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."

On the web:

• MCX Is A Mobile Payment Platform For Retailers, By Retailers - NRF Retail's BIG Blog
• VeriFone Introduces Payment Solution For iPad Mini - MobilePaymentsToday.com

On the wires:

• SpeechStorm Makes IVR Payments Easier (PCI Compliant) in Europe
• TSYS Technology to Help Achieve Financial Inclusion in India
• MasterCard and Equity Bank to Introduce PayPass Enabled Cards in Five African Markets
• Ingenico partners with Microsoft to Drive Retail Innovation
• NCR Launches Mobile Point-of-Sale Optimization Practice

On the web:

• Ezetap Launches Mobile POS Solution in India - MediaNama
• PayPal’s New President Faces the Music: “If We Suck … We Now Face It” - AllThingsD
• Microsoft Extends 'Mach' Direct Mobile Billing to Skype Credits - TechCrunch
• Amazon Launches Program to Lend Sellers Cash - eCommerceBytes
• Google Reinvents Micropayments — As Surveywall - Slashdot

On the wires:

• Fiserv Launches Instant Issue Solution for Credit and Debit Cards
• MoneyGram Adds China Guangfa Bank to Agent Network

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

On the web:

• Groupon Acquires POS Start Breadcrumb to Connect with Local Restaurants - VentureBeat
• PayPal InStore App: Use your PayPal Account on the High Street (UK) - Shiny Shiny
• Banks Tacking Fees On To Campus Debit Cards (video) - MSNBC.com

On the wires:

• Discover and Ducks Unlimited Announce New Affinity Card
• i2c and KargoCard Announce Partnership to Power Prepaid, Mobile Payments and Loyalty Solutions in China
• Risk Office from Fiserv: Helping Clients Reduce Dollar Fraud Losses by an Average of 40%
• Acculynk and National Payments Corporation of India Announce Internet PIN Debit Partnership
• WorldPay Launches Advanced RFI and Chargeback Management Platform
• Planet Payment Acquires Branded Payment Solutions Ltd (Ireland)
• Cellum Introduces MasterCard Mobile Wallet (Hungary)

On the web:

• Barclays Extends Its Mobile Payments Service Pingit To Corporate Clients

On the wires:

• AJB Guides Petroleum Merchants with EMV Payments
• Restaurants Unlimited Selects CashStar for Digital Gifting
• CSG International Launches New Version of Singleview Charging and Billing Solution
• New Mercator Report on Debit Divergence in Brazil and India

On the web:

• Barclaycard PayTag looks to boost mobile payments - TechRadar
• India implements Government e-payment Gateway - Banking & Payments Asia
• How the iPad Is Disrupting the Point of Sale - ReadWrite Mobile

On the wires:

• Bank Freedom Teams with FIS Mobile
• MoneyGram Increases Send Capabilities in Mexico with Addition of CI Banco

On the web:

• PayPal Teams Up With Gas Station Chain On A Payment App And Fuel Discounts - TechCrunch
• Bump Unveils Brand New iPhone App for Splitting Payments - Huffington Post
• Mobile Payment Startup Money-on-Mobile Raises $29.7M From Calpian VCCircle
• What Defines an Efficient Market? - Portals and Rails

On the wires:

• LexisNexis Launches Multi-factor Authentication Solutions to Help Mitigate Identify Theft
• Western Union Signs Expands Online Account-Based Money Transfer Service to Financial Institution Customers in Canada
• Citi and American Airlines Announce the New Citi Platinum Select / AAdvantage Card
• Chase Launches the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa Card in Canada

On the web:

• Rumored: PayPal to Launch Square Competitor - GigaOm
• Video: Isis Makes An Appearance At SXSW, Demos App And How To Make A Purchase - Droid Life
• Nokia to Shut Indian Mobile Money Service - Reuters
• Nokia Exits Mobile Payments Business With Shuttering Of Nokia Money - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• The Bancorp Bank Is the New Issuer for the PayPal Debit MasterCard Card
• The Bancorp Bank to Issue Prepaid Cards for Swift Prepaid Solutions
• Custom Payment Gateways from PayCube – An Essential Step for Today’s Emerging ISO

Movida, a mobile payments joint venture backed by Visa and Monitise, announced it has signed an agreement with HDFC Bank, India’s second-largest private bank, to introduce a new mobile payment service in India.

Naushad Contractor, Movida’s President and head of the Monitise and Visa joint venture in India, commented: “This is a service designed for Indians. As we rollout the service to other banks more Indians will be able to benefit from mobile payments. Wave goodbye to waiting in long queues or visiting post offices or payment machines to pay bills as you will now be able to do that right from your mobile phone. This service is going to drastically reduce the time & energy Indians waste every day waiting to pay bills.”

On the web:

• Starbucks Launches ‘pay by app’ for iPhone Users in UK - Telegraph
• Spindle Plans Mobile Payment Product for Small Banks - American Banker
• Square Expands Retail Partnerships to Include OfficeMax And UPS Store Locations - TechCrunch
• PayAnywhere Lets You Build Payments Acceptance Into An App Of Your Own - Business Insider
• Is what you see what you get? Proposed Pricing Disclosures for Electronic Remittances - Portals and Rails
• State Bank of India Drops Plan for Merchant Acquiring JV with Visa, Elavon - The Times of India
• Top 7 Card Readers For Smartphones: Apple, Android, and Blackberry - Mobile POS News
• The Future of Self-Service Checkout - STORES.org
• The State of ACH Fraud - Bank Info Security

On the wires:

• New Mercator Report on India's Prepaid Card Market
• SunGard Closes Syntesys Acquisition to Offer Expanded SWIFT Connectivity and Services
• Chase Partners with Southwest Airlines to Enhance Ultimate Rewards Travel Options for Cardmembers
• U.S. Bank Implements Secure Vault Payments for Nebraska Online Child Support Payments

On the web:

• My Mobile Payments Receives RBI’s Approval to Issue Mobile Wallet in India - MoneyLife

On the wires:

• Apparel Retailer Aéropostale Selects CashStar to Deliver eGift Cards
• CHARGE Anywhere Releases Payment Application for Windows Mobile
• MoneyGram Growth Continues in India: State Bank of India Joins Agent Network

On the web:

• Your Next Credit Card Is Your Last - Fast Company
• Wal-Mart, McDonald's Execs Sour on New Debit Rules - chicagotribune.com
• Starbucks Finds Success in Mobile Payments - TMCnet.com
• International Fraud Awareness Week is Here - Portals and Rails
• PayMate To Launch NFC Based Mobile Payments Product in India - MediaNama

On the wires:

• USA Technologies Maintains Branded Credit and Debit Rate Structure for Small-Ticket Markets
• Digital River Offers Enterprise Software Publishers New Revenue Channel
• Euronet Expands its Polish Network with ATM Acquisition from Diebold’s cash4you Network
• Wright Express Announces International Capabilities for Single-Use Virtual Payments
• Cubic Integrates Video Interface in Next-Gen Ticketing Machines
• 3 Point Alliance chooses Transactis as EBPP Partner
• New Celent Report on State of Remote Deposit Capture

ElectraCard Services (ECS) has announced that it has signed Union Bank of India to use electraECOMM, its internet payment gateway.

ECS’s electraECOMM is a highly secure, online, real time payment processing solution, supporting all major credit and debit cards from global payment processing networks and multiple currencies. It provides transaction acquiring and processing interfaces to Web Merchants, Customers, EFT Switches & Acquirer Networks.

Along with electraECOMM, Union Bank of India has also implemented electraSECURE, a solution that will enable safe online transactions.

On the web:

• Zynga Explains Method For Recording Real Revenue From Virtual Goods - Wall Street Journal
• Speed Bumps on the Road to Virtual Cash - New York Times
• New Starbucks Mobile-Pay App Adds Facebook Link for Gifting - American Banker
• Handicapping the Mobile Payments Battle - Mobile Commerce Daily
• China Telecom Opens Mobile Payment Function For 3G Users In Beijing - ChinaTechNews.com
• Alipay Invades China's High Streets, with Mobile Barcode Payments - Penn Olson
• PayMate launches 'WayPay', 1st Mobile Cashless Management Service - MSN India
• VeriFone to Unveil Tablet Credit-Card Reader This Year to Take On Square - Bloomberg
• Users Can Now Buy Facebook Credits in 32 New Currencies, Including Chinese Yuan - Inside Facebook

On the wires:

• 99Bill Enters into Strategic Agreements with Eight Major Banks in China
• Plimus Debuts Online GoGuides to Accelerate Seller and Affiliate Sales Success
• TCF Requests Dismissal of Lawsuit Challenging Durbin Amendment
• Regions Bank Completes Purchase of $1 Billion Credit Card Portfolio
• Western Union Expands Cash Payment Option to More Than 60 Countries for AdSense 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

On the wires:

• Bangkok Airways Chooses Accertify to Provide Online Fraud Prevention
• MoneyGram International Adds Friendly Check and RiteCheck to Global Network
• TGate Announces Mobile Payment Best Practice Solution

On the web:

• Bank Technology News: Real U.S. Action on EMV
• Roll Call Lobbying: Swipe Fees Battle May Move to States
• Hindu Business Line: Soon, Merchant Transactions Too Can Be Paid Via Mobile
• AuctionBytes: Google Removes Checkout Badges from AdWord Ads
• Seeking Alpha: Elephant Talk and Mobile Wallets - The Next Trillion Dollar Revolution
• Business Standard: IndusInd Bank Pact with ECS for Credit Card Program in India
• CRIenglish.com: China UnionPay Cards to Be Accepted in Brazil
• Retail Week: Taking Payment Overseas
• NFC Times: With Launch of Google Wallet, the Wallet War Begins

On the wires:

• Survey: Card Fraud Experts Warn Against Looming Mobile Payment Fraud Risk
• SecurityMetrics Introduces Network Threat Sensor to Simplify PCI-DSS Compliance
• TSYS Signs Merchant Services Agreement With Caledon Card Services
• NXGEN International Partners with Elavon to Expand European Footprint
• PayCommerce Offers Cloud-Based SMB Payment Suite Reseller Subscription Plan
• Elastic Path Launches Ecommerce on the Google Cloud
• Carta Worldwide Integrates MasterCard Mobile Over-the-Air Provisioning Service (MOTAPS)
• OpenCuro To Demonstrate New Online Payment System at FinovateSpring 2011

On the web:

• NPR: Banks, Retailers In Lobbying Race Over Debit Fees
• TechCrunch: Sequent Software Raises Funding, Aims To Simplify NFC Mobile Payments
• American Banker: ProPay s Zumogo Mobile Payment App Gets Social
• FierceFinance: Bank of America Ponders New Ways to Charge Overdraft Fees (via SMS Opt-In)
• CNET: Intuit Eyes NFC for Mobile Payment System
• GoMo News: India's Interbank Mobile Payment Service Finally Includes Merchants

On the wires:

• TSYS Expands Merchant Acquiring Presence With Acquisition of TermNet
• FIS Begins Processing New ELO Cards in Brazil
• Bill.com Rolls Out Official Integration with Sage Peachtree Software

On the web:

• FierceMobileContent: PayPal expects to process $2 billion in mobile payments in 2011
• TechCrunch: Jack Dorsey Shares Some Square Numbers
• Mashable: ING Direct Customers Can Now Pay Friends By Bumping Smartphones
• Wall Street Journal (SmartMoney):New Rules of the Credit Card Game
• Collections & Credit Risk: Discover To Pay Cardholders Referral Fee In Social-Media Push
• CRIENGLISH.com: Australian Payment Processor Will Start Accepting Unionpay Cards
• Times of India: Mobile payment system to gain steam in coming months
• Mobile Way to Pay: Will Retailers Use Tender Steering To Take Control Of Interchange?
• Portals and Rails: The Check's in the Mail, but it might be Fraudulent
• TechCrunch: Online Point Of Sale (POS) Systems Are The New Vogue

On the wires:

• Fiserv Launches Enhanced Relationship Rewards for Premier, Now with Loyalty Points
• IronKey Research Finds UK Organisations Fearful of Organised Cyber Crime

On the web:

• Business Standard: RuPay Network Likely to be Rolled Out in 18 months in India
• NetBanker Blog: 30 Most Popular iPad Apps from U.S. Banks and Other Financial Services Companies
• Skatter Tech: Apple Stores Now Stocking Square Card Readers
• Freshbooks Blog: PayPal Business Payments – $0.50 Flat Fee Online Payments
• Digital Money: Contactless in Chaos

On the wires:

• American Express Takes Aim at Identity Thieves with ID Protect Premium
• Hypercom Brings EMV Card Payment to Dubai’s Metro
• Visa Europe’s €100m Investment in Convergence

On the web:

• MSNBC: Study: Banks Hiding Fee Info, Skirting Law
• Digital Transactions: Secure Vault Payments Will Go Mobile Later This Year with Bar Codes
• Business Standard: IndusInd to Buy Deutsche Bank's Credit Card Biz in India
• BayPay Event: Mobile Payment Beyond NFC

The Mobile Money Exchange has a great visual tool that nicely illustrates the proliferation of mobile money deployments around the world.

This tool was originally developed by the GSMA Mobile Money for the Unbanked team (covering the countries under their remit) and has been extended to include all worldwide mobile money deployments.

On the wires:

• Vindicia and GlobalCollect Sign Partnership Agreement
• Network Merchants (NMI) Launches Mobile Processing Solution

On the web:

• InformationWeek: Microsoft Needs Mobile Money
• Business Standard: NPCI to Charge Banks for Mobile Transactions (India)
• TechCrunch: The Ever-Elusive Mobile Wallet: Why NFC Chips Are Overhyped And Will Underdeliver

Tanla Solutions has announced the launch of TPAYmobile - a cross platform, in-app mobile payment service for mobile applications and games.

Through a single integration with TPAYmobile, developers get access to billing on over 100 mobile networks as well as the ability to charge through Credit & Debit cards globally. TPAYmobile provides developers the ability to monetize through new and innovative business models like in-application billing, try & buy, time bound licensing and subscriptions with absolutely no starter or joining fee.

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

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Banca Intesa Sanpaolo to Offer Western Union Money Transfer in Italy
• txtNation adds support for Mobile Payments in the Nordics
• CreditCall Introduces Contactless Kernel to Its EMV Product Range Supporting NFC and Wave and Pay
• New Mercator Report on US Mobile P2P Payment Market: Gee Whiz or Gee Why?

• DNA India: Ensuring Security of Payment Systems a Big Challenge
• Forbes: Unhappy With Slow Growth Of Android App Purchases, Google Talks 2011 Roadmap
• Wall Street Journal: House Panel Sets Hearing on Debit Card Fees
• NFCNews: Orange, Barclaycard to Launch Contactless Mobile Payment this Summer

MasterCard has released its latest "Insights" report on online shopping in emerging markets.

The results of the index show the gap in online shopping is closing in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA) region; last year we saw a huge spike with India and Thailand jumping in terms of their increasing ease of shopping online, bringing them close to numbers for some of the more mature markets like China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. While scores in India and Thailand have stabilized since last year, this year we see a jump in markets like China and Malaysia.

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Wells Fargo Desktop Deposit Service Processes $1 Trillion
• MoneyGram Significantly Expands Presence in India with 4,200 New Agent Locations
• New Mercator Report on Smartphone Use of NFC Technology Beyond Payments
• Onebip Partners with Online Games Publisher OGPlanet

• Mashable: Why Your Smartphone Will Replace Your Wallet

MasterCard has announced "a payment solution for ‘Aadhaar’. ‘Aadhaar’ is a 12-digit Unique Identification Number (UID) that captures basic demographic and biometric information of Indian residents. The UID will make it possible for residents to establish their identity with financial institutions thereby providing them a gateway into the formal banking system. This payment solution will enable Aadhaar holders to perform payment transactions using UID numbers with biometric authentication.'

In related news, ElectraCard Services (ECS) also announced that they will be handling the end-to-end processing of of MasterCard solution.

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• Visa Develops Electronic Payment Solution in India Using UIDAI Platform
• Citi Launches Flu Care Card

• EE Times: PayPal Exec Charts Future of Mobile Money