On the wires:

• Discover Announces Agreement with Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
• Liberty Bank Selects Premier from Fiserv
• Intuit GoPayment One of First Mobile Payment Apps Developed for Android 3.0
• INSIDE Secure Brings True NFC Hardware Independence to Google Android “Gingerbread”
• Cardlytics, NetSpend Partner to Bring Targeted Rewards Offers to Underbanked Consumers via Prepaid Debit Cards
• Plastyc Secures Strategic Investment from Core Innovation Capital
• This Is Money: Credit Card Rates Hit a 13-year High in UK/a>

• BusinessWeek: In Broken Market, 'Swipe' Fees Must Be Regulated
• New York Times: Peer-to-Peer Lending: What the Future Holds
• Portals and Rails: Cash Acceptance: A Risky Proposition for Merchants
• BostInnovation: Clovr Media: Forever Changing How You Redeem Offers

Prepaid cell phone customers can now use the UPside Visa and iBankUP prepaid card accounts from Plastyc to add airtime minutes to their phones. According to the company, "customers no longer have to buy airtime refill packs and scratch cards at stores or sign up on sites that sell airtime. Instead, they can add minutes to their own phones or their family’s and friend’s phones in the U.S. or overseas right from within their prepaid card account. There are no fees or added costs compared to refill packs, scratch cards or online refills offered by carriers on their own sites." READ MORE »

Plastyc has announced that companies can now enroll people into prepaid cards from their website or phone systems using its new web services application programming interface (API) available immediately at http://www.plastyc.com. According to the company, "the API enables companies to sign up users for UPside Visa prepaid cards, and then let users check their balances, share money card to card or suspend lost cards from within the companies’ own websites." READ MORE »

Plastyc has introduced iBankUp, a new online banking service that enables "GenY consumers to save money and keep their credit history clean by giving younger, Web-savvy people constant financial oversight and control with no risk of incurring credit card debt or overdraft fees." READ MORE »

We met recently with Patrice Peyret, CEO of Plastyc, the provider of the UPside prepaid Visa debit card designed specifically for teens. Patrice is a serial entrepreneur who's been involved in a number of innovations over the years - ranging from payment card technologies to mobile applications.