Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• hyperWALLET Announces Payment Service Expansion to Russia
• Zong Offers Simple Monetization for Android Mobile App Developers
• Chase Provides Easy Access to Mobile Gift Cards with Launch of Chase GiftShelf App
• Oberthur Technologies Answering Card Issuers' Demands for EMV in the US
• Banks Lower Overdraft Fees 6% as Consumers Choose to Opt-In
• Thales enables Metro Bank to Bring In-Store Card Issuance to UK High Street
• New Aite Group on How Interchange Regulation Will Change the U.S. Payments Industry
• New PwC White Paper on UK Faster Payments Initiative

• SFGate: Websites Help Resell Unwanted Gift Cards

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Voltage SecureData Open License Program Continues Growth
• Blackhawk Network Partners with Superquinn to Launch First Gift Card Mall in Ireland
• New Aite Group Report on P2P Virtual Gifting
• Voice Commerce launches the KYC Secure identity verification solution

• New York Times: I’ve Seen the Future (in Haiti) - Op Ed
• China Payments News: Western Union to Introduce Account-Based Money Transfer Service in China
• Portals and Rails: Tough Decisions: Fighting Fraud in a Free Market
• Bank Systems & Technology: NFC Support Baked Into Google's Latest Version of Android OS

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

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• New Mercator Report on Closed-Loop Gift Cards
• US-Based Shift4 Becomes First Hosted Gateway Certified for Canadian EMV
• New Celent Report on The Future of Consumer Remote Deposit Capture (RDC)
• PCI QSA Determines Heartland Payment Systems' E2E Encryption Solution for Terminals Can Reduce PCI Scope by Up to 79%

• American Banker: Stay with Me - Mobile Pay System Ties Buyers to One Card
• MSNBC Red Tape Chronicles: Friendly Fraud
• SFgate: Facebook Testing Out A "Pay Later" Option For Credits
• MIT Technology Review: How Mobile Phones Jump-Start Developing Economies
• The Moscow Times: Russia Government Drafts E-Payment Rules
• Portals and Rails: The Continuing Challenge of Workplace Fraud in Financial Services

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• CashStar Powers New Staples eGift Card Offering
• New Celent Report on the State of Remote Deposit Capture 2010
• Customers Go Online to Pay Bills Offline via PayNearMe
• New First Annapolis Report on Mobile Banking & Payments
• Magento and Merchant e-Solutions eCommerce Platform Partnership
• FirstPartner Releases 2010 UK Mobile Marketing Market Map Released

Bankrate has announced key findings from a new study on gift cards. "Bankrate surveyed 54 gift card issuers to determine fees that come from major gift card providers as well as where consumers can get the most value for their money." The full 2010 Gift Card Study is available here.

CashStar has announced that its retail clients can now offer customers mobile and social capabilities within their eGift card offerings. The Container Store is the first CashStar retailer to roll out Facebook integration. From The Container Store’s eGift Card purchase page, shoppers can send digital gift cards to a friend’s Facebook wall using Facebook Connect. In addition, both senders and recipients of eGift cards have the ability to “Like” and “Share” their digital gifting experiences on Facebook and Twitter.

RSR Research has announced the results of a benchmarking report entitled, “The Digital Divide: Digital Gifting Among Top Internet Retailers.” RSR focused on the comprehensiveness of the Top 100 Online Retails offerings and the selection, purchase and recipient experience. Based on the evaluation criteria, the retailers with the most comprehensive digital gift card offering are The Home Depot, CVS Caremark, Amazon.com, American Eagle Outfitters, and Sears.

CashStar recently announced that it now powers digital gift card programs for more than 75 leading retail and restaurant brands.

CashStar’s clients consist of the country’s top retail brands including CVS/pharmacy, America’s largest pharmacy; The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer; Staples, the world’s largest office products company; and The Container Store, the nation’s leading retailer of storage and organization products.

Giftango today announced the release of a mobile developer's toolkit that helps mobile app developers issue national brand virtual gift cards from within their own mobile applications, while also allowing merchants to set clear standards the mobile development community can follow. Merchants using virtual gift cards built through the Giftango developer platform today include JCPenney, ®Lowe's, Papa John's, Fandango, and Cabela's.

Qualcomm's Firethorn subsidiary announced that American Apparel is the latest retailer to sign up for its upcoming SWAGG mobile application. What is SWAGG?

SWAGG is Firethorn’s direct-to-consumer offering, with “smart” technology that gives consumers the ability to purchase, personalize and exchange gift cards directly from a mobile device. SWAGG will also provide consumers mobile access to account information, special offers and loyalty programs.

Blackhawk Network has announced its fourth annual Hawk Award winners. The awards honor leaders in the prepaid card industry and are awarded in five key areas: Overall Gift Card Program, Card Design, Marketing and Promotion, Industry Achievement, and Product Innovation. READ MORE »

Plastic Jungle and Offerpal Media have announced an agreement to "allow consumers to convert unused and partially redeemed gift cards into a payment method for virtual currencies. Through this agreement, consumers will be able to exchange gift cards for purchasing power within thousands of the Web’s top online games, virtual worlds and social networks, tapping the estimated $30 billion unredeemed gift card economy." READ MORE »

he Federal Reserve Board has announced final rules to restrict the fees and expiration dates that may apply to gift cards. According to the Fed, "the rules protect consumers from certain unexpected costs and require that gift card terms and conditions be clearly stated. The final rules prohibit dormancy, inactivity, and service fees on gift cards unless: (1) the consumer has not used the certificate or card for at least one year; (2) no more than one such fee is charged per month; and (3) the consumer is given clear and conspicuous disclosures about the fees. Expiration dates for funds underlying gift cards must be at least five years after the date of issuance, or five years after the date when funds were last loaded." READ MORE »

Target has announced that shoppers no longer have to carry their Target GiftCards in order to redeem them, thanks to the new Target Mobile GiftCard. Using Target’s mobile technology, any shopper can save GiftCard information to a PIN-secure account on the Target.com mobile site. Target says that "all that’s needed is a mobile phone with Internet capabilities which a guest can use to retrieve GiftCard barcodes for scanning at checkout." READ MORE »

RegaloCard has announced that Burger King, one of the leading fast food chains in El Salvador, has joined the RegaloCard Mobile Payment Network. RegaloCard is a prepaid gift card that immigrants can buy in the United States. The RegaloCard redemption PIN is then delivered instantly via mobile payment technology to the person they choose in Latin America, to make purchases at leading local retailers. READ MORE »

Just in time for the holidays, Blackhawk Network, the largest provider of third-party gift cards in the United States and Canada, has launched a new virtual gift card program, E-Gift Cards - now available on its redesigned online store, GiftCardMall.com. Consumers can now benefit from being able to purchase gift cards online anywhere, anytime and having them delivered via email. Recipients can redeem their gifts online directly at the retailer’s web site or by printing them out for in-store redemption. READ MORE »

Wildcard Network has announced the launch of its free Wildcard iPhone application - now available in the iTunes Store.

According to the company, the "Wildcard app brings gift cards to life by offering a convenient and intuitive way to manage and gift on the iPhone." Using the app, you can buy and use gift cards from the iPhone. When you need to make a purchase, the app displays a bar code that the merchant's POS scans.

Blackhawk Network has announced that it now provides Facebook users with a new way to purchase and send iTunes Online Gifts. iTunes Online Gifts can be used to purchase and download content from the iTunes Store. The new service is now available in the U.S. exclusively on the iTunes Fan Page on Facebook. (The iTunes Fan Page on Facebook has over 2 million fans!) READ MORE »

TowerGroup says it is finding that the popularity of private label store gift cards is "plummeting." According to the research firm, "he reduction in card spending is reflective of a weakened economy, decreased holiday sales and less confidence in retailer inventories and stability. TowerGroup expects store gift card spending volume to fall by 7%, with a modest increase of 3% in general purpose cards in 2009." READ MORE »

A new survey from American Express reports that 10 percent of consumers actually intend to open their wallets and spend more on holiday gifts relative to last year and 43 percent plan to spend about the same. In the next 30 days, more than one in five U.S. consumers (22%) expect to spend more when compared to the last 30 day period.

The latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, the third in a monthly series, reports about consumers’ views on the economy, what they plan to spend on and what motivates them to spend or save. The research sample of 2011 adults included the general U.S. population, as well as two subgroups – the affluent and young professionals. READ MORE »

The Federal Reserve Board has announced proposed rules that it says "would restrict the fees and expiration dates that may apply to gift cards. The rules would protect consumers from certain unexpected costs and would require that gift card terms and conditions be clearly stated." See the highlights of the proposed rules. READ MORE »

Western Union has launched a new Visa prepaid gift card and greeting card offering enabling consumers to send the gift of money using Western Union branded prepaid gift cards available at http://www.WesternUnion.com. READ MORE »

Univision Communications has announced a strategic alliance with MasterCard Worldwide to introduce two new prepaid financial services, the Univision Prepaid MasterCard Card® (Tarjeta Univision MasterCard Prepagada®) and the Univision MasterCard Gift Card® (Tarjeta de Regalo Univision®). Both of these prepaid cards will be available nationally in 2010 and are being developed to provide Hispanic consumers with access to relevant, flexible and valuable financial tools that can be used anywhere Debit MasterCard is accepted. READ MORE »

A consumer survey commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and undertaken by the Opinion Research Corporation earlier this month revealed widespread misunderstanding of general purpose gift cards. According to the CFA, "only 33 percent of a representative sample of 1004 adult Americans know how much these cards cost to purchase, and only 54 percent are aware that “six to twelve months after purchase, some of these gift cards charge a monthly fee.” READ MORE »

Coinstar E-Payment Services has announced that it is expanding its Pay As You Go product offerings including a new Amazon MP3-branded Gift Card, a GoCash Game Card for prepaid online gaming offerings, and two new nFinanSe Discover® branded cards in the reloadable prepaid and gift card categories. READ MORE »

Archstone Consulting has announced the results of its 2009 Gift Card Trend Report examining the performance of the gift card market, consumer and retailer trends, and government action.

"Gift cards are still the gift of choice among consumers, but gift card purchases reflect the challenging economic times; values per card are down, and the focus (similar to last year) is on the pragmatic not frivolous," commented Dave Sievers, Principal and the Consumer Products and Retail Practice lead at Archstone Consulting. READ MORE »

Blackhawk Network has announced that its Rewards Visa Gift Card will now be offered to businesses through Blackhawk Network’s Incentives and Rewards business-to-business program. The Visa Gift Cards can be customized with a variety of personalization options, such as company logo and branding, custom card and carrier messaging, variable expiration dates, and variable value loads. The card can be redeemed anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. READ MORE »

The Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA), a trade association originally formed last October, has announced the addition of Darden Restaurants, AMC Entertainment, Disney, JCPenney, Lowe’s Home Improvement, L.L.Bean, Foot Locker, Bass Pro Shops, Bon Ton, SpaFinder and Giant Eagle to its membership. The RGCA - "established by retailers for retailers" - says it "understands the need to promote a more accurate depiction of the practices, sales and terms related to the closed loop gift card market." READ MORE »

Seeking Alpha just posted the transcript from Safeway's quarterly earnings call held on July 23. On the call, Safeway CEO Steven A. Burd commented on Blackhawk Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary of Safeway:

To give you a brief update on Blackhawk, the value of total card sales—this is what we offer in terms of face value of the card—increased 24% for quarter two and that leaves us at 25% for the first half of this year.

The sales of closed loop partner cards are an interesting one to follow because essentially those cards represent the gift cards of a lot of retailers who are going through the same kind of economic events that we are. The sales of the closed loop partner cards increased 22.4% in the quarter and are growing at a rate that is much faster than our partners' own card sales.

Year-to-date we are on plan for Blackhawk, both in terms of face value card sales and earnings."