On the web:

• Mozilla Previews Direct WebPayment API - TechWeek Europe
• Can These Three Steps Protect Your Bank Account? - Portals and Rails
• Interac Debuts NFC Mobile Payment Solution in Canada - Mobile Marketing
• MasterCard Partners With Alibaba Group in China - ChinaRetailNews.com
• Bitcoin: The Internet's Secret Currency Makes Its First Public Appearances - NBCNews.com
• Could Linden Dollars Become Real Money? – Hypergrid Business

On the wires:

• Seamless: SEQR now also with NFC technology
• Global Payments supports V.me by Visa in UK
• Rakuten.com Shopping Incorporates MasterCard MasterPass
• Nubelo Selects Payoneer to Enhance Payment Capabilities to Freelancers Globally
• Green Dot and UniRush Introduce 'RushCard Live' Prepaid Card
• Virtual Piggy Now Integrated with Oracle’s eCommerce Platform

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

Global Payments has confirmed reports from late last week that it experienced a data breach that may have exposed 1.5 million cards.

The investigation to date has revealed that Track 2 card data may have been stolen, but that cardholder names, addresses and social security numbers were not obtained by the criminals.

Accertify has announced that Global Payments will offer Accertify risk management technology to its eCommerce merchants.

Through the existing Global Transport gateway, merchants will be able to easily leverage the fraud protection and data management capabilities of Accertify, enabling them to protect against card-not-present (CNP) fraud and mitigate counterfeit and identify theft risks.

On the wires:

• Axioma Launches Enhanced Global and Regional Risk Models
• Electronic Payment Exchange and Sprint Extend Relationship through Co-Marketing Deal
• Beanstream Introduces New Global Transaction Product Suite Allowing Merchants to Accept Payments From Around the World
• Global Payments Canada Teams with Precidia for Semi-Integrated EMV Solution for ECRs
• SEGA Chooses PlaySpan for Monetization of MLB Manager Online
• Contis Group Acquires GTP Financial Services for European Prepaid Push

On the web:

• New York Times: How to Avoid Credit Card Problems Abroad - Practical Traveler
• Dow Jones: Verifone Looks To Advances In Mobile Payment
• China Daily: PayPal to End Partnership with Alibaba
• New York Times: New Russian ATM’s Are Built to Detect Lies
• ComputerWorld: MasterCard Warns Skimming Hole Will Be Open For Years

Global Payments and Planet Payment have announced agreements to provide multi-currency processing services. "The agreements include the offering of Global HomeCurrencyPay, an innovative multi-currency processing solution powered by Planet Payment, to Global Payments' base of ISO and merchant customers in the United States and Canada."

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Intuit GoPayment and mophie Credit Card Reader Available for iPhone 4
• RushCard Allows Members to Customize Card Plans and Further Reduces Card Fees
• Tom Joyner Partners with PreCash to Offer The REACH Card

• Treasury&Risk: Wires Get Smarter
• VentureBeat: Five Payment Trends to Watch in 2011
• TheStreet: American Express Faces Declining Credit Card Use
• Dow Jones: Global Payments To Enter Brazilian Card Market
• Datamonitor Blog: New Visa Initiative Will Raise Awareness of Contactless Payments Among London Consumers
• Springwise: Mobile Payment App Verifies Identity with a Photo (FaceCash)

Global Payments and "la Caixa," the largest retail bank in Spain, have announced they are forming a merchant acquiring and payment processing joint venture in Spain.

"la Caixa", headquartered in Barcelona, was founded over a century ago, and is the market leader in Spanish merchant acquiring with over 150,000 merchant outlets. "la Caixa" also has the largest consumer banking footprint in Spain with more than 5,000 branches, 10.5 million customers and a 21 percent market share in merchant acquiring.

Global Payments today announced that it has become the first foreign payment card processor to launch China UnionPay card acquiring service in China. The new service will be offered to merchants in partnership with Global Payments' bank partner, HSBC. While Beijing will be the first city in which merchants will be able to take advantage of the new service, it is planned to pursue an expansion of the offering in other parts of China in the future.

Global Payments has announced that Jeffrey S. Sloan, Managing Director, Partner and Global Head of the Financial Technology Group at Goldman, Sachs & Co., has been appointed the President of Global Payments Inc. Mr. Sloan has led Goldman Sachs' investment banking activities for the worldwide payments industry over the last decade. Mr. Sloan will be responsible for the Company's lines of business in North America, as well as all worldwide business development activities. He will report to Paul R. Garcia, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and will assume his new role on June 1, 2010. READ MORE »

Global Payments has announced that it has signed an agreement to sell its DolEx- and Europhil-branded money transfer businesses to an affiliate of Palladium Equity Partners, LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, Global Payments will receive proceeds in the range of $85 million to $110 million based on the operating performance of the business determined at the time of closing, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals including the consent to the transaction by the issuers of money transfer licenses in many of the states and countries where DolEx or Europhil currently operates.

Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited, a joint venture between HSBC and Global Payments, has introduced Global BroadbandPay - calling it "an Internet Protocol (IP)-based point-of-sale solution that provides merchants with fast, secure and reliable card acceptance services across the Asia-Pacific region. Merchants and processing partners no longer need to rely on slow dial-up networks or invest in expensive dedicated communication links to their card acquiring banks. Instead, this new product enables use of their existing internet connection to enjoy a "plug-and-play" experience. Global BroadbandPay is now available to merchants in Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, the Maldives, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka." READ MORE »

Global Payments has announced that it has acquired the remaining 49% interest in its merchant services joint venture in the United Kingdom from HSBC Bank plc ("HSBC"). "In June 2008, Global Payments and HSBC formed a joint venture, HSBC Merchant Services, to provide payment processing services to merchants in the United Kingdom and Internet merchants globally. Under the terms of today's agreement, Global Payments will pay HSBC a total of USD$307.7 million in cash to acquire the remaining 49% ownership interest in this joint venture. In addition, HSBC will extend the current ten-year exclusive marketing alliance agreement whereby the bank provides merchant referrals and bank sponsorship to Global Payments to June 2019." READ MORE »

Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited, a joint venture between The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and U.S.-based Global Payments has introduced its Global HomeCurrencyPay service to merchants in India, following the earlier launch of this dynamic currency conversion service in China, Malaysia and Taiwan. READ MORE »

Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited, a joint venture between HSBC and Global Payments, has introduced "a secure GPRS-powered mobile payment service called Global MobilePay(TM) that provides mobile card acceptance capabilities for merchants in the Asia-Pacific region. Global Payments is one of the first payment processors to launch an extensive mobile payment solution for merchants across Asia. This service is now available in Brunei, China, India, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Taiwan." READ MORE »

Global Payments has announced a joint venture with HSBC Bank to provide payment processing services to merchants in the United Kingdom and Internet merchants globally. The new company will operate under the name HSBC Merchant Services. READ MORE »

Global Payments has announced that Pioneer Petroleums, one of Ontario's largest independent gasoline retailers, is now accepting MasterCard PayPass contactless card acceptance. The service, which allows consumers to pay for goods and services with the simple tap of their payment card, is available at more than 140 Pioneer locations across Ontario. READ MORE »

Global Payments has announced the introduction of a what it is calling a "next generation payment processing platform, Global Transport," saying it "was designed with a uniform application programming interface supported by multiple communications options to simplify and speed integration to the merchant’s payment acceptance environment for debit, credit, and EBT transaction processing."

Global Payments has announced that "it has activated the first of its Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) relationships - EVO, Mercury Payments, North American Bankcard and Total Merchant Services - to acquire Discover Network merchants in a manner consistent with Visa's and MasterCard's acquiring programs."

Global Payments has announced the introduction of a Mobile POS Solution using the WAY Systems Mobile Transaction MTT 1556 Credit/Debit terminal. The company says the product "combines the security and performance of a traditional POS terminal with the ease of using a mobile phone."

TowerGroup's Colin Kerr is out with a new report titled "Where's My Payment? Using Logistics Management to Drive an Enterprise View of Payments" - saying that "now is the time for banks to shift their view of payments processing - treating it as an enterprise-wide business rather than a service function."

Investors Business Daily reports on how payments transaction processors are moving into new niches for growth - including Heartland, Global Payments, and TSYS.

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.

Global Payments has announced a referral agreement with Ruesch International. a provider of business-to-business payment solutions. Under the terms of the agreements, Ruesch International will refer clients who have payment card processing needs to Global Payments; and, in turn, Global Payments will refer agent banks and business clients to Ruesch International for their cross-border payment processing and foreign exchange transaction needs.

Global Payments has announced that as of September 26, 2006, Ruth Ann Marshall will join its Board of Directors. Most recently, Marshall served as President, Americas for MasterCard International responsible for all major banking and retail relationships, as well as governance, business development, global acceptance, product management, finance, planning, and human resources.

Global Payments and Discover Financial Services have signed a new merchant acquiring agreement enabling Global Payments to begin selling Discover Network card acceptance. Global Payments also will purchase that portion of Discover's merchant portfolio currently providing Visa and MasterCard processing.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has published its Best of Business 2006 list of Georgia companies - including profiles of several payments-related firms: CheckFree, CompuCredit, Global Payments, and Synovus.

Earlier this month, Global Payments posted an updated investor presentation (PDF) to their web site.

Global Payments has announced it is forming a joint venture with The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited to provide payment processing services to merchants in the Asia-Pacific region.

Global Payments is expanding its worldwide presence in the money transfer industry through the acquisition of Europhil.