On the web:

• Integrating Tablets and POS Software For Retail - Point of Sale News
• La Caixa Goes Top of Wallet with PayPal Instant Account Creation - PayPal Blog
• Google Wallet Reopens for Prepaid Cards, Adds Transfer Block - SlashGear

On the wires:

• Plano Bê Launches 2Pay: The Brazilian Answer to Square and iZettle
• Evolution1 Continues Leadership in Ever-Changing Healthcare Market
• 16% of Commercial Banks Now Processing Payments Through Aptys’ PayLOGICS Platform
• TransEngen Strengthens Position as Payments Leader for Healthcare
• InspirePay Adds Support for Dwolla and PayPal

InComm announced that it has acquired Medagate Corporation, the company that powers OTCNetwork, the only national closed loop over-the-counter (OTC) healthcare benefits payments platform.

Medagate's technology platform supports several applications that enable retail and healthcare to intersect at the point of sale, enabling insured health plan members as well as Medicare and Medicaid members to access and spend their monthly healthcare benefits in an easy and familiar manner.

All current employees of Medagate will remain with the company, with its existing management continuing to run the day-to-day operations.

mPay Gateway announced that it has entered into an agreement with MasterCard to expand MasterCard acceptance through support of mPay Gateway’s point-of-care payment system.

“Patient payments are the fastest growing portion of healthcare providers’ revenue streams, but they traditionally have one of the lowest collection rates,” said Brian Beutner, chief executive officer of mPay Gateway. “Working with MasterCard, our technology is addressing inefficiencies in the patient payment process to streamline transactions and increase payment transparency so that providers can improve cash flow and better align with their patient’s payment preferences.”

On the web:

• An "Open" Perspective on Near Field Communications - ReadWriteWeb
• Card.io Enables Card Data Capture with Phone Camera - PCMag.com
• Eric Schmidt: Mobile Payments at Retail to Explode - CNET News
• Survey: Discounts and Coupons Will Drive Adoption of Mobile Payments - NFC World
• Apple Is Now Pimping Square’s iPad App In A 'How-To' Video - TechCrunch
• Itautec Unveils 3-D ATM in Brazil - ATM Marketplace

On the wires:

• Chase Upgrades Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card by Adding Amazon Shop with Points
• Optum EFT Solution Makes Health Care Payments Faster and Cheaper
• SponsorPay Introduces Offer-Based Monetization Suite For Publishers

On the wires:

• Heartland Payment Systems Introduces the Next Generation of Its WaveRider Laundry System
• JCM Global and Techfirm Sign MOU to Bring Pay-by-Mobile Phone Technology to Bill Validators
• Mitek Systems Granted Four More Patents for Mobile Deposit
• EFT Source Introduces New Option for Instant Card Issuance
• NCR Healthcare Selects EPX As Its Preferred Payment Provider

On the web:

• Portals and Rails: Who Does What Fighting Payments Crimes? Agencies Acronyms and Roles
• American Banker: Google Wallet to Require Investments in Terminals
• Digital Transactions: Forget PayPal And Google; Acquirers Most Worried About Visa, MasterCard
• Credit Slips: Dodd-Frank Gotterdämerung: The Durbin Amendment Rollback
• Digital Money: Jamie Henry, Walmart (Podcast Interview)
• India InfoLine: PayMate powers Inter Bank Mobile Payment Services in India

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Braintree Launches Card-Not-Present End-to-End Encryption Solution
• First Paid Healthcare Solutions Now Available in Puerto Rico
• MasterCard and Gemalto Partner on Global Card Replacement Services
• First Data Consolidates Operations and Management of its Business

• CUinsight: New Era Begins for NACHA Operating Rules and Guidelines
• NetBanker: Google Launches More Financial Product Comparison Pages: Savings Accounts, Checking, CDs, and Mortgages
• CNNMoney: U.S. Treasury Launches Tax Refund Prepaid Debit Card
• PayPal Blog: PayPal Opens New Customer Support Center in Malaysia
• BAI Banking Strategies: Leveraging ATMs for the ‘Bank of Mom and Dad’

U.S. Bank Healthcare Payment Solutions has announced it is "expanding its consumer product suite beyond health savings accounts (HSAs) with a comprehensive set of services designed to make consumer-directed healthcare (CDHC) easier to manage. U.S. Bank’s new integrated set of card-based payment solutions enables employers to offer competitive benefits plans, with tax savings to employees, while managing costs." READ MORE »

WAUSAU Financial Systems has announced an outsourced health care remittance processing service - the Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management Service - that that company says "makes it easy for financial institutions of any size to process complex commercial health care payments without investing in the technical infrastructure, people and expertise required to build this capability." READ MORE »

Visa and SHPS have announced "the renewal of a collaborative agreement which pairs the world’s largest electronic payments network with one of the nation’s largest providers of account-based, consumer-driven healthcare solutions. Under terms of the renewal, Visa remains the preferred payment brand for employee benefit card programs administered by SHPS, which serves large and mid-sized employers, health insurance carriers, and government agencies." READ MORE »

Fifth Third Processing Solutions has announced that it has entered into an agreement to provide a patient payment system from mPay Gateway to its physician practice customers. According to the company, "mPay Gateway's software solution enables health care providers to calculate the patient's share of a bill for service and obtain payment authorization before a patient leaves the office, eliminating billing hassles and reducing bad debt by up to 50 percent. The patient is actually charged only after the health care provider settles with the insurance company." READ MORE »

Consumer Health Technologies and TSYS Healthcare have announced an agreement that "extends streamlined payment solutions to consumers, enabling easier, more convenient and cost effective healthcare purchases. TSYS Healthcare’s payment card solution offers end-to-end functionality with greater automation, refined reporting and smoother reconciliation capabilities, resulting in minimal error rates. The TSYS Healthcare system will be integrated into BenefitSpan™, CHT’s award-winning total benefit administration platform for managing HRA, FSA and HSA accounts." READ MORE »

Metavante has announced that it has been selected by Sterling HSA to be its exclusive provider of benefit debit card and healthcare payment technology. Sterling HSA is an independent, privately held company offering health savings account administration services to employers and individuals nationwide. READ MORE »

MasterCard has announced a multi-year contract extension with OptumHealth Inc.'s OptumHealth Bank to issue MasterCard cards for health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), including the accounts they manage for UnitedHealthcare members. The OptumHealth MasterCard cards can be used as a form of payment, tied to these tax-advantaged accounts, for eligible medical expenses, such as copayments, deductibles, prescriptions, vision care and certain over-the-counter items. READ MORE »

InComm and WiredBenefits have announced an agreement to develop and market a suite of prepaid healthcare cards through InComm’s network of partner retailers. According to the companies, "aligning WiredBenefits’ Healthcare Platform with InComm’s 145,000 store retail network creates a healthcare delivery method a prepaid format that is familiar to consumers and beneficial to retailers." READ MORE »

SK&A Information Services has released findings from its Physician Office Credit-Card Acceptance Survey - concluding that "33% of U.S. physician offices do not accept credit cards as a form of payment. This represents a 5% increase since last year's survey, and the research suggests doctor offices are limiting this form of payment as a result of their patients being affected by high interest rates, maxed out credit limits and a more challenging ability to qualify for credit." READ MORE »

U.S. Bank has launched Healthcare Payment Management (HPM) Essentials, a physician-focused payment tool that enables doctors’ offices to collect more patient self-pay balances – such as co-pays and deductibles – at the time and point of care. READ MORE »

TSYS Acquiring Solutions has announced partnership agreements with mPay Gateway and Nova Libra to provide point-of-sale payment solutions that meet the needs of healthcare providers and their patients, as well as pharmacies and drug stores. READ MORE »

This morning's Weekend Edition on National Public Radio included a report titled "Dental Credit Cards Drill A Hole In Some Wallets" by Kelley Weiss. The story talks, in particular, about CareCredit - a division of GE Money that offers healthcare financing for consumers through a network of over 100,000 providers.

Preferred Health Technology and Visa have announced an alliance making Visa the preferred payment brand for PHT's A-Claim medical payment solution for physicians, hospitals and other health care providers. The A-Claim system enables health care providers to simply and securely verify insurance eligibility, adjudicate claims, and accept credit, debit or prepaid cards for payment at the time of service, or at a later date once the amount of the patient's responsibility has been determined by his insurer. READ MORE »

The Payment Card Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has published a new report titled "New Prospects for Payment Card Application in Health Care" .

From the abstract: "While consumers' use of payment cards has grown rapidly in many other areas, use of these cards in making health-care payments has been far more limited. In this paper, Payment Cards Center Industry Specialist Ann Kjos attempts to explain several reasons for the slow adoption rates and identifies four related trends and developments that can be expected to lead to more rapid growth in the future. While these factors are expected to contribute to the acceleration of growth for payment card applications in health care, we know less about potential barriers stemming from consumer behavior, raising a cautionary note pending further research."

Chase Card Services has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Unicorn Financial Services and is launching an expanded set of patient financing products as ChaseHealthAdvance financing options.

TSYS Healthcare has announced "the successful market launch of the industry’s most advanced benefits payments system. Fringe Benefits Management Company (FBMC), the first third-party administrator to use this innovative solution, offers its subscribers the ability to pay from multiple healthcare tax-advantaged accounts, credit accounts and cash accounts through a single card."

Availity, an e-health information exchange, and TRANSFIRST have announced the general availability of the Availity CareCollect solution for all physicians and health care providers nationwide. According to the two companies, the CareCollect solution is being offered through a partnership with TRANSFIRST, and will provide Availity customers fully integrated payment processing capabilities.

Metavante has announced it plans to acquire BenSoft Incorporated and its product, RepayMe. Metavante will integrate RepayMe into its existing Healthcare Payment Solutions suite of products. According to Metavante, "RepayMe software provides a Web-based tool for individuals who participate in various benefit programs to easily obtain reimbursement for eligible expenses that are covered by their benefit plans."

Chase Paymentech and Preferred Health Technology have announced A-Claim - calling it "the first fully-integrated healthcare payment solution designed to reduce accounts receivables for physicians and simplify claims payments for patients."

In a move designed to enable the company to be "completely focused on expanding its technology leadership position across the financial services landscape," Fiserv has announced a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of its Health businesses to UnitedHealthcare for $775 million in cash.

Highmark has launched the Healthcare Visa Gift Card - saying "the card provides an easy way for consumers and recipients to cover out-of-pocket expenses related to maintaining personal health and wellness."

Metavante has announced the availability of its Healthcare Gateway - calling it "a single online portal through which most eligibility inquiries, claims submissions and status checks, and payments activities can flow and be monitored on-demand electronically."

Metavante has announced results from its Metavante Payment Progress Index program managed by Celent finding that "healthcare industry e-payments will transition from minority to majority status in the next two years, yet much room for process improvement remains as healthcare payers (insurers) and providers eye overall cost reductions."

According to the Smart Card Alliance, "the vigorous take up of contactless payment in the United States and its future in mobile phones, plus a Mount Sinai Medical Center initiative to give patients control of their own health and hospital registration information, highlighted the Alliance's annual conference."