On the web:

• This Guy Is Selling His Book Exclusively Via Bitcoin - Business Insider - "He convinced me (plus subsequent research) that Bitcoin has many features that make it attractive not only as a potential future currency but as a replacement for all contract law."
• Amazon Launches Amazon Coins Virtual Currency On Kindle Fire, Gives $5 In Free Coins To All Users - TechCrunch - "Amazon today is finally taking Amazon Coins, is new virtual currency, live on the Kindle Fire in the U.S."
• Thieves Stole $45 Million From ATMs Because The U.S. Uses Absurd 40-Year-Old Technology - PopSci - "The chief vulnerability of the EMV system? IT STILL HAS MAGNETIC STRIPES."
• New Android Boss Finally Reveals Plans for World’s Most Popular Mobile OS - Wired - "I have a secret project which adds four hours every day to the 24 hours we have."

On the wires:

• Amazon Coins Now Available for Kindle Fire Customers - "For customers, Amazon Coins is an easy way to purchase apps and in-app items on Kindle Fire, and for developers it’s another opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increased monetization."
• Blaze Mobile Awarded Three Key Patents for NFC Mobile Payments - "Blaze Mobile, a leader in mobile payment solutions, has recently been awarded three key NFC Mobile Payment patents."

Last week, we looked at the history of card fraud losses in the UK from 2001 through 2011. This week, we're taking a look at the history of counterfeit card fraud in Canada on Interac cards - Canada's national debit card scheme - based on skimming.

Interac reports that these losses decreased to $38.5 million in 2012 - representing just 0.012 percent of domestic Interac card volume) from a high of $142 million in 2009. Interac also reports that the number of cardholders affected by this form of card fraud fell to 93,800 in 2012 from 238,000 in 2009.

Over the last few years, Canada completed a migration chip card technology - with essentially all cards now equipped with chip and nearly 90 percent of POS terminals upgraded to support chip.

On the web:

• India: Oxigen ties up with NPCI to unveil instant remittance service OxiCash for unbanked people - TechCircle.in - "OxiCash is a mobile wallet service through which people can make money transfers to any bank and also receive funds using the IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) platform of the NPCI…"
• Google Wallet chief leaves the company - VentureBeat - "Osama Bedier, the head of Google Wallet is out, according to several sources."
• Gay Bankers, Once Silent, Speak of Progress — and Hurdles - American Banker - "No one should be afraid to come to work every day as who they are, and no one should have to check who they are at the door…"
• PayPal’s John Lunn reveals how online retailers are using consumer data to beat high street stores - The Next Web - "…find out which startups are helping online retailers to maintain this market dominance, and what physical retailers should do next to fight back."
• Why mobile wallets alone will fail - Cyriac Roeding (shopkick CEO) - "The problem with mobile payments is that payment isn't a problem in the shopping world."
• Off The Schneid - AVC - "I've led a new venture investment for USV, which closed a few weeks ago and was announced last night. The company is Coinbase and my blog post announcing the investment is on the USV blog."
• Purchase, Deposit, and Bank from a Smartphone with Paidpiper - Programmable Web - "Paidpiper represents a new player to the field with a slightly different value proposition over some of its competitors."
• CardFlight Partners With Stripe And Launches SDK To Become The ‘Stripe Of Real-World Payments’ - TechCrunch - "Enter CardFlight, which is launching with an encrypted, Square-like card reader of its own, as well as an SDK and APIs that will allow developers to create apps and take “card-present” payments on their mobile apps."
• EMV Takes Center Stage on Day Two of THE Tech EVENT - Convenience Store News - "Several speakers stressed in today’s standing-room-only session that EMV is a set of guidelines, not standards."
• Prepaid Cards for Jobless Benefits - The Members Group - "…42 states in the U.S. now direct deposit monthly unemployment benefits to out-of-work consumers on reloadable prepaid cards…"
• Discover Card's Email Balance Alert is a Thing of Beauty - NetBanker - "The message is nicely laid out with plenty of white space and it's chock full of links to get more information."

On the wires:

• MasterCard to Power Nigerian Identity Card Program - "This program is the largest roll-out of a formal electronic payment solution in the country and the broadest financial inclusion initiative of its kind on the African continent."
• Wells Fargo Adds Bankers, Launches New Secured Credit Products to Help More Small Businesses - "Wells Fargo’s new Business Secured Credit Card also helps new businesses establish and rebuild business credit…"
• Tabbedout and Future POS Expand Partnership to Bring Unrivaled Merchant Marketing Solution to All Future Fusion Merchants - "This new partnership means that the Tabbedout merchant marketing solution, Periscope, is now available in the 4,000+ Future POS merchant locations that use the Future Fusion software in their restaurants, bars, and hotels…"
• Elavon Names Simon Haslam President and Chief Executive Officer - "Simon’s experience and passion for growth and innovation make him the best individual to lead Elavon as we continue to extend our global reach and the value we deliver to our customers."
• Barclays Uses Nuance Voice Biometrics to Identify Customers by the Sound of their Voice - "No longer will customers need to answer intrusive security questions in order to verify their identity. By simply speaking with an agent, a customer’s voice is verified using Nuance voice biometrics technology, making the authentication process quick, secure and transparent."

In our Chart of the Week last week, we looked at the relationship between the unemployment rate in the US and outstanding consumer revolving debt.

This week's chart of the week looks at the history of card fraud losses in the UK - as cited in the recent report "The U.S. Adoption of Computer-Chip Payment Cards: Implications for Payment Fraud" by Richard J. Sullivan of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. In the UK and a few other countries, these kinds of card fraud loss statistics are collected by the industry and shared publicly - unlike currently in the US.

Sullivan's article "examines how computer-chip cards work differently from magnetic-stripe cards, describes the security improvements offered by the chips, and reviews their mixed track record at defeating fraud in other countries."

The top dotted line in the chart represents the total card fraud losses on UK issued cards. The darker line below that represents fraud losses on IMOTO (Internet, mail order, and telephone order) card-not-present transactions while the third line below represents card fraud losses associated with counterfeit card transactions.

EMV chip card deployment took place in the UK during the shaded 2003-2006 time frame. Sullivan notes that the implementation of EMV initially helped reduce counterfeit card losses but that, because those cards still had magnetic stripes on them, fraudsters could still counterfeit them and use them at mag stripe acceptance locations outside the UK.

Sullivan goes on to comment:

After 2008, fraud losses with counterfeit cards and on IMOTO transactions declined. The decline was due to two factors. First, more merchants and ATMs on the European mainland had converted by that time to accept EMV payment cards, so fraudsters with counterfeit magnetic-stripe cards could no longer easily find locations where mag- netic-stripe cards were accepted, merely by crossing borders. Second, increasingly, merchants in the UK were adopting 3D secure systems for their IMOTO transactions."

On the web:

• China's UnionPay Payment Network Launches Its First Card Issued in the U.S. - WSJ - "The UnionPay prepaid card will be sold online and in bank branches in major U.S. cities..."
• Mobile Commerce Isn’t Just About Payments - ZDnet UK - "When consumers get added value from their purchase transactions, their mobile phones become not only their conduit into the digital world, but also a kind of concierge, simplifying their lives."
• CBA's clever Kaching ambitions - Business Spectator - "By enabling so many types of payment through a mobile phone, Commonwealth Bank is teaching its customers that if they want to make a payment – in any situation – they should use the Kaching app."
• Starbucks generates 10pc of US revenue from mobile - Mobile Commerce Daily - "Every week, Starbucks is seeing close to four million mobile payment transactions…"
• Chip cards are fundamentally flawed - The Bankwatch Blog - "Sometimes when I read the debates on chip, PIN and EMV I feel I am listening to the Flat Earth Society."
• Future of payments does not need Mastercard or Visa - banking chief - HumanIPO - "The “gorillas” of Mastercard and Visa will in the future no longer be needed because of the direction of banking and payment solutions in the cloud…

On the wires:

• Barclaycard Germany Signed Multi-Year Contract for Debit and Credit Cards with Gemalto

Over on our Payments Views, Glenbrook's George Peabody shares his observations about the confluence of EMV chip card migration, mobile devices and authentication in the US market.

While EMV injects dynamic data into the payment message (as well as clear text PANs), it is an otherwise mostly static, single purpose platform. Compare that to the mobile device, which combines static data (SIM serial number, etc.) with recognizable configuration profiles for device fingerprinting, context-specific dynamic data such as location plus application-specific PIN or biometric entry. And that all happens before the payment transaction takes place.

In an article titled "The U.S. Adoption of Computer-Chip Payment Cards: Implications for Payment Fraud", Richard J. Sullivan, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, takes a look at what has happened to payment card fraud in other countries following their migration to EMV-based chip cards.

U.S. regulators and industry leaders should expect shifts in the nature of payment card fraud and take proactive countermeasures. But the United States currently lacks effective tools to gauge what types of fraud are on the rise. Establishing a comprehensive monitoring system could help in assessing the level of payment card fraud, tracking trends in the fraud, and measuring the losses sustained by its victims.

On the web:

• Possible Fed Successor Has Admirers and Foes - NY Times - A look at Janet L. Yellen, Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve, by Binyamin Appelbaum.
• Federal Judge Threatens to Hold Merchant Trade Groups in Contempt Over Swipe-Fee Websites - WSJ - Judge John Gleeson is irritated about the website: http://merchantsobject.com/
• The Future of Mobile Payments: How to Make Sure You’re Ready
• PW Interview: Amber Feng, Stripe API, The Payment Web - Programmable Web - "Before Stripe, online payments mainly consisted of decades-old banking infrastructure grafted onto the web, resulting in an exceedingly complex process for businesses and a cumbersome experience for their customers..."
• Tesco: NFC payments are too complex and offer too few benefits - NFC World - "NFC was revolutionary 10 years ago but I think it just might have passed its sell-by date…"
• The Redesigned US$100 Note - coming October 8, 2013
• NACHA Positions the ACH Network To Be a P2P Payments Player - Digital Transactions - "...NACHA last August submitted an ACH P2P payments proposal for for comment last August and gave it final approval March 7."
• NACHA PAYMENTS 2013: Highlights from Day One and NACHA PAYMENTS 2013: Day Two Highlights - GXS' All About B2B Blog - Patty Hines
• 2013 Advanced Payments Report - Edgar Dunn - "The Advanced Payments Report 2013 … is based on a review of the global payments landscape, surveys of payments industry stakeholder opinion…"
• Total System Services Management Discusses Q1 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - "…on the issuing side of our business, we kicked off what I would describe as our most significant business and technology initiative since, really, the launch of TS2."
• American Express streamlines expense tracking via mobile app - Mobile Commerce Daily - "The ReceiptMatch program is being rolled out for American Express Open business card users…"
• Prepaid Popularity on the Rise - The Members Group Blog - "The American Bankers Association study also found that more than 50 percent of U.S. FIs currently offer, or plan to offer, prepaid or reloadable debit cards."
• Visa Survey: Prom Spending Surges 33% Nationwide - "Prom season spending is spiraling out of control as teens continuously try to one-up each other…"

On the wires:

• Tabbedout Launches Powerful Merchant Marketing Tool 'Periscope' - "Periscope gives merchants the ability to monitor customer use of Tabbedout, review their customer's purchase history, collect and respond to guest reviews and create mobile marketing campaigns…"
• CPI Card Group Expands EMV Card Manufacturing Capabilities to Support EMV Migration in the U.S. - "The migration to EMV in the U.S. is unprecedented in terms of size and scale."
• Consult Hyperion joins Open Identity Exchange - "OIX is a non-profit trade organization driving the adoption of new and existing online identity products and services through the development of trust frameworks and listing services."
• FactorTrust Launches Underbanked Index - "Every three months, the Underbanked Index will provide a range of data points including demographic, loan behavior, seasonal effects and others, to help shed light on underbanked consumers."
• Too Busy to Save Money: Research at Stanford Graduate School of Business Examines Why Consumers Pass Up Store Discounts - "Seiler's look at individuals' purchases over time likewise suggests they're trying to minimize search costs."
• PULSE and fisoc Announce Agreement to Provide Buzz Points Rewards Program to Financial Institutions - “In this digital age, our solution enables PULSE to offer its financial institution participants a fully turn-key rewards program. This will provide a distinct advantage to PULSE in the highly competitive debit industry.” (See: Buzz Points)
• NCR Introduces Anti-Skimming Technology to Help Banks Increase Consumer Trust and Reduce Costs - “There were approximately 20,000 skimming incidents in the United States last year. The average cost per incident approached $50,000 and skimming costs across a U.S. bank’s entire ATM network is equivalent to about $2,500 per ATM each year."

American Express has announced that it will begin issuing Corporate Cards with EMV chip & signature technology to its U.S. Corporate Cardmembers.

“In some countries, chip technology is becoming standard for card authorizations. By providing a chip-enabled solution, the new chip & signature Cards will help U.S. Corporate Cardmembers avoid disruptions while traveling internationally” said Darryl Brown, President, Global Corporate Payments Americas, American Express.

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:

• Payments Startup 'Balanced' Closes $3.4 Million Seed Round - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• BitPay Eclipses Silk Road in Bitcoin Sales with Explosive $5.2M March
• TSYS Signs Long-Term Renewal Agreement with Columbia State Bank
• Prime Factors Introduces New EMV Data Preparation Software
• NCR Brings Contactless ATMs to Poland with ING

The Secure Remote Payment Council has announced that the ten debit network members of its Chip and PIN Workgroup have agreed to adopt a common debit application identifier (AID) and will work with Discover Financial Services to license its D-PAS as the foundation of a common debit card EMV solution in the U.S.

"We are honored to have been chosen by the SRPc Chip and PIN Workgroup and feel that the strength of Discover's D-PAS technology, coupled with our universal and choice-centric EMV approach, will enable the market to move forward," said Diane Offereins, President of Payment Services at Discover. "Discover has deployed D-PAS for the past four years and already has millions of cards in market among international issuers. We are confident it is the right path forward for U.S. debit networks."

Visa and MasterCard are not part of the SRPC Chip and PIN Workgroup.

On the web:

• Is Growing Fraud Really a Catalyst for EMV? - Portals and Rails
• Debit Rewards - Durbin Storms Lead to Clear Skies - COLLOQUY
• Bango Raises $10.2M To Take Its Carrier Billing Service Into Emerging Markets - TechCrunch
• ‎ Rewards, Subsidies Help Spur Activity for Isis - Digital Transaction
• Stripe Releases Library of Developers Tools for Online Card Acceptance - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• PassWallet & codeREADr Now Beam and Redeem Passes via NFC
• Smart Card Alliance Releases Interactive 'EMV Ecosystem' Educational Tool
• ROAM Launches Professional Services Group To Streamline Mobile Commerce Integrations
• MoneyGram Launches Mobile Services Though Its Web Site in the U.S.
• Central Bank Research Finds High Level of Cheque Usage in Ireland

Visa announced its support for a common U.S. debit solution and an expansion of Visa's previously announced roadmap for EMV chip card adoption in the United States to include a migration path for ATM transactions.

"To help facilitate chip adoption and issuer compliance with U.S. debit regulations, Visa plans to provide some of its proprietary EMV chip technology to the industry. This approach will simplify EMV chip implementation for debit, reduce migration costs and increase flexibility for card issuers, acquirer processors and merchants."

On the web:

• ‎Debit Networks Reject MasterCard’s EMV-Durbin Solution - Digital Transactions
• Mobile Ordering Provider 'OLO' Receives $5M in Funding from PayPal and Others - QSRweb.com
• Rogue Valley Merchants Leery Of 'Checkout Fee' Surcharge - Ashland Daily Tidings
• Angie's List, Square Announce Mobile POS Partnership - Benzinga
• Visa Service Restored After Canada-Wide Outage - CBC News
• Google Wallet Gets A Makeover - NFC World

On the wires:

• TransUnion Announces Acquisition of ZipCode in Brazil
• MasterCard Expands Strategic Alliance with Hotel Company IHG into the U.S.
• Merchant Warehouse Announces Availability of 'Genius Customer Engagement Platform'
• MedDirect Launches Online Payment Portal for Patient Responsibility Balances
• PayLeap, Acculynk’s Payments Processing Arm, Introduces Developer Integration Tools
• NCR Silver to Make Everyday Easy for 600 Cellairis Franchise Stores and Their Shoppers

On the web:

• Forget the $20 minimum: ATMs dispense $1 and $5 bills - Today.com
• PayLane Supports German Online Businesses In Going Global - TechCrunch
• Telefónica Deutschland to Offer P2P, Digital Wallet in February - MobilePaymentsToday.com
• Visa Blesses RIM's Mobile Payment Platform - AllThingsD

On the wires:

• Commerce Bank Introduces Chip-Enabled Visa Signature Credit Cards
• eLayaway Releases Payment Plugin for Popular eCommerce Platform
• Visa Annual Cardholder Expenditure Exceeds €1trillion on Debit Cards for the First Time in Europe
• Datacard Group, DeviceFidelity and U.S. Bank Announce Smart Card and Mobile Payment Program

Revel Systems announced it has become the first iPad point-of-sale (POS) system to provide EMV compatibility in the United States.

“The industry at large is faced with a major need to reduce credit card fraud and increase security. Revel Systems is the first to anticipate impending changes for industry standards for point-of-sale,” said Revel’s co-founder and CTO Chris Ciabarra. “Integrating directly with EMV readers is the logical next step for us to provide the most innovative technology solutions to our customers and also give them the surest and most secure means to reach EMV certification by the 2016 deadline.”

On the web:

• PayPal’s Ambitious Plans For Stores - Internet Retailer
• UK-based ERN Raises $2M For 'Big Data' Card Analytics - TechCrunch
• ‎ As EMV-Debit-Durbin Problem Festers, a Solution May Be on Its Way - Digital Transactions
• UAE Exchange collaborates with ElectraCard Services to Launch 'gocash' Prepaid Travel Card - AfricanBrains
• SimplyTapp Proposes Secure Elements In The Cloud - NFC World

On the wires:

• VeriFone NFC Managed Services to Drive China Mobile Commerce Network
• FDIC Survey on How Banks are Working to Meet the Needs of Unbanked, Underbanked
• Voltage Secure Stateless Tokenization Advances PCI DSS Audit Scope Reduction
• Digital River World Payments Offers Online Merchants Full Card Acceptance Services for AmEx
• CARDFREE Releases Study on Fast Food Restaurants Gift Card Sales and Redemption
• Western Union Now Offering Two Options for International Travelers

On the web:

• E-Z Pass Payments For Tolls, Parking, And Big Macs? - Fast Company
• Google Acquires Incentive Targeting To Improve Its Couponing Service - IntoMobile
• Apple Introduces Variable Cost iTunes Gift Cards to Third Party Retailers - 9to5Mac
• CFPB Modifies Remittance Disclosure and Error Resolution Rules - Portals and Rails
• Dwolla Launches eCheck-based Guest Checkout Option For Merchants - TechCrunch
• Discover Testing "Pay By Touch" Fingerprint Payments - chicagotribune.com

On the wires:

• Pageonce Enhances Mobile Bill Pay Service
• Intuit Launches Mobile Payments Pilot in the U.K.
• Adyen Announces European Availability of Chip & PIN Mobile POS Solution
• WEX and CashStar Partner to Provide eGift Card Services in Australia and New Zealand
• “la Caixa” launches its TAP Visa contactless payment stickers in Barcelona
• Sam’s Club to Sell PayAnywhere Mobile Payment System
• CorFire Expands Into United Kingdom

Discover has announced the next milestone in its global EMV deployment: a comprehensive strategy and roadmap that includes Discover Network, Diners Club International, PULSE and Discover Card.

“Our timeline to support chip-based credit and debit transactions, in addition to our Fraud Liability Shift policy, are critical milestones to helping make EMV a reality in the U.S.,” said Diane Offereins, President of Payment Services at Discover. “As with the Discover mandate announced earlier this year, our approach to EMV enables participants to select verification methods and transaction types that meet their organization’s needs.”

VeriFone has announced the availability of SAIL EMV, a new platform that enables banks and acquirers around the world to quickly provide smartphone and tablet-based chip-and-PIN card payments solutions to small and medium-sized merchants.

“International deployment of the SAIL platform provides a unique mobile payments solution that enables rapid expansion and adoption of secure chip-and-PIN technology through thousands of VeriFone’s international banking and acquiring partners,” said VeriFone CEO Douglas G. Bergeron. “The open, flexible and modular nature of SAIL EMV is attractive to organizations that want to expand sales with smartphone and tablet payment solutions for small merchants.”

SAIL EMV provides banks and acquirers in more than 100 countries and across six continents with a complete solution to expand their product portfolios with custom-branded services that enable mobile merchants to accept chip-and-PIN payments.

The Smart Card Alliance Payments Council has announced availability of an updated white paper, “Card Payments Roadmap in the United States: How Will EMV Impact the Future Payments Infrastructure?” with new information for 2012.

Within the last year, the four major U.S. payment brands have announced harmonized key milestones for U.S. implementation of EMV. The white paper, an extensive update from the first version released in February 2011, contains all of the important details of the milestones and recommended implementation guidelines from American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa in one document for the first time.

MasterCard has announced the expansion of its U.S. electronic payments roadmap to include the ATM channel. Beginning in October 2016, a liability shift hierarchy will be introduced for ATM transactions in the U.S., as part of an effort to globally align the use of EMV technology to prevent and manage fraud in the payments ecosystem.

“This continues our commitment to look holistically at the next generation of U.S. payments,” said Mike Weitzman, Group Executive, U.S. Markets, MasterCard. “As other markets have migrated to EMV, we have seen fraud shift to the least secure channel. By establishing this liability shift, we’re advancing efforts to prevent and reduce fraud. At the same time, by making the announcement today, we’re providing our issuers, acquirers and ISOs flexibility and sufficient time to manage their ATM technology decisions.”

On the web:

• Wal-Mart Brings Back Layaway for a 2nd Year - NYTimes.com
• Payment Data Is More Valuable Than Payment Fees - TechCrunch
• Visa Prepaid CitizenCard: ID Card That Doubles As A Prepaid Card - MSN Money UK
• Citigroup Becomes First U.S. Bank to Issue Own Card in China - Bloomberg
• Finding a Reasonable Definition of Commercially Reasonable - Portals and Rails
• 5 Ways to Pay for Dinner With Your Phone - Mashable

On the wires:

• PayPal Prepaid MasterCard Now Available at Dollar General
• ThreatMetrix Enhances Protection Against Account Takeovers and Fraudulent Payments
• Mercator Releases Ninth Annual U.S Closed-Loop Prepaid Cards Market Assessment
• CardinalCommerce Introduces CustomerConnect to Improve Mobile Commerce Conversion
• Fnbox Chooses Adyen's Payments Platform to Facilitate Global Expansion
• App Developers Boost Revenues With Enhanced Jumio Netswipe Mobile SDK
• CreditCall Makes Mobile 'Chip and PIN' Acceptance a Reality in the UK

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

The Smart Card Alliance announced the formation of an independent, cross-industry organization, the EMV Migration Forum, to support the alignment of the EMV implementation steps required for global payment networks, regional payment networks, issuers, processors, merchants, and consumers to successfully move from magnetic stripe technology to secure EMV contact and contactless technology in the United States.

On the web:

• Visa Europe Puts Brakes On iZettle - TechCrunch
• Shedding Light on Cloud Payments Risk Management - Portals and Rails
• Apple Buys Mobile Security Firm AuthenTec for $356 Million - Reuters
• ‎Visa's Interlink Volume Falls as Durbin Routing Provisions Take Effect - Digital Transactions
• ViVOtech Restructuring, Selling Reader Business - MobilePaymentsToday.com
• Flood of Competition Weighs on Prepaid-Card Companies - Wall Street Journal
• Global Payments Expects Its Data-Breach Tab Could Hit $120 Million - Digital Transactions
• E-Commerce vs. M-commerce (InfoGraphic) - BigCommerce

On the wires:

• British Retail Consortium Releases UK Payments Mix Study
• ROAM Data Introduces New Mobile Software Developer Kit
• AJB Software Accelerates EMV Migration for Retailers
• Merchant Warehouse Announces Acquisition of AVATAS Payment Solutions
• mopay Extends its Mobile Payments Portfolio in the Middle East & North African Region
• 2.5 Million MasterCard Debit Cards Issued to Social Welfare Beneficiaries in South Africa
• Chase and Marriott Rewards Launch the Only Hotel Rewards Card in Canada with No Foreign Currency Transaction Charges

Bank of America announced that it is rolling out chip technology (EMV) on many of its consumer credit cards.

The bank will include the chip technology in all newly issued Merrill Lynch credit cards, U.S. Trust Accolades, BankAmericard Travel Rewards, BankAmericard Privileges, and Virgin Atlantic travel credit cards. The bank also will upgrade existing customers in these card programs who have been identified as international travelers.

The bank’s new chip-enabled credit cards will continue to prompt customers to sign for transactions just as they would today. The cards also include the traditional magnetic stripe, which is used by U.S. merchants.

On the web:

• Chirpify is Building a Payments Company Around Twitter - American Banker
• Credit Cards No Longer Accepted At Medical Pot Dispensaries - MSNBC
• India’s Prizm Payments On Track To Hit $50B In Transactions - TechCrunch
• Inside Apple's Go-Slow Approach to Mobile Payments - WSJ.com
• Wal-Mart Said to Halt Amex Prepaid Card Pilot - American Banker

On the wires:

• C-SAM Extends Mobile Transactions Expertise Into User Experience
• Smart Card Alliance Launches 'EMV Connection' Website Dedicated to U.S. EMV Migration
• Brightwell Payments Acquires Directo and Expands Presence in U.S. Paycard Market
• UBPS to Acquire, Consolidate Three Payment Companies in Proposed $179 Million Transaction
• Virtual Piggy and Marmalade to Bring Youth Payments to the Gaming World
• Digital River White Paper on Global Spending Habits and Payment Preferences of Online Gamers
• Fifth Third Bank Launches RevLink Collect

American Express has announced its network roadmap to advance EMV chip-based contact, contactless and mobile payments for all merchants, processors and issuers of American Express-branded cards in the U.S.

“The payments industry is continuing to evolve rapidly, and American Express recognizes the growing demand for chip-based contact and contactless payments in the U.S.,” said Suzan Kereere, Senior Vice President and General Manager, American Express Global Network Business. “We also fully recognize the complexities involved in migrating to EMV chip-based technology, and our first priority is to provide choice and flexibility for merchants and our card-issuing partners so they can adopt the EMV solution that best meets their needs.”