On the web:

• Private-Label Credit Card Spending Drops - Marketing Daily
• The Cardboard Beginnings of the Credit Card - NYTimes.com
• UnionPay and HSBC Launch Dual Currency Card - AsiaOne Business
• History Channel and FiOS Try Selling Items Instantly via TV - NYTimes.com
• VeriFone's CEO Explains Why It Spent $1 Billion on Acquisitions - AllThingsD
• T-Mobile backs out of delayed Dutch mobile payments JV - FierceWireless
• Watch Out PayPal, FlexiGroup Purchases Paymate - Wall Street Journal
• The Future of Mobile Payments - Portals and Rails

On the wires:

• Paychex Launches Online Mobile Application For iPad
• Prepaid Solutions Changes Name to Brightwell Payments
• Bottomline Technologies Expands Capabilities in Healthcare and Acquires European Reseller
• Aria Systems First To Deliver Breakthrough Technology That Eliminates Software Maintenance Downtime for Cloud Billing

On the web:

• French Bank and Carrier Team Up to Bring Mobile Payments to Market - NFC World
• Telefonica Digital and RIM Announce NFC payments Market Trial in Spain - FierceMobileContent
• 3G Direct Pay Ltd (Kenya) to Integrate M-Pesa and Airtel Money - businessdailyafrica.com
• Starbucks Launches Mobile Payments App in UK and Ireland - Marketing Magazine
• Google Engineer Shares 2012 Plans for Google Wallet - American Banker
• Orange expands Money services in Africa - Rethink Wireless
• Visa and Retailers Discuss Chip Migration - NACS Online
• Australian Taxis Now Take China UnionPay - People's Daily Online
• EU Weighs Need For Mobile Payment Rules To Attract Industry Investment - Bloomberg

On the wires:

• Top Card Issuer Takes Online Resources’ Collections Global
• Ink from Chase Enhances Rewards Program for Small Business Cardholders
• Facebook Adds SafetyPay as New Global Payment Option for Facebook Credits
• Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) Offers Skrill World Post

On the web:

• Retail Payments Risk Forum Publishes Discussion Paper on P2P Payments - Portals and Rails

On the wires:

• WhoseBill Launches New Application To Manage Money With Friends
• AisleBuyer Creates Mobile Store Associate Application With Checkout for Retailers
• InComm Partners With Manor to Distribute Digital Gaming Cards in Switzerland
• CPS Helps eCommerce Operators Worldwide to Accept China UnionPay Cards Online
• PaySimple Launches Mobile Payments & Customer Management for Small Business
• Acculynk Announces Agreement with the ATH Network for Internet PIN Debit

On the web:

• China UnionPay is Now the World's Largest Card Scheme - Bank Systems & Technology
• Cabela’s Embraces In-app Purchasing and Bar Code Scanning - Mobile Commerce Daily
• Online Banking Customers Demand Paper Checks - TIME.com

On the wires:

• Shandong Airlines Launches UATP Program
• NCR Secures Largest Ever ATM Services Deal in China
• Bank of America to Exit International Credit Card Businesses
• Experian Report Shows Credit Card Delinquencies are Below Prerecession Levels
• Bank of Internet Launches a POPmoney Person-to-Person Payment Service
• Admeris Partners With Global Transaction Services Group
• Cardtronics to Acquire Access to Money

NYCE has announced that it has signed an agreement with UnionPay (China’s bankcard association) to allow cardholders reciprocal access to ATMs in both networks.

“UnionPay attaches high value to giving UnionPay cards as many access points to their funds as possible. By enhancing the cooperation with its partners, UnionPay is focusing on building broader acceptance in the U.S.,” said Jianbo Cai, First EVP of China UnionPay. “Now more and more ATMs in the U.S. will accept UnionPay cards at key locations that are enabled via the NYCE Payments Network. This new cooperation between UnionPay and NYCE can serve both UnionPay and NYCE cardholders more effectively. We also believe that UnionPay and NYCE will have greater win-win opportunities in the future.”

Elavon and China UnionPay have announced they have "signed a binding agreement to enable acceptance for UnionPay’s debit and credit cards at Elavon’s merchants in the United States and Europe. The deal also extends credit card acceptance to Elavon’s Canadian merchants and will expand to include Latin America in the future."

On the web:

• BillGuard Warns You About Questionable Credit Card Charges - Lifehacker
• Confrontation between Visa and China UnionPay Intensified - Investors.com

On the wires:

• Heartland Payment Systems Takes Higher Education Institutions to the Cloud with WĒPA Wireless Printing
• Memento Helps Financial Institutions Meet New FFIEC Guidance
• Avant-Garde Introduces Anytime, Anywhere Payments with Hypercom Mobile Solutions
• Intrix Technology Provides Payment Gateway Solutions to Companies of All Sizes
• New Mercator Report on Prepaid Benefit Cards

On the web:

• Blaze Mobile Wins NFC Sticker Patent - NFC World
• Philippine Bank to Issue China UnionPay Cards - Cards & Payments Asia
• Core Changes Help Chase Accept Amazon Points As Dollars - American Banker

On the wires:

• USAA’s Deposit@Mobile App Available on iPad 2
• Citi Cards and American Airlines Introduce New Elite Traveler Credit Card
• NYCE Payments Network Adds Record New Participants in the First Half of 2011

On the web:

• Fed Caps Debit Card Fees for Merchants - New York Times
• MobilePayUSA Getting Ready to Bring POS Payments Without NFC in Q4 2011 - intomobile
• Checking Out VeriFone's New Square Copycat - AllThingsD

On the wires:

• China UnionPay and MasterCard Sign Payment Gateway Service Agreement
• Avangate Rounds Out BRIC Payment Methods Support with Boleto Bancario
• New Mercator Report on the GPR Prepaid Card as Alternative to a Bank Account

On the web:

• Citigroup Confirms $2.7 Million Stolen by Hackers - Wall Street Journal
• NFC Market Trial Fails, Says ANZ Bank - ZDNet Australia
• Banking Industry Now Seeking Swipe Fee Implementation Delay - Convenience Store News
• Bank Lobbyist To Fed: Go Easy On Us - Forbes
• How Debit Card Swipe Fee Changes Will Cost You, the Consumer - TIME.com
• What Are You Signing Away With a Signature Instead of a PIN? - Portals and Rails
• Spat between Visa and China UnionPay spills into BC Card in Korea - ChinaDaily.com
• PayPal Hits 100 Million Active Users - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• Paymate Acquires ACT Merchant Services
• CashPlus: Prepaid MasterCard Helping Councils to Cut Costs
• ViVOtech Closes $24 Million In Additional Series C Funding
• ActivePath Drives Paperless Adoption in Brazil for Global Top 3 Credit Card Issuer

On the web:

• Square’s Remarkably Similar Chinese Competitor Appears - TechCrunch
• Implications of Visa's Recent Change to Chargeback Rules - Vindicia Blog
• Bling Nation’s Pause to Retool Likely to Leave It Behind Rivals - Digital Transactions
• China UnionPay Launches Bankcard-free Trade Handling Platform - TMCnet
• Apple Backpedals On App Store Subscription Rules - TechCrunch
• Bus Tickets Purchased & Presented via SMS - SpringWise

On the wires:

• Edenred Launches MasterCard PayPass Commuter Check Card
• ImpulsePay launches PublishPay to Help Publishers Monetise Mobile Content (UK)
• SelectCore Announces Industry-Changing Mobile Remittance Solution
• New In-App Purchasing and Mobile Payment Capabilities for Windows Phone 7 on CloudMiddleware.com

On the wires:

• Bangkok Airways Chooses Accertify to Provide Online Fraud Prevention
• MoneyGram International Adds Friendly Check and RiteCheck to Global Network
• TGate Announces Mobile Payment Best Practice Solution

On the web:

• Bank Technology News: Real U.S. Action on EMV
• Roll Call Lobbying: Swipe Fees Battle May Move to States
• Hindu Business Line: Soon, Merchant Transactions Too Can Be Paid Via Mobile
• AuctionBytes: Google Removes Checkout Badges from AdWord Ads
• Seeking Alpha: Elephant Talk and Mobile Wallets - The Next Trillion Dollar Revolution
• Business Standard: IndusInd Bank Pact with ECS for Credit Card Program in India
• CRIenglish.com: China UnionPay Cards to Be Accepted in Brazil
• Retail Week: Taking Payment Overseas
• NFC Times: With Launch of Google Wallet, the Wallet War Begins

On the wires:

• TSYS Expands Merchant Acquiring Presence With Acquisition of TermNet
• FIS Begins Processing New ELO Cards in Brazil
• Bill.com Rolls Out Official Integration with Sage Peachtree Software

On the web:

• FierceMobileContent: PayPal expects to process $2 billion in mobile payments in 2011
• TechCrunch: Jack Dorsey Shares Some Square Numbers
• Mashable: ING Direct Customers Can Now Pay Friends By Bumping Smartphones
• Wall Street Journal (SmartMoney):New Rules of the Credit Card Game
• Collections & Credit Risk: Discover To Pay Cardholders Referral Fee In Social-Media Push
• CRIENGLISH.com: Australian Payment Processor Will Start Accepting Unionpay Cards
• Times of India: Mobile payment system to gain steam in coming months
• Mobile Way to Pay: Will Retailers Use Tender Steering To Take Control Of Interchange?
• Portals and Rails: The Check's in the Mail, but it might be Fraudulent
• TechCrunch: Online Point Of Sale (POS) Systems Are The New Vogue

On the wires:

• Guardian Analytics Secures $11 Million in Financing
• RedFin Network Releases P25-M Printer for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch

On the web:

• Wall Street Journal: U.S. Card Companies Shrug at China's Monopoly
• ReadWriteWeb: Bundle - Helping Consumers with Data from Twenty Million Credit Cards
• New York Times: Credit Card Data Tells Mixed Story
• TechCrunch: Cardpool Launches One Gift Card To Rule Them All
• ZDNet: Facebook Credits - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

On the wires:

• Every Major National Bank and Credit Union Trade Association Joins to Urge Fundamental Fundamental Revision of Federal Reserve's Debit Card Rule
• Retailers Say Federal Reserve Proposal to Lower Debit Card Swipe Fees Doesn’t Go Far Enough
• Digby Enhances Its Mobile Commerce Software Platform by Adding PayPal Mobile Express Checkout
• Affluent Consumers Are Finding eLayaway a Smarter Way to Plan and Pay
• New Aite Group Report on Trends in Bank-Supported, Business-Initiated Payments
• Wirecard Bank Partners With China UnionPay

On the web:

• SabDesi: PayPal Will Trial Several Payment Systems at Retail This Year
• Visa Blog: Speeding Up P2P Payments with New Visa Service
• Internet Retailer: PayPal Warily Eyes the Fed’s Forthcoming Debit Card Rule

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Fiserv Delivers Retail Online: New Name, New Features for eCom Internet Banking Clients
• Cartera Commerce and Vesdia Announce Merger
• McKeever’s Price Chopper is First To Market With WorldPay’s E2E Encryption Solution

• Wall Street Journal: The Hazards of Using Cards Abroad
• iStockAnalyst: China 2010 Cross-Bank Card Transactions Up 46% YoY According to China UnionPay
• VentureBeat: Kabbage Raises $6.65M to Kick-Start Online Sellers with a Cash Advance
• Los Angeles Times: Small Town Launches Its Own Stimulus Effort: a Local Currency

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Prepay Nation Begins Joint Venture With Qcell Gambia
• LaserCard Acquisition to Advance HID Global Solutions for Secure Identity

• NPR: Prepaid Debit Cards: More Plastic, More Problems?
• New York Times: Coupons May Soon Locate You in the Grocery Store Aisle
• BostonHerald.com: E-gift Cards Get 'Click It to Gift It' Day
• CRIENGLISH.com: China UnionPay and Two Others Form TV-Based Payment Service
• ReadWriteWeb: Consumers Prefer Operator Billing for Mobile Content Purchases
• American Banker: Mobile Payments Inheriting the Problems of Contactless

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Discover Begins Rollout of Contactless Devices to Consumers
• Commidea Leads Contactless Transactions Adoption in UK
• INSIDE Contactless Launches SecuRead System-in-Package for NFC Mobile Devices
• iPayDNA and Payment Network AG (aka sofortüberweisung.de) Establish Business Partnership
• GlobalCollect Obtains License Pursuant To European Payment Service Directive

• Wall Street Journal: Card Issuers Reward Purchases
• MIT Technology Review: Shopping via Text Message
• MediaNama: Seven Indian Banks Launch P2P Interbank Mobile Payments; How It Works
• New York Times: For PayPal, the Future is Mobile
• ArcticStartup: Fortumo Expands To Thailand
• China Business News: China UnionPay Expands Services in Switzerland
• Reuters: EU Set to Accept Visa Europe Antitrust Offer
• Digital Transactions: Retailers See Gift Cards Boom As They Stress Reloadability
• GlobalTimes: Alipay Tops 500 Million Users
• Portals and Rails: Prepaid in the Mobile Channel - Balancing Financial Inclusion and Risk Management

China UnionPay and American Express have announced that they have "signed a memorandum of understanding that calls for both companies to explore the expansion of their current cooperative activities. For the past several years, China UnionPay and American Express have cooperated within China where American Express Cards run on the China UnionPay network. This new MOU will establish working teams to develop potential new areas of cooperation between the two companies within China and in markets outside of China."

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners:

• Retail Sector Embracing E-Invoicing
• Accertify Selected by Walgreen Co. for Online Fraud Prevention
• Western Union to Launch Mobile Money Transfer Service with State Bank of India
• mopay Significantly Enhances Industry Leadership with 16 New Partners in Social Gaming
• Itau Unibanco and China Unionpay Sign Agreement for Brazilian Market

• SC Magazine: Is the US the Weakest Link When it Comes to Credit Card Security?
• St. Louis Post Dispatch: Taste of St. Louis First Major Event to Use Square
• Zacks: MasterCard Targets Debit Business
• getdebit.com: Companies Partner on Internet PIN Debit Processing
• New York Times: David Pogue - A Simple Swipe on the iPhone, and You’re Paid

China UnionPay and MasterCard Worldwide today announced that both parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the establishment of a mutually beneficial relationship to explore future business development. "Both UnionPay and MasterCard will form working groups to discuss opportunities and formulate a business development plan. The MOU aims to forge a platform for potential cooperation including online payment and other areas."

PayPal and China UnionPay have announced that China UnionPay (CUP) card members will be able to use PayPal to shop online - "representing a new opportunity for international retailers to sell to a large base of Chinese customers who, combined, hold 2.1 billion CUP cards." READ MORE »

In an article titled "Shoppers find plastic fantastic", Zhang Fengming writes for ShanghaiDaily.com about the surging growth in credit cards and credit card transactions in China according to figures cited from China Unionpay.

INTERAC, Canada’s national debit network, and China Unionpay, China’s national bank card payment network, have announced the launch of a new service that will give China Unionpay cardholders traveling in Canada the ability to withdraw cash from ATMs of participating acquirers in Canada. READ MORE »