On the web:

• FTC to Review Mobile Payments Impact on U.S. Consumers - NFCNews
• Starbucks Says It's Number One in World in Mobile Payments - AuctionBytes
• Experiments in Virtual Currencies - MarketingVOX

On the wires:

• Simply Market Streamlines eInvoicing Through Ariba’s b-process
• Campus Apartments First to Offer Residents Ability to Pay Rent Through Facebook
• Live Gamer Partners with PaymentOne to Expand International Mobile Payment Options
• GE Capital Retail Bank Announces New Agreement to Provide Credit Card Program for Toys“R”Us
• iovation Stopped 50 Million Online Fraud Attempts in 2011, Biggest International Offender: Ghana
• Citi Launches First Account Analysis Tools for Credit Card Users on the iPad
• T-Mobile To Distribute Square Card Readers to Small Businesses
• Sabre Launches Travel Settlement Services Powered by Conferma
• CyberSource Announces Renewed Agreement With Facebook
• New Mercator Report on Next Generation EFT Networks

On the web:

• A Guide to PayPal Alternatives in Asia - SGEntrepreneurs
• Contactless ATMs: The New Wave of Banking? - Think Money
• Obama Campaign Is Using Square For Fundraising - TechCrunch
• Google Wallet Struggles to Gain Acceptance - Mobile Commerce Daily
• Is the U.S. Payments Industry Following in the Footsteps of the Netherlands? - Portals and Rails
• Green Dot to Launch Bank Account This Year - American Banker

On the wires:

• PayLane Becomes a Certified American Express Partner
• GE Capital Extends Consumer Financing Program with Art Van Furniture
• MusicSkins Partners With Virtual Piggy Offering Innovative Youth Purchasing System
• South Carolina Selects Heartland as Preferred Provider for Electronic Financial Aid Disbursement
• GE Capital Retail Bank and ShopNBC Announce Renewal of Consumer Credit Card Program
• Canada's Payfirma Updates Its Mobile Payment App

On the web:

• Intel Sharpens Its Focus on NFC - Rethink Wireless
• Nokia Launches Nokia Money Prepaid Mobile Wallet Across India - Techcircle.in
• Dwolla Now Provides Users With Instant Access To Cash - TechCrunch
• Google Expands In-App Payments to Developers in 17 New Countries - Google Commerce Blog

On the wires:

• NYPAY Event: Payment Innovations for the Underserved
• Maritz Launches eGift Cards, Leverages Giftango Platform
• Citi Announces “Citi Retail Services” as New Name For U.S. Private Label Cards Unit
• PAYMINT AG Introduces 'MINTify Rule' Fraud Prevention Solution

On the web:

• Private-Label Credit Card Spending Drops - Marketing Daily
• The Cardboard Beginnings of the Credit Card - NYTimes.com
• UnionPay and HSBC Launch Dual Currency Card - AsiaOne Business
• History Channel and FiOS Try Selling Items Instantly via TV - NYTimes.com
• VeriFone's CEO Explains Why It Spent $1 Billion on Acquisitions - AllThingsD
• T-Mobile backs out of delayed Dutch mobile payments JV - FierceWireless
• Watch Out PayPal, FlexiGroup Purchases Paymate - Wall Street Journal
• The Future of Mobile Payments - Portals and Rails

On the wires:

• Paychex Launches Online Mobile Application For iPad
• Prepaid Solutions Changes Name to Brightwell Payments
• Bottomline Technologies Expands Capabilities in Healthcare and Acquires European Reseller
• Aria Systems First To Deliver Breakthrough Technology That Eliminates Software Maintenance Downtime for Cloud Billing

On the web:

• For Banks, Tech Frontier Fraught With Pitfalls - Wall Street Journal
• Apple, Not Carriers, Will Drive NFC Growth - Rethink Wireless

On the wires:

• New Packaged Facts Report on Private Label Credit Card Industry
• Eastern Bank Chooses Elan Financial Services to Launch New Credit Card Program
• ViVOtech Contactless EMV and NFC Payment Software Powers Tri-Reader 3 for Cubic Transportation Systems
• NetSecure Announces Free Kudos Mobile Credit Card Terminals for Non-Profits and Charities
• Navy Federal Boosts Credit Card Rewards for Over a Million Members; Powered by Cartera Commerce
• Failsafe Payments Adds SafetyPay to CertoConnect
• Transaction Wireless to Power Buffalo Wild Wings Gift Cards
• New Mercator Report on Prepaid Industry

On the web:

• Visa to Offer Mobile Payments in Developing Nations - NYTimes.com
• GSMA Says Handset Availability is Sparking NFC “tipping point” - Mobile Business Briefing
• PayPal Send Money App for Facebook - PayPal Blog
• China Sidelines MasterCard, Visa - Economic Observer Online

On the wires:

• Citi Renews U.S. Private Label Card Relationship with Sunoco
• Southwest Airlines Launches Rapid Rewards Shopping Powered by Cartera Commerce
• Cubic Selected for Chicago Open Standards Fare System Contract
• YODLEE and Open Solutions Launching Personalized Finance Capabilities for Consumers via Community Banks and Credit Unions

On the web:

• Debit Card Fees Are Robbery (Lloyd Constantine Op-Ed) - NYTimes.com
• BillGuard's Monthly Credit/Debit Card Scan Report - NetBanker
• Office Max on board with Google Wallet - NFCNews
• Cyberspace Trust: Proving You're Not a Dog - Portals and Rails

On the wires:

• American Express and Virgin America Team Up on Reward Redemption
• Pier 1 Imports and Alliance Data Sign New Private-Label Credit Card Agreement

NewComLink, "a technology pioneer in retail credit solutions", has announced that it has received $10 million in a Series B round of financing from Austin Ventures and StarVest Partners.

“NewComLink is transforming the retail credit industry with a technology platform that brings new efficiencies to financing,” said NewComLink Co-Founder and CEO Suneet Paul, a global finance visionary who was a founding executive at Dell Financial Services and was instrumental in building it from ground zero to a large, multi-billion dollar business. “Many of today’s consumers are under-served, to the tune of tens of billions in lost retail sales each year. NewComLink unlocks value by improving consumers’ access to credit at point of need – benefiting retailers, consumers and lenders all at the same time.”

Citi has announced the closing of the sale of $1.6 billion in managed assets, part of its U.S. retail sales finance portfolios, to GE Capital.

Retail Partner Cards, within Citi Holdings, provides consumer and commercial credit card products and services, including private label credit cards, for national and regional retailers across the U.S. The business services more than 40 million customers and consists of managed assets of approximately $50 billion . Retail partners include The Home Depot, Shell, Macy's, Sears, and ExxonMobil, among others.

Target Corporation has announced that all new qualified credit card applicants will receive the Target Credit Card, a credit product accepted at all Target stores and Target.com. Effective April 29, 2010, Target will no longer issue the Target Visa Credit Card to new credit card applicants. Existing Target Visa Credit Card holders will not be affected. READ MORE »

In an article titled "The Lure of Store Credit Cards, and the Hook" in Saturday's New York Times, Tara Siegel Bernard wrote about store-branded private label credit cards.

Retailers frequently offer discounts to shoppers who agree to sign up for one of their credit cards - but Bernard writes about how consumers can lose more than those discounts if they misse a payment - or suffer a hit to their credit score as the card issuer updates the credit bureaus about the new account.

A graphic accompanying the story notes that retail cards suffer higher credit losses than mainstream credit cards - no surprise if you consider a consumer trying to decide which card to keep alive and which to "let go".

In an article titled "Hurdle Emerges for Stores Pitching Credit Cards", Robin Sidel writes for the Wall Street Journal about concerns that some major retailers have with proposed Federal Reserve regulations that would "force retailers to gather more financial information from customers— including how much they earn— before giving them credit."

We mentioned earlier this week that copies of many of the presentations from the recent Chicago Fed Payments 2009 conference are now available online.

One of the more interesting presentations is the Overview of Green Dot presentation by Steve Streit, CEO. It includes a description of how Green Dot is three companies in one: a retail packaged goods provider, a financial services provider, and the Green Dot reload network (MoneyPak).

Another interesting presentation is Payment Strategy at Home Depot by Dwaine Kimmet, VP Home Depot Financial Services. Kimmet clearly lays out the retailer's payment priorities - and frustrations with increased interchange costs saying that, since 2002, Home Depot "has not seen value created by these new, higher fees." He goes on to describe the private label card approach that Home Depot's adopted which has become its lowest cost credit tender type.

There are lots of other interesting presentations from this recent conference - available here.

Credit losses on private label credit card portfolios in the US reached 10.51% in January according to a New York Times report by Tara Siegel Bernard. She writes: "While private label cards account for only about 11 percent of all credit card loans outstanding, their troubles offer a window into the deteriorating finances of some of the most distressed Americans."

Shell Oil Products US has announced it has launched the Shell Saver Card - saying it is "the first gasoline retailer to make an electronic check payment method available to consumers nationally. This latest Shell payment option provides consumers with a convenient way to pay for purchases with a direct link to a checking account and savings on each gallon of fuel pumped at Shell stations." READ MORE »

Mercator Advisory Group has announced a new report titled "Retail Credit Cards: New Interest In An Old Topic" that "examines the venerable world of private label and co-branded retailer credit cards, and the market forces that are shaping this segment. The vast majority of retailers have turned their programs over to third party issuers, but these retailers' interest in payments as a sales enabler and relationship building tools have never been higher. And with more payment vehicles and providers at their disposal, retailers increasingly focus on developing their optimal payments strategy." READ MORE »

Wells Fargo Financial National Bank, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company, has launched a new revolving consumer credit card program for the jewelry industry called Wells Fargo Jewelry Advantage. The new credit card program offers "jewelry retailers prompt, automated decisions and easy-to-use online processing and reporting." READ MORE »

In an article titled "Nobody's Snapping Up GE's Plastic", Robin Sidel writes for the Wall St. Journal about GE's efforts to sell its $30 billion credit card business because of potential buyer concerns about consumers' ability to repay their credit card debts. In particular, there's concern that GE's private label portfolio could rank lower in consumers' payment hierarchy when times are tough.

In an article titled 'Target card or Target Visa? Which is better?', Gregory Taggart of Bankrate.com takes a look and compares private label cards vs. co-brand cards - both from retailers.

Bruce Mohl writes for the Boston Globe about Citi's recent mailing of 3.5 million MasterCards to Macy's private label customers whose accounts have been inactive.

GE Money has announced an agreement to purchase the proprietary consumer credit card business from Chevron Corporation subsidiaries, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Chevron Credit Bank, N.A. GE Money Bank will own and operate the Chevron- and Texaco-branded consumer credit cards.

Broox Peterson shares some of his thoughts in a commentary reflecting on Capital One's recent introduction of a new "decoupled debit" card program.

Alan Wolf reports for TWICE (This Week in Consumer Electronics) about private label credit cards - interviewing Brian Hughes, managing director of client development and marketing, HSBC Card and Retail Services, Lou Pagliarini, sales VP, GE Money, and Dan Abbott, president, Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services.

QSR Magazine is reporting that Sheetz has begun "testing an innovative new program that provides debit card customers with rewards similar to those available to credit customers — The Sheetz Debitz MasterCard" with Capital One. Rewards are available on purchases at both Sheetz as well as anywhere else MasterCard is accepted. This is the first merchant using Capital One's recently announced "Decoupled Debit" product that we've come across.