On the web:

• Connect your loyalty programs, offers and more to Google Wallet with the Wallet Objects API - "Save anything to Google Wallet: Integrate your loyalty programs, offers and more into Google Wallet. Users can save these items directly to their Google Wallet for easy use."
• Fast and easy checkout for Android apps selling physical goods and services - Google Commerce - "...our new Google Wallet Instant Buy Android API … makes buying in native Android apps fast and easy."
• Google Is Rebooting Its Troubled Digital Wallet On The Web - ReadWrite - "Google has long aimed to become a payments player. It knows that many of its searches drive people to e-commerce sites where they conduct transactions. …"
• The Feds Are Cracking Down On Mt. Gox (Not On Bitcoin) - Forbes.com - "…the Department of Homeland Security has some issues with how Mt. Gox is running its American operations."
• Give me that old bitcoin religion - PandoDaily - "To engender this trust, and tamp down the threat of counterfeiting, it relies on an ingenious combination of transparency and anonymity."
• Surprise! Prepaid debit cards actually a good deal for consumers Red Tape Chronicles - "Prepaid debit cards, long synonymous with frustrating or even exploitative fees, are suddenly a pretty good deal."
• Mobile Payments Startup ZooZ Debuts In-Ad Payments (Yes, “Ad” Not “App”) - TechCrunch - "With in-ad payments, mobile users will be able checkout by tapping once on a visible banner ad within a mobile app…"
• Visa concessions on card fees: a step in the right direction - EuroCommerce - "EuroCommerce will continue to campaign for a regulation which removes excessive interchange fees, not only cross-border but also on all domestic markets."
• Payleven and MICROS spawn a cloud-based point-of-sale system with Chip & PIN support - The Next Web - "The cloud-based POS system works via 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi and comes with integrated Chip & PIN card payments functionality, as well as automatic sales and card history transactions reconciliation."
• UK's Faster Payments is five years old - Financial Services Club Blog - "The UK's Faster Payments Service (FPS) celebrated its fifth birthday on 8th May."
• Google Wallet’s high turnover - Mobile World Live - "Google has been losing its payments executives at a surprising rate since its launch in the autumn of 2011."

On the wires:

• Federal Court Reinstates $203 Million Judgment Against Wells Fargo For Misleading Consumers On Posting Of Debit-Card Purchases That Resulted In Unexpected Overdraft Fees - "The case before Judge Alsup was brought on behalf of California Wells Fargo customers who, from November 15, 2004 to June 30, 2008, incurred overdraft fees on debit card transactions as a result of the bank's practice of sequencing transactions from highest to lowest."
• Visa Cuts Europe’s Swipe Fees But Continues to Stiff U.S. Merchants & Consumers - Merchants Payments Coalition - "U.S. merchants and consumers pay the highest fees in the world to credit card companies and banks to swipe their cards because of unfair price-fixing within the industry."
• Monitise Launches MPOS Payment Service - "The new white-labelled mobile payment service helps banks, mobile operators and acquirers offer their business customers the ability to accept card payments on a mobile device..."
• CHARGE Anywhere Launches EMV MPOS Solution at BlackBerry Live - "In integrating a Bluetooth enabled EMV/Chip & PIN smart card reader with a BlackBerry smart phone, CHARGE Anywhere, continues to lead the way in providing secure, innovative payment solutions"
• Vantiv and NCR to Bring Powerful Mobile Point-of-Sale Solutions to Small Businesses - "The multi-year agreement will focus on developing exclusive new solutions and expanding both companies’ innovative technology platforms to deliver personalized customer experiences that help smaller merchants compete more effectively against larger competitors."
• Tyfone Connected Smart Card Solution Fixes Cyber Security and Biometric Vulnerabilities - "Tyfone’s CSC solution operates much like the traditional plastic smart card systems already in widespread use, but has a much smaller physical footprint and uniquely has the ability to connect to any mobile device, tablet or PC."
• New C-SAM Applet Development and Testing Services Enable Rapid Rollouts of NFC-Enabled Mobile Commerce Products and Services
• APWG Report: Mobile Device Crimeware Evolves into Global Criminal Marketplace in Response to Mobile Payment and Banking Expansion - "The sprawling mobile devices marketplace has spawned an industrialized mobile financial fraud plexus that today drives increasingly sophisticated criminal technical innovation to exploit the mobile devices explosion"

On the web:

• India: Oxigen ties up with NPCI to unveil instant remittance service OxiCash for unbanked people - TechCircle.in - "OxiCash is a mobile wallet service through which people can make money transfers to any bank and also receive funds using the IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) platform of the NPCI…"
• Google Wallet chief leaves the company - VentureBeat - "Osama Bedier, the head of Google Wallet is out, according to several sources."
• Gay Bankers, Once Silent, Speak of Progress — and Hurdles - American Banker - "No one should be afraid to come to work every day as who they are, and no one should have to check who they are at the door…"
• PayPal’s John Lunn reveals how online retailers are using consumer data to beat high street stores - The Next Web - "…find out which startups are helping online retailers to maintain this market dominance, and what physical retailers should do next to fight back."
• Why mobile wallets alone will fail - Cyriac Roeding (shopkick CEO) - "The problem with mobile payments is that payment isn't a problem in the shopping world."
• Off The Schneid - AVC - "I've led a new venture investment for USV, which closed a few weeks ago and was announced last night. The company is Coinbase and my blog post announcing the investment is on the USV blog."
• Purchase, Deposit, and Bank from a Smartphone with Paidpiper - Programmable Web - "Paidpiper represents a new player to the field with a slightly different value proposition over some of its competitors."
• CardFlight Partners With Stripe And Launches SDK To Become The ‘Stripe Of Real-World Payments’ - TechCrunch - "Enter CardFlight, which is launching with an encrypted, Square-like card reader of its own, as well as an SDK and APIs that will allow developers to create apps and take “card-present” payments on their mobile apps."
• EMV Takes Center Stage on Day Two of THE Tech EVENT - Convenience Store News - "Several speakers stressed in today’s standing-room-only session that EMV is a set of guidelines, not standards."
• Prepaid Cards for Jobless Benefits - The Members Group - "…42 states in the U.S. now direct deposit monthly unemployment benefits to out-of-work consumers on reloadable prepaid cards…"
• Discover Card's Email Balance Alert is a Thing of Beauty - NetBanker - "The message is nicely laid out with plenty of white space and it's chock full of links to get more information."

On the wires:

• MasterCard to Power Nigerian Identity Card Program - "This program is the largest roll-out of a formal electronic payment solution in the country and the broadest financial inclusion initiative of its kind on the African continent."
• Wells Fargo Adds Bankers, Launches New Secured Credit Products to Help More Small Businesses - "Wells Fargo’s new Business Secured Credit Card also helps new businesses establish and rebuild business credit…"
• Tabbedout and Future POS Expand Partnership to Bring Unrivaled Merchant Marketing Solution to All Future Fusion Merchants - "This new partnership means that the Tabbedout merchant marketing solution, Periscope, is now available in the 4,000+ Future POS merchant locations that use the Future Fusion software in their restaurants, bars, and hotels…"
• Elavon Names Simon Haslam President and Chief Executive Officer - "Simon’s experience and passion for growth and innovation make him the best individual to lead Elavon as we continue to extend our global reach and the value we deliver to our customers."
• Barclays Uses Nuance Voice Biometrics to Identify Customers by the Sound of their Voice - "No longer will customers need to answer intrusive security questions in order to verify their identity. By simply speaking with an agent, a customer’s voice is verified using Nuance voice biometrics technology, making the authentication process quick, secure and transparent."

NACHA — The Electronic Payments Association has published its annual summary of the largest originators and receivers of ACH payments in 2012. Wells Fargo was the #1 originator in 2012 while Bank of America was the #1 receiver.

Total ACH payment volume grew to over 21 billion transactions in 2012, up 4.19 percent over 2011 representing a total of $36.9 trillion, an increase of 8.76 percent. That rate equates to over 660 ACH transactions per second over the full year with an average ACH ticket size of about $1760 per transaction.

Native electronic payments — those payments which start as an electronic payment (i.e., non-check conversion applications) — increased 6.38 percent over 2011. These payments now make up 85 percent of total ACH Network volume. Conversely, check initiated transactions decreased by 6.75 percent.

“This data clearly shows that consumers and businesses choose electronic payment options over paper checks,” said Janet O. Estep, president and CEO of NACHA. “Direct Deposits and Direct Payments via ACH provide the convenience, control, and flexibility that end users want. As end user needs evolve, the ACH Network will continue to enable the innovation necessary to meet the changing needs of ACH Network participants.”

Wells Fargo has announced the launch of Send & Receive Money, a new service that simplifies Wells Fargo customers’ payments to other Wells Fargo and Bank of America customers through online and mobile banking using an email address or mobile phone number.

“Customers want options and convenience,” said Brett Pitts, senior vice president at Wells Fargo’s Internet Services Group. “With Send & Receive Money customers can send payments electronically to others without having to know their sensitive financial information, such as bank account numbers. As mobile money transfer becomes more common, remembering multiple account numbers will be harder. Send & Receive Money allows customers to pay another person using information they typically either know or have programmed on their phone.”

Video overview is here. Wells Fargo is the first bank to roll out nationally the clearXchange service for person-to-person payments.

Brand Finance, in conjunction with The Banker, has announced the results of its latest study of the financial value of various banking brands around the world. From this year's report:

• HSBC, the only British bank among the ten most valuable banking brands, knocks Bank of America off the top spot in the Brand Finance Banking 500.

• Wells Fargo is the most valuable banking brand in the U.S. market, and the second most valuable worldwide.

• Chinese banks performed strongly with China Construction Bank, ICBC, Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China maintaining a successful streak for Chinese banking as they secure spots in the Top 20.

• There are now more banks from the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in the top 20 banking brands than there are from Europe.

On the web:

• BofA, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Sued by ATM User Over Fees - Bloomberg
• USPS Eyes Prepaid Card Market - MyBankTracker.com
• Whole Foods Stores Stop Accepting Checks - Raleigh Durham News & Observer

On the wires:

• Durbin to Wells Fargo: Your Numbers Don't Add Up
• Bethpage Federal Credit Union Announces “No Fee” Free Checking Guarantee
• Western Union and Societe Generale International Retail Banking extend Global Money Transfer Agreement
• Chase Strengthens Partnership with United’s MileagePlus to Offer Ultimate Rewards Cardmembers Expanded Travel Flexibility
• New Report from Mercator on Online Bill Management

Fiserv and Wells Fargo have announced they are "delivering advanced foreign currency exchange capabilities through WireXchange from Fiserv, a flexible automated solution for completing end-to-end wire transfers."

On the web:

• Wells Fargo to Begin Charging Debit Card Fees - MyBankTracker.com
• M-payments are Vodafone's Biggest Business in Kenya - Rethink Wireless
• How a Google-Motorola Combo Could Be ‘Good News’ for NFC in the U.S. - Digital Transactions
• NYC Testing Mobile Payments for Parking Meter - PCMag.com

On the wires:

• TransUnion "Pulse Poll" Reveals Untapped Opportunity in Hospital Point-of-Service Collections
• peerTransfer Raises $7.5 Million to Help Streamline Edu Payments for International Students
• Jwaala and eWise Partner to Offer Secure Vault Payments to Members of MACU
• Cielo Deploys Nationwide Secure Payments Network with NewNet in Brazil
• Vindicia Launches New Marketing Capabilities for CashBox Billing Solution
• Mojang Partners With Skrill to Extend International Payment Options

Over on our sister blog, Payments Views, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson interviews Mike Kennedy, chairman of the clearXchange board, and shares her thoughts on the new banking industry joint venture in a post entitled "It's About Time: clearXchange and Bank P2P".

This has been a big week for news in the payments industry – with the Google Wallet making a big, loud splash. It’s nice to see banks using the power of their collaborative action to demonstrate that innovation can come from the bank side of the payments world as well.

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo have announced that they have formed a new P2P payments joint venture.

Customers of the three banks will be able to move funds directly from their existing checking accounts using an e-mail address or mobile number – instead of providing checking account and routing numbers. The clearXchange service will roll out nationally, and there are plans over time to expand it to include other financial institutions and endpoints to create a money movement capability across the industry.

Fargo has announced that its piloting a Visa-branded EMV card for international travelers.

“U.S. issuers and merchants rely primarily on magnetic stripe technology,” said Eric Schindewolf, vice president of product development for Wells Fargo Consumer Credit Card. “However, many parts of the world have adopted chip-enabled payment cards as a primary means of authentication, which has been problematic for customers who travel abroad and were unable to use their credit card. By combining traditional magnetic stripe along with the EMV chip technology, we hope our customers will have the convenience to use their credit card no matter where they are in the world.”

On the wires:

• Fiserv Provides Remote Deposit Capture Solutions to More than 160,000 Users
• Wells Fargo’s Latest Mobile Innovation: Commercial Card Expense Reporting
• Quepasa Partners With Tutudo to Offer Innovative Game Payment Solution
• PhoneFactor Launches Replacement Program for RSA SecurID Tokens
• Over One Fifth of Online Shoppers in UK Have Been A Victim of Online Fraud
• Wright Express Acquires rapid! PayCard, a Domestic Prepaid Payroll Card Provider

On the web:

• Springwise: In South Africa, Cardless ATM Withdrawals via Mobile Phone

On the wires:

• NRF Welcomes Bernanke Promise to Complete Swipe Fee Reform Regulations by Summer
• PapayaMobile Integrates Android's In-App Billing Solution Into Social Gaming Network
• Jack Henry & Associates Expands Internet Banking Solutions
• Pulse Retail Partners with YESpay to Offer Integrated EMV Managed Payment Service
• 3i Infotech Extends Electronic Billing and Payments Strategy With New Partnership and Services
• SHAZAM Enables PaySecure Internet PIN Debit across Eligible Issuer Base

On the web:

• Wall Street Journal: U.K. Consortium Launches Pay By Mobile
• Amazon Payments Blog: Checkout by Amazon Launches in the UK
• Springwise: Free mobile banking network launched in South Africa
• ReadWriteweb: NFC in 2011: Wells Fargo Tests Mobile Payments in San Francisco
• Herald Sun: MasterCard Pushes for More tap-and-go Terminals in Australia
• Bloomberg: Microsoft Is Said to Plan Mobile Payments in Phone Software
• VentureBeat: NFC Is Way Overhyped, Says Sybase

Visa and Visa Europe have announced the commercial availability of mobile contactless payments enabled by DeviceFidelity’s In2Pay microSD solution. "For the first time in Visa’s history, a mobile contactless payment solution is now included in the list of Visa compliant products available for potential commercial deployment by financial institutions in the U.S. and select markets."

In related news, Wells Fargo has announced it is rolling out a Visa microSD mobile payments pilot in San Francisco on select BlackBerry and iPhone models.

Wells Fargo has announced the launch of new mobile banking applications for Android, BlackBerry, and Palm. Wells Fargo customers may choose the Mobile Banking services that best suit their needs from a menu of options on Wells Fargo's newly expanded Mobile Banking Resource Center.

"We are listening and responding to our customers by broadening our mobile banking services," said Arah Erickson, head of Wells Fargo Retail Mobile Banking. "Our goal is to make it even more convenient for customers to access their account information – anytime, anywhere – helping them save time and providing peace-of-mind. Wells Fargo Mobile Banking makes it fast, easy, and secure for customers to stay in touch with their finances.”

Wells Fargo and Visa have announced the rollout of Rapid Alerts for Wells Fargo Visa credit cardholders enabling consumers to better manage and track their spending while providing them with near real-time detection of potentially fraudulent activity. Rapid Alerts by Wells Fargo are enabled by Visa's transaction alerts platform. Alerts are sent on behalf of Wells Fargo directly from VisaNet - typically within seconds of a transaction occurring. Rapid Alerts are triggered when the transaction meets certain criteria previously selected by the Wells Fargo Visa account holder and delivered via text message or e-mail. READ MORE »

Wells Fargo today commemorates the 15-year anniversary of online banking. On May 18, 1995, Wells Fargo became the first bank in the nation to give customers free Internet access to current balances in their checking, savings, line of credit and credit card accounts. The service showed customers’ transaction histories for checking and savings accounts. Today, Wells Fargo serves 17.2 million combined active online customers who visit more that 2 billion times per year. READ MORE »

Wells Fargo and Visa have announced the launch of Rapid Alerts for Wells Fargo Visa credit cardholders - a free service that "allows consumers to better manage and track their spending while providing them with near real-time detection of potentially fraudulent activity." READ MORE »

Wells Fargo has announced that it has enhanced its rewards program by adding the Earn More Mall with bonus point opportunities, the ability to purchase retail gift cards, new travel features and benefits, five times as many redemption options, and a redesigned site for easier navigation and improved search capabilities. READ MORE »

In its SEC 10-Q filing today, Wells Fargo estimated that the impact of its new overdraft fee policies will be a $300 million after tax reduction in its fee revenue for 2010.

Quoting: "We recently announced policy changes that will help customers limit overdraft and returned item fees. We currently estimate that these changes will reduce our 2010 fee revenue by approximately $300 million (after tax), although the actual impact could vary due to a variety of factors including implementation timing and customer behavior in response to the policy changes."

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP today announced the filing of a series of nationwide class action lawsuits against Bank of America, Wachovia, U.S. Bank, JPMorgan Chase and Citibank in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami for abusive overdraft fees. READ MORE »

Wells Fargo has announced a new mobile customer-to-customer payment option that allows Wells Fargo customers to transfer money to each other via the Wells Fargo Mobile Banking service. READ MORE »

Wells Fargo this afternoon announced changes to its overdraft practices for Wells Fargo and Wachovia customers. In a press release, Wells Fargo said it will "eliminate overdraft fees for customers when they overdraw their accounts by $5 or less and will charge no more than four overdraft fees per day. In addition, Wells Fargo and Wachovia customers will be able to opt out of overdraft coverage, meaning customers can specify that they don’t want their transactions authorized into overdraft if funds aren’t available to cover the transaction." READ MORE »

Wells Fargo has announced the nationwide availability of its newest online bill pay feature - allowing customers to make “just in time” online bill payments to merchants, such as utility, auto finance and mortgage companies. According to the bank, the new service helps customers avoid missing payments or making late payments. Wells Fargo has teamed up with Western Union to provide the new same-day service. READ MORE »

First Data has announced that Wells Fargo has expanded its agreement for card processing services and will move its newly-acquired Wachovia credit card portfolios to First Data for card processing services. READ MORE »

Wells Fargo has announced a new Wells Fargo Mobile Banking service for iPhone and iPod touch users (opens in iTunes) - now available free from Apple’s App Store. Customers can check account balances, move money between Wells Fargo accounts and pay bills. In addition, Wells Fargo Mobile Banking is integrated with the iPhone and iPod touch built-in maps feature so customers can search for the nearest ATM or Wells Fargo banking store with the touch-of-a-button. READ MORE »

Wells Fargo is offering a broad array of products and services to help domestic and international travelers navigate through potentially challenging situations they may encounter even before they hit the road – including emergency card replacement/credit line increases, mobile and online banking enhancements, and foreign exchange services. READ MORE »

Over on PaymentsViews.com, Glenbrook's Erin McCune takes a look at Wells Fargo's new small business invoicing solution - announced yesterday. Erin spoke earlier today with Richard Weeks, Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo’s Internet Service Group, to learn more about the new service.

Wells Fargo has reported financial results for the first quarter of 2009 - reporting record profits of $3.05 billion on revenues of $21 billion. Revenues from cards and other fees were $1.8 billion.

“The best way to generate capital is to earn it,” said Wells Fargo President and CEO John Stumpf. “This has long been the hallmark of our company and we’re now seeing the initial signs of the earnings and capital-generating power of the combined Wells Fargo-Wachovia in our first quarter together, serving one of every three U.S. households."

Wells Fargo reported credit card chargeoffs grew to 10.13% with the bulk of those losses in the legacy Wells Fargo card portfolio. Its credit card portfolio has $22.8 billion in credit card outstandings (down 3%) which represents less than 3% of the bank's total loans. The bank also reported having 15.5 million active online customers and 3.7 million active bill pay customers (24% of online banking customers).

In its 2008 earnings release this morning, First Data Corp. announced that on Dec. 31, 2008 First Data and Wells Fargo extended their merchant alliance joint venture, Wells Fargo Merchant Services, for five years. In connection with the transaction Wells Fargo increased its ownership in WFMS by paying First Data a cash consideration resulting in First Data and Wells Fargo owning 40% and 60% of WFMS, respectively, as of Dec. 31, 2008.

First Data held a webcast this morning - an accompanying presentation is available online.