On the web:

• Debit-Fee Retreat Complete - WSJ.com
• PayPal's Coolest Mobile Wallet Feature: The Oops Button - Forbes
• Square to Allow Card-free Payments - San Jose Mercury News
• Russian ATM Can Detect When Users are Lying - Springwise
• Womply’s New Deals Startup Loads Local Offers Onto Your Credit Cards - TechCrunch
• Google Wallet Roadshow Schedule - Google Commerce Blog
• PayPal Opens Shopping Showcase in New York - PayPal Blog

On the wires:

• SafetyPay and PlaySpan Partner to Offer International e-Shoppers Secure Payment Option
• Vindicia Adds New Campaign Management Features to CashBox
• Cardlytics Brings the Power of Transaction-Marketing to Leading Local Retailers
• CashStar Unveils Mobile Web Gift Card Purchasing
• Gemalto Launches Ezio Plug & Sign for Unmatched Online Transaction Security
• Fiserv Integrates ACCEL/Exchange and Prepaid Solutions to Deliver Next-Generation Prepaid Services

On the web:

• Visa CEO: Bulk Of Durbin Impact On Profits Comes In Fiscal 2012 - Forbes
• As Plastic Reigns, the Treasury Slows Its Printing Presses - New York Times
• With Top Banks In Tow, Financial Service Provider Yodlee Hits 30 Million Users - TechCrunch
• Facebook’s Virtual Currency Draws Antitrust Complaints From Consumer Advocates - The Washington Post

On the wires:

• MOBIbucks Secures $5 Million in Series A Financing
• Facebook Tweaks Terms for Using Its Virtual Money After Antitrust Complaint
• Diners Club and Russian Standard Bank Partner to Form New Franchise in Russia
• Wawa and Wright Express Team Up to Offer Proprietary and Universal Card Program

On the web:

• Visa Offered 35% Interchange Cut for Small Merchants to Delay Durbin - Digital Transactions
• Peter Thiel: If I'd Known, I Would Never Have Started PayPal - Business Insider
• Beeline and Alfa-Bank Launch Russian Mobile Payments Brand Called RuRu - NFC World
• Discover Chief Says Pulse Has Beefed up for Expected Durbin Volume - Digital Transactions
• PayPal Says Mobile Payments To Hit $3 Billion - Wall Street Journal
• Can 'Zoosh' At The POS Overcome The Mobile Payments Gap? - StorefrontBacktalk
• Danish Cellcos Form Joint Venture to Tackle Mobile Payments - Rethink Wireless
• An Industry Divide over Durbin’s Impact on PIN Debit for E-Commerce - Digital Transactions

On the wires:

• More Americans Plan on Using Credit Card Rewards This Summer to Offset Rising Travel Costs

Glenbrook has expanded its series of eCommerce Market Analysis Reports with a new profile of the market in Russia.

These reports are designed to help U.S. companies better understand eCommerce markets around the world — what local acceptance practices make each unique, what payment options are necessary to reach a critical mass of online buyers, and which payment providers can assist with market entry.

This new report complement our existing analysis of the eCommerce markets in China, India, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, and Poland. Let us know if you have questions or are interest in discounted, multi-report pricing.

On the wires:

• BPC Banking Technologies Plays Key Role In The Development Of Russia's "Universal E-Card"
• ShopVisible and Pitney Bowes to Help U.S. Retailers Deliver Seamless International Purchasing and Shipping Experience
• TEC Announces New Skip Trace Optimization Service

On the web:

• AMEinfo: MasterCard and Aramex Help Boost E-Tail in the Middle East Economy
• Bank Info Security: New Wave of Wire Fraud Strikes Banks

The Mobile Money Exchange has a great visual tool that nicely illustrates the proliferation of mobile money deployments around the world.

This tool was originally developed by the GSMA Mobile Money for the Unbanked team (covering the countries under their remit) and has been extended to include all worldwide mobile money deployments.

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• NFC Forum Publishes Transport Ticketing White Paper
• Kohl’s to Partner with First Data on Private Brand Credit Card Processing
• Western Union Announces Major Bank Signing in Russia
• Higher One Joins the Secure Vault Payments Network
• SAP Enables New Approach to Billing for Telecommunications Industry
• NEOVIA To Acquire Optimal Payments

• Forbes: How $150 Oil Prices Help MasterCard
• Bloomberg: PayPal Argues Against Fee Cap as Fed Decision Looms
• Wall Street Journal: US Bank To Raise Checking Pricing Earlier Than Expected
• Bloomberg: Barney Frank Backs Changes to Debit-Card Swipe Fees
• New York Times: Debit Card Predators (Editorial)
• SmartMoney: Banks Begone: Can You Really Go Cash-Only?
• Digital Money Blog: Mobile Challenges to the Financial Sector
• Daily Mail: Fake £20 Elvis Presley Banknote Fools Teller in German Central Bank

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• hyperWALLET Announces Payment Service Expansion to Russia
• Zong Offers Simple Monetization for Android Mobile App Developers
• Chase Provides Easy Access to Mobile Gift Cards with Launch of Chase GiftShelf App
• Oberthur Technologies Answering Card Issuers' Demands for EMV in the US
• Banks Lower Overdraft Fees 6% as Consumers Choose to Opt-In
• Thales enables Metro Bank to Bring In-Store Card Issuance to UK High Street
• New Aite Group on How Interchange Regulation Will Change the U.S. Payments Industry
• New PwC White Paper on UK Faster Payments Initiative

• SFGate: Websites Help Resell Unwanted Gift Cards

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• New Mercator Report on Closed-Loop Gift Cards
• US-Based Shift4 Becomes First Hosted Gateway Certified for Canadian EMV
• New Celent Report on The Future of Consumer Remote Deposit Capture (RDC)
• PCI QSA Determines Heartland Payment Systems' E2E Encryption Solution for Terminals Can Reduce PCI Scope by Up to 79%

• American Banker: Stay with Me - Mobile Pay System Ties Buyers to One Card
• MSNBC Red Tape Chronicles: Friendly Fraud
• SFgate: Facebook Testing Out A "Pay Later" Option For Credits
• MIT Technology Review: How Mobile Phones Jump-Start Developing Economies
• The Moscow Times: Russia Government Drafts E-Payment Rules
• Portals and Rails: The Continuing Challenge of Workplace Fraud in Financial Services

Equifax has announced that it has agreed to acquire a 28 percent equity stake in Global Payments Credit Services LLC (GPCS), a credit information company in Russia, from Global Payments Europe, s.r.o., a subsidiary of Global Payments Inc., and Home Credit and Finance Bank of Russia (Home Credit). READ MORE »

The IHL Group has released a new study finding that 'the PC-based electronic point-of-sale (EPOS) market in Europe/Middle East/Africa experienced a 4 percent shipment increase in 2007 and continues to show strong growth potential in 2008. Taking advantage of normal cyclical upgrades in Western Europe and enjoying strong oil revenues in Russia and the Middle East, the region is poised to remain strong even while shipments slow in North America.'

Visa and Singapore Post Limited (SingPost) have announced that they will support the Visa Money Transfer remittance service from 51 designated post offices in Singapore enabling the transfer of money to to Visa cardholders in Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United Kingdom. This is the first time Visa Money Transfer has been made available through a postal service provider.

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) has been examining the regulatory implications of new technologies in banking. According to the group, "basic, everyday financial services are out of reach for more than two billion people in developing countries. But the rapid growth of branchless banking - including mobile phone banking - is reducing the cost and expanding the availability of such services."

Andrew Kramer reports for the New York Times about a Russian hacker attack on Sweden's Nordea Bank's customers via a virus distributed via email. According to the report, "thieves using the program in Sweden defrauded 250 customers of Nordea’s online banking service over a period of 15 months."

Tom Zeller Jr. reports for the New York Times in Tuesday's edition on the illicit trading in stolen credit card data that takes place on the Internet.

"There's so much to this," said Jim Melnick, a former Russian affairs analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency who is now the director of threat development at iDefense, a company in Reston, Va., that tracks cybercrime.

"The story that needs to be told is the larger, long-term threat to the American financial industry. It's a cancer. It's not going to kill you now, but slowly, over time."

Business Week reports on the growth in consumer credit in Russia. READ MORE »

Victoria Lavrentieva reports on the growth in Visa cards in Russia.