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…"

On the web:

• This Guy Is Selling His Book Exclusively Via Bitcoin - Business Insider - "He convinced me (plus subsequent research) that Bitcoin has many features that make it attractive not only as a potential future currency but as a replacement for all contract law."
• Amazon Launches Amazon Coins Virtual Currency On Kindle Fire, Gives $5 In Free Coins To All Users - TechCrunch - "Amazon today is finally taking Amazon Coins, is new virtual currency, live on the Kindle Fire in the U.S."
• Thieves Stole $45 Million From ATMs Because The U.S. Uses Absurd 40-Year-Old Technology - PopSci - "The chief vulnerability of the EMV system? IT STILL HAS MAGNETIC STRIPES."
• New Android Boss Finally Reveals Plans for World’s Most Popular Mobile OS - Wired - "I have a secret project which adds four hours every day to the 24 hours we have."

On the wires:

• Amazon Coins Now Available for Kindle Fire Customers - "For customers, Amazon Coins is an easy way to purchase apps and in-app items on Kindle Fire, and for developers it’s another opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increased monetization."
• Blaze Mobile Awarded Three Key Patents for NFC Mobile Payments - "Blaze Mobile, a leader in mobile payment solutions, has recently been awarded three key NFC Mobile Payment patents."

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."

On the web:

• Silicon Valley firms claim new California data disclosure bill is “overbroad” - ArsTechnica - "If passed, the bill would allow an unprecedented amount of access to individuals to find out what companies know about us."
• The Man (Jack Dorsey) Who Made the Cash Register Obsolete - Inc. - "One guiding philosophy at Square is that technology should be so intuitive that no one stops to question how difficult it must have been to create. That philosophy is paying off."
• With Tablets, Businesses Ring Up at More Fanciful Cash Registers - New York Times - "With the advent of tablets, particularly the iPad, many stores have traded in their clunky cash registers for mobile devices."
• "Bankalytics" – Banks and Analytics - BankInnovation - "I feel the future of banks depends on how relevant they stay to the target market, based on how they analyse the Big Data in their databases."
• Bitcoin’s Last Mile Problem - TechCrunch - "The world needs Bitcoins to exist, even if the mass of humanity doesn’t use it."
• Online Sales-Tax Bill Could Get Senate Votes This Week - Storefront Backtalk - "The bill, known as the “Marketplace Fairness Act,” would allow states to require online retailers to collect sales tax, even if the e-tailer doesn’t have a physical presence in the state."
• Dunkin’ Donut email campaign showcases ongoing mobile payment endeavors - Mobile Commerce Daily - "Mobile payments are on the rise. And, this campaign helps the company solidify its place in the space."
• Are You the Weakest Link? - Retail Payments Risk Forum - "A basic tenet of security that we often mention in Portals and Rails is that experienced criminals attack the weakest points in the system."
• Small Banks Lead the Innovation Agenda: Are They Making the Elephants Dance? - "Today, we are witnessing numerous instances of smaller players spawning innovations across social media, self-service channels, mobile banking, pricing, payments etc. to deliver customer delight."

On the wires:

• American Express OPEN Simplifies Expense Tracking for Small Business with Launch of ReceiptMatch
• Clear2Pay and Earthport partner on low value clearing - "With the OPF Earthport Connect module, clients of the Open Payment Framework (OPF) will have out of the box connectivity to Earthport’s global payments infrastructure in over 50 countries."
• Consumers Want a More Seamless and Personalized Customer Experience From Their Bank - Cisco - "Overall, the report demonstrates consumer interest in more personalized, timely and valuable connections with banks…"
• ACI Worldwide Paves the Way to True Enterprise Payments with Universal Payments Platform - "The Universal Payments Platform is a solution that provides purpose-built payments functionality to orchestrate all aspects of payments processing for any payment type, any channel, any currency and any network."
• With Consumer Optimism Rising, Chase Blueprint Unveils New Initiative to Reinforce Positive Spending Habits - Drawing upon the expertise of Chase and respected experts, the Resource Center for Mindful Spending is a free knowledge center available at Chase.com/MindfulSpending.
• USA Technologies To Demonstrate Two New Cashless Payment Devices at NAMA OneShow - "The ePort G9 represents a redesigned, feature-rich offering for USAT’s popular JumpStart program. It will include all of the functionality of USAT’s NFC-enabled ePort G8, plus new features…"
• Boulder Valley Credit Union Introduces Tyfone Mobile Banking Financial Services - "One Tyfone client has reported more than a 10 percent mobile adoption from non-PC bankers, which in turn increases the ROI for the financial institution."

On the web:

• M-Pesa fraud losses less that 1% - Safaricom - "Chief executive Bob Collymore said the money lost in M-Pesa fraud averages 0.006 per cent of the amount transacted which currently stands at Sh2 billion daily."
• Bitcoin Buzz Draws Western Union, MoneyGram - Fox Business
• Credit Unions: Reinvent P2P Lending - Ron Shevlin - "I’m just thinking about how smaller FIs are going to compete with the big ones for the coveted lending market."
• Fewer Bank Accounts May Lead to More Savings, Study Finds - NY Times Bucks Blog - "In this research, we demonstrate that individuals allocating their earnings to a single account saved more than those who spread their earnings across multiple accounts…"
• A new way to pay restaurant bills - Seattle Times looks at the "RAIL" payment system...
• The real opportunity for payment startups: simplicity - VentureBeat (Jon Soberg) - "Intermediaries, paperwork, antiquated systems, processes, and regulations still play a prominent role in today’s ecosystem."
• US PIN Debit Consolidation - Tom Noyes - "I have a strong bet that the US banks will consolidate around a single PIN provider within the next 18 months."
• Adam Davidson Explains Bitcoin To Stephen Colbert (video) - Planet Money
• Visa Europe is holding its Insights 13 Conference today - follow the news in Visa Europe's Twitter feed. See pictures from the conference on Visa Europe's Pinterest board.
• “Mobile is the end game”: VeriFone discusses the future of payments as a service - My-Retail Media - "Ultimately, retailers' business is about making a sale. You either need to take a payment or redeem that value to a retailer."
• Bitcoin exchange BitFloor halts operations, shuts down - CNet - "Bitcoin exchange BitFloor announced Wednesday it is closing its trading operations and plans to return its remaining funds to its users."

On the wires:

• DeviceFidelity Adds Multiple NFC Patents to its Extensive Portfolio, Totaling 40 Granted and Allowed Patents Worldwide - "DeviceFidelity’s extensive portfolio of patents covers the implementation and management of NFC technology, security and unique miniaturization and amplification solutions…"
• Moneris Solutions and LightSpeed to Provide Integrated Mobile Payment Solutions for Canadian Retailers - "Our partnership with Moneris represents an important milestone in Canadian retail, which has been newly empowered by mobile, iPad(R) and Mac solutions that engage customers in an interactive and re-energized shopping environment…"
• Mobile Users Well Aware of Fraud but, for Many, Convenience Trumps Security Concerns - "Users may be willing to accept risk now in favor of convenience, but this tolerance will weaken as fraud continues to grow."
• Alliance Data Reports Record First-Quarter 2013 Results - "Revenue increased 18 percent to $1.05 billion while adjusted EBITDA increased 18 percent to $357 million for the first quarter of 2013."

Visa made a number of announcements late last week and this week at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona.

• Visa Introduces Visa Ready Partner Program
• Visa and Samsung Sign Global Alliance Agreement to Accelerate Mobile (NFC) Payments
• Visa Signs Agreement with ROAM to Increase Availability of Mobile Acceptance Solutions Worldwide

The Visa Ready Program includes 'Visa Ready for Mobile Acceptance (mPOS) Solutions' and 'Visa Ready for Mobile (NFC) Payments'.

TransCard has announced an exclusive partnership with Watch2Pay to provide the first MasterCard PayPass-enabled wrist watch in the U.S. market.

“NFC innovations are taking a number of form factors and the innovations around NFC-enabled devices will only become more prevalent as the technology becomes more mainstream. We are excited to have the exclusive partnership with Watch2Pay in the U.S. and bring this convenient and innovative offering to our FI partners,” says Craig Fuller, TransCard CEO.

On the web:

• PayPal’s Ambitious Plans For Stores - Internet Retailer
• UK-based ERN Raises $2M For 'Big Data' Card Analytics - TechCrunch
• ‎ As EMV-Debit-Durbin Problem Festers, a Solution May Be on Its Way - Digital Transactions
• UAE Exchange collaborates with ElectraCard Services to Launch 'gocash' Prepaid Travel Card - AfricanBrains
• SimplyTapp Proposes Secure Elements In The Cloud - NFC World

On the wires:

• VeriFone NFC Managed Services to Drive China Mobile Commerce Network
• FDIC Survey on How Banks are Working to Meet the Needs of Unbanked, Underbanked
• Voltage Secure Stateless Tokenization Advances PCI DSS Audit Scope Reduction
• Digital River World Payments Offers Online Merchants Full Card Acceptance Services for AmEx
• CARDFREE Releases Study on Fast Food Restaurants Gift Card Sales and Redemption
• Western Union Now Offering Two Options for International Travelers

USA Technologies announced up to 7,500 vending machines in Austin and Salt Lake City will be targeted for mobile payment acceptance powered by USAT’s NFC-enabled ePort technology and ePort Connect service in order to participate in the Isis Mobile Wallet market trial.

“Our work with Isis is a great example of how we are executing our comprehensive mobile payments strategy, including leveraging USAT’s growing footprint of NFC enabled touch points to bring more value to our customers,” said Stephen P. Herbert, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of USA Technologies. “We also believe that our work with Isis sends a clear message to vending companies in these two cities—and to the broader market we serve—that there is tremendous opportunity in cashless adoption. Through the Isis Mobile Wallet, we believe these merchants will have unparalleled new opportunity to attract consumers as well as participate in marketing programs with global brand names.”

On the web:

• OTI Adds NFC to Standard Phones With Copni Wave Plug-In - NFC World
• Facebook Turns On Carrier Billing In France With Orange France And Bango - TechCrunch
• Department Of Homeland Security To Scan Payment Cards At Borders And Airports - Forbes
• The Art of Capturing Customers with Mobile Remote Deposit Capture - Portals and Rails
• Wordpress Now Accepts Bitcoins - PCWorld
• FiftyOne teams with PayPal on Currency Payments - Globes

On the wires:

• Western Union Introduces Value Pricing for Money Transfers
• AJB Integrates PayPal In-store Checkout at Guitar Center Retail Chain
• BNAK Launches Swiftcoin, Electronic Currency that is Safer Than Cash
• Vietnam's PeaceSoft Partners with CyberSource to Offer eCommerce Security to Retailers
• Koupon Media Launches 'Tap-to-Redeem' Technology -- No POS Needed

On the web:

• SumUp (UK) Launches Mobile POS API for In-app Payments - ProgrammableWeb.com
• P2P Lending Club Surpasses $1B In Personal Loans, Hits Profitability - TechCrunch
• GustPay Gets Serious About Mobile Payments in South Africa - ventureburn
• Square Clone Payleven Hails Partnership With Berlin Taxi Association TVB - The Next Web

On the wires:

• PayGo, ELO to Bring Unique Energy Payment Solutions to Latin America
• Ziptip Announces a New Way for Restaurant Waitstaff to Receive Mobile Tips
• Fingerprint Cards Completes Integration Of Fingerprint Authentication For Secure Element
• peerTransfer Expands International Payment Services into Australian Markets

On the web:

• EMV Goes Global: The End of an Era for the Magnetic Stripe Payment Card
• More to African Mobile Payments than M-Pesa - WSJ TechEurope
• The Sleeping Giants Of African Mobile Payments - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• Discover Cardmembers Earn 5% Cashback Bonus® on Department Store and Online Shopping Purchases
• eBay Inc. Plans Q4 Restructuring Charge Related to PayPal Product Simplification
• Vodafone selects Gemalto to setup and manage global NFC Mobile Payment Services
• Payair´s mobile shopping solution gets more accessible for e-retailers globally

On the web:

• The iPhone 5 Doesn’t Have NFC — So What? - AllThingsD

On the wires:

• MoneyGram Adds Soneri Bank, Habib Metropolitan Bank to Growing Pakistan Region

On the web:

• Checking Accounts More Costly Than Prepaid Debit Cards - TIME.com
• Change Is the Only Constant: Section 1073 Set to Take Effect - Portals and Rails
• Google Kills Off Prepaid Cards For Google Wallet - ZDNet

On the wires:

• Atos Worldline Launches Ready-To-Go, NFC Mobile Wallet
• Western Union Signs ICBC for Account Based Money Transfer Services
• Zuora Announces Z-Business Relationship Business Management System
• Pivotal Payments and Frank & Oak Sign E-Commerce Payment Processing Agreement
• iSend Continues Strides in March to Global Coverage with Cross-Border Payments
• Now in Croatia: Pay Online With Prepaid Voucher paysafecard

On the web:

• The Trouble with QR Codes - Portals and Rails
• Footnote to Financial Crisis: More People Shun the Bank - WSJ.com
• Visa, MasterCard Swipe Deal Faces Retail Group Opposition - Bloomberg
• Isis Delays Launch Of Payment System, No Date Announced - GigaOM
• MasterCard, Linkable Networks Form Rewards Program Partnership - Bank Systems & Technology
• The iPhone 5 May Have Just Made Mobile Coupons Real - Adweek

On the wires:

• Altierre Announces NFC-Enabled Price Tags and Digital Signs
• Card-Linked Offer Provider edo Interactive Raises $15M Series C
• TSYS Poised for NFC Payment Solution With North American Partner
• Virtual Piggy Ty’s The Knot With The World’s Largest Online Plush Retailer
• Verifi Partners With Jumio to Fight Friendly Fraud
• BitPay Exceeds 1,000 Merchants Accepting Bitcoin
• MoneyGram Announces Australian Payout Service in China
• Deluxe SwitchAgent Service Allows Consumers to Quickly Switch Banks
• PSCU First CUSO to Offer Google Wallet to Credit Unions

On the web:

• Prepaid Plastic Is Creeping Into Credit - WSJ.com
• On A Mission To Be Mobile Payment Agnostic, LevelUp To Roll Out NFC Terminals - TechCrunch
• Can WePay Replace Paper Checks and PayPal? - Forbes

On the wires:

• Sacombank Boosts Vietnam's eCommerce Security with CyberSource
• MoneyPass Expands Network to Offer Surcharge-Free ATM Access in 2,000 Walmart Stores
• Neiman Marcus and Visa Personalize the Shopping Experience With Mobile Messaging
• MoneyGram Enters Bosnia and Herzegovina

Discover has announced Discover announced that it is partnering with Google to allow its cardmembers to save their credit card directly into Google Wallet by logging into the online Account Center at discover.com/googlewallet.

“Our cardholders regularly use their Discover card to make purchases and payments online, in-store and now more frequently through their mobile devices,” said Sanjay Gosalia, Director of Mobile at Discover. “By offering the ability to join Google Wallet through our Account Center, Discover is providing our cardmembers with even greater flexibility and convenience when it comes to paying for their purchases.”

"We’re excited to partner with Discover to make it even easier for cardmembers to pay for their purchases,” said Robin Dua, Head of Product Management, Google Wallet. “By providing a simple way for cardholders to securely add their credit card to Google Wallet directly from the Discover website, we’re extending the opportunity to pay with Discover through Google Wallet at hundreds of thousands of merchants."

Google says that Discover is the first issuer to launch an implementation of its new Save to Wallet API for Payment Cards.

On the web:

• Want to Do Mobile Payments Acceptance? Here's a Free Tablet from GoPago - NYTimes.com
• Square/Starbucks Partnership Q&A with Jack Dorsey and Howard Schultz - AllThingsD
• ViVOtech Unloads Its NFC Reader Business, Will Focus On Software Going Forward - TechCrunch
• PayPal And Major Chinese E-Commerce Platform Part Ways - CNET News

On the wires:

• VeriFone Selected for Contactless Payment Rollout in Mexico City

On the web:

• Google Wallet Launches Support For Subscriptions - Computerworld
• Wallaby Launches the Cloud Wallet Based on a Smart Universal Payment Card - PandoDaily
• NetSpend To Sell Prepaid PayPal Cards At 7-Eleven Stores - Austin Business Journal
• China Mobile, China UnionPay Join Forces For Mobile Payments - NFCNews
• Facebook Rolls Out Currency Conversion API For App Developers - AllFacebook
• BII to Start JCB Platinum Credit Card Issuing in Indonesia
• The High Cost Of Paying By Phone - Discovery News

On the wires:

• American Express OPEN Enhances the Plum Card for Small Businesses
• Orange Launches Nationwide Deployment of NFC SIM Cards with Gemalto Solution in France
• LightSpeed Launches New iPad Product Enabling Interactive Cross-Selling in Retail Stores
• Scotiabank Connects With Cardtronics to Extend ATM Access Into Canadian 7-Eleven Stores
• MAGIC Card - A Reloadable Prepaid MasterCard(R) From Earvin "Magic" Johnson

ACI Worldwide announced that it has expanded its partnership with Bell ID, a leader in the field of smart card and token management solutions, to deliver issuance and management of mobile NFC payment tokens for devices equipped with contactless technology, using ACI Token Manager for Mobile.

"For the consumer, mobile NFC payments are seamless and rarely noticed," said Craig Saks, vice president, Global Product Business Operations, ACI Worldwide. "The infrastructure behind the scenes however is very complex. Due to the increasing importance of mobile payments there is no room for complacency. Mobile payment projects require flexible and dependable solutions that keep them on track. By partnering with Bell ID we are providing a proven, scalable and reliable solution which will help deliver the convenience of contactless and mobile payments with confidence."

Samsung Mobile has announced Samsung TecTiles and the TecTile programming application.

Samsung TecTiles will transform how businesses large and small engage with consumers. On premise, TecTiles enable consumers to check-in on Facebook or foursquare, connect to Wi-Fi or download content. Off-premise, businesses can use TecTiles as a way to market to and engage with consumers by enabling reward programs and to download discount offers or content.

On the web:

• London Oyster Card Chief: NFC Not Ready for Fast-Paced Fare Payment - NFC Times
• Could The BlackBerry Save Mobile Payments? Maybe It’s The Only Thing That Can - StorefrontBacktalk
• Gocardless Opens Up For Dead Simple, Low-Cost Payments In Europe - GigaOM
• Russian Bank To Release Angry Birds Co-Brand Card -The Moscow News

On the wires:

• epay Launches Ria Branded PINless Calling Product
• Gemalto Supports “la Caixa” in Spain’s First Large Scale Deployment of Contactless EMV Payment

On the web:

• Is NFC killing Google Wallet? - CNET News
• 'Bill Me Later' To Come To The UK - Tamebay
• TSYS Reveals Acquisition Plans - American Banker
• How The Future of Mobile Lies in the Developing World - TechCrunch
• MTS Launches Commercial NFC Payments Service In Russia - NFC World
• Are Social Security Numbers Still Secure Enough For Payments? - Portals and Rails
• CNP Processor Litle Reports Durbin Has Cut Debit Interchange in Half - Digital Transactions
• Big Jump In Mobile Payments Expected, But Not With NFC In U.S. - Computerworld
• Apple Rejects iOS App Integrating Flattr Micropayment Service - FierceMobileContent
• A Call for Standards in Currency Processing — Counting On Currency
• Mirth And Cardify Link Loyalty Rewards To Credit Cards - GigaOM
• In-App Subscriptions Now Available On Google Play - WebProNews
• Mobile Payments Heat Up in Sweden - WSJ

On the wires:

• Bank of America Merrill Lynch Enhances ePayables
• Global Prepaid Payments Processor Yalamanchili Launches in Europe
• New Aite Group Report on The Case For A New Payment Network

Over on Payments Views, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson has an interesting post entitled "The NFC Debit Challenge". Carol is just back from an FTC conference on Mobile Payments and observes:

Simply put, the United States is a debit card market. I find that more-or-less affluent payments professionals still have difficulty getting their minds around this – after all, they themselves habitually use credit cards in preference to debit cards. But you can’t argue with the data. And debit issuers, still reeling from the combined impacts of the new overdraft rules and Durbin, simply don’t have any money. Certainly not enough to afford the TSM provisioning charges and wallet “rents” being proposed.

On the web:

• Google Wallet Extends its Reach to Three New Phones: Will it Increase Adoption? - ZDNet
• Home Depot Innovates Customer Checkouts - Fast Company
• Paying with Cash at Walmart.com - Internet Retailer

On the wires:

• The Bancorp Bank Teams Up with Cachet Banq
• MasterCard Survey Finds Consumers Want Improved Online Shopping Experience
• PayByPhone Adds NFC to Mobile Payments for Ottawa’s Parking Spaces
• New Mercator Report on Growing Purchasing Card Programs

In a post titled "We Can See Mobile Payments From Here!", Glenbrook's Jacqueline Chilton writes on PaymentsViews.com about her panel at last week's Mobile Contactless Payment Innovation Conference in San Francisco.

On the web:

• Square COO Keith Rabois Explains The Death Of The Web And How Square Will Move Beyond Payments - Business Insider
• Do We Even Need NFC For Mobile Payments? PayPal, Google Weigh In (Video) - TechCrunch
• Wake Up, Google! - Cherian Abraham
• Is Google Wallet over before it began? - Digital Trends
• Digital Currency is the Future - Visa Blog
• Mobile Payments and Android. Are You Ready?
• Google acquires TxVia to improve Google Wallet user experience - Mobile Commerce Daily
• iPad Mobile App Offers Alternative to Traditional POS - The Point of Sale News
• Does this Look like a Valid Credit Card? - Credit Slips

On the wires:

Coming soon!

On the web:

• LevelUp is growing up with POS integration - Mobile Payments Today
• Payments work fine, why are you bothering us? - Consult Hyperion
• Do Mobile Payments Need More Regulation? - American Banker
• Mobile payments to be worth $1tn by 2015 - Telecoms.com
• Royal Canadian Mint’s “MintChip” Looks To Officially Digitize Cash - TechCrunch

On the wires:

• NFC Forum N-Mark Showing Strong Momentum

On the web:

• Mobile Payments Gain Pace, but Credit Cards Could Linger - Wall Street Journal

On the wires:

• WePay Introduces Major Updates to Invoicing Tools
• DeviceFidelity In2Pay iCaisse4 Is Certified by MasterCard
• Mobile Payments Provider boxPAY Launches In-App, One-Touch Billing Product
• Computop and MagTek to integrate Mobile POS capabilities into Paygate 5.0 in Germany
• Accumulate To Launch Mobile Merchant POS App in Sweden
• B+S Card Service Implements VeriFone PAYware TCS to Manage Payment in Germany

On the web:

• A New Meaning to “Eat and Run”? Restaurants and Mobile Payments - JDSupra
• Why Debit-Card Overdraft Fees Are Under Scrutiny Again - Businessweek
• Revel Wants To Bring iPad-Powered POS Systems To The Hospitality And Retail Industries - TechCrunch
• Lemon.com Launches New Version. It’s Blippy Done Right. - PandoDaily

On the wires:

• MasterCard and Telefonica’s Joint Venture Unveils Brand Name - "Wanda"
• Oberthur Technologies Chosen by Société Générale to Roll out Its NFC Services
• MAGTEK Europe Introduces iDynamoEMV, EMV Chip & PIN Mobile Payment Terminal
• Pearson Teams With Zuora to Launch Digital Learning Service
• New Mercator Report on Hybrid Card Technology