In a blog post today, PayPal's Todd Martin writes about a recent mobile study conducted with four large merchants across consumer packaged goods, electronics, and the footwear/apparel verticals that found that "simply adding a PayPal button on a product page – versus only at checkout – could help mobile shoppers check out faster and lead to a significant increase in sales for merchants."

On the web:

• GAO Report and Live Chat on “Virtual Currencies” - Bitcoin Foundation - "In response to questions about specific tax situations involving Bitcoin, Director White pointed to the future guidelines from the IRS, in addition to recommending that those using Bitcoin seek the advice of a tax professional. He also mentioned that Bitcoin is the most widespread of the “virtual currencies” covered in the report."
• Starbucks: Mobile payments now 10% of all U.S. transactions - Fierce Mobile Content - "Mobile payments now account for more than 10 percent of all transactions across Starbucks stores nationwide, the coffeehouse chain said Tuesday."
• Retailers to Forge Uber-Like Mobile Payment Pacts, Collison Says - Bloomberg BusinessWeek - "Mobile payments companies and retailers will forge more partnerships where they retain customer identities, making it unnecessary to re-enter credit-card information..."
• iZettle Takes Its Mobile Payment Service To Mexico, Its First Market Outside Of Europe, And One Step Closer To Square - TechCrunch - "De Geer notes that 95% of cards in Mexico are chip-based. That, in fact, may be one reason why Square, whose dongle reads the magnetic stripe for transactions, may have yet to make a move here."
• Voicekey unveils biometric iPhone app - Finextra - "Voicekey has already launched an iPhone app, called OpenSezMe..."
• Mobile Money Maths - Mobile Money Asia - "Creating a viable mobile money service is fundamentally a question of marketing (driving appropriate use cases tapping into clear customer pain points) and distribution (creating a sufficiently dense, liquid agent network)."
• Indian firm enters Nigeria's mobile money sector - Economic Times (India) - "Nigeria's central bank has been campaigning for a cashless economy whereby citizens can use electronic means to transfer funds and make payments."

On the wires:

• MasterCard Announces Leadership Changes in its Latin America and Caribbean Region - "MasterCard announced today the appointment of Gilberto Caldart as president of its Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) business…"
• Portico Private Residence Collection to Provide Special Membership Benefits to MasterCard Cardholders - "MasterCard and pioneering vacation brand Portico™ today joined to provide MasterCard cardholders with access to unique vacation home experiences beyond traditional hotels and resorts…"
• ACI Worldwide Survey: EMV Will Accelerate Adoption of Mobile Technologies, Industry Monitoring Mobile Wallet Adoption - "According to the survey, nearly half of all respondents (49 percent) believed the U.S. migration to EMV will result in consumers turning away from card-based transaction in lieu of mobile payments."
• MasterCard and Western Union Launch Dedicated International Payments Service for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses - "We view the introduction of this service to American small-business owners as the first of several opportunities across the globe to support this segment’s money-transfer needs..."

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
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Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Find something interesting to share? Tell us about it: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

The UK Payments Council has published its first ever Payments Roadmap – An Initial Report (PDF) - saying that it "spells out the Payments Council’s revolutionary approach towards assessing the options for building on the world leading payment services currently used by UK customers."

Adrian Kamellard, Chief Executive of the Payments Council said:“Demands on our payments infrastructure have changed massively over the past two decades, and whilst our infrastructure continues to serve us well with technological innovation happening apace, it makes sense to take a step back and consider options in a systematic way.

“The Payments Roadmap will put the needs of those who make and receive payments before those who process them - whilst of course maintaining a strong emphasis on system resilience and performance.”

On the web:

• Malka, Rickards Debate Bitcoin Utility, Longevity - Bloomberg TV - "Micky Malka, founder and general partner at Ribbit Capital, and James Rickards, senior managing director at Tangent Capital Partners, debate the advantages, disadvantages and longevity of bitcoin, an alternative currency."
• Payments – Wrapping, Rules, Acquiring and Tokens - FinVentures (Tom Noyes) - "The exec summary of this blog: don’t ever bet your business on someone else’s rules… particularly if they themselves don’t own them."
• UK Consumers Warm to Mobile Payments - eMarketer - "Awareness of places where UK consumers can use mobile payment technology has more than doubled during the past year..."
• Banks Turn to Fees to Make Mobile Pay - Bank Technology News - "Yet evidence is starting to mount that retail banking fees, so unpopular in areas like checking accounts, may be palatable for mobile banking services."
• 5 Things I Learned Reading Visa's Annual Report - Motley Fool - "I knew Visa was the biggest player in the industry, but I didn't realize that by most measures, it's nearly twice the size of rival MasterCard."
• What It’s Like to Work Inside Jack Dorsey’s Brain - "Square wants work to be anything but punching the clock. It wants life at the office to be a designed experience."
• Moving cheques into the fast lane - Canadian Payments Association - "Through a multi-year project, the CPA has created the opportunity for Canadian financial institutions to exchange and clear images of cheques electronically..."

On the wires:

• Dynamics ePlate® Card Continues To Shatter 1% Credit Card Reward Status Quo - "Known by early adopters as the card that "lights up," the ePlate® card is equipped with two "Experience™ buttons" that literally light up when pressed, giving cardholders a more active role in deciding which rewards they want to earn and when."
• Dream. Dare. Do…American Express Launches the #PassionProject - "Today, American Express kicked off a new program designed to enable, inspire and encourage people to pursue their passion projects."
• Amazon Announces Amazon Birthday Gift – A New Way to Make Gift Giving Simple, Social and Fun - "Amazon Birthday Gift lets you join a social gift that will grow as more friends participate, which makes giving and receiving birthday messages on Facebook even more fun."
• Citibank Small Business Pulse® Reveals Three-Year High in Owners’ View of Business Conditions - "Nearly half of small business owners (48%) rate conditions as good or excellent, up from 43% in May 2012 and twice the rate three years ago (24%)."

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
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Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Find something interesting to share? Tell us about it: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

On a slow news day today in the world of payments, we noticed an interesting juxtaposition between a commentary titled "Back in the real world (well, West London)" that Consult Hyperion's Dave Birch posted about paying with PayPal at The Farmery frozen yoghurt shop in West London and an article by PayPal's CEO David Marcus on Huffington Post titled "So Long Cash Register, Hello Innovation".

Dave told the story about paying for for his yoghurt purchase using PayPal on his iPhone linking to The Farmery's PayPal Here app on their iPhone. Dave went on to say that "PayPal have made a real effort to produce a slick customer experience, and it makes you wish that other more conventional players in the retail payment world would do the same. There seems to be an attention to detail in what guys like this do, to be honest."

Dave is then compelled to ask: "Is it better than NFC?" He answers: "Yes it is better than NFC is, but it's not better than NFC could be." He goes on to describe how that better NFC experience might work: "Instead of opening my PayPal application, finding the shop and checking in, I could have just tapped the phone on the PayPal Here logo and had all three steps done for me." But, alas, it doesn't work that way today - in spite of "years of work and hundreds of millions in investment."

Meanwhile, PayPal's Marcus describes another version of the future - one that "can easily and cost-effectively transform a legacy cash register into an interactive point of sale solution that makes it easier to operate a business and adds to a truly enjoyable consumer experience rather than a mundane transaction."

Where do you think NFC fits into mobile payments? Feel free to add your comment below.

On Twitter:

Consumers want easy checkout options. “It’s time to kill the cash register,” - @davidmarcus. More: http://t.co/tove0aeP6r #CashRegisterRIP

— PayPal (@PayPal) June 18, 2013

On the web:

• Contrasts: Consult Hyperion's Dave Birch argues that NFC could improve the PayPal checkout experience while PayPal CEO David Marcus writes about saying goodbye to the cash register and reshaping checkout.
• The case for official e-money +1 - FT Alphaville - "The point of e-money really is that it has the potential to fix the economy without having to resort to official negative rates."
• Enabling the Future of Payments Through VisaNet - Visa Viewpoints - "Our goal is simple: Continue to be the best way to pay, for everyone, everywhere."
• Using Social Media to Stop Online Payment Fraud - BusinessWeek - "We are investing a lot in how can we use unstructured data that is sitting out there in social media that can help us understand a little more about identity..."
• The Bitcoin believers - FT Magazine - "To be a Bitcoin user is to be a Bitcoin evangelist."
• Podcast: The Meat & Potatoes of EMV Chip Cards - The Members Group Blog - "Each decision creates what is essentially the “flavor” of EMV, or what you might call the meat and potatoes of the chip-card strategy."
• Three key takeaways from Vantiv's talk with investors - Business Courier - "We really took the cash that we generated over the most recent 12-month period and acquired Litle."

On the wires:

• Small Business Conditions Improving, Yet Concerns Remain, According to Capital One's Quarterly Spark Small Business Barometer - "Small businesses across the country are seeing improved financial conditions and feeling optimistic about the months ahead, yet concerns about hiring and growth remain..."

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
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Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Find something interesting to share? Tell us about it: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

Last week, Glenbrook's George Peabody took a look at Bitcoin as a store of value in his PaymentsViews.com article "Considering Bitcoin’s Role in Value Transfer".

In a new article just published on PaymentsViews.com - "Bitcoin, the Two-and-a-Half Party Model, and New Payment Rails" - George looks at the potential for Bitcoin and other math-based currencies to become a new set of payment rails - with their promise of a simpler cash-like push payment.

George welcomes your comments - either via email to him: george@glenbrook.com or by posting a comment on the article's page on PaymentsViews.com.

Note: The potential implications of Bitcoin and math-based currencies on payments are among the topics we'll be covering in more depth at our Glenbrook Payments Summer Boot Camp coming up on August 6-7 in Half Moon Bay.

PayPal has provided more details of a new incentive program for its Cash for Registers program announced last month. Here are some of the details:Starting on July 10th, 2013, PayPal is waiving transaction fees for up to $20,000 worth of transactions each month through January 31st, 2014 for a qualified small business owner who upgrades to a modern point-of-sale system by choosing either PayPal Here™ or one of our pre-integrated partners: ShopKeep POS or Vend.

Merchants who want to participate need to apply for PayPal Here, be approved and then submit proof of purchase of a minimum of $450 in eligible hardware. Once their submission is approved, the offer will apply to swiped credit card, debit card and PayPal payments processed by PayPal through PayPal Here, ShopKeep POS or Vend.Looking ahead, PayPal said its planning to add more partners - both acquirers and POS vendors - to the Cash for Registers program.

On the web:

• Banks Urged to Better Fend Off Cyber Attacks - Wall St. Journal - "U.S. regulators are stepping up calls for banks to better-arm themselves against the growing online threat hackers and criminal organizations pose to individual institutions and the financial system as a whole."
• Visa Sues Wal-Mart to End Retailer’s Swipe Fee Claims - Bloomberg BusinessWeek - “Put simply, Visa seeks finality in its dispute with Wal-Mart,” the Foster City, California-based credit card firm said in the complaint.
• Visa To Court: Tell Walmart We're Not Anti-Competitive - FierceRetail - "…Visa asked the court to declare that Visa's default interchange rates, "honor all card" rules and 2008 IPO do not violate either federal or state antitrust laws."
• Number of opt-outs in $7.2 bln credit card settlement made public - Thomson Reuters - "Nearly 8,000 merchants out of a proposed class of 8 million have opted out of a $7.2 billion class action settlement involving an alleged conspiracy to inflate credit card fees."
• U.S. Regulator: Virtual Currencies Have 'Nothing to Fear' - Wall St. Journal - "Those offering virtual currencies must comply with these regulatory requirements, and if they do so, they have nothing to fear from Treasury…"
• Bitcoin in business: Buyer’s Best Friend - CoinDesk -
• New prepaid credit card funded by bitcoins - CoinDesk - "We programmed our POS (point of sale) to accept bitcoins and also accept credit/debit (most popular), cash or check (almost nobody). Bitcoin is our favorite payment method – cash is a pain to count and handle, and credit cards charge large processing fees."
• 2013 Innovators to Watch: 44 Executives Shaping The Future of Banking - Bank Innovation - "We believe that innovation in the financial services industry is driven not by the top dogs or the most senior executives, but by people who have dynamism, who look at banking innovation as anything but an oxymoron…"

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
• Follow Glenbrook Partners on LinkedIn! - lang: en_US

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Find something interesting to share? Tell us about it: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

Square has released Square Wallet 3.0 to the Apple App Store. Calling it a "complete redesign. Square Wallet provides a sleeker, snappier payment experience at your favorite neighborhood businesses."

Put a new wallet in your pocket and pay by just saying your name. itunes.apple.com/us/app/square-…

— Square (@Square) June 13, 2013

On the web:

• Spotlight on scams that target older adults - CFPB Blog - "Older Americans lose an estimated $2.9 billion annually to financial exploitation, and it’s estimated that for each case that is reported, 43 others go unrecognized."
• New PayPal Video: Who Killed The Cash Register? - "Hot on the trail of the Cash Register killer, two detectives investigate, interrogate and negotiate with a key witness."
• With iOS 7, Apple Shows It Will Tolerate QR Codes – But Not Further Their Cause - TechCrunch - "The QR code reader in iOS 7 is built into Passbook: there’s now a new Scan Code feature built into the Passbook card that’s used to explain the overall service."
• NFC Stands For Nobody F****** Cares And Apple Gets That - TechCrunch - "The reality is NFC is an ugly wasteland of non-use."
• (India) Card issuers in a fix over Aadhaar - Times of India - "The introduction of compulsory EMV chip cards and PIN confirmation for transactions was proposed in the wake of widespread credit card frauds that took place earlier this year. RBI had told banks in a circular that they should migrate to EMV and chip cards."

On the wires:

• MineralTree Launches MarketSphere™: Industry’s First Small Business Payments Analytics Service - "Using proprietary analytics and advanced data visualization, MineralTree MarketSphere transforms large volumes of bank-accessible customer and transactional data into actionable intelligence that can drive deeper SMB relationships and new income streams."
• Bitcoin Purchase Platform BitInstant Integrates Jumio's Netverify to Speed Transactions and Reduce Fraud - "Jumio's technology provides secure and convenient KYC functionality, enabling BitInstant customers to confirm their identity in real time, and offering an all-important extra layer of protection for financial transactions."

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
• Follow Glenbrook Partners on LinkedIn! - lang: en_US

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Find something interesting to share? Tell us about it: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

On the web:

• How many payments professionals does it take to hire a bike? Three! (A story of Chip & PIN) - Payments Views - Glenbrook's Erin McCune tries to rent a bicycle in London - without a chip card...
• Mobile money in the UK - Tomorrow's Transactions - "There are significant populations in developed markets that closely match the characteristics of mobile money customers in the emerging markets, and there is a clear opportunity for the right mobile money propositions."
• Beyond Bitcoin: Your Guide to Digital Currencies - Mashable - "Think of digital currency as an Esperanto that people are actually beginning to speak."

On the wires:

• First Data Leverages Bank Relationships with Latest Mobile Payment Solution for Merchants - "Pogo> works by allowing a merchant to combine a web-enabled smartphone or tablet with a mobile application and secure mobile card reader to create a point-of-sale (POS) device that leverages First Data’s proven technology…"
• SecureKey Brings Hardware-Based Security to MasterPass Digital Commerce Platform - "MasterPass is a perfect example of how Intel IPT working with briidge.net DNA can provide a hardware root of trust that can be utilized by multi-factor authentication solutions for identity protection and transaction verification."

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
• Follow Glenbrook Partners on LinkedIn! - lang: en_US

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Find something interesting to share? Tell us about it: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has published a new report on bank and credit union overdraft practices that it says "raises concerns about whether the overdraft costs on consumer checking accounts can be anticipated and avoided."

The bureau found big differences across financial institutions when it comes to overdraft coverage on debit card transactions and ATM withdrawals, and said that drew into question how banks sell this account feature. The report also finds that consumers who opt in for overdraft coverage end up with more costs and more involuntary account closures.

Consumers need to be able to anticipate and avoid unnecessary fees on their checking accounts. But we are concerned that overdraft programs at some banks may be increasing consumer costs,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

“What is often marketed as overdraft protection may actually be putting consumers at greater risk of harm.”The report titled "CFPB Study of Overdraft Programs" is available here. A fact sheet about financial institution overdraft practices is also available from the CFPB.

iZettle has announced Banco Santander, the Eurozone’s largest bank by market capitalization, is making a strategic investment of more than €5 million in the company.Millions of small business owners and professionals in the markets where we operate need an alternative to conventional credit card terminals, and simple software to manage and analyze their transactions,” said Ramón Tellaeche, head of Santander Cards at Banco Santander.

“We are strongly committed to innovation that satisfies emerging needs of our customers, we believe iZettle’s innovative mobile technologies will be crucial to those merchants’ near and long term success.”iZettle’s app for accepting credit card payments is now available for download free of charge from Apple’s App Store or Google Play in the U.K., Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland and coming soon to more countries. iZettle’s Chip & PIN and Chip & Signature card readers can be purchased at iZettle.com.

Separately, iZettle also announced a partnership agreement with Santander UK for Santander's Business Banking unit to "offer a solution that includes the iZettle Chip & PIN reader, to its small business customers at a preferential rate, enabling them to accept card payments using their smartphones and tablets in a far more cost effective and flexible way than traditional card terminals."

In a post titled "The Future of B2B Payments – And Suggestions on How We Might Get There", Glenbrook's Erin McCune writes from London about a vision for the future of business payments that she's sharing today at Experian‘s Payments Strategy Conference 2013 - along with six suggestions on how we might get to fulfilling that vision.

On the web:

• The Future of Money and Bitcoin by Chris Larsen, CEO of OpenCoin - CitizenTekk - "Who will be the Google, Facebook, or Alibaba of the math-based money era? We don't know yet, but we know they're coming. And when they get here, they won't be using ACH."
• iWallet: What Apple left out of its WWDC presentation - Fortune - "Of course, just because Apple patents a technology doesn't mean it will develop it. But at this point the company has amassed quite an arsenal of patents covering mobile payments."
• So, what happens to Passbook in iOS 7? - GigaOm - "If Apple is cooking up such a service, it’s possible there will be a hardware element involved in it."
• Apple Granted Patent for iWallet Parental/Employee Controls - Patently Apple - "The technology which uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and likely a little Apple magic, negates the need for NFC which Phil Schiller had stated last September."
• Weve to launch NFC payments in the UK in 2014 - NFC World - "We want to be mass market straight away — which means at least 50 per cent of consumers by the end of next year."
• Regulators Turn Up Heat Over Bank Fees - Wall St. Journal - "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in a report set for release Tuesday, plans to criticize the U.S. banking industry for practices that it says range from confusing rules on overdraft fees..."
• Banks Seen as Aid in Fraud Against Older Consumers - New York Times - "Indeed, banks across the country, from some of the largest to smaller regional players, help facilitate billions of dollars of fraud each year…"
• Mobile Wallets: What’s The Value Proposition? - Snarketing 2.0 - "The value proposition of the so-called mobile wallet – whatever that means, considering there’s no consensus on its definition — isn’t clear just yet."
• Google Wallet’s Osama Bedier Confirms That Google Lost Money With Every Transaction. (Good News: It Didn’t Get Many.) - Storefront Backtalk - "…what got short-shrift was finding a way to get shoppers to use its app."
• The continuing battle over interchange fees - Financial Services Club Blog - "In fact, ... Poland has some of the highest interchange fees of any European country…"
• Social Commerce Startup Chirpify to Power In-Stream Credit Card Purchases - AllThingsD - "Previously, the only payment method was PayPal."
• 46 Bitcoin APIs: Bitstamp, Bitcoin Charts Markets and 50BTC - ProgrammableWeb - "Our API directory now includes 46 bitcoin APIs."
• Freicoin’s attempt to free the economy - CoinDesk - "What I realized is that Bitcoin is the most revolutionary technology, I would say ever."
• QR code-enabled virtual stores support merchants’ mobile shopping strategies - Mobile Commerce Daily - "Walmart is one of the retailers that has been a big proponent of leveraging QR codes for virtual shopping."

On the wires:

• Visa and Ethoca Collaborate to Help eCommerce Merchants Reduce Fraud - "Using near real-time information from Visa on confirmed fraud transactions, Ethoca is able to send secure alerts to the affected merchants in the critical 24-72 hour window between when eCommerce orders are placed and when they are fulfilled or shipped…"
• UK Payments Council announces customer guarantee for new current account switch service - "The new service aims to increase competition in banking by making it simpler and hassle-free for customers to switch their current account."
• First Data Releases May 2013 SpendTrend® Analysis - "Dollar volume growth increased 6.0% in May compared to April’s 5.1% growth."
• Text2Pay Now Accepting Bitcoins – The New Social Currency - "Bitcoins are the equivalent of Internet cash. Users can send Bitcoins over the Internet to anyone worldwide with no middle-man or institution to take fees."

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
• Follow Glenbrook Partners on LinkedIn! - lang: en_US

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Find something interesting to share? Tell us about it: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

Glenbrook's Elizabeth McQuerry sends this note along:Here at Glenbrook we’re closely following the moves toward faster payments taking place around the world. Nearly a year has passed since the NACHA community said "no" to speeding up the U.S. ACH (see Carol Coye Benson’s take on that vote here) but the discussion has not let up.

Now the folks at Digital Transactions have picked up the debate in their June edition, presenting views on why the NACHA initiative did not pass, why there is a need for speeding up the payments process, and the risks associated with faster payments.

What’s next? Recently we presented the views of other "payments geeks" on this topic as you had shared them with us. The article cites NACHA CEO Jan Estep: “Developing a ubiquitous solution, available to all financial-institution endpoints, is the goal”.What are you seeing in the market? Are we getting closer to defining a clear direction for speeding up the tried-and-true but dinosaur-speed messaging and settlement that typifies retail payments in the US today?

Among many other new releases, features and hardware introduced by Apple today at its 2013 Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco is the new iCloud Keychain. Apple describes it this way:Remembering your passwords can be a real pain. But now iCloud Keychain remembers them for you. It stores your website user names and passwords on the devices you’ve approved, protects them with robust AES 256-bit encryption, and keeps them up to date on each device. And it automatically fills them in whenever and wherever you need them.Also included is a password generator that will suggest new hard to guess passwords and autofill of payment card information when checking out at eCommerce web sites.

Apple also introduced a new AirDrop sharing feature that will be included in iOS 7. Unlike NFC-based solutions used on some other smartphones that require two phones to be "bumped" together, AirDrop uses wireless connectivity (WiFi and Bluetooth) to exchange files, photos, etc. among iOS devices locally. No setup is required and the transfers are encrypted.

Apple also reported that it has over 575 million iTunes store accounts on file - noting: "We have more accounts with credit cards than any store on the Internet that we're aware of."

Ohad Samet has published a new book - Introduction to Online Payments Risk Management - and he is making the digital version available free.

If you’ve been tasked with building a team to handle risk management for online payments (RMP), this practical introduction provides a framework for choosing the technologies and personnel you need.

Author and financial services executive Ohad Samet explains the components of payments risk management, and presents a coherent strategy and operational approach.You’ll learn the answers to questions you’re likely to encounter in the first 18 months of operation, with information that Samet has shaped and tested over several years in the industry.You'll find the Kindle version available from Amazon here, other digital versions available from O'Reilly here.

Congratulations to Ohad (@ohadsamet)!

On the web:

• PNC to add deposit, balance requirements for free checking - Chicago Tribune - "According to the Web site of the Pittsburgh-based bank, free checking will no longer be available for new accounts as of Aug. 18."
• Accelerating the migration to electronic payments through mobile acceptance solutions - "At Visa, we see great potential to accelerate the migration to electronic payments through mPOS solutions."
• “Life on Bitcoin”: These newlyweds plan to live for 90 days entirely on bitcoin, and film the whole thing - PandoDaily - "As someone who has used bitcoin in the digital world but never in the physical world, I’m fascinated to see how this plays out."
• Who is your Edward Snowden? - The Bankwatch - "The core assumption, which is flawed, applies to the NSA and to Banks, as well as all businesses. That assumption is that business information is opaque to the information system handlers."

On the wires:

• MasterCard and Kount Join Forces to Help Merchants Fight e-Commerce Fraud - "Kount is the first company to offer the MasterCard Expert Monitoring API to merchants."
• Moneris Solutions names Angela Brown, President & CEO - "Brown’s mandate is to continue to position Moneris as the leading merchant services and card processing provider in North America."
• CardConnect Announces Launch of CoPilot - "CoPilot brings every aspect of running a successful, growing ISO to each agent’s fingertips…"
• MoneyGram Joining Forces with Lebara to Offer International Money Transfers on Mobile Devices - "MoneyGram’s money transfer platform is now integrated within the Lebara Money iPhone and Android mobile payment platform solutions and the Lebara Money website…"
• Taco John's Chooses FreedomPay Commerce Platform to Enable Growth - "The new Taco John’s Platform is a virtual transaction superhighway with the power to enhance the customer experience in-store, online and across any mobile device."
• <Oberthur Technologies Partners with HID Global to Carry Seos Digital Keys on NFC SIM Cards for Mobile Access - "Oberthur Technologies’ dragonFly NFC SIM cards and its secure elements in general are interoperable with Seos from HID Global…"

SEC Filings:

• Green Dot Bank to Acquire Wal-mart Prepaid Cards Agreement from GE Capital Retail Bank

Upcoming from Glenbrook:

• Summer Camp! - A special summer session of our popular Payments Boot Camp - in Half Moon Bay on August 6th and 7th... Also, an optional half day course on Data In Payments - August 8th, also in Half Moon Bay. Join Carol, Scott and Russ for lively, interactive sessions - register now!
• Follow Glenbrook Partners on LinkedIn! - lang: en_US

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Find something interesting to share? Tell us about it: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!