On the web:

• FTC to Review Mobile Payments Impact on U.S. Consumers - NFCNews
• Starbucks Says It's Number One in World in Mobile Payments - AuctionBytes
• Experiments in Virtual Currencies - MarketingVOX

On the wires:

• Simply Market Streamlines eInvoicing Through Ariba’s b-process
• Campus Apartments First to Offer Residents Ability to Pay Rent Through Facebook
• Live Gamer Partners with PaymentOne to Expand International Mobile Payment Options
• GE Capital Retail Bank Announces New Agreement to Provide Credit Card Program for Toys“R”Us
• iovation Stopped 50 Million Online Fraud Attempts in 2011, Biggest International Offender: Ghana
• Citi Launches First Account Analysis Tools for Credit Card Users on the iPad
• T-Mobile To Distribute Square Card Readers to Small Businesses
• Sabre Launches Travel Settlement Services Powered by Conferma
• CyberSource Announces Renewed Agreement With Facebook
• New Mercator Report on Next Generation EFT Networks

Citi announced a social rewards app for Facebook: the Citi ThankYou Point Sharing App.

This new Facebook app makes it quick and easy for ThankYou Rewards members who are Facebook friends to pool their points together, and use their points’ collective value towards a shared goal or reward. ThankYou members on Facebook can combine their points to make a charitable donation, or choose from millions of rewards on www.thankyou.com, from travel to electronics.

On the web:

• Intel Sharpens Its Focus on NFC - Rethink Wireless
• Nokia Launches Nokia Money Prepaid Mobile Wallet Across India - Techcircle.in
• Dwolla Now Provides Users With Instant Access To Cash - TechCrunch
• Google Expands In-App Payments to Developers in 17 New Countries - Google Commerce Blog

On the wires:

• NYPAY Event: Payment Innovations for the Underserved
• Maritz Launches eGift Cards, Leverages Giftango Platform
• Citi Announces “Citi Retail Services” as New Name For U.S. Private Label Cards Unit
• PAYMINT AG Introduces 'MINTify Rule' Fraud Prevention Solution

On the web:

• Visa to Offer Mobile Payments in Developing Nations - NYTimes.com
• GSMA Says Handset Availability is Sparking NFC “tipping point” - Mobile Business Briefing
• PayPal Send Money App for Facebook - PayPal Blog
• China Sidelines MasterCard, Visa - Economic Observer Online

On the wires:

• Citi Renews U.S. Private Label Card Relationship with Sunoco
• Southwest Airlines Launches Rapid Rewards Shopping Powered by Cartera Commerce
• Cubic Selected for Chicago Open Standards Fare System Contract
• YODLEE and Open Solutions Launching Personalized Finance Capabilities for Consumers via Community Banks and Credit Unions

Citigroup has announced that its Global Transaction Services unit is expanding its premier cross-border payment solution, WorldLink® Payment Services (WorldLink), into eight new countries for local payments.

This expansion sees the traditional Automated Clearing House (ACH) offering increase from 21 countries, primarily in Europe, to 29 countries spanning Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

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

On the web:

• Visa, MasterCard to Raise Small-Purchase Fees, Analyst Speculates - Bloomberg
• Mobile Payments 'Very Unimportant' to Consumers - American Banker
• Intuit’s Payments Team Says Mobile Card Readers Will Die - VentureBeat
• Distra and Cisco Plug Payments Gap - iTWire

On the wires:

• Payvment Announces New Social Commerce Features at Facebook’s f8 Developer Conference
• Silver Tail Systems Receives Strategic Investment From Citi Ventures
• Earthport Adopts International Payments Framework Association Standards
• Citi’s Global Transaction Services Launches CitiConnect
• Ceridian Stored Value Solutions (SVS) Launches B2B Gift Card Portal
• Netop Powers Live Guide with Aria Systems' Subscription Billing Platform

Citi has announced that its Global Transaction Services unit has enhanced its WorldLink Payment Services to "support payments in exotic currencies, such as the Chinese Renminbi (RMB) and Iraqi Dinar (IQD). In addition, WorldLink has developed its network to support current and future exotic currency offerings. These enhancements allow for significant reductions in settlement time, increased visibility of important transactional details and a reduction of volume capacity against exotic currencies."

Citigroup, through its Global Transaction Services unit, has announced the launch of its Citi Virtual Card Accounts (VCA) in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, "as well as the completion of essential enhancements to support clients’ growing use of the VCA solution for Accounts Payable spend and complex vendor payments globally. VCA is a global, electronic payment solution which offers unparalleled security, control, and efficiency using single-use commercial card account numbers."

Citibank has unveiled its first-ever consumer banking app designed specifically for iPad.

“Our iPad app is all about listening to our clients and understanding that they need their digital banking experience to be more engaging and dynamic – beyond the standard static tables you find with other iPad apps,” said Tracey Weber, Head of Internet and Mobile Banking, North America Consumer Banking, Citi. “We’re offering a whole new way of banking, with enhanced visuals and interactive tools. We’re focused on continually offering modern solutions that help put ease into our clients’ financial lives, wherever and whenever.”

On the web:

• Nokia Aims for Pan-India Coverage for e-Wallet This Year - Deccan Herald
• Five Ways Austin Can Springboard Mobile Wallet Adoption - Software Advice
• Square Wants Employees To Eat, Sleep And Brush Mobile Payments - Wall Street Journal
• USAA to Eliminate Debit Rewards But Keep Free Checking and ATM Fee Refunds - Bank Systems & Technology

On the wires:

• ReD Expands Payment Processing Capabilities to Meet Growing Need for Alternative Payments
• C-SAM and Multicard Partner to Roll out Mobile Payments in Netherlands
• Citi Renews Private Label Card Partnership with Office Depot

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

shopkick has announced that, with Citi sponsorship, it will install its small shopkick Signal box for FREE at the first 1,000 selected stores to enable its beneficial walk-in rewards program.

"Our work with shopkick demonstrates one of the ways we are working to drive growth for our clients and for our company," said Christopher Kay, Head of Ventures, Citi Ventures. "We invest in cutting-edge companies and work with them to deliver new experiences for clients designed around their increasingly digital and mobile lives. shopkick is the leading mobile shopping app and drives measurable foot traffic to its retail partners. We're happy to help make that shopper engagement and customer retention available to smaller businesses."

Citi, through its Citi Ventures unit, is an early investor in shopkick.

On the web:

• ABA Seeks ‘Grace Period’ on Fed Swipe Fee Rules - ETA
• American Express Prepaid Lineup Looks Like Overkill - American Banker

On the wires:

• Ping Identity Fuels Growth with $21M in Financing
• Citi Ventures Makes Strategic Investment in Mobile Billing Company Billing Revolution
• Elavon Introduces SAFE-T Suite Point-to-Point Encryption and Tokenization Solution
• Chase Card Services Adds EMV Chip Technology to Its J.P. Morgan Select Visa Signature Card
• NetSecure Technologies Introduces Kudos Credit Card Acceptance Solution in Canada
• New Aite Group Report Merchant Funded Card Incentives
• 2ergo develops new mobile payment system for PizzaExpress (UK)
• Ally Bank Adds P2P Payments to Suite of Services

On the web:

• Justice Department Seeks OK for Pact With Visa, MasterCard - Wall Street Journal
• What is NFC, and why do we care? - Engadget
• SK C&C USA, InComm Will Let Merchants Offer Mobile Payments - Bloomberg
• Citi Says Many More Customers Were Affected by Data Theft - New York Times

On the wires:

• Fifth Third Processing Solutions Changes Name to Vantiv
• First Data Rebrands UK Acquiring Business to First Data Merchant Services
• Report Says Cash is King When it Comes to Credit Card Incentives
• VoiceTrust Expands With Mobile Payments in the Middle East
• Study Finds Mobile Check Deposit Top Reason to Switch Primary Banks
• ThreatMetrix Launches New “ThreatMetrix Fraud Facts”

On the web:

• South Korea Announces Major Push on Open NFC Payment Services - Reuters
• Thieves Found Citigroup Site an Easy Entry - New York Times
• Mobile Payments and Mental Accounting - TIME.com
• The Tuesday Podcast: Inside The Credit Card Black Market - NPR Planet Money

On the wires:

• NFC Over-the-Air and Over-the-Wire Provisioning Patent Awarded to Tyfone
• Mexico Banking Leader BBVA Bancomer Orders 10,000+ Hypercom Optimum Payment Systems
• SafetyPay Selected By BorderJump as Preferred Payment Solution for Cross Border Transactions
• Retail Decisions (ReD) Launches Truly Multi-Lingual Fraud Prevention
• FICO Will Protect 1 in 3 German Credit Cards from Fraud
• AisleBuyer Raises $7.5 Million in Series E Round

Various media outlets are reporting a data breach at Citi effecting approximately 200,000 cardholders. eWeek seems to have the best summary of the story. It looks like the point of attack was the Citi Account Online customer portal. While 200,000 card numbers is not a Sony-class data breach, the incident is unusual in that it happened at a major bank.

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

Citi has announced that its Global Transaction Services is joining the Syncada from Visa network. "This partnership will provide Citi’s clients with a specialized solution for managing transportation accounts payable. Designed to increase efficiency with transparency, flexibility and greater control, this processing and payment capability will be part of Citi's working capital and supply chain management offering."

On the wires:

• Bernanke: Unable To Issue Debit Card Fee Rules By April 21
• Citi ThankYou Rewards Gives Members New Ways to Enjoy Their Points
• Ten New Retail Brands Join the Popular eBillme Gift Card Mall
• Ceridian SVS Partners with Spanish Supermarket Giant for Gift Card Program
• Utiba Americas Wins Mobile Wallet Project From Central Bank of Ecuador
• Leading Financial Institution Partners with Panini and Cachet to Deliver RDC to Mac Users

On the web:

• Wall Street Journal: Canadian Banks, Visa, MasterCard To Face Potential Class Action Suit
• Credit Slips: More Bogus Lobbying Numbers from the Banks: Debit Interchange Rates
• Mobile Commerce Daily: Sonic Drive-In rolls out mobile ordering pilot program in 71 locations
• MSNBC: New $5 ATM Fee Just the Latest Checking Trap
• MyBankTracker: Chase Paymentech Offers Chase Instant Storefront For Small Businesses
• The Atlantic: What $1 Looks Like in 15 Other Currencies - Real and Virtual

Citi and Dynamics Inc. have announced their "plans for Dynamics’ Card 2.0 technology - the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Best of Innovations Winner for Personal Electronics – to power a new Citi credit card, the Citi ThankYou Prestige 2G Card, which Citi intends to pilot later this year."

Credicard, a wholly-owned Brazilian subsidiary of Citigroup, and Elavon have announced a binding agreement to establish a joint venture creating a merchant services company that will offer a full suite of payment solutions to the Brazilian marketplace. "The new company will be branded as “Elavon” and will be supported with the launch of a sales force with national coverage, as well as in-market operations, technology and product resources."

Citi ThankYou Rewards has announced that it is expanding its rewards collection by introducing gift cards and exclusive virtual products from Zynga. "Zynga is producing a line of exclusive items available only to Citi ThankYou Rewards members, starting at just 600 ThankYou Points. Members can also redeem for both physical and virtual gift cards to enhance their gaming experience across popular games like FarmVille, FrontierVille and Café World."

Citi has announced the closing of the sale of $1.6 billion in managed assets, part of its U.S. retail sales finance portfolios, to GE Capital.

Retail Partner Cards, within Citi Holdings, provides consumer and commercial credit card products and services, including private label credit cards, for national and regional retailers across the U.S. The business services more than 40 million customers and consists of managed assets of approximately $50 billion . Retail partners include The Home Depot, Shell, Macy's, Sears, and ExxonMobil, among others.

Citigroup announced that Jud Linville will become Chief Executive Officer of Citi Cards. Linville joins Citi from American Express, where he was President and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Consumer Services. Citi also announced the formation of a new Global Enterprise Payments business unit to leverage the bank's industry-leading wholesale and retail payment capabilities across regions and organizations globally. The unit will be led by Paul Galant, who will be the Chief Executive Officer of Global Enterprise Payments.

Citigroup has reported financial results for the second quarter 2010. In its North American Consumer Banking sector, Citi reported a 6% increase in Citi-branded card revenues. Average card loans decreased 5% to $79.2 billion, reflecting lower accounts and a decline in purchase sales.

Citigroup has reported financial results for the first quarter 2010. In its North American Consumer Banking sector, Citi reported purchase sales on cards declined 10% year over year to $36.2 billion. Average managed card loans declined 5% to $79.2 billion.

Edgar, Dunn & Company has announced the release of "Citi Tap and Pay mobile NFC proximity payments pilot - Bengaluru, Results & Findings" by Samee Zafar and Pascal Burg. The white paper discusses the Citi Tap and Pay pilot service launched in Bengaluru, India in July 2009. According to the company, "with over 3000 customers, 250 merchant locations and nearly 50,000 purchases made, the recently concluded 26-week pilot is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive next-generation contactless credit card payments pilot ever undertaken based on Near Field Communications technology." READ MORE »

Mobile Money Ventures has announced the the release of Citi Mobile in Thailand. MMV's solution – now available in six countries – allows customers convenient and secure access to their bank accounts by using their phone's mobile browser. READ MORE »

ViVOtech has announced that its NFC mobile payment wallet, Over-the-Air (OTA) provisioning, smart posters, coupon delivery and redemption technologies have been successfully deployed in Citi Tap and Pay, a pilot service that brings to India next-generation contactless credit card payments based on this emerging technology. Launched in July in the city of Bengaluru in India, Citi Tap and Pay is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive NFC mobile payment pilots.a READ MORE »