On the web:

• Retailers to Forge Uber-Like Mobile Payment Pacts, Collison Says - Bloomberg BusinessWeek - "Mobile payments companies and retailers will forge more partnerships where they retain customer identities, making it unnecessary to re-enter credit-card information..."
• iZettle Takes Its Mobile Payment Service To Mexico, Its First Market Outside Of Europe, And One Step Closer To Square - TechCrunch - "De Geer notes that 95% of cards in Mexico are chip-based. That, in fact, may be one reason why Square, whose dongle reads the magnetic stripe for transactions, may have yet to make a move here."
• Voicekey unveils biometric iPhone app - Finextra - "Voicekey has already launched an iPhone app, called OpenSezMe..."
• Mobile Money Maths - Mobile Money Asia - "Creating a viable mobile money service is fundamentally a question of marketing (driving appropriate use cases tapping into clear customer pain points) and distribution (creating a sufficiently dense, liquid agent network)."
• Indian firm enters Nigeria's mobile money sector - Economic Times (India) - "Nigeria's central bank has been campaigning for a cashless economy whereby citizens can use electronic means to transfer funds and make payments."

On the wires:

• MasterCard Announces Leadership Changes in its Latin America and Caribbean Region - "MasterCard announced today the appointment of Gilberto Caldart as president of its Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) business…"
• Portico Private Residence Collection to Provide Special Membership Benefits to MasterCard Cardholders - "MasterCard and pioneering vacation brand Portico™ today joined to provide MasterCard cardholders with access to unique vacation home experiences beyond traditional hotels and resorts…"
• ACI Worldwide Survey: EMV Will Accelerate Adoption of Mobile Technologies, Industry Monitoring Mobile Wallet Adoption - "According to the survey, nearly half of all respondents (49 percent) believed the U.S. migration to EMV will result in consumers turning away from card-based transaction in lieu of mobile payments."
• MasterCard and Western Union Launch Dedicated International Payments Service for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses - "We view the introduction of this service to American small-business owners as the first of several opportunities across the globe to support this segment’s money-transfer needs..."

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
• Follow Glenbrook Partners on LinkedIn! -

On the web:

• Malka, Rickards Debate Bitcoin Utility, Longevity - Bloomberg TV - "Micky Malka, founder and general partner at Ribbit Capital, and James Rickards, senior managing director at Tangent Capital Partners, debate the advantages, disadvantages and longevity of bitcoin, an alternative currency."
• Payments – Wrapping, Rules, Acquiring and Tokens - FinVentures (Tom Noyes) - "The exec summary of this blog: don’t ever bet your business on someone else’s rules… particularly if they themselves don’t own them."
• UK Consumers Warm to Mobile Payments - eMarketer - "Awareness of places where UK consumers can use mobile payment technology has more than doubled during the past year..."
• Banks Turn to Fees to Make Mobile Pay - Bank Technology News - "Yet evidence is starting to mount that retail banking fees, so unpopular in areas like checking accounts, may be palatable for mobile banking services."
• 5 Things I Learned Reading Visa's Annual Report - Motley Fool - "I knew Visa was the biggest player in the industry, but I didn't realize that by most measures, it's nearly twice the size of rival MasterCard."
• What It’s Like to Work Inside Jack Dorsey’s Brain - "Square wants work to be anything but punching the clock. It wants life at the office to be a designed experience."
• Moving cheques into the fast lane - Canadian Payments Association - "Through a multi-year project, the CPA has created the opportunity for Canadian financial institutions to exchange and clear images of cheques electronically..."

On the wires:

• Dynamics ePlate® Card Continues To Shatter 1% Credit Card Reward Status Quo - "Known by early adopters as the card that "lights up," the ePlate® card is equipped with two "Experience™ buttons" that literally light up when pressed, giving cardholders a more active role in deciding which rewards they want to earn and when."
• Dream. Dare. Do…American Express Launches the #PassionProject - "Today, American Express kicked off a new program designed to enable, inspire and encourage people to pursue their passion projects."
• Amazon Announces Amazon Birthday Gift – A New Way to Make Gift Giving Simple, Social and Fun - "Amazon Birthday Gift lets you join a social gift that will grow as more friends participate, which makes giving and receiving birthday messages on Facebook even more fun."
• Citibank Small Business Pulse® Reveals Three-Year High in Owners’ View of Business Conditions - "Nearly half of small business owners (48%) rate conditions as good or excellent, up from 43% in May 2012 and twice the rate three years ago (24%)."

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
• Follow Glenbrook Partners on LinkedIn! -

On the web:

• How many payments professionals does it take to hire a bike? Three! (A story of Chip & PIN) - Payments Views - Glenbrook's Erin McCune tries to rent a bicycle in London - without a chip card...
• Mobile money in the UK - Tomorrow's Transactions - "There are significant populations in developed markets that closely match the characteristics of mobile money customers in the emerging markets, and there is a clear opportunity for the right mobile money propositions."
• Beyond Bitcoin: Your Guide to Digital Currencies - Mashable - "Think of digital currency as an Esperanto that people are actually beginning to speak."

On the wires:

• First Data Leverages Bank Relationships with Latest Mobile Payment Solution for Merchants - "Pogo> works by allowing a merchant to combine a web-enabled smartphone or tablet with a mobile application and secure mobile card reader to create a point-of-sale (POS) device that leverages First Data’s proven technology…"
• SecureKey Brings Hardware-Based Security to MasterPass Digital Commerce Platform - "MasterPass is a perfect example of how Intel IPT working with briidge.net DNA can provide a hardware root of trust that can be utilized by multi-factor authentication solutions for identity protection and transaction verification."

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
• Follow Glenbrook Partners on LinkedIn! -

On the web:

• PNC to add deposit, balance requirements for free checking - Chicago Tribune - "According to the Web site of the Pittsburgh-based bank, free checking will no longer be available for new accounts as of Aug. 18."
• Accelerating the migration to electronic payments through mobile acceptance solutions - "At Visa, we see great potential to accelerate the migration to electronic payments through mPOS solutions."
• “Life on Bitcoin”: These newlyweds plan to live for 90 days entirely on bitcoin, and film the whole thing - PandoDaily - "As someone who has used bitcoin in the digital world but never in the physical world, I’m fascinated to see how this plays out."
• Who is your Edward Snowden? - The Bankwatch - "The core assumption, which is flawed, applies to the NSA and to Banks, as well as all businesses. That assumption is that business information is opaque to the information system handlers."

On the wires:

• MasterCard and Kount Join Forces to Help Merchants Fight e-Commerce Fraud - "Kount is the first company to offer the MasterCard Expert Monitoring API to merchants."
• Moneris Solutions names Angela Brown, President & CEO - "Brown’s mandate is to continue to position Moneris as the leading merchant services and card processing provider in North America."
• CardConnect Announces Launch of CoPilot - "CoPilot brings every aspect of running a successful, growing ISO to each agent’s fingertips…"
• MoneyGram Joining Forces with Lebara to Offer International Money Transfers on Mobile Devices - "MoneyGram’s money transfer platform is now integrated within the Lebara Money iPhone and Android mobile payment platform solutions and the Lebara Money website…"
• Taco John's Chooses FreedomPay Commerce Platform to Enable Growth - "The new Taco John’s Platform is a virtual transaction superhighway with the power to enhance the customer experience in-store, online and across any mobile device."
• <Oberthur Technologies Partners with HID Global to Carry Seos Digital Keys on NFC SIM Cards for Mobile Access - "Oberthur Technologies’ dragonFly NFC SIM cards and its secure elements in general are interoperable with Seos from HID Global…"

SEC Filings:

• Green Dot Bank to Acquire Wal-mart Prepaid Cards Agreement from GE Capital Retail Bank

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
• Follow Glenbrook Partners on LinkedIn! -

On the web:

• Google Wallet Is Leaking Money - BusinessWeek - "After two years, most consumers still can’t use the app."
• Why Google Is Missing Out on the Mobile-Payments Boom - BusinessWeek - "NFC’s poor take-up represents one of the bigger whiffs by the mobile industry in recent years."
• Visa Doesn't See Big Impact From Retailers Opting Out of Settlement - Wall St. Journal - "Mr. Scharf said it appears roughly 25% of merchants won't participate in the settlement."
• Payments: 'tap and go' is so 2012 - Sydney Morning Herald - "You’ll be able to visualise the prices of items as overlays when you walk through a store and the customer will tap the side of the glasses to make a purchase."
• New York Merchants Sue to Stop Ban on Card-Fee Surcharges - Bloomberg - "Five merchants including a hair salon, ice-cream parlor and liquor store filed a complaint today in federal court in Manhattan demanding that the law be declared unconstitutional."
• China’s romance with Bitcoin continues - CoinDesk - "The country’s increased interest in the currency has shown no signs of abating over the past couple of months…"
• Bitcoin payments could be a landmine for companies - CSO Online - "The problem is in the way the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network works."
• How Bitcoin Lets You Spy on Careless Companies - Wired - "…because all transactions are recorded publicly on the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network, once you know the Bitcoin address of the person you’re paying, it’s possible to track all other payments made to that address."

On the wires:

• NXP and SES Achieve Breakthrough for Mass Adoption of NFC in Retail - "Embedding NFC tags into electronic shelf labels enables retailers to offer a number of different services to brands, from digital marketing and social media integration to personalized cross-selling, up-selling and loyalty schemes."
• INSIDE Secure and CPI Card Group Announce Availability of MasterCard M/Chip Advance in the U.S. - "These new card products give issuers the greatest flexibility in migrating to EMV. One product has been optimized to support online-only EMV card programs, while the other supports both online and offline payment transactions."

On the web:

• China blocks MasterCard processing renminbi transactions - Financial Times
• How Bitcoin Is Sacrificing Its Soul to Survive - CNBC.com - "There's nothing to indicate that good players who are working hard to stay regulated have anything to worry about."
• More than play money - Sydney Morning Herald - "The ACC is currently working with partners to explore the Bitcoin market and other digital currencies, to better understand its size and criminal threat…"

On the wires:

• Mexico Mandates CFDI Electronic Invoicing by Year-End, Affecting an Estimated Half-Million Companies - "Mexico’s taxing authority, the Servicio de Administracion Tributaria (SAT), announced May 31st, 2013a that all commercial invoice transactions sent by companies earning more than 250,000 Pesos annually must be submitted to the authority in a standard electronic format for approval effective Jan. 1, 2014."

On the web:

• Walmart: Settlement ‘Worse Than Losing’ - StorefrontBacktalk
• States Join Foes of Card-Fee Settlement - Wall St. Journal - "The attorneys general of California, Ohio, Arizona and six other states argued in an objection filed Tuesday…"
• The US surcharging mess - Tomorrow's Transactions - "Payments regulation in the US is, as one of the panelists rather amusingly said, two fat guys fighting over dessert. The fat guys are the banks and the retailers, the ones with the lobbyists, and the dessert is interchange revenue."
• On ropes but not quite done - Canberra Times - "All around Australia, laboratories are experimenting with non-cash payments, raising the question of whether money, as we know it, is history."
• 2013 Internet Trends - Kleiner Perkins - Mary Meeker and Liang Wu's latest update.
• Bitcoin is a money platform with many APIs - O'Reilly Radar - "Bitcoin is much more than just a digital currency. It is a protocol, a network, a currency and a transaction language. Most of all, though, it is an application programming interface (API) for money."
• In A Single ATM, The Story Of A Nation's Economy - Planet Money - "This all-cash economy is one of the things that is holding back Myanmar's economy. The rest of the world no longer operates on rice sacks filled with paper money."
• Square’s Kimble: There’s ‘More Opportunity Than Obstacle’ in Payments Space - StreetFight - "I am really glad to see the network rules evolving to enable innovation. We are optimistic that will continue."
• Payleven ties up with Apple for retail push of its Chip & PIN card reader - The Next Web - "Apple specifically chose our Chip & PIN solution for their European stores, both offline as well as online."
• EMV Could Make Prepaid Cards Prohibitive to Issue, Unless … - American Banker BankThink (Lanny Byers) - "Either prepaid will move to mobile or prepaid will have to be repositioned toward a more value-added proposition."
• After Liberty Reserve Shut Down, Is Bitcoin Next? - "If you’re not compliant, there are some serious risks, both at the federal and state levels."
• How do you secure yourself in an insecure world? - Financial Services Club Blog (Chris Skinner) - "Just gave a presentation at the EFMA Conference this week on online insecurity…"
• AWS IAM Now Supports Amazon, Facebook, and Google Identity Federation - Amazon Web Services Blog - "For those of you not yet familiar with Login with Amazon, it's a new service you can use to securely connect your websites and apps with millions of Amazon.com customers."

On the wires:

• Blackhawk Network Recognizes Partners For Prepaid Industry Achievements - "The Hawk Awards recognize those companies who have contributed the most to the industry across the past year..."
• Payoneer Secures European Union E-Money License, Adds Management Talent - “We are committed to the vision of a world in which cross-border payment is simple, low cost and compliant - and as frictionless as electronic commerce,” said Payoneer CEO Scott Galit.
• Homeowners Pay Down $50 Million in Mortgage Principal Using the Wells Fargo Home Rebate Card Rewards Program - "Virtually every purchase a customer makes with the card counts toward rebates credited to the principal on their Wells Fargo Home Mortgage loan."
• Amazon Announces Login with Amazon to Reduce Sign-In Friction and Drive Higher Customer Engagement - "Amazon customers now have a hassle-free way to quickly and securely sign-in to apps, games and websites, without having to remember yet another password."
• TSYS Renews Payments Agreement with Nationwide Building Society - "As part of the agreement, TSYS will continue to process Nationwide’s UK consumer card portfolio, as well as supporting all of its contact centre operations."
• Earthport to receive $10m investment from IFC, a member of World Bank Group - "The funding will be used to expand Earthport’s presence and payments service infrastructure, particularly in developing countries."

On Twitter:

#MobilePayments: maybe we should stop focusing on changing merch & consumer behavior and instead add new m-merchants. Like PayPal in 2001...

— Jim Van Dyke (@JimVanDyke) May 29, 2013

In a press release, the National Retail Federation and number of retailers have announced that they have "asked a federal judge to reject a proposed settlement of an antitrust lawsuit over credit card swipe fees that drive up prices for consumers by $30 billion a year, calling the proposal a “surrender” that does nothing to address the “evil” of price fixing by Visa, MasterCard and their banks."

“This is an empty settlement,” NRF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan said. “It fails to address the price fixing that harms merchants and their customers, it takes away retailers’ legal rights to ever try again, and it offers virtually nothing in return. It should be tossed out of court as the failure that it is.”

On the web:

• Visa, MasterCard Fire Back on Card Fees - Wall St. Journal - "The world's largest payment networks asked a federal judge Friday to rule that their practices for setting fees paid by merchants that accept credit and debit cards aren't anticompetitive..."
• Rejecting $7 Billion Deal, Retailers Sue Visa and MasterCard - American Lawyer - includes link to the complaint.
• Credit Union: Bitcoin's New Best Friends? - IEEE Spectrum - "Assuming they get approval from their lawyers and regulators, Modell says the Internet Archive Federal Credit Union would like to help both the people who are setting up bitcoin exchanges and those who want to do business with them…"
• Surety Bond FAQ’s for Bitcoin Exchangers and Administrators - MSB Talk - "Since the Bitcoin 2013 conference, I have been bombarded with questions regarding surety bonds."
• Google Enters the P2P Fray, and It's a Good Thing - Fiserv's Point Blog - "As P2P payments rise in the national consciousness, it's time for financial institutions to make their move."
• MasterCard Prepares to Offer PayPass on Embedded Chips in Samsung NFC Phones - NFC Times - "The embedded chips would enable banks or other service providers to avoid working with mobile operators…"
• Apple now allowing Paypal payment for Apple Store purchases (in Germany) - TUAW
• Kenyans Find the Unintended Consequences of Mobile Money - BusinessWeek - "Adopting mobile money, however, is not as straightforward as substituting a phone account for cash in a jar."

On the wires:

• NACHA Issues Position Statement Supporting Use of Expanded Federal Reserve Same-Day ACH Service - "NACHA encourages financial institutions to adopt the Fed service as a stepping stone to a broader, more ubiquitous offering in the future…"

On the web:

• Google Copies Amazon's Playbook - Wall St. Journal - "Google's moves to copy Amazon underscore how the tech companies are expanding into each other's areas…"
• East Grand Rapids native Ryan McInerney named president of Visa Inc. - MLive - "McInerney, a 1993 graduate of East Grand Rapids High School, had been chief executive of consumer banking at JP Morgan Chase …"
• Bitcoin Hits the Big Time, to the Regret of Some Early Boosters - MIT Technology Review - "We’ve had multiple billionaires come in and talk to us for an hour and open an account…"
• Target, Macy's and Others Sue Visa and MasterCard Over Fees - Wall St. Journal - "The exercise of this market power has led merchants to pay excessive interchange fees..."
• Judge: Unredeemed Borders Gift Cards Are Worthless - NPR - "…the bankrupt and defunct book chain owes nothing to the roughly 17.7 million people who hold $210.5 million in unredeemed gift cards."
• A Summary of the Electronic Payment Order Forum - Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta - "On March 28, 2013, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta hosted an Electronic Payment Order (EPO) Forum with payments industry participants, including banks, nonbank payment service providers, retailers, and regulators."
• Why PayPal is bullish on Bitcoin - Fortune Tech - "The big question is whether it's going to go mainstream or stay limited to just a few zealots and criminals."
• Jamba Juice rolls out mobile payments more broadly following successful pilot - Mobile Commerce Daily - "The number one issue for a restaurant is controlling the guest experience..."
• Square Starts Mobile Payments In Japan, Its First Country Outside Of North America, In Partnership With Visa’s Ally - TechCrunch - "The Square Reader allows businesses to accept credit card payments from mobile devices for a transaction fee of 3.25% per swipe."
• Bitcoin ATMs: Handy Vending Machines or Money-Laundering Nightmares? - Wired - "Regulators aren’t sure what to make of it. And all that makes the future of Bitcoin ATMs as cloudy as it is interesting."

On the wires:

• Square Arrives in Japan - "Square is available in Japan with the support and partnership of Sumitomo Mitsui Card Corporation (SMCC)."
• LIFT and Capital One Join Forces in Million Dollar Commitment to Fight Poverty in the United States
• Virtual Piggy Delivers Security Service to Ease Compliance with Federal Trade Commission Regulations - "We validate the identity of both the parent and the child and can authenticate that the parent has approved the website for use by their child quickly and seamlessly…"

On Twitter:

Each minute, 5 new businesses sign up to use #PayPal, says @davidmarcus. #SMB #paypalit

— PayPal (@PayPal) May 21, 2013

On the web:

• PayPal to increase marketing this year for offline push - Reuters (Alistair Barr) - "We want to make sure we have enough density of consumer experiences before we do a lot of marketing. "We have really only one chance at this and we do not want to disappoint customers."
• FTC targets cash-reload code scams - CreditCards.com - "The U.S. Federal Trade Commission Tuesday announced new restrictions on "novel payment methods" that phone and Internet scammers favor…"
• Kopo Kopo: Six Revolutionary Digits -Huffington Post - "Kopo Kopo is a world-class platform which enables small and medium businesses to accept mobile payments and build relationships with their customers. They receive a six-digit till number that allows customers to pay using mobile money."
• Dimon Strengthens Grip at J.P. Morgan - Wall St. Journal - "…shareholders voted overwhelmingly against a proposal to split the chairman and chief executive roles…"
• BitInstant’s Charlie Shrem sees Bitcoin battles ahead - CoinDesk - "…it would be nice if regulations were standardized so businesspeople like him did not have to get fingerprinted again and again to comply with every state’s requirements."
• Swipely Raises $12.5M to Expand Push Into SMB Payment Analytics - Street Fight - "The payments processing and analytics play announced today that it has raised $12.5 million in new funding in a series B round led by Shasta Ventures…"
• Contactless cards: how safe is your money? - Guardian - "The even simpler alternative, I've found, is to have more than one contactless card in your wallet."
• Square will challenge PayPal with its own peer-to-peer cash service - GigaOm - "Square might just be another peer-to-peer payments setup, but it’s building up a consumer following thanks to Square Wallet..."
• Google Admits Defeat In Its 7-Year Battle With Amazon And PayPal - ReadWrite - "Google Checkout may have had great expectations, but it delivered little in the way of results."

On the wires:

• NRF To Reject ‘One-Sided’ Credit Card Swipe Fee Settlement - "The proposed settlement does nothing to bring swipe fees under control and would give Visa and MasterCard a legal blessing to continue their abuse of merchants and consumers indefinitely. No settlement at all would be better than this one-sided ‘agreement’…"
• Xoom and Vesta Announce Partnership for Mobile Wallet Integration - "Through this partnership, the Vesta wallet will also provide subscribers with access to Xoom's money transfer services directly from their smartphone."
• target="_blank"Swipely Secures $12 Million Series B Financing to Accelerate Growth - "It's a major innovation in payments and marketing for small business, and we hope it will transform the way merchants understand and engage with their customers."
• Mobile POS Grows to $2 Billion Market in North America, But Retailers Are Separating Hype From Reality - "…28% of North American retailers plan to adopt Mobile POS in some form by the end of 2013."
• Vesta Introduces New Mobile Wallet for Prepaid Operators featuring Integrated Suite of Financial Services - "By offering the Vesta PayMobile wallet, mobile network operators (MNOs) can enable their prepaid customers to conduct mobile commerce and access critical banking services through their smartphones."
• Virtual Piggy Signs First UK Partners - "Virtual Piggy promotes financial management while empowering youth under 18 to make purchasing, saving and other money management decisions for themselves…"

On Twitter:

We're hosting a payments meetup at @gumroad with talks by @airbnb and @square —come by! gumroad.com/meetup

— Sahil Lavingia (@shl) May 17, 2013

On the web:

• The future of Bitcoin: 3 predictions from experts - GigaOm - "Casares explained how some people in his country are using “old Android phones” to acquire and exchange Bitcoins at a time when the government is clamping down on the trade in U.S. dollars."
• Inside Mastercard’s Social Command Center - Digiday - "For Mastercard, diffusing social in the organization, ironically, meant centralizing it."
• High-Profile VCs Caught up in Bitcoin Mania - PEhub - "As big as the bitcoin opportunity is, it is equally rife with risk."
• Black-hat bitcoin’s days are numbered - Quartz - "Bitcoin has a lot of problems as a currency—its tendency for spasms of crazy volatility, most notably—but fewer as a payments system."
• Bitcoin’s consumerization continues with Perk, a rewards platform and Web browser for normal people - PandoDaily - "Now the only problem is figuring out how to get bitcoin into the hands of the masses."
• Google in Payments: Why Yesterday was BIG News - FinVentures (Tom Noyes) - "Osama and the Google team have done great work getting this out to market. Congrats."
• T-Mobile’s Twitter Account Explains Why Carrier Won’t Support Google Wallet - TmoNews - “We’re supporting ISIS, the wireless payment standard for mobile devices.”
• Square launches faster card swipe machine - Taking Charge - "Sure, we could make payments work better, but why should we when everyone really seems to like plastic?"
• Moving Upstream, PayPal and Square Make a Play for the Local Merchant’s POS - Street Fight - "The gist of PayPal’s and Square’s long-term aspirations is fairly clear: create a two-sided network with a consumer-facing mobile wallet on one end and a merchant processing network on the other, creating a system that gives them control over the entire payment stack."

On the wires:

• International Payment Networks Facing Emerging Threat from Domestic Competition and m-POS - "…the real threat comes when the successful m-POS solution providers follow the PayPal model and enable their own digital wallets and P2P transactions which could completely cut the international networks out of the equation.”
• What is the Killer App for Mobile NFC? It May Not Be Payments, Executives Agree at the 2013 NFC Solutions Summit - "When asked the question "Is NFC dead?" compared to alternate technologies such as cloud payments, Glenbrook Partners Consultant Allen Weinberg stressed that all these technologies are still in the early days and it is too soon to make judgments on what mobile commerce technologies will be the winners and losers. "At the end of the day, we don't have a widespread, commercialized anything yet," he said."
• sweetgreen rewards App an Immediate Success - "Representing the first white-label app from LevelUp, sweetgreen rewards has been an immediate success, allowing guests to earn dollars that can be redeemed at any of sweetgreen's 17 locations and offers various perks that can be unlocked over time…"

Over on MasterCard's Cashless Conversations blog, Ken Moy writes about the recent additions of BK Delivers, LivingSocial and Rakuten.com to the list of merchants now accepting MasterPass. He continues:

We see MasterPass as the future of digital payments — allowing you to shop and make a payment on your phone, tablet, PC or in a store with one simple experience. This future is a reality now with MasterPass live in Australia, Canada and the U.S."

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:

• China's UnionPay Payment Network Launches Its First Card Issued in the U.S. - WSJ - "The UnionPay prepaid card will be sold online and in bank branches in major U.S. cities..."
• Mobile Commerce Isn’t Just About Payments - ZDnet UK - "When consumers get added value from their purchase transactions, their mobile phones become not only their conduit into the digital world, but also a kind of concierge, simplifying their lives."
• CBA's clever Kaching ambitions - Business Spectator - "By enabling so many types of payment through a mobile phone, Commonwealth Bank is teaching its customers that if they want to make a payment – in any situation – they should use the Kaching app."
• Starbucks generates 10pc of US revenue from mobile - Mobile Commerce Daily - "Every week, Starbucks is seeing close to four million mobile payment transactions…"
• Chip cards are fundamentally flawed - The Bankwatch Blog - "Sometimes when I read the debates on chip, PIN and EMV I feel I am listening to the Flat Earth Society."
• Future of payments does not need Mastercard or Visa - banking chief - HumanIPO - "The “gorillas” of Mastercard and Visa will in the future no longer be needed because of the direction of banking and payment solutions in the cloud…

On the wires:

• Barclaycard Germany Signed Multi-Year Contract for Debit and Credit Cards with Gemalto

On the web:

• Possible Fed Successor Has Admirers and Foes - NY Times - A look at Janet L. Yellen, Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve, by Binyamin Appelbaum.
• Federal Judge Threatens to Hold Merchant Trade Groups in Contempt Over Swipe-Fee Websites - WSJ - Judge John Gleeson is irritated about the website: http://merchantsobject.com/
• The Future of Mobile Payments: How to Make Sure You’re Ready
• PW Interview: Amber Feng, Stripe API, The Payment Web - Programmable Web - "Before Stripe, online payments mainly consisted of decades-old banking infrastructure grafted onto the web, resulting in an exceedingly complex process for businesses and a cumbersome experience for their customers..."
• Tesco: NFC payments are too complex and offer too few benefits - NFC World - "NFC was revolutionary 10 years ago but I think it just might have passed its sell-by date…"
• The Redesigned US$100 Note - coming October 8, 2013
• NACHA Positions the ACH Network To Be a P2P Payments Player - Digital Transactions - "...NACHA last August submitted an ACH P2P payments proposal for for comment last August and gave it final approval March 7."
• NACHA PAYMENTS 2013: Highlights from Day One and NACHA PAYMENTS 2013: Day Two Highlights - GXS' All About B2B Blog - Patty Hines
• 2013 Advanced Payments Report - Edgar Dunn - "The Advanced Payments Report 2013 … is based on a review of the global payments landscape, surveys of payments industry stakeholder opinion…"
• Total System Services Management Discusses Q1 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - "…on the issuing side of our business, we kicked off what I would describe as our most significant business and technology initiative since, really, the launch of TS2."
• American Express streamlines expense tracking via mobile app - Mobile Commerce Daily - "The ReceiptMatch program is being rolled out for American Express Open business card users…"
• Prepaid Popularity on the Rise - The Members Group Blog - "The American Bankers Association study also found that more than 50 percent of U.S. FIs currently offer, or plan to offer, prepaid or reloadable debit cards."
• Visa Survey: Prom Spending Surges 33% Nationwide - "Prom season spending is spiraling out of control as teens continuously try to one-up each other…"

On the wires:

• Tabbedout Launches Powerful Merchant Marketing Tool 'Periscope' - "Periscope gives merchants the ability to monitor customer use of Tabbedout, review their customer's purchase history, collect and respond to guest reviews and create mobile marketing campaigns…"
• CPI Card Group Expands EMV Card Manufacturing Capabilities to Support EMV Migration in the U.S. - "The migration to EMV in the U.S. is unprecedented in terms of size and scale."
• Consult Hyperion joins Open Identity Exchange - "OIX is a non-profit trade organization driving the adoption of new and existing online identity products and services through the development of trust frameworks and listing services."
• FactorTrust Launches Underbanked Index - "Every three months, the Underbanked Index will provide a range of data points including demographic, loan behavior, seasonal effects and others, to help shed light on underbanked consumers."
• Too Busy to Save Money: Research at Stanford Graduate School of Business Examines Why Consumers Pass Up Store Discounts - "Seiler's look at individuals' purchases over time likewise suggests they're trying to minimize search costs."
• PULSE and fisoc Announce Agreement to Provide Buzz Points Rewards Program to Financial Institutions - “In this digital age, our solution enables PULSE to offer its financial institution participants a fully turn-key rewards program. This will provide a distinct advantage to PULSE in the highly competitive debit industry.” (See: Buzz Points)
• NCR Introduces Anti-Skimming Technology to Help Banks Increase Consumer Trust and Reduce Costs - “There were approximately 20,000 skimming incidents in the United States last year. The average cost per incident approached $50,000 and skimming costs across a U.S. bank’s entire ATM network is equivalent to about $2,500 per ATM each year."

MasterCard has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China CITIC Bank for "strategic cooperation in the virtual payments space within and outside China. The two parties aim to jointly develop and promote innovative products and services including Quick Response” (QR) code services, and collaborate to provide a safe and efficient payment experience for domestic and overseas cardholders and merchants."

This collaboration with MasterCard, a technology company in the global payments industry, will build a solid foundation for China CITIC Bank to become China’s global bank card, expanding its footprint worldwide, driving cross-border settlements and improving the cardholder shopping experience outside of China.

On the web:

• Interview: MasterCard's Vision for a Cashless, Cardless, World - AdAge Digital - "Masterpass extends the idea of 'a world beyond cash' to be inclusive of 'a world beyond plastic.'"
• The best interface is no interface - Cooper - "As Jack Dorsey of Square explains, 'NFC is another thing you have to do. It’s another action you have to take. And it’s not the most human action to wave a device around another device and wait for a beep. It just doesn’t feel right.'"
• The Real Significance of the Bitcoin Boom (and Bust) - Time.com - "Once alternative currencies are frictionlessly available on the Internet, every laptop will become its own Cayman Island. However the current boom-and-bust plays out, Bitcoin is the beginning of something, not the end."
• Why Bitcoin crashed, and how Ripple might avoid the same fate - Gigaom - "That single point of failure is the most popular Bitcoin currency exchange, MtGox."
• Rakuten.com Shopping adds a new digital wallet payment option - Internet Retailer - "Online marketplace Rakuten.com Shopping announced this week it has added a digital wallet service called MasterPass to the handful of alternative payment options offered."
• Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall - Reuters - "Retail sales fell 0.4 percent during the month, the Commerce Department said on Friday. That was below analysts' expectations that sales would be flat."
• How does Bitcoin work? - The Economist - "Unlike traditional currencies, which are issued by central banks, Bitcoin has no central monetary authority."
• MCX Makes Its Case for a Merchant-Led Mobile Wallet - PaymentsSource - "As the Merchant Customer Exchange asserts its position in the mobile wallet market, it emphasizes that the path to a consumer’s physical wallet runs through retailers."
• America’s Most Profitable Export Is Cash - NY Times Economix Blog - "Measured in dollar terms, there is 42 percent more cash in circulation today than five years ago."

On the wires:

• CLEAR and Visa Offer Expedited Travel for Visa Signature Account Holders - "Visa Signature account holders can enroll to receive discounted pricing on CLEAR membership with a six-month free trial plus $60 off the annual renewal rate of $179."
• Elavon and Banco Santander Close Deal to Deliver Merchant Services in Spain - "The agreement establishes the JV, Santander Elavon Merchant Services, 51% of which will belong to Elavon and the remaining 49% to Santander."

Media outlets are reporting that MasterCard is the focus of a European Commission antitrust probe into how the company sets cross-border interchange on foreign purchases in the European Economic Area. For more information, see related stories from The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and The New York Times.

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:

• Why Banks Love Debit Cards Again - TIME.com
• Dwolla Taken Offline by DDoS attack - MobilePaymentsToday.com
• What You Need to Know About Credit Card Processing (Five Part Series) - NYTimes.com
• Seamless’s SEQR Skips Visa, MasterCard to Battle Google Wallet - The Washington Post
• How An Unregulated Virtual Currency Became A Billion Dollar Market -TechCrunch
• PayPal of Russia 'Oiwi' Aims to Raise $100 million in a U.S. IPO - Internet Retailer
• Taiwan Plans To Let Local Banks Issue China Unionpay Cards - Reuters

On the wires:

• Cars.com Signs With 41st Parameter
• Bango Hits 100 Operator Connections with Global Bill-to-Mobile Service
• Alibaba Group and MasterCard Sign MOU to Enhance e-Commerce Environment
• IDT and Fiserv Announce Strategic Agreement to Expand Availability of International Calling Services and Walk-in Bill Payments
• Digital River Expands Its Global Online Payments Portfolio with Prepaid Payment Solution, paysafecard

On the web:

• What's Next in Mobile Payments? - Portals and Rails
• Remote Mobile Shoppers and Their Payment Preferences - EcommerceBytes.com
• Booming Swedish IT Startup 'Klarna' Eyes PayPal's Home Turf - Reuters
• Payouts For Startups Gets Easier With New Braintree Service - TechCrunch
• Stripe Partners With Parse To Integrate Mobile Payments For App Developers - TechCrunch
• Walmart Expanding iPhone Checkout System to More Stores and Android - AllThingsD
• Cash Registers Fade Away As Smartphones, Tablets Take Over - Green Bay Press Gazette
• Where's George?: The Trail Of $1 Bills Across The U.S. - NPR
• Facebook to Move From Credits to Local Currency Payments in Q3 2013 - Facebook Blog

On the wires:

• NCR Launches Aloha Mobile to Make Everyday Easier for Restaurants
• MasterCard Smart Data App Helps Eliminate Paper Receipts for Corporate Cardholders
• Mobivity and CheckAlt Partner to Develop Mobile Check Acceptance Solutions
• BitPay Exceeds $2 Million in Transactions Month-to-Date, Lowers Fees for All Merchants
• Zuora Unveils Z-Business for Media, Helping Media Companies Use Paywall 2.0
• Swap Launches Dynamic Digital Payments Platform -- The eWallet Cloud Solution
• Net Element Expands its Mobile Payments Business to 39 More Countries

On the web:

• Payments Company Plastiq Raises $6 Million Series A - TechCrunch
• Dunkin' Donuts App Now Supports Passbook Payments - AppAdvice
• WePay Launches iOS App to Take Invoicing & Payments Mobile - BetaKit
• Sage One Accounting Now Integrates PayPal Payments - Small Business Trends

On the wires:

• LevelUp Reaches 1 Million Users
• MasterCard Extends Global Reach of Mobile Money Services for the Unbanked
• MasterCard, Beam Announce Alliance to Reach 14 Million New Customers
• paysafecard Group Records 22% Growth in 2012

On the web:

• Coinstar Expands Rollout Of Its PayPal-Powered, Coin-Counting Kiosks - TechCrunch
• Samsung Imitates Apple Passbook With New Wallet App Without NFC - Forbes

On the wires:

• 19 mPOS Solutions Achieve MasterCard Best Practices Certification
• Discover Extends Direct Banking Reach with Launch of Cashback Checking Accounts
• Western Union Certifies Ericsson’s Wallet Platform for Mobile Money Transfers
• Mastercard Launches Its First NFC Payment Project in Latin America
• VeriFone and SK C&C Team On Mobile Wallet Acceptance

MasterCard made a number of announcements this week at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona.

• MasterCard Introduces MasterPass – The Future of Digital Payments
• mFoundry and MasterCard to Deliver Digital Wallets Services to Banks
• MasterCard and Orange Join Forces to Deliver Leading Mobile Payments in Spain
• VeriFone and MasterCard to Demonstrate Omni-Channel Checkout Experience to Merchants and Consumers
• Social Media Study Shows Interest and Confusion Over Mobile Payments

Additional information about what MasterCard is doing at the Mobile World Congress is available here.

On the web:

• A Juicy Hands-On With The Facebook Omni-Gift Card - TechCrunch
• Isis to Change Wallet Design; Hires New Wallet App Developer - NFC Times
• Google Quietly Rolls Out New 'Offer Extensions' in AdWords - Search Engine Land
• Tokenization And The Collapse Of The Credit Card Payment Model - Forbes
• More States Consider Ban On Credit Card Surcharges - NBCNews.com
• PayPal Enters Crowded European Mobile Payment Field - WSJ

On the wires:

• PSCU, MasterCard Team to Offer MasterPass to Member-Owner Credit Unions
• Virtual Piggy Integrated into World-Leading Internet Community

On the web:

• The Promises and Pitfalls of Big Data - Portals and Rails
• The '3X Factor' Of Carrier Billing In App Store Purchases - MobilePaymentsToday.com
• Starbucks Dominates Mobile Payments - StorefrontBacktalk
• Mobile Spurs Digital Coupon User Growth - eMarketer

On the wires:

• Access Funds Now or Later with Plastyc Mobile Check Deposit, Powered by Chexar
• MasterCard Becomes Preferred Payment Brand for Aetna's Card Services in the U.S.
• 2Go Media and edo Partner to Bring Targeted Offers and Measurement to Local Advertising
• BMO Bank of Montreal to Offer Western Union Money Transfer via Interac e-Transfer Platform
• Linkable Networks Gives Minnesota Grocery Shoppers Way to Save without Clipping Coupons
• MoneyGram Signs Contract with ampm for International Money Transfer Services

MasterCard has announced financial results for the fourth quarter 2012.

• Net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2012 was $1.9 billion, a 10% increase versus the same period in 2011. Adjusted for currency, net revenue increased 12%.

• Worldwide purchase volume during the quarter was up 13% on a local currency basis versus the fourth quarter of 2011, to $727 billion. As of December 31, 2012, the company’s customers had issued 1.9 billion MasterCard and Maestro-branded cards.

• Cross-border volume was up 17.0%.

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

On the web:

• ‎Debit Networks Reject MasterCard’s EMV-Durbin Solution - Digital Transactions
• Mobile Ordering Provider 'OLO' Receives $5M in Funding from PayPal and Others - QSRweb.com
• Rogue Valley Merchants Leery Of 'Checkout Fee' Surcharge - Ashland Daily Tidings
• Angie's List, Square Announce Mobile POS Partnership - Benzinga
• Visa Service Restored After Canada-Wide Outage - CBC News
• Google Wallet Gets A Makeover - NFC World

On the wires:

• TransUnion Announces Acquisition of ZipCode in Brazil
• MasterCard Expands Strategic Alliance with Hotel Company IHG into the U.S.
• Merchant Warehouse Announces Availability of 'Genius Customer Engagement Platform'
• MedDirect Launches Online Payment Portal for Patient Responsibility Balances
• PayLeap, Acculynk’s Payments Processing Arm, Introduces Developer Integration Tools
• NCR Silver to Make Everyday Easy for 600 Cellairis Franchise Stores and Their Shoppers

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