Intuit has announced that Intuit GoPayment, a new way for business owners to process credit cards on their mobile phones, is the first small business application available for the new Palm Pre phone. According to the company, "GoPayment helps improve cash flow by giving small businesses an affordable and hassle-free way to process credit card payments outside the office as soon as the job is done." READ MORE

Web.com has announced an agreement with Chase Paymentech to offer merchant payment processing solutions to small and medium-sized businesses Web.com customers will have access to multiple secure payment processing services including all major credit, debit and customizable gift cards. READ MORE

Are you involved in the merchant acquiring side of the payment card business? If so, you'll want to join the Merchant Acquirers group on LinkedIn and join over 400 of your merchant acquiring colleagues as we discuss industry topics. Check it out!

We've just started a new group on LinkedIn for payments professionals involved in the merchant acquiring business. You can find the group home page here - just click on Join Group if you qualify and want to join. The first discussion topic is: "Hidden Fees in Merchant Statements?" [Update 4 PM PST: LinkedIn seems to be running behind in adding new members to the group - please be patient!]

Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg was at this week's 2008 annual Electronic Transactions Association's Annual Meeting & Expo in Las Vegas. Allen has filed a field report from the Expo.

Intuit and Electronic Clearing House have announced they have "signed a definitive agreement for Intuit to acquire ECHO. Under the terms of the agreement, Intuit will pay $17 per share in cash in exchange for each share of ECHO common stock, including shares issuable upon exercise of options. The total purchase price is approximately $131 million on a fully diluted basis."

Aite Group has published a new report titled "Acquisition and Retention in Today's Merchant Acquiring World" that "looks at the two most important challenges that acquirers and ISOs in the United States face: signing up new accounts and retaining the ones they have booked."

In an article titled 'Charge It!", Elizabeth Holmes writes for the Wall St. Journal about how small businesses can get the best deal on merchant payment card processing. Holmes writes that "navigating the payment-card processing system can be an overwhelming and costly burden. With fees tacked on by as many as 12 intermediaries, from the equipment provider and the Internet service to the card issuers themselves, payment processing is often the third- or fourth-highest expense for a small business."

The Mercatory Advisory Group has published a new report titled "Business Models and Revenue Streams in Merchant Acquiring: Beyond the Monthly Residual Check" that "focuses on the state of the acquiring market & discusses the market strategy of the industry's most successful players."

Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg is at the annual Electronic Transactions Association's Annual Meeting & Expo being held this week in Las Vegas. Allen filed the following report from the Expo.

Intuit held an Analyst Day yesterday. Of particular interest is the Small Business presentation given by Senior Vice President Brad Smith which includes some great insights into the small business market in the US along with Intuit's success with its Innovative Merchant Solutions merchant card acquiring business.

The Strawhecker Group, a new Omaha-based consulting firm focused on the merchant acquiring sector of the card payments industry, has just published the first issue of Exchanges (PDF), a new newsletter for clients and friends of the firm. The inaugural issue includes an article by Cliff Gray of the importance of PCI compliance to ISO's and acquirers along with news about a new eCommerce Gateway Analysis the firm recently completed.

Matthew Wilde reports from Waterloo, Iowa about an initiative by the Iowa Department of Human Services and the Iowa Farm Bureau who have teamed up to help arrange for free POS terminals statewide for farmers to use to accept cards. "Total Merchant Services of Basalt, Colo. donated machines in return for 12-month service contracts on each one. The machines normally cost between $800 to $1,100. The Farm Bureau is picking up the commercial transaction fees, which will cost the farm organization tens of thousands of dollars, officials said."

Justin McElroy of The Ironton (Ohio) Tribune writes about Innovative Payment Solutions, a local independent sales organization (ISO) selling bank card acceptance services to merchants.

Barclays Bank and TRANSFIRST have announced a strategic partnership to provide U.S. merchants with processing solutions for worldwide payment transactions with TRANSFIRST becoming a registered International Service Organisation/Member Service Provider of Barclays Bank. These services will allow U.S. merchants to accept payment in Europe, in their international customers' currency of choice while receiving U.S. dollars for payment.

Acies Corporation has announced the launch of a month-long national marketing campaign to promote widespread adoption of the latest innovation and convenience in payment processing - contactless transaction technology. During the month of June, Acies is offering retailers the opportunity to participate in a special promotional initiative where retailers will receive free placement of state-of-the-art point of sale equipment, including a state-of-the-art ViVOtech 4000 contactless reader.

Digital Transactions reports on Visa USA CEO John Philip Coghlan's keynote address to this week's Electronic Transaction Association annual meeting in Las Vegas.