (pay1040.com) and Official Payments Corp. (www.officialpayments.com), starting at 200 points. Cardmembers will be able to continue using Membership Rewards points toward applicable convenience and payment fees incurred when filing taxes online."

In an article titled "Assessing the Damage Caused by Card Rewards", Ron Lieber writes for the New York Times about whether his aggressive pursuit of credit card rewards made him a selfish consumer - noting that merchants are paying much of the costs of those rewards and that stores presumably have to build in higher prices to afford them.

So, he "tried to figure out what would happen if we did just pay cash, or if there’s a better course of action for people who spend in a self-interested fashion but still have a conscience."

Cardlytics has announced the expansion of its transactional marketing platform for national, local and online retailers - saying that its "patent-pending platform enables retailers to deliver targeted promotional offers to consumers through their online banking statements. These offers are delivered as cash or other reward incentives, which are earned once the consumer makes a qualifying purchase with a debit or credit card, whether in-store or online. ... With its unique tracking capabilities, Cardlytics is the first platform to target and track both offline and online consumer redemptions via digitally targeted ads." READ MORE »

Electronic Artshas announced that it has "made it easier for loyal gamers to buy their favorite EA SPORTS™ titles with the launch of the first-ever EA SPORTS branded prepaid debit card. The reloadable prepaid debit card enables users to receive a percent back from every purchase at thousands of brick-and-mortar and online retailers to redeem points (“EA SPORTS Rewards Points”) that can be used to purchase select EA SPORTS game titles." READ MORE »

American Express says it is "making holiday shopping a more rewarding experience for Charge Cardmembers enrolled in the Membership Rewards program by offering generous bonus Membership Rewards promotions for online shopping. From Black Friday (November 27th) through Cyber Monday (November 30th), American Express is exclusively offering to eligible Charge Cardmembers triple Membership Rewards points on every purchase, up to $5,000, made on Amazon.com, which offers a large selection of great gifts for the holidays."

Discover has announced the launch of ItPaystoDiscover.com, a new web site that describes all the ways Discover's cardmembers can get the most value from their Cashback Bonus rewards. READ MORE »

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 »