On the web:

• Policymakers, Regulators Keep a Watchful Eye on Mobile Payments - Portals and Rails
• Oops! American Express Never Agreed To Be Part Of Google’s Big Wallet Upgrade - TechCrunch
• The Current State of Daily Deals (infographic) - Truaxis

On the wires:

• Virtual Piggy Adds Security Service for Online Youth Market
• Citi to Sell Diners Club UK and Republic of Ireland Issuing Businesses
• Datacard Group Announces Upgrade Package for U.S. Card Issuers to Become EMV Compliant
• New Mercator Report on Next Generation Debit Products
• TD Bank Chooses CheckFree RXP from Fiserv

Fiserv announced the launch of 'E-bill Introduction', a new feature within the CheckFree® RXP payment suite.

E-bill Introduction offers consumers an opportunity to receive electronic bills (e-bills) via their online banking service for an introductory period during which they also continue to receive paper bills in the mail. Pilots of the feature conducted with five financial institutions delivered solid results, with consumers enrolled in the pilot activating three times more e-bills than consumers who were not enrolled.

On the web:

• Citi Debuts Browser-based Mobile Payments App - FierceMobileContent
• Square Readies for Battle with PayPal - GigaOM

On the wires:

• Fiserv Sees Surge in Credit Union Sales for Check Imaging
• Heartland Payment Systems Releases Latest Durbin Impact Statistics
• TSYS Signs Payments Agreement With Imperial Bank
• Digital River Drives Revenue for Game Developers and Publishers Through Expanded Digital Monetization Strategies
• Walmart Becomes Authorized Payment Location for Leading California Utilities Through CheckFreePay

Fiserv has announced that the CheckFree RXP money movement platform has been expanded to support account-to-account transfers and same-day bill payments. "These new functionalities integrate with the existing bill payment and person-to-person payment capabilities available through CheckFree RXP to create a robust digital payments suite for financial institutions. While the elements of this suite can be utilized a la carte, they are designed to drive increased transactions when offered together."

On the wires:

• CashStar Raises $5 Million for Digital Gifting and Incentives Innovation
• Faster Payments Highlight CheckFree RXP Update from Fiserv
• Adknowledge Unveils Mobile Monetization Solution for Apple App Developers
• Maritz Real-Time and ViVOtech Partner on NFC-Based Promotions and Loyalty Services
• First Data Selects Beanstream to Drive Its Payment Platform in Canada
• MetroBank and Accertify Announce Partnership to Fight Credit Card in Latin America
• DeviceFidelity Makes More Smartphones Available for Visa Mobile Contactless Payments
• HomeATM-AnywhereCommerce and CardinalCommerce Partner on Online PIN Debits
• NETBANX To Embedded Support for ParentMail +Pay School Payments System (UK)

On the web:

• All Things Digital: Square Wants to Replace Everything, From the Receipt to the Register
• Cleartrip Blog: How India's Banks Killed the Future of Commerce (with Strong Authentication)
• New York Times: Google's Schmidt Sees Payments as a Big Business

Fiserv has announced that "Walmart has implemented the CheckFreePay service from Fiserv, enabling customers to pay bills in person at all Walmart locations in the United States. Using the CheckFreePay service, customers can pay household bills, such as their utility, mobile phone, auto loan, insurance and credit card bills, at any one of the retailer?s 3,755 domestic locations, including Walmart SuperCenters and Neighborhood Markets." READ MORE »

Fiserv has released results of a newly commissioned survey by Forrester finding that U.S. consumers are using the online banking channel more frequently to access their accounts during the current global financial crisis.

"Some 71 percent of consumers said they are keeping a closer eye on their finances than they did a year ago. Slightly more than three-quarters of the consumers surveyed said they use online banking, with non-users making up the remaining one-quarter. Online banking usage increased far more than any other banking channel, with 28 percent of consumers indicating they are using online banking more than they did a year ago, and 63 percent said managing all of their accounts online from one site would help them feel more in control of their finances."

Fiserv has announced its CheckFreePay walk-in bill payment service has partnered with PayScan America to utilize PayScan's patented bar code bill payment process to offer "an enhanced retail payment solution that will enable walk-in consumers to pay their household bills quickly and easily at retail checkout lanes and self-service kiosks." READ MORE »

Glenbrook's Bryan Derman and Jim Salters take a fresh look at online bill presentment following a recent announcement by AT&T Mobility that it would begin delivering bills electronically through CheckFree-powered bank bill payment sites.

According to a survey sponsored by CheckFree, "more Americans than ever, an estimated 63.1 million households or three-fourth of those online, are paying their bills online rather than writing paper checks. The 2008 Consumer Banking and Bill Payment Survey, the eighth conducted by CheckFree since 2002, highlights Americans’ growing use of online banking and bill payment services to help manage their personal finances." READ MORE »

CheckFree (now part of Fiserv) has announced a new remote deposit capture product that allows retail customers to electronically scan and deposit checks from any location with a PC, a scanner and an Internet connection. According to CheckFree, "it provides simple, easy-to-use functionality for the consumer without compromising the security, fraud identification or processing quality required by financial institutions."

U.S. Bank and CheckFree have announced they are collaborating "to encourage consumers to save time, reduce stress and make children smile this holiday season by paying bills online. For every five bills that a customer pays via U.S. Bank Internet Banking now through Dec. 31, 2007, U.S. Bank and CheckFree will donate $10 to Toys for Tots."

CheckFree has announced an expanded OpenChannel strategy for mobile banking and mobile payments that it says "is designed to support multiple technologies for delivering online financial services via mobile devices, including microbrowser-based wireless application protocol (WAP), text messaging (known as SMS for short messaging service), and device-resident applications. Financial institutions can choose from a full range of deployment options, including hosted, software-based, hybrid and flexible component models, to meet their specific needs."

AT&T has announced "the launch of a comprehensive, easy-to-use mobile banking platform that will enable consumers to view account balances and history, transfer funds and pay bills from their AT&T mobile handsets."

A new SunTrust Bank and CheckFree study "reveals a clear link between electronic billing and payment habits and higher account balances, customer loyalty and profitability."

Glenbrook's Bryan Derman filed the following report tonight from today's Finovate 1.0 Conference in New York City.

Moneta has announced that it has acquired the Retail Payments (RPS) product formerly owned by CheckFree. "The RPS technology allows consumers to purchase goods and services by transferring money directly from their checking accounts to participating merchants. This simplified process eliminates a large portion of the fees merchants assume with traditional purchases made on credit cards and through other online payment providers. RPS has been a successful CheckFree service offering for more than two years."

Firethorn and CheckFree have announced that "Ogden, Utah- based America First Credit Union, one of the nation's 10 largest credit unions, will offer the Firethorn mobile banking solution to its 432,000 members."

Fiserv and CheckFree have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Fiserv will acquire CheckFree in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.4 billion.

A new survey sponsored by CheckFree and conducted by Harris Interactive and the Marketing Workshop concludes that, for the first time, consumers in Internet-connected households are paying more of their bills online than by paper check. "Online payments made up 39 percent of the total volume of bill payments among online households, an increase of 4 percent over the previous December 2005 survey. In contrast, the volume of checks sent through the mail fell 4 percent to 34 percent of the overall volume."

CheckFree Corporation has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Corillian Corporation, a provider of Internet banking software and services, for a purchase price of about $245 million.

CheckFree and SunTrust have announced a multi- year contract extension where SunTrust will continue
to offer CheckFree Web and will add CheckFree's FraudNet fraud engine to its online banking service.

CheckFree has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Carreker Corporation for a total purchase price of approximately $206 million on a fully diluted basis.

Earlier this month, Firethorn announced a partnership with CheckFree to deliver mobile banking and bill payment services to financial institutions. Subsequently, Firethorn announced it was teaming with Cingular Wireless for its service and announced Synovus as its initial financial institution customer. In this article, we take a quick look at Firethorn's new mobile banking service based on the information on the company's web site and from its press releases.

CheckFree has announced that more than 40 financial institutions will deploy CheckFree FraudNet, its automated fraud detection and case management system, by the end of 2006. According to CheckFree, "two of the nation's top 10 national banks, five super-regional banks, as well as brokerage firms, credit unions and community banks, are among the institutions that have already implemented CheckFree FraudNet and achieved tangible results." CheckFree also announced today that consumers who pay bills online through banks that utilize CheckFree FraudNet will receive enhanced payment protection beginning in January 2007.

CheckFree has introduced a suite of Online Channel Optimization Solutions the company says is "designed to help financial institutions expand their reach and generate opportunities to acquire new customers at reduced cost, build deeper customer relationships to increase retention, and drive revenue growth and profitability by leveraging up-sell and cross-sell opportunities."

CheckFree and Firethorn Holdings have announced an exclusive partnership agreement to deliver mobile banking and bill payment services to financial institutions.

CheckFree has announced the results of a 2006 survey by Lieberman Research Worldwide on consumer bill payment behaviors. "The survey, a follow-up to a study announced in 2004 that first introduced Americans to six segments of bill-payer personalities, found that consumers today are more trusting of the Internet, particularly when it comes to financial management, and that there has been a significant, positive shift in several of the bill payment behavioral categories. The survey was conducted by Lieberman Research Worldwide, a Los Angeles-based firm that specializes in consumer segmentation research."

CheckFree has introduced a new module, CheckFree PEP+ reACH/BOC, that will enable banks to streamline the process of check conversion for their corporate customers. The new module will enable organizations to support NACHA's new Back Office Conversion (BOC) Standard Entry Class Code, which goes into effect on March 16, 2007. Back Office Conversion aligns Check 21 and Automated Clearing House (ACH) processing to facilitate best-path routing decisions on many checks presented at the point of sale.

CheckFreePay, a business unit of CheckFree Corporation, has announced CheckFreePay Link, a new service that will allow retailers with multiple locations to offer customers the ability to pay bills from leading companies in person.