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…"

Google has announced it will be adding a send money feature to Gmail "over the coming months" which will utilize payment information stored in the user's Google Wallet account.

The implementation in the Gmail browser adds an "Attach money" icon to the Gmail toolbar which is used to add the money to the email as it is being composed.

Google said that "it's free to send money if your bank account is linked to Google Wallet or using your Google Wallet balance, and low fees apply to send money using your linked credit or debit card." Google said the new feature will eventually be available to all U.S. Gmail users over 18 years old.

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."

Visa Europe has announced two additions to its Visa Personal Payments mobile service that will enable consumers to make instant transactions from their mobile phone to any Visa cardholder in Europe, in any European currency.

The Multi-Currency feature, to be available by the end of 2013, allows payments to be sent and received across borders, bringing international money transfers to mobile devices. Immediate Payments, launching in the UK this week with other markets to follow later in the year, makes it possible for consumers to receive money sent via Visa Personal Payments in a matter of minutes.

Sandra Alzetta, Senior Vice President, Visa Europe, said:

"Mobile payments have the potential to fundamentally change the way that people pay and are paid. The new Multi-Currency and Immediate Payments features combine the convenience of mobile device use with the ability to send money to 460 million Visa cardholders across Europe, solving a problem that millions of consumers face every day – giving money to another individual easily and securely."

Visa Personal Payments is a person-to-person payments service that enables anyone with a Visa credit, debit or reloadable prepaid card to accept payments from another Visa card without needing to share any account details.

Akimbo, an Austin-based startup, announced a new service to share money with friends through electronic money transfers to Akimbo Visa Prepaid Debit Cards. Users can send funds instantly, and the recipient has immediate access everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted, as well as at ATMs.

"As the payments industry tries to reinvent itself, we need to remember that it takes time for consumers to adopt and adapt to new technology," said Akimbo co-founder and CEO Houston Frost. "The reloadable prepaid account is a great 'bridge' to the wholly digital wallet -- it provides the convenience and ease of a cloud-based solution, with the familiarity and access of a physical card."

Akimbo helps individuals build their own network by allowing them to create up to five personalized "sub-cards" for friends. Once they have provided someone a sub-card, they can send money to the card. Website is www.akimbocard.com.

On the web:

• Remittance Provider Xoom Closes First Day On NASDAQ Up 59% From IPO Price - TechCrunch
• Passbook Passes Now Support NFC… If You Use Them On Android - Cult of Android
• Ticketmaster To Offer Digital, Mobile Ticket Transfer - MobilePaymentsToday.com

On the wires:

• SIX Payment Services Is A Founding Member Of UnionPay International
• Finsphere Releases Key Findings Following Location-Based Analytics Trial

Dwolla and mFoundry announced a partnership that extends Dwolla's peer-to-peer money transfer service to mFoundry's mobile banking customers.

“mFoundry’s network of more than 800 banks and credit unions creates a breakthrough opportunity to offer peer-to-peer payments to millions of banking customers who want a cost-effective way to move money,” said Dwolla CEO Ben Milne. “Dwolla's partnership with mFoundry delivers an affordable, safe and convenient way to pay anyone at anytime.”

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has released a new paper entitled "New Person-to-Person Payment Methods: Have Checks Met Their Match?".

Compared with person-to-person payments via cash or checks, new methods now available to consumers offer significant advantages but still leave gaps in service, suggesting a role the Federal Reserve could play to facilitate innovation in this area.

The full paper is available here.

NACHA has issued a request for comment (RFC) on a proposal to amend the NACHA Operating Rules to standardize the use of the ACH Network for person-to-person (P2P) payments. The proposal notes that while the current NACHA rules do not specifically address PSP payments, many financial institutions and non-financial institutions are already either offering P2P payments over the ACH Network already or plan to in the near future. Comments are due by October 1, 2012.

Wells Fargo has announced the launch of Send & Receive Money, a new service that simplifies Wells Fargo customers’ payments to other Wells Fargo and Bank of America customers through online and mobile banking using an email address or mobile phone number.

“Customers want options and convenience,” said Brett Pitts, senior vice president at Wells Fargo’s Internet Services Group. “With Send & Receive Money customers can send payments electronically to others without having to know their sensitive financial information, such as bank account numbers. As mobile money transfer becomes more common, remembering multiple account numbers will be harder. Send & Receive Money allows customers to pay another person using information they typically either know or have programmed on their phone.”

Video overview is here. Wells Fargo is the first bank to roll out nationally the clearXchange service for person-to-person payments.

Over on Payments Views, our sister blog, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson reflects back on her recent trip to the Mobile Money Americas conference in Mexico City.

There is a tremendous attitude of optimism here, and what appears to be a shared belief that these systems can, with proper regulatory support, provide real social good – helping in particular unbanked consumers to get access to ways of keeping, saving, and moving money securely.

The full post, Mobile Money in the Americas: Regulation, Infrastructure and Business Models, is available now.

Fiserv announced it will be adding MoneyGram’s money transfer services to the menu of money movement options available to financial institutions and consumers through the Popmoney, Fiserv's person-to-person payments product.

“With Popmoney, financial institutions can provide their customers with a faster, easier and more secure way to send and receive money from their bank or credit union accounts,” said Neil Platt, senior vice president and general manager of payments, CashEdge Division, Fiserv. “Working with MoneyGram will allow Fiserv to enhance the Popmoney service with cross-border and cash payment options, and expand consumer choices for managing their money.”

On the web:

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

On the wires:

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

Fiserv has announced that it will combine the Popmoney and ZashPay person-to-person (P2P) payment networks, and market the enhanced service as Popmoney.

“The combination of Popmoney and ZashPay will accelerate the momentum underway in bank-focused person-to-person payments,” said Sanjeev Dheer, division president, Fiserv. “Consumers strongly prefer the convenience of their banking relationship for conducting these types of transactions. The expanded network enhances the usability of the service and accelerates adoption among consumers and small businesses.”

All clients will be upgraded to the enhanced Popmoney product and network by mid-2012.

PULSE has announced an agreement with Obopay to enable real-time money transfer capabilities for PULSE financial institution participants.

“Combining our extensive debit network with Obopay’s broad range of mobile money solutions gives consumers a faster and more efficient way to pay with their debit card, while also enabling new revenue generating opportunities for our participants,” said Judith McGuire, Executive Vice President of Product Management at PULSE. “A growing number of mobility-minded consumers require instant payments and transfers. The agreement with Obopay is one way we can help facilitate that for our financial institutions and their account holders.”

Barclays announced that it has launched Europe’s first person-to-person service for sending and receiving money using mobile phone numbers.

Antony Jenkins, Chief Executive, Barclays Retail and Business Banking said: “Barclays Pingit could revolutionise the way people send and receive money. For friends splitting the cost of dinner, repaying a borrowed £10 or people sending money to a son or daughter at university, it’s free, quick, convenient, secure, and easy to use. You can send and receive money in seconds, without having to enter account details.

The Barclays Pingit service will be available to current account customers of all UK banks and building societies, not just those with Barclays current accounts. Full details are at http://www.barclays.co.uk/pingit.

Fiserv announced the results of a survey of the mobile banking and payment plans of top-tier financial institutions.

The in-depth survey, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Fiserv in September 2011, evaluated the plans of 10 banks and credit unions that in total hold more than one-third of all U.S. deposit accounts. The results revealed that these financial institutions are moving beyond the basics to deliver increasingly sophisticated mobile capabilities. Transactional services such as remote deposit capture and mobile person-to-person payments will account for the bulk of mobile investment in 2012. However, despite a nearly unanimous commitment to expand overall mobile functionality, institutions remain split on plans to support mobile point-of-sale payments.

A white paper detailing the survey results can be downloaded from the Fiserv website.

NCR has announced they will be working with PayPal and S1 Corporation to enable real-time P2P payments from their bank’s ATMs to almost anyone with a mobile phone or e-mail address. This service will initially be available in the U.S. with the ability to send money to people in more than 60 countries around the world.

Harland Financial Solutions and Harland Clarke have announced they have launched their own P2P payment network called 'Direct Payment Exchange' or DPXpay.

The Direct Payment Exchange provides a common P2P platform for the companies’ 11,000 plus clients, facilitating lower cost movement of money while providing a more convenient enrollment process for consumers wishing to use the network’s DPXPay™ desktop or mobile solution.

On the web:

• How Payment Professionals Should Think About Facebook Credits - Dave Birch Blog
• Bank of America to Add Debit Card Fees - Michael Finney's Consumer Blog
• Amazon to Collect California Sales Tax by January 2013 - WSJ.com
• How New Payment Options (Lay-a-Ways) Can Drive Revenue - Harvard Business Review Blog
• Ryanair 'Cash Passport' Prepaid Card to Carry Hefty Charges - This is Money
• Tabbedout Expands Nationally to More Bars and Restaurants - Austin Business Journal

On the wires:

• Visa Europe Says Foreign Consumer Spending Tops €14.4bn
• CRE Secure Launches New Shopping Cart Platform – Loaded Commerce 6.5
• epay Signs Long-Term Prepaid Processing Agreement for Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile USA and Assurance Wireless
• An international bank selects Earthport to enhance pension payment services
• eLayaway's Technology Aims to Help the Economy
• Xpress Money Launches their Instant Money Transfer Service in Canada

On the web:

• Retail Payments Risk Forum Publishes Discussion Paper on P2P Payments - Portals and Rails

On the wires:

• WhoseBill Launches New Application To Manage Money With Friends
• AisleBuyer Creates Mobile Store Associate Application With Checkout for Retailers
• InComm Partners With Manor to Distribute Digital Gaming Cards in Switzerland
• CPS Helps eCommerce Operators Worldwide to Accept China UnionPay Cards Online
• PaySimple Launches Mobile Payments & Customer Management for Small Business
• Acculynk Announces Agreement with the ATH Network for Internet PIN Debit

On the web:

• China UnionPay is Now the World's Largest Card Scheme - Bank Systems & Technology
• Cabela’s Embraces In-app Purchasing and Bar Code Scanning - Mobile Commerce Daily
• Online Banking Customers Demand Paper Checks - TIME.com

On the wires:

• Shandong Airlines Launches UATP Program
• NCR Secures Largest Ever ATM Services Deal in China
• Bank of America to Exit International Credit Card Businesses
• Experian Report Shows Credit Card Delinquencies are Below Prerecession Levels
• Bank of Internet Launches a POPmoney Person-to-Person Payment Service
• Admeris Partners With Global Transaction Services Group
• Cardtronics to Acquire Access to Money

American Express and Sprint have announced an agreement that will provide Sprint customers with easy access to Serve, American Express' recently launched digital payments platform.

“Sprint is pleased to join with American Express to offer this convenient tool for sending and receiving money to friends, paying bills and making purchases online,” said Kevin McGinnis, vice president-Product Platforms, Sprint. “Our relationship with American Express is a great example of Sprint’s open enablement strategy. Sprint brings practical, easy-to-use apps and services to our customers from trusted brands like American Express.”

On the web:

• Using Facebook Credits as Ecommerce Sales Incentives - AuctionBytes
• PSECU's Remote Deposit Honor System - NetBanker
• 18 Fun Facts About Credit Cards - MSN Money
• 10 Reasons I'm Cancelling My Credit Cards - SmartMoney.com
• California Replacing Unemployment Checks with Debit Cards - Bakersfield.com
• Korean Govt To Credit Card Firms: We’re Watching You - Wall Street Journal
• Tapjoy Scores $30M to Boost Mobile App Monetization - FierceMobileContent
• Blaming the Fed’s Durbin Rule, Tempo Payments Prepares to Shut Down - Digital Transactions

On the wires:

• Spendvision’s new eMoney Module Enables Businesses to Track and Manage NFC Transactions
• Regions Bank Introduces Personal Pay to Send and Receive Electronic, P2P Payments
• CoVantage Credit Union Selects Tyfone to Deliver Next Generation Mobile Wallet Services
• U.S. Bank and Monitise Americas Introduce Free Mobile Banking Service for ReliaCard Visa Cardholders

Fiserv has announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CashEdge for $465 million.

CashEdge adds to Fiserv’s capabilities in areas such as account-to-account transfer, account opening and funding, data aggregation, small business payments, and person-to-person (P2P) payments. Both companies are in-market today with financial institution-centric P2P services that enable payments to be made from one account to another, Fiserv with ZashPay® and CashEdge with Popmoney®. This combination should accelerate Fiserv’s ability to provide new capabilities such as P2P money request, and small business electronic invoicing and remittance.

Western Union has announced the launch of the Western Union Money Transfer Receive Card.

The innovative new card gives consumers a simple way to receive money transfers. All they have to do is pick up a card at a select Western Union Agent location in the U.S. and complete the transaction to receive a money transfer online or over the phone. The process is seamless and can be completed quickly, with no forms to fill out.

Naratte, a Silicon Valley-based start-up, has announced that it can provide the benefits of near-field communication (NFC) with ultrasonic technology by using using the speaker and microphone already found on mobile devices.

This new technology, called Zoosh™, is highly engineered software that communicates in frequencies that are inaudible to humans, but are used in nature by frogs, dolphins and other animals. With one software update, an App can now become Zoosh-powered to securely transfer data between millions of devices already in use by consumers.

Works across devices, works on both smartphones and flip phones, etc. Watch the video for an overview of Zoosh in various application scenarios.

Over on our sister blog, Payments Views, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson interviews Mike Kennedy, chairman of the clearXchange board, and shares her thoughts on the new banking industry joint venture in a post entitled "It's About Time: clearXchange and Bank P2P".

This has been a big week for news in the payments industry – with the Google Wallet making a big, loud splash. It’s nice to see banks using the power of their collaborative action to demonstrate that innovation can come from the bank side of the payments world as well.

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo have announced that they have formed a new P2P payments joint venture.

Customers of the three banks will be able to move funds directly from their existing checking accounts using an e-mail address or mobile number – instead of providing checking account and routing numbers. The clearXchange service will roll out nationally, and there are plans over time to expand it to include other financial institutions and endpoints to create a money movement capability across the industry.

On the wires:

• PaymentVision Announces 3.0 Universal Payment Processing Gateway
• iSend Expands International Payment Service into Canada and UK

On the web:

• Google Checkout Blog: Google In-App Payments for the Web
• Springwise: Social Vending Lets Users Buy Drinks for Friends Remotely
• Bank Info Security: Banks Want Their Own .bank Top-Level Domain (TLD)
• Digital Transactions: Durbin Regs Will Take Effect, Though Possibly a Little Late And with Caps ‘Modified’ (ETA Conference Recap)