JPMorgan Chase has announced that Mike Passilla has been named chief executive officer of Merchant Services, a newly created role that will oversee Chase’s growing payments and merchant services business including Chase Paymentech, Chase’s merchant offers business, as well as Chase Merchant Services, Chase’s recently-announced merchant payments initiative. Passilla joins Chase from Elavon where he most recently served as president and CEO.

Merchants represent an important client base for Chase, and we want to bring together our full suite of leading services for merchants under one organization,” said Gordon Smith, CEO of Chase Consumer & Community Banking.

"Chase has been at the forefront of innovation in the payments industry, and I’m confident Mike’s vision and experience will help us continue to be a leader in this important area.”

Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase announced the creation of Chase Merchant Services, a new payments proposition that will allow Chase to bring advantageous solutions for merchants and differentiated experiences to cardholders. Ray Fischer, president of Chase Merchant Services, also will report to Passilla.

Chase Card Services has announced that "effective June 1, all purchases made with the United MileagePlus® Explorer Card outside of the U.S. will no longer be subject to foreign transaction fees."

United MileagePlus Explorer cardmembers travel to a variety of destinations around the world,” said David Gold, general manager, Chase Card Services. “The MileagePlus Explorer Card offers a host of benefits designed to make traveling the globe much more enjoyable. With the enhancement of no foreign transaction fees, we can now provide cardmembers tangible savings when traveling outside the U.S.”

On the web:

• California Sues JPMorgan Chase Over Credit Card Cases - NY Times - "JPMorgan Chase … deluged the courts with dubious lawsuits to collect soured credit-card debt."
• How hackers allegedly stole “unlimited” amounts of cash from banks in just hours - ArsTechnica - "Prosecutors didn't identify the payment processors except to say one was in India and the other in the United States."
• PayPal exec aims to “obliterate passwords from the face of the planet” - ArsTechnica - "Our intention is to really obliterate, within a certain number of years, both passwords and PINs..."
• One good reason to accept Bitcoins: It screws credit card companies - Pando Daily - "Merchants should enjoy it while it lasts."
• Mobile Gift Card App Gyft Partners With BitPay To Start Accepting Bitcoin Payments In Its Android App - TechCrunch - "Bitcoin is hard to use today, and that’s a good thing. There are still bugs and it is too risky for the average consumer."
• WePay Debuts Veda, An Intelligent Risk Engine That Leverages Social Media Data To Prevent Merchant Fraud - TechCrunch - "A traditional credit score only shows a sliver of who you are, but an online profile allows us to assign our users a more accurate ‘WePay credit score’ based on their personal history of verified, social data."
• No big bang for mobile payments - Business Spectator - "Key to this is understanding that mobile payments are not a vertical market. Players must understand how the different participants in a payment system – the merchant, issuer, and consumer – can all benefit through mobile."
• Adam Smith, Paul Krugman and Bitcoin - Tomorrow's Transactions Blog - "There won't be a single world currency (whether the Dollar or the Remibi) and there won't be a single virtual currency (whether Bitcoin or MintChip). There will be lots of currencies and we will all be better off because of it."
• Free banking at risk as EU wants us to bank anywhere in Europe - Telegraph - "European proposals that would allow Britons to switch to a bank account in another country could hasten the demise of free banking, experts have warned."
• Mobile Payments Service Wins Bill and Melinda Gates Innovator Award - eCommerce Bytes - "Boleto is a unique barcode payment ticket that contains the customer's unique purchase data and Trak's bank information."

On the wires:

• Eight Members Of New York Cell Of Cybercrime Organization Indicted In $45 Million Cybercrime Campaign - "A four-count federal indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn charging eight defendants with participating in two worldwide cyberattacks that inflicted $45 million in losses on the global financial system in a matter of hours."
• Value-Based Payment Models Expected to Reach Tipping Point by 2018 - "Transitioning to payment models that base compensation on outcomes requires physicians and health plans to exchange new kinds of information – different than what is required under today’s predominant fee-for-service arrangements."
• Retailers, Listen Up: High Rates of Mobile Shopping Cart Abandonment Tied to Poor User Experience - "While the majority of smartphone and tablet owners (68%) have attempted to make a purchase on their device, two-thirds (66%) failed to complete a transaction due to obstacles encountered during checkout."
• First Data Releases April 2013 SpendTrend® Analysis - "Year-over-year dollar volume growth increased 5.1% in April, a slowdown from March’s 6.0% growth."

On Twitter:

Here's my new @paypal card - yes, PayPal is issuing cards. It's too cool to have an account number on it. #payments twitter.com/joxman/status/…

— Jason Oxman (@joxman) May 7, 2013

On the web:

• The Banking Industry's Tech Nightmares Are Coming True - Motley Fool - "In the end, big banks and credit card companies need to realize that their era of dominating global payments could be coming to an end."
• Google Wins a Surprising Design Patent for a New Tablet based Credit Card Reader - Patent Bolt - "Google's design patent is for what appears to be a commercial tablet computer with a built-in credit card reader."
• Visa Plants a Seed for Growth Abroad - Wall St. Journal - A look at Visa's efforts in Rwanda.
• In Tomorrow’s Retail Universe, the Destination Is ‘You’ - StreetFight - "Based on clues we can see all around us, it is my belief that retail, as we’ve known it for at least the last two millennia, is coming to an end."
• More regulation of Bitcoin is a good thing - Lightspeed Venture Partners (Jeremy Lieu) - "Am I naive, am I a tool of the government overlords, or is more regulation an inevitable part of the path towards widespread Bitcoin adoption?"
• US financial regulator: We could regulate Bitcoin “if we wanted” - Ars Technica - "The American financial regulator for derivatives trading has told multiple news outlets that it is considering new rules for Bitcoin."
• Showrooming: Retailers Fight Back With New-Fangled Apps & Old-School Marketing - "Retailers, it appears, are getting better at keeping customers buying in the store, no matter what they are finding on their phones and tablets."
• Protecting Seniors from Identity Theft - Google Public Policy Blog - "Google’s Good to Know site is designed to help educate consumers of all ages about online threats and tools they can use to protect themselves…"
• The Next Phase of Social Business is the Collaborative Economy - Jeremiah Owyang - "That’s where brands will rent, lend, provide subscriptions to products and services to customers, or even further, allow customers to lend, trade, or gift branded products or services to each other."
• Mobile Payments Marked by Fragmentation and Increasing Channel Convergence, Says Fed - "While the U.S. mobile payments market continues to gain taction, it has not grown as steadily as expected, and the likelihood of mass adoption is not high…"

On the wires:

• Payments Veteran to Lead North America Business Development for ReD - "25-year payment services veteran John Lees is the company’s new North America vice president of sales."
• American Express Organizational Announcement – Daniel T. Henry, Chief Financial Officer - "Over the last few months Dan Henry and I have been discussing his plans for the next chapter of his personal and professional life."
• New AARP® Credit Card from Chase Offers Customers Cash Back on Every Purchase, Every Time - "By receiving 3 percent cash back on gas station and restaurant purchases and 1 percent on all other purchases, the average family can easily earn more than $250 cash back every year just by using the card."
• CPI Card Group Awarded US Patent for Innovative Secure Card Packaging Technology Utilized in Its Ultra Secure Pack™ Products - "The technology allows CPI to offer a superior, tamper proof, cost effective product for point of sale card activation applications including open loop prepaid cards."
• AIRTAG Enables Magento E-Commerce Sites to Mobilize in Native Mobile Wallet Apps - "For all retailers starting to think about how they are going to go mobile, we have created a solution that significantly eases the transition to digital commerce, without sacrificing the user experience."

On the web:

• iPads as Cash Registers Are About to Go From Novelty to Norm - Wired - "Such numbers suggest that checking out by phone or tablet is nearing that magical inflection point at which technology tips from novel and surprising into “unsurprising because it’s everywhere.”"
• Material Histories of Debt and Payment - Anthropology News - "Through commentaries, we seek to forge unexpected and generative connections across the history of payments and payments artifacts, and between actors and institutions that study, make, collect and use payments artifacts."
• Preliminary EU ruling finds Google's Motorola guilty of abuse of standard-essential patents - FOSS Patents
• Wendy’s trials mobile payments with commerce-enabled app - Mobile Commerce Daily - "Once the card is loaded with money, the payment is triggered by consumers swiping their finger across the screen. A unique, one-time code is then revealed on the screen that consumers can read to a Wendy’s employee."
• Canada: Rogers gets closer to starting banking business - Financial Post - "The company said Friday afternoon the Minister of Finance has issued letters patent incorporating Rogers Bank."

On the wires:

• Ink from Chase Enhances Jot Mobile Application with Receipt Capture Capability - "Jot sends small business owners a push alert within seconds of making a purchase with their Ink card. Customers can immediately tag these purchases to custom categories on a mobile device or online."
• New RushCard Initiatives Aim for Best-in-Industry Transparency - "With our new disclosures, it’s now easy for the average customer to understand all of the fees associated with our cards, including those fees levied by other companies…"

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:

• 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."

On the web:

• PayPal Here Expands to Japan - The PayPal Blog
• Fair and Square: Jack Dorsey Interview - STORES.org

On the wires:

• AirTran Credit Card Portfolio Transitions to Chase
• CashStar Is First To Bring Gifting To The Tablet
• Elavon Establishes Global Professional Services Business
• iovation Launches TrustScore to Help Online Companies Identify Good Customers
• Interac Debit Card Fraud Skimming Losses Plummet To Lowest Level On Record
• SecureNet’s PayOS Advances Payment Solutions for Merchants and Integration for Developers

Visa and JPMorgan Chase have announced that the companies have agreed to a letter of intent for a new and expanded 10-year renewable partnership agreement to better serve both Chase cardholders and merchants.

“We are pleased to extend our long-term partnership with Visa,” said Gordon Smith, CEO of Consumer & Community Banking, JPMorgan Chase. “Chase Merchant Services enables us to build direct relationships with merchants and give enhanced benefits, such as targeted offers and discounts to Chase Visa cardholders.”

Chase Merchant Services combines the capabilities of JPMorgan Chase’s acquiring business, support functions and extensive card portfolio with a customized processing solution that Visa and JPMorgan Chase will create using Visa’s network, VisaNet.

JPMorgan Chase has reported financial results for the fourth quarter 2012. Highlights for Card Services include:

• Net income was $840 million, a decrease of $211 million, or 20%, compared with the prior year. The decrease was driven by higher provision for credit losses and higher noninterest expense.

• Net revenue was $4.8 billion, flat compared with the prior year. Net interest income was $3.5 billion, down $45 million, or 1%, from the prior year.

• Credit Card sales volume (excluding commercial cards) was $101.6 billion, up 9% compared with the prior year and 5% compared with the prior quarter; Card Services general purpose credit card sales volume growth has outperformed the industry since the first quarter of 2008.

Merchant processing volume was $178.6 billion, up 17% from the prior year and 9% from the prior quarter; total transactions processed were 8.2 billion, up 21% from the prior year and 11% from the prior quarter.

Chase and Bloomspot have announced that they have signed an agreement and plan of merger whereby Chase will acquire Bloomspot, a provider of targeted merchant offers.

“Chase has millions of strong relationships with consumers and merchants, and we are committed to building value in those relationships,” said Jeff Kinder, president of Chase Offers. “Merchant partners are continually looking for ways to engage the right customers, and consumers have shown a clear interest in receiving offers from their favorite merchants. We believe Chase has a unique set of assets to bring these customers together and deliver highly targeted, relevant merchant offers at scale.”

On the web:

• Highlights from a Conference on Technology and Payments - Portals and Rails
• The Need For Mobile Money Spawns A Startup Ecosystem Across Africa - TechCrunch
• EU Takes Belgium to Court Over Electronic Money Providers - WSJ.com

On the wires:

• Chase Customers Can Get Debit Cards Instantly in Branches
• Amazon Makes It Simple for Unity Developers to Add In-App Purchasing to Their Games
• Fuel Rewards Network Launch Helps Dallas-Fort Worth Consumers Save at the Pump
• Payza Payment Gateway Licensed for Inbound Foreign Remittances in Bangladesh
• Transact24 Moves Its Prepaid Card Portfolio to CashFlows to Provide Global Issuing Services
• Blackhawk Network to Offer Univision MasterCard Prepaid Card at Select Retailers

On the web:

• PayPal Works to Take Its Business Offline - Wall Street Journal

On the wires:

• CNP Payment Forum Comes to Munich, Germany
• Cambridge Mercantile Group Launches Automated Payables Solutions
• PayEase Increases Fraud Protection for China Online Payments via CyberSource
• Revel Systems Launches Retail Enterprise iPad POS System With Goodwill & Belkin
• Body by Jake Launches Experience Application for Dynamics ePlate Credit Card Device
• Braintree Expands to Australia, Providing Sophisticated Payment Tools for Merchants
• Chase Eliminates Expiration on Cash Back Reward Points for Select Military Credit Cards
• Fifth Third Bank Introduces Reloadable Prepaid Card

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.

JPMorgan Chase has reported financial results for the third quarter 2012. Highlights for Card Services include:

• Net income was $954 million, an increase of $105 million, or 12%, compared with the prior year. The increase was driven by lower noninterest expense and lower provision for credit losses, partially offset by lower net revenue.

• Net revenue was $4.7 billion, a decrease of $52 million, or 1%, from the prior year. Net interest income was $3.4 billion, down $78 million, or 2%, from the prior year.

• Credit Card sales volume (excluding commercial cards) was $96.6 billion, up 11% compared with the prior year and 1% compared with the prior quarter; Card Services general purpose credit card sales volume growth has outperformed the industry since the first quarter of 2008

Merchant processing volume was $163.6 billion, up 18% from the prior year and 2% from the prior quarter; total transactions processed were 7.4 billion, up 21% from the prior year and 4% from the prior quarter.

On the web:

• Tello Launches PassTools To Help Businesses Build Their Apple Passbook Passes - TechCrunch
• AmEx Launches Integration With Apple’s Passbook - VentureBeat
• Starbucks: We'll Be Passbook-Ready Before October - CNET News
• Alternative Financial Services Grow, So Do the Unbanked and Underbanked - Portals and Rails
• WeChat App Aims at Social, Cash-Less Mobile Payments in China - Tech in Asia

On the wires:

• Digital River to Acquire LML Payment Systems in Canada
• Bango Goes Live With Facebook Mobile Payments
• AJB Announces Mobile Payments Strategy for Retailers
• Chase Cardholders Can Now Use Ultimate Rewards Points to Pay for Merchandise at Amazon.com
• Net Element Partners with Russia's MegaFon to Provide Payment Processing Services
• Paylane Launches World’s First 'Payments Just For Startups'
• Payza Market Share Skyrockets in Bangladesh

On the web:

• How Best to Pay for Your House of Worship - NYTimes.com
• Stores Unlikely To Charge Credit Card Fee - The Detroit News
• Problems Riddle Moves to Collect Credit Card Debt - NYTimes.com
• JPMorgan Says Credit-Card Swipe-Fee Class Action Cost Bank $1.2 Billion - Bloomberg
• 'Safe Accounts' at ING, Citi, Pinnacle Could Offer No Overdrafts, Low Minimum Balance - TIME.com
• The Campaign to Digitize Your Wallet Is Intensifying - NYTimes.com
• Supermarkets Try Customizing Prices for Shoppers - NYTimes.com

On the wires:

• TSYS Signs Healthcare Payments Agreement with Acclaris
• 100 Million E-Receipts Sent from Wells Fargo ATMs
• Beall’s Selects Next-Generation VeriFone Multimedia Payment System
• GE Capital Retail Bank and Sam’s Club Extend Member Credit Card Program
• TSYS Forms Joint Venture with Central Payment Co.

On the web:

• Wal-Mart Opposes Credit-Card Swipe-Fee Settlement - Wall Street Journal
• Visa Europe May Get Antitrust Complaint on Credit Cards, EU Says - Bloomberg
• Nordstrom and J.C.Penney to Shift to Mobile Checkout – USATODAY.com
• Virtual Piggy Lets Kids Shop Online, With Controls - Wall Street Journal
• Visa: Mobile Payments Will Hit Mainstream In 2 To 3 Years - CNET News
• Blockbuster Buys Mobile POS Company to Enhance In-Store Experience - Mobile Commerce Daily
• Profile: Braintree Wants to Make Mobile Payments History - Forbes

On the wires:

• Chase Launches New Disney’s Visa Debit Card
• New Mercator Report on Third-Party Walk-In-Bill Payments in the US
• Silver Tail Systems Raises the Bar for Cybersecurity and Fraud Prevention
• Visa Europe Improves UK Online Checkout With Verified by Visa Changes
• Fortumo Launches Subscription Payments for Digital Content

JPMorgan Chase has reported financial results for the second quarter 2012. Highlights for Card Services include:

• Net income of $1.0 billion, a decrease of $80 million, or 7%, compared with the prior year. The decrease was driven by a lower reduction in the allowance for loan losses compared with the prior year.

• Card Services net revenue as a percentage of average loans was 11.91%, compared with 12.60% in the prior year and 12.22% in the prior quarter.

• Credit Card sales volume (excluding commercial cards) was $96.0 billion, up 12% compared with the prior year and 10% compared with the prior quarter; Card Services general purpose credit card sales volume growth has outperformed the industry since 1Q082.

Merchant processing volume was $160.2 billion, up 17% from the prior year and 5% from the prior quarter; total transactions processed were 7.1 billion, up 20% from the prior year and 4% from the prior quarter.

On the web:

• Paydiant Raises $12M For White Label Mobile Payment Platform - GigaOM
• Sexy Payments Startup Stripe Swipes $20M In Funding - TechCrunch
• Dual Diners Club + World Mastercard Charge Card Launched in Australia - Datamonitor
• Can Clouds And Contactless Chips Coexist? - Portals and Rails
• Facebook wants to be your online bank - Fortune Tech

On the wires:

• Chase Launches Reloadable Card – Chase Liquid
• British Airways Checks in for Enhanced Fraud Prevention from Accertify

On the web:

• BancBox Debuts Its Payments Platform: You Could Build A PayPal On This - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• Text2Pay Announces Mobile Payments for the Online Dating Community
• Identitymind Launches a Campaign to Help Non-Profits Fight Online Fraud
• Park Group plc Selects Giftango International to Power Its Digital Gift Cards
• Wright Express, PaySpan Introduce Virtual Payments Solution for Healthcare Providers
• Chase Sapphire Partners with Pandora to Provide Listeners with Personalized Music for Summer
• Citi Announces New CitiBusiness ThankYou Card

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

JPMorgan Chase has reported financial results for the first quarter 2012. Highlights include:

• Net income was $1.2 billion, a decrease of $351 million, or 23%, compared with the prior year. The decrease reflected a higher provision for credit losses, driven by a lower reduction in the allowance for loan losses compared with the prior year.

• Card Services net revenue as a percentage of average loans was 12.22%, compared with 12.18% in the prior year and 12.26% in the prior quarter.

• Credit Card sales volume (excluding commercial cards) was $86.9 billion, up 12% compared with the prior year and down 7% compared with the prior quarter; excluding the impact of the Kohl’s portfolio sale, sales volume was up 15% compared with the prior year.

Merchant processing volume was $152.8 billion, up 22% from the prior year and flat compared with the prior quarter; total transactions processed were 6.8 billion, up 21% from the prior year and flat compared with the prior quarter.

On the web:

• Swiff Targets Banks With Its Mobile POS Solution (Singapore) - BetaKit
• ThreatMetrix Picks Up $18 Million To Expand Its Fight Against Cybercrime - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• Chase and United Launch United MileagePlus® Club Card
• U.S. Bank Global EMV Corporate Card Hits the Market
• Western Union and PODS Sign Agreement to Deliver National Walk-in Payments Network to U.S. Consumers on the Move

On the web:

• Retailers To Collaborate on Their Own Digital Wallet - Wall Street Journal
• Google Wanted to Create a Google Bucks Currency - Digital Trends
• PayPal Casts Doubt on Near Field Mobile Payments Systems - The Guardian
• LevelUp Now Seeing $1M Per Month In Transactions; Launches API - TechCrunch
• We Don't Have a Mobile Payment Problem; We Have a Mobile Shopping Problem - Wired.com
• The Cashless Society: One Man’s Quest to Survive without Bills or Coins - Slate Magazine
• UK To Get Cardless Cash Withdrawals (via Ukash) - ATM Marketplace
• Me, My Money, and My Devices - MIT Technology Review

On the wires:

• VeriFone Bringing Lottery to Card Payment Screens
• Chase and Hyatt Unveil Co-Branded Hotel Card with EMV Chip Technology
• Payment Processors Worldwide Rely on Information Builders for Customer-Facing Analytics
• SelectCore to Launch Virtual Visa Through Its Facebook Social Mobile Remittance Platform
• Oberthur Technologies Leverages Global EMV Expertise and Historical Market Presence in the US
• FiftyOne Global Ecommerce Strengthens Service to Canada with Acquisition of Borderfree
• Orange to Offer Visa Mobile Prepaid Accounts to Orange Money Customers
• PULSE Adds Issuers to Network, Expands ATM Coverage in 2011
• MasterCard Recaps Recent Mobile Payments Partnerships

JP Morgan Chase held its 2012 Investor Day in New York City today with presentations given by Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and members of executive management. Copies of the presentations are available online, including one on Chase's credit card business (PDF) given by Gordon Smith.

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.”

On the web:

• Stripe Aims to Reinvent E-Payments - Businessweek
• Why It’s So Hard to Transfer Cash to Your Friends - NYTimes.com
• Isis to Come with Prepaid Card, Location-based Offers - NFCNews
• Facebook Announces Operator Billing For Its Apps - TechCrunch
• Belgian NFC Payments Joint Venture Hits the Rocks - NFC World
• QR Codes vs NFC: Cheaper, but Worth the risk? - Portals and Rails

On the wires:

• PayPal Opens up New Frontiers for Carrier Payments
• MoneyGram Adds Near East Bank to Money Transfer Network
• Western Union, WIND to Launch Mobile Money Transfer service in Italy
• GE Capital Retail Bank and Pep Boys Renew Consumer Financing Agreement
• Western Union, Roshan to Introduce Mobile Money Transfer in Afghanistan
• GlobalCollect Acquires Latin Latin America Payment Service Provider Sub1
• Failsafe Payments Adds WebMoney Transfer to its CertoConnect Service
• Chase Selects Gemalto for Trusted Service Management
• 3V Launches New Visa Pre-Pay Youth Card Service

Chase has announced that it has invested in GoPago, a provider of a mobile payments service that allows consumers to remotely browse, order, and pay for local goods and services.

“Chase is committed to giving consumers and businesses a great shopping experience, leveraging the latest advances in mobile payment technologies,” said Jack Stephenson, director of mobile, e-commerce and payments at Chase. “GoPago will allow us to create powerful new value propositions for businesses and consumers.”