On the web:

• PayPal Ready to Seek E-commerce Gold in Russia - Telegraph
• Google Wallet "one of the biggest investments we've made at Google" - NFC World
• New Wal-Mart Kiosks Present Subtle, But Real, Threat to Banks - American Banker
• Thoughts on Google Wallet - NetBanker
• Avoiding Security Missteps in a World of Pervasive Data Collection - Portals and Rails
• Women's Guide to Success in Payments - LINC Northern California

On the wires:

• Accel Partners Leads $50 Million Investment in YapStone
• New Mercator Report on Global Prepaid Market
• E-Commerce Merchants Prepare for Issuer Response to Durbin Legislation
• BookIt.com Sells Travel Packages Using PayPal 'Parallel' Payments
• Fiserv and Dollar Bank Expand Partnership to Streamline Lending Operations, Support the Customer Experience

Discover has announced the extension of its network agreement with Walmart through 2015 in which Discover will continue to be the exclusive network for transactions made on the Walmart Discover card issued by GE Money bank. READ MORE »

In an article in yesterday's American Banker titled "For Wal-Mart, No Bank Charter Is No Problem", Maria Aspan reported on how "not getting a bank charter two years ago may have been one of the best things to happen to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s financial services agenda." Indeed, Wal-Mart has been very successful "with products aimed at the growing market of underbanked and low-income consumers who are largely underserved by the banking industry."

In today's Deal of the Day column on SmartMoney.com, Lisa Scherzer writes about "The Pitfalls of Prepaid Cards" - noting that "Prepaid cards may not come with the sky high late-payment fees or APRs of traditional credit cards, but they do carry a slew of other charges." She goes on to recommend four network-branded prepaid cards "whose fees are a little more palatable than others" - including two from MetaBank, the Wal-Mart Money Card issued by GE Money, and the new Current Debit Card by Discover.

Walmart has announced that it is "stepping up efforts to provide affordable access to essential money services for the growing number of underserved Americans, including the millions who are not using traditional checking accounts to manage their finances. Dubbed "Operation Main Street: Money Management," the program includes a $3 Rollback price on the Walmart MoneyCard and a focus on financial literacy." READ MORE »