On the web:

• Blaze Mobile Wins NFC Sticker Patent - NFC World
• Philippine Bank to Issue China UnionPay Cards - Cards & Payments Asia
• Core Changes Help Chase Accept Amazon Points As Dollars - American Banker

On the wires:

• USAA’s Deposit@Mobile App Available on iPad 2
• Citi Cards and American Airlines Introduce New Elite Traveler Credit Card
• NYCE Payments Network Adds Record New Participants in the First Half of 2011

On the web:

• Nokia Aims for Pan-India Coverage for e-Wallet This Year - Deccan Herald
• Five Ways Austin Can Springboard Mobile Wallet Adoption - Software Advice
• Square Wants Employees To Eat, Sleep And Brush Mobile Payments - Wall Street Journal
• USAA to Eliminate Debit Rewards But Keep Free Checking and ATM Fee Refunds - Bank Systems & Technology

On the wires:

• ReD Expands Payment Processing Capabilities to Meet Growing Need for Alternative Payments
• C-SAM and Multicard Partner to Roll out Mobile Payments in Netherlands
• Citi Renews Private Label Card Partnership with Office Depot

USAA has announced that it is giving its mobile users "faster, more secure mobile logon access to their banking, insurance and investment accounts through its new quick logon and authentication security software." Instead of a three-step process of username, password and PIN, USAA members will be able to access their accounts through a secure four-digit PIN. To enable the capability in its USAA Mobile App, it has teamed with VeriSign to use VeriSign's Identity Protection Service (VIP) for authentication. READ MORE »

USAA has announced that its bank customers using mobile devices on the Android platform now can deposit checks using their phones. USAA’s Mobile App for Android, introduced over the weekend to the Android Market, offers access to banking, insurance and stock-trading services as well as USAA’s popular Deposit@Mobile feature. That feature allows eligible members to instantly deposit checks simply by submitting an image of the front and back of an endorsed check via the phone. READ MORE »

MasterCard Worldwide has announced that USAA Federal Savings Bank will implement its MasterCard Integrated Processing Solutions (IPS) debit processing platform for branded network and issuer processing services in support of signature and PIN debit, and ATM driving. READ MORE »

In an article titled "Bank Will Allow Customers to Deposit Checks by iPhone", Susan Stellin writes for the New York Times about USAA's plans this week to add an iPhone application that will support remote deposit of checks using the camera built into the iPhone. USAA said it plans to offer the service on other phones later this year.

In an article titled "USAA to launch deposit app", L.A. Lorek writes for MySanAntonio.com about USAA's plans to release a new iPhone application that will allow users to take photos of the front and back of a check and deposit it electronically directly from their iPhone.

American Express announced two major bank credit card issuing partnership deals this week: Bank of America and HSBC.

In both deals the removal of each bank from the list of defendants in the litigation American Express is pursuing (re: damages associated with MasterCard and Visa losing the US antitrust case) may have been an important element.