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.

On the web:

• Girl Scouts Adds Mobile Payments to Drive Cookie Sales - Mobile Commerce Daily
• German P2P Lender Auxmoney Sees Growth - Peer to Peer Lending News
• Here’s How PayPal Is Pitching Mobile Payments to Major Retailers (Slideshow) - AllThingsD
• Facebook Teams up With Bango for Mobile Payments - PCWorld

On the wires:

• Plastic Jungle and InComm Announce Strategic Gift Card Partnership
• Ceridian Introduces Virtual Terminal Enabling Web-based Transactions
• New Aite Group Report on Big Four U.S. Payment Card Networks
• Heartland Handles Nearly 44,000 Transactions as Official Concessions Processor of Super Bowl
• Computop Paygate 5.0 To Expand Support for International Payments

On the web:

• Google Wallet Security Questioned - Bank Technology News
• Credit Card "Skimming" on the Rise - San Jose Mercury News
• Half of Online Consumers Would Trade Privacy for Deals - Internet Retailer
• SCVNGR’s New Mobile Payment Solution 'LevelUp' Goes Device Agnostic QR Codes - TechCrunch
• Retail Payments Risk Forum Conference Explores the Role of Government - Portals and Rails
• Mobile Phone Payments Company 'Bango' Signs Deal With Amazon - TechCrunch
• Isis selects Gemalto as TSM for NFC wallet - GigaOM

On the wires:

• TNS Enters Multi-Year Payment Services Agreement with Open Solutions
• peerTransfer and Nelnet Business Solutions Partner to Enhance International Payment Options on Campus
• Mobile Source Capture from Fiserv Gains Momentum among Banks and Credit Unions
• InComm Launches Prepaid Digital Content and Gaming Destination at Best Buy Mexico
• Blackhawk Network Launches Gift Card Mall(TM) in QuikTrip Locations Nationwide

The GAME Group in Europe has partnered with InComm and announced GAMEwallet, "a completely new way for customers to explore, find and pay for digital downloads, streaming, online gaming subscriptions and essential in-game items." GAMEwallet is intended to give online gamers an alternative to using debit and credit cards online.

On the web:

• Retail Payments Risk Forum Publishes Discussion Paper on P2P Payments - Portals and Rails

On the wires:

• WhoseBill Launches New Application To Manage Money With Friends
• AisleBuyer Creates Mobile Store Associate Application With Checkout for Retailers
• InComm Partners With Manor to Distribute Digital Gaming Cards in Switzerland
• CPS Helps eCommerce Operators Worldwide to Accept China UnionPay Cards Online
• PaySimple Launches Mobile Payments & Customer Management for Small Business
• Acculynk Announces Agreement with the ATH Network for Internet PIN Debit

On the web:

• Subway Launches NFC payments in U.S. - NFCNews

On the wires:

• ROAM Data Takes Number One Market Position for Secure Mobile Phone Card Reader Solutions
• HSBC Sells Its Card and Retail Services Business in the US to Capital One
• NCR Launches Bill Pay / SIM Card Kiosk for Telecom Providers in Middle East and Africa
• Sutherland Global Services USA, Partners With ElectraCard Services (ECS)
• Launch of PlayStation Network Card Supported by InComm
• Hypercom UK and Spain Acquired by Spire Payments
• New Aite Group Report on the Role of VARs/ISVs in Merchant Acquiring Market

On the web:

• Mobile Payments Are a Mess - Huffington Post

On the wires:

• New FICO Solution Helps Banks Grow Bankcard Portfolios in a Dynamic Environment
• SafetyPay Obtains European Payment Services Directive License
• InCOMM Launches Prepaid Cards Utilizing POSA Technology at Toys”R”Us Japan
• ACI Worldwide Boosts Fraud Prevention Services With ACI Financial Crime Consultancy
• CardFlex to Provide Merchant Processing Services to Tabulous Cloud Mobile Customers
• BBVA Compass Adds Person-to-Person (P2P) Payment Option With ZashPay

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”

InComm has announced that it is teaming up with Don Quijote, Japan's largest discount store chain, to launch a suite of point-of-sale activation (POSA) prepaid products utilizing InComm's Fastcard technology at all of its retail locations.

While most retailers in North America regularly use POSA technology to enable display merchandising of gift and prepaid cards, the Don Quijote launch represents the first roll out of this technology in the major discount store industry in Japan.

On the wires:

• VeriFone to Acquire South Africa Payments Solutions Provider
• Parkmobile and Liberty PlugIns Debut Pay by Phone Electric Vehicle Charging
• Telemundo Branded Gift Cards to Launch at Retail This Month via InComm
• New Aite Group Report on the Future of Merchant Acquiring

On the web:

• TechCrunch: WePay Adds Event Ticketing To Hassle-Free Group Payments Platform
• AllThingsD: Alipay Gets Its License to Operate in China
• PayPal Blog: PayPal Is Now a Payout Option for Developers Redeeming Facebrook Credits
• MIT Technology Review: What Bitcoin Is, and Why It Matters

On the wires:

• Avangate Teams Up with PayNearMe to Help Software Vendors Reach Millions of US Shoppers
• InComm Helps K-VA-T Food Stores Expand Prepaid Offerings with New Line of Products
• VeriFone Enables Turkey’s First Pay-at-Pump Systems
• Woolworths Selects FIS for Prepaid Card Processing
• Bottomline Announces New E-Invoicing Service over SWIFT Network
• SK C&C USA Rebrands as CorFire

On the web:

• Wall Street Journal: Check Out the Future of Shopping
• RIS News: Nordstrom Deploys 6,000 Mobile POS Devices
• NetBanker: Zong - A Payments Company Name to Remember
• ETA: Sen. Durbin May Take On eCommerce Sites on Sales Tax
• FierceMobileContent: Isis calls on Apple, Google and Sprint to join mobile payments network

MoneyGram and InComm have announced an agreement where InComm will assist MoneyGram in the distribution and activation of MoneyGram Xpress packages in select outlets in InComm’s network of more than 225,000 retail locations.

“We are pleased to introduce this new money transfer service and bring a whole new level of ease and convenience to our consumers,” said Stu Kiefer, MoneyGram vice president of product management. “Prepaid money transfers allow consumers to pay for the transfer amount and fees at the same time as they make other retail purchases and then actually make the transfer when convenient for them – online or by phone. The product broadens ways to access money transfer services and for many, assists with time and money management.”

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• PAY ON AG and allpago Join Forces in Latin America
• CardNET Brings VeriFone’s VeriShield Total Protect to Dominican Republic
• eBillme Partners with TheFind to Bring More Online Savings to Cash Spenders
• IPP of America Announces New Acquisition, Name Change, and Launch of PayXchange Retail Brand
• New Mercator Report on Indian Payments Market

• ABC News: PayPal to Restrict Payments to India Merchants
• NPR: In Haiti, Cell Phones Serve As Debit Cards
• ProgrammableWeb: Facebook Credits Comes Out of Beta, Unveils a Very Real API for Somewhat Less Real Money
• Portals and Rails: Payments Spotlight podcast: The evolving threat of corporate account takeovers as seen through a bank's lens
• Reuters: The Bancorp to be new issuing bank for NetSpend

Western Union and InComm have announced that they have entered into an agreement to offer Western Union General Purpose Reloadable prepaid cards (GPR) through InComm retail locations.

InComm partners with more than 150,000 retail locations. Through its relationship with InComm, Western Union will now offer the MoneyWise Prepaid card to consumers through grocery and convenience stores, pharmacies, and mass merchandiser locations.

Zeevex, an InComm company distributing virtual currency cards through national retailers in the U.S., has announced that it "has entered into an exclusive agreement with Twitpay to bring viral social network payments to the online game market."

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Barclaycard and Barclays Announce One Millionth Contactless Transaction in UK
• Zuora Raises $20 Million in Series C Funding Led by Redpoint Ventures
• Incomm and Sanrio Digital Partner to Launch Prepaid Gaming Cards for Hello Kitty Online
• PayPal Helps Shoppers Buy Gifts with Peace of Mind this Holiday Season

• TechCrunch: Square Now Processing Millions Of Dollars In Mobile Transactions Every Week
• Portals and Rails: Proposed rule targets cross-border wire transfers
• Macworld: Using the iPhone as a cash register
• Forbes: Names You Need To Know in 2011 - Square

Vindicia has announced it is integrating InComm with its CashBox billing system to allow allows Vindicia’s merchants to expand the demographic mix that they can target for their online goods and services. CashBox now provides payment method options for both subscription and one-time transactions that support the unique requirements of digital merchants in diverse geographies throughout the world. READ MORE »

InComm has acquired GroupCard, a developer of social gifting applications on Facebook. By acquiring the GroupCard social gifting platform, InComm says it "extends its leadership in online gift card and social payments services. Together, the companies will generate greater social marketing exposure for retailers and some of the industry’s first ecommerce solutions for prepaid gift card products." READ MORE »

InComm and NetSpend has announced a distribution agreement that the two companies say "will give many of InComm’s retail partner locations the opportunity to sell and reload the NetSpend general purpose reloadable debit card. InComm — the industry’s largest retail distribution network — will further add to NetSpend’s reload network of 93,000 locations." READ MORE »

Western Union and InComm have announced an agreement to offer the Western Union GoCashSM service, a new U.S. in-lane prepaid money-transfer service from Western Union. READ MORE »

InComm has announced the launch of a new business to business (B2B) platform, Smart GiftCard Solutions focusing on the significant growth of prepaid products within the corporate incentive marketplace. 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 »

First Data and InComm have announced that "they have mutually agreed to terminate the planned acquisition of InComm. Instead, First Data and InComm have signed a distribution agreement and will continue to support their joint customers with prepaid card processing, program management and a distribution network that allows First Data and its merchants to sell prepaid products in InComm prepaid card malls." READ MORE »

InComm has announced that, beginning today, Seiyu shoppers can purchase a range of iTunes Cards at all 392 retail locations throughout Japan through in-store technology powered by InComm's Fastcard point-of-sale activation (POS) technology. Rolling out first with iTunes Cards, Seiyu will expand the offering at all retail locations offering a wide-variety of gift card selections over the next few years. READ MORE »

InComm has announced a relationship with American Cash Exchange, Inc., a personal payment solutions provider and creator of the Poni Card, a US-to-Mexico money remittance card sold in peso values. Under the terms of the agreement, InComm will exclusively process and distribute Poni Cards throughout North America. READ MORE »

In late April, First Data Corp. announced the acquisition of InComm, a marketer, distributor and technology innovator of stored value gift and prepaid products. At the time, specific terms weren't announced. Yesterday, First Data filed a 10-Q with the SEC reporting its financial results for the first quarter of 2008. In that filing, First Data disclosed more information about the acquisition: "The Company will acquire InComm for approximately $980 million, plus contingent future payments of up to $250 million over a three-year performance period." FDC says the acquisition is expected to close later this year.

First Data Corp. has announced an agreement to acquire InComm, a marketer, distributor and technology innovator of stored value gift and prepaid products. Specific terms and conditions of the agreement were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to be accretive to First Data. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year. READ MORE »

American Greetings Corporation has announced that its U.S. card and gift shops "will soon sell gift cards for other retailers, making them the first mall-based stores to offer what is known as a "gift card mall."

7-Eleven has announced that its stores have begun selling the Vanilla Visa Gift Card issued by Elan Financial Services and distributed by InComm.

InComm has announced that the Mio Money Prepaid MasterCard and the Mio Now Card issued by BankFirst are now available to consumers with no monthly fees attached. When the card is used, consumers pay a fee - but there is no longer a monthly fee.