MasterCard Worldwide and Silver Tail Systems announced a new exclusive relationship that will focus on combating online fraud.

“Online fraud resulting from malware, viruses and criminal-controlled bots is a serious concern for both merchants and consumers,” says Johan Gerber, Group Head, Global Network Products for MasterCard Worldwide. “With the increased sophistication of these fraud attacks, merchants are finding it more difficult to distinguish between good customers and criminals. Our relationship with Silver Tail Systems allows us to extend beyond the traditional fraud detection methods and provide merchants with a strong defense against fraud, while improving the consumers’ online experience.”

MasterCard announced fourth quarter and full-year results for the Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA) region. "For the quarter ending 31 December 2011, the region drove strong growth in gross dollar volume (21.8%), purchase volume (23.5%), purchase transactions (18.2%), cash transactions (18.4%) and cards issued (12.3%), versus the same period in 2010."

MasterCard has announced financial results for the fourth quarter 2011.

• Net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $1.7 billion, a 20.2% increase versus the same period in 2010. On a constant currency basis, net revenue increased 20.8% compared to the same period in 2010.

• Worldwide purchase volume during the quarter was up 15.2% on a local currency basis versus the fourth quarter of 2010, to $648 billion. As of December 31, 2011, the company’s customers had issued 1.8 billion MasterCard and Maestro-branded cards.

• Cross-border volume was up 17.5%.

Press release, supplemental operating results, and an accompanying investor presentation are available on the MasterCard website.

On the web:

• WePay: The Online Payment Start-Up Behind Occupy Wall Street - Forbes
• Coopera Signs Eight CUs for Bilingual Prepaid Card

On the wires:

• MasterCard and KeyBank Extend and Enhance Long-Standing Debit Relationship
• Visa Processing Certification for Contis Group Opens International Prepaid Markets

MasterCard has introduced a "comprehensive" roadmap focused on advancing the U.S. electronic payments system to EMV and dynamic transaction data.

“Consumers deserve a great experience any time they use MasterCard products,” said Ed McLaughlin, Chief Emerging Payments Officer, MasterCard. “As the industry invests in the upgrade to EMV in the U.S., we now have the ability to enhance the consumer experience and the security of a payment, regardless of the device – contactless card, mobile, eCommerce and technologies still to come.”

MasterCard has announced that Australia will be the first country to pilot QkR™, a new queue-busting mobile payment application developed by MasterCard that lets movie goers at selected La Premiere Hoyts cinemas order food and drinks directly from their seats by using their smart phone.

The new QkR by MasterCard in-cinema smart ordering service will be piloted by the Commonwealth Bank at a number of Hoyts cinemas for several weeks from January. Guests of Hoyts’ luxurious La Premiere cinemas in Sydney who have an iPhone or Android handset will be able to buy food and drink from the comfort of their cinema seats through an application downloaded to their phone. Purchases are then delivered directly to their seat.

MasterCard and mFoundry have announced an international collaboration that will help banks and credit unions provide their customers with NFC-enabled mobile wallets. MasterCard also made an equity investment in mFoundry.

The collaboration and investment will combine MasterCard’s Tap & Go PayPass technology with mFoundry’s mobile financial services platform to make mobile contactless payments accessible to more consumers. Mobile PayPass, which uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, enables people to make fast, convenient and highly secure payments by simply tapping their NFC phone on any PayPass-enabled terminal at a merchant check-out.

mFoundry developed and manages Starbucks Card Mobile program, the most successful mobile payments program to date, currently used in more than 6,800 stores nationwide.

MasterCard and Western Union have announced a global agreement to cooperate on prepaid cards and money transfers.

MasterCard and Western Union have been working together to provide prepaid card services for the past year. The expanded global relationship makes MasterCard the preferred brand for Western Union-sponsored prepaid programs around the world and makes Western Union the preferred money transfer service for MasterCard. Consumers will have access to a global network to transfer and load funds onto prepaid cards. Western Union and MasterCard prepaid cardholders will be able to reload their prepaid cards at MasterCard rePower locations as well as at participating Western Union® Agent locations.

MasterCard and Telefónica have announced they are forming a joint venture to offer mobile financial solutions for 65 million Vivo consumers in Brazil. "The initiative will create a mobile wallet allowing consumers to make payments via their mobile phones as well as transfer funds, pay bills and make online purchases."

Intel and MasterCard have announced a multi-year strategic collaboration to further enhance the security and consumer payment experience for online shopping.

“MasterCard is constantly working to improve the shopping experience for consumers and merchants,” said Ed McLaughlin, chief emerging payments officer, MasterCard. “The collaboration with Intel will deliver enhanced security and faster checkout – with the convenience of a simple click or tap.”

On the web:

• Mobile Wallets, Contactless Payments Overhyped Say Analysts - American Banker
• Human Kiosks: Serving Customers Through Virtual Engagement - Point of Sale News
• Richard Branson Invests in Square Mobile Payments - Digital Trends
• State of EMV in US - Bank Systems & Technology

On the wires:

• Tabbedout Continues Expansion; Brings Mobile Payment to Seattle
• People’s United Bank Expands Its Relationship with FIS’ Mobile Financial Services
• MasterCard Reports Strong Third Quarter Growth in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa Region
• CenPOS Launches Mobile Payment App for Smartphones via Android Market

MasterCard has announced financial results for the third quarter 2011.

• Net revenue for the third quarter of 2011 was $1.8 billion, a 27.3% increase versus the same period in 2010. On a constant currency basis, net revenue increased 23.8%.

• Worldwide purchase volume during the quarter was up 17.2% on a local currency basis versus the third quarter of 2010, to $628 billion. As of September 30, 2011, the company’s customers had issued 1.7 billion MasterCard and Maestro-branded cards.

• Cross-border volume was up 19.3%.

Press release, supplemental operating results, and an accompanying investor presentation are available on the MasterCard website.

On the web:

• Visa, MasterCard Looking Into Online Targeted Advertising Using Credit-Card Data - WSJ.com
• Singapore Inches Closer to Mobile Wallet - ZDNet Asia News

On the wires:

• Citi Renews U.S. Private Label Card Agreement With Sears
• INSIDE Secure Surpasses 10 Million Unit Milestone for NFC Chip Shipments
• Payvment Announces General Availability of Payvment Premium
• Aria Systems Rolls Out a Revenue Recognition Management Product for Compliant Reporting of Prepaid Subscriptions

On the web:

• Facebook Caves To Apple On Mobile Payments on iOS - BusinessInsider
• Square Processing $2B In Payments Per Year, Has Signed Up 800K Merchants - TechCrunch
• eBay to Unveil Commerce Identity at X.Commerce Innovate DevCon - AuctionBytes
• Create Card-Free Rewards Programs with Apps - Entrepreneur.com
• ZipPay To Launch New Mobile Payments Service Cheaper Than Square - TechCrunch
• MasterCard To Equip Subway Restaurants For Mobile Payments - WSJ.com

On the wires:

• Merchant Warehouse Announces Best Practices for Small Businesses Affected by Recent Revisions to Interchange Fee
• VirtualPiggy Now Available to Merchants on eBay’s Magento Platform
• First Open Source In-app Payment Library for Android OS by SmsCoin Project

Visa and MasterCard have increased small ticket debit interchange up to the legal cap prescribed by Regulation II. To understand the impact of this increase on small ticket sellers, see this story in Digital Transactions magazine on the likely reaction from vending operators. For reference, Visa's US Interchange Rate Schedule is located here; MasterCard's Schedule is here.

On the web:

• Mobile Wallets Move Closer to Reality - eMarketer
• Mobile Payments Are Going to Explode This Holiday Season, PayPal Says - ReadWriteWeb
• Why Mobile Payments Might Still Be A Few Years Away In A Few Years - paidContent.org

On the wires:

• AsiaPay partners with Smart for Safer Online Payments in Philippines
• BillMyParents and MasterCard Educate Parents of Teens About the Benefits of Prepaid Cards
• Euronet and wipit to Launch Mobile Payment Service Targeting the Cash-Preferred Consumer
• Mercator Announces Eighth Annual Closed-Loop Prepaid Market Assessment

On the web:

• The Rise Of The Online To Offline Commerce Network - Business Insider
• PayPal Now Processing $315 Million In Payments Per Day - TechCrunch
• NACHA Survey: Convenience Drives Direct Deposit - Credit Union Times
• Google Wallet and PayPal in 'electro-purse' War - The Register
• Starbucks Perks Up Mobile Payments Program (Interview) - eMarketer
• Orange has EU-wide Ambitions for NFC - Rethink Wireless
• I Can’t Use My Prepaid Card For That Now? - Portals and Rails
• Google Wallet Rollout Going 'Kind of Slow' - Computerworld
• Extended Remittance Information: Will The Tail Wag the Dog? (Registration Required) - GTNews

On the wires:

• VALITOR and PAY.ON Cooperate to Market Cross-Border Acquiring Solutions
• Starwood Joins the MasterCard Worldwide Enhanced Folio Data Program
• Blackhawk Network Announces Partnership With Smart & Final
• USDT Introduces Next Generation Credit/Debit Card Chargeback Management System
• Apex Payroll Selects the ReadyFUND$ MasterCard Payroll Card

On the web:

• Google Wallet Hands On Review - Katherine Boehret - AllThingsD
• No Cards, No Cash. Just a Phone - David Pogue Reviews the Google Wallet - NYTimes.com
• In MasterCard's Future, You Can Buy Things by Waving at Your TV - Mashable
• Here's a Facebook App That's Basically a Bank - AllThingsD
• A First Look at the BankSimple UI - BankSimple Blog

On the wires:

• Visa Europe extends CodeSure family with Matrix Display card
• CreditKarma.com Releases Data on 5 Million Credit Cards
• Commerce Bank Adds First Data TransArmor Solution to Merchant Product Suite
• NexTech Partners with Chase Paymentech to Streamline Payment Processing

On the web:

• Google Taps George Costanza as 'Google Wallet' Pitchman (Video) - PCMag.com
• MasterCard Defends Google Wallet Ahead of Its Official Launch - AllThingsD
• Carriers Increasingly Laying Claim on Android Market through Direct Billing - telecoms.com
• Turkcell Ramps Up Mobile Payments Technology - NFCNews

On the wires:

• Bottomline Technologies’ Paymode-X Network Reaches 150,000 Vendors
• Visa’s Yearly Payments Volume in Latin America and the Caribbean Grew to 26.2%
• E-Debit Global Corporation Launches Proprietary Mobile Payments Platform
• eLayaway Connected to 14 Million Consumers, Including Military Families and Federal Employees
• BillShrink Changes Its Name to Truaxis
• Fiserv to Produce Personalized EMV Cards
• FleetCor Enters Mexican Fuel Card Market

MasterCard recently held its annual update to the investor community on the company’s operational, business and product initiatives. The update included a review of strategy, marketing initiatives, core products, emerging payments, and MasterCard Advisors -- along with geography reviews of the LAC, EPMEA, and US markets. Webcast playback of the meeting (4:15 hours) is available from the MasterCard Investor Relations site, along with downloadable presentation material (98 slides).

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.”

MasterCard has announced financial results for the second quarter 2011. Net revenue for the quarter was $1.7 billion, a 22.1% increase versus the same period in 2010. Worldwide purchase volume during the quarter was up 16.3% on a local currency basis versus the second quarter of 2010, to $608 billion. Cross-border volume was up 19.3%.

Press release, supplemental operating results, and an accompanying investor presentation are available on the MasterCard website.

On the web:

• UK Company Offers Mobile Wallet Fraud Insurance - NFCNews
• Mobile Banking Changes Everything, or Nothing - NetBanker
• Struggling Nokia to Roll Out 'Mobile Money' Service to Revive Fortune - The Economic Times
• MasterCard to bring NFC payments to Georgia - NFCNews

On the wires:

• Renasant Bank Joins the Secure Vault Payments Network
• U.S. Bank and SkoreIt! Introduce Co-Branded Visa Gift Card for Penny Auction Bidders
• Admeris Partners With Omnego to Deliver Secure Mobile Payments on Leading Mobile Wallet Platform
• Lending Club Announces $25 Million Round Led by Union Square Ventures
• New Mercator Report on Prepaid as Best Bet for Financial Inclusion
• Cardtronics Buys LocatorSearch to Enhance Convenience Marketing Capabilities

Isis, the national mobile commerce joint venture between AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, has announced that "Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express will join Isis in making mobile commerce a reality for millions of U.S. consumers and merchants."

“Since the formation of Isis in November, we have been committed to building a mobile commerce platform that aligns and advances the interests of consumers, merchants and banks,” said Michael Abbott, chief executive officer for Isis. “By working with the nation’s payment networks – Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express – we significantly advance the vision of an open and secure platform that provides banks and merchants with a new and highly relevant way to connect with consumers.”

On the web:

• Fed Caps Debit Card Fees for Merchants - New York Times
• MobilePayUSA Getting Ready to Bring POS Payments Without NFC in Q4 2011 - intomobile
• Checking Out VeriFone's New Square Copycat - AllThingsD

On the wires:

• China UnionPay and MasterCard Sign Payment Gateway Service Agreement
• Avangate Rounds Out BRIC Payment Methods Support with Boleto Bancario
• New Mercator Report on the GPR Prepaid Card as Alternative to a Bank Account

On the web:

• Square’s Remarkably Similar Chinese Competitor Appears - TechCrunch
• Implications of Visa's Recent Change to Chargeback Rules - Vindicia Blog
• Bling Nation’s Pause to Retool Likely to Leave It Behind Rivals - Digital Transactions
• China UnionPay Launches Bankcard-free Trade Handling Platform - TMCnet
• Apple Backpedals On App Store Subscription Rules - TechCrunch
• Bus Tickets Purchased & Presented via SMS - SpringWise

On the wires:

• Edenred Launches MasterCard PayPass Commuter Check Card
• ImpulsePay launches PublishPay to Help Publishers Monetise Mobile Content (UK)
• SelectCore Announces Industry-Changing Mobile Remittance Solution
• New In-App Purchasing and Mobile Payment Capabilities for Windows Phone 7 on CloudMiddleware.com

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

On the wires:

• MasterCard Partnership with BP / Aral brings Contactless Technology to Forecourts
• New Juniper Research Report on NFC Mobile Payments
• Vindicia Adds Heatwave Interactive and Idea Fabrik as Online Game Clients
• eWise Secures $14 Million in Financing Led by Wellington Partners

On the web:

• CSnews: MurPay 'Pay-by-Text' Taking Off for Murphy Oil USA
• POS News: The Disintermediation of the Point of Sale Industry
• Bank Info Security: Legal Ruling Favors Bank over Business on ACH Fraud
• TechCrunch: Paygr Combines Facebook And PayPal in a Marketplace for Local Buying And Selling

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

MasterCard has announced the results of a new survey, conducted by Kelton Research, that shows 62% of Americans who use a mobile phone would be open to using their device to make purchases. "According to the study, 63% of 18-34 year olds would be at ease using mobile phones to make purchases versus those age 35 or older (37%)."