Inför finalen i UEFA Champions League presenterar MasterCard, som officiell sponsor, en ny typ av fotbollsfans inom Europa. Tillsammans spenderar de svindlande 319 miljarder kronor varje säsong på att följa sina utländska favoritklubbar.

MasterCard presenterar idag de tio mest obetalbara ögonblicken i UEFA Champions League-historien, framröstade av europeiska fotbollsfans i en studie MasterCard gjort tillsammans med European Business School.

C-SAM and MasterCard have announced a joint initiative to offer a white-label mobile wallet solution based on C-SAM’s flexible Mobile Transaction Platform (MTP) integrated with MasterCard’s pre-paid platform, offers, PayPass Wallet Services and rich informational services. “Our partnership with C-SAM offers telcos in the region a NFC solution that comes pre-packaged with prepaid instance issuance, TSM integration and coupon redemption at the point of sale and offers a path to a truly multichannel payment wallet through PayPass Wallet Services,” said Raj Dhamodharan, Regional Head of Mobile and Ecommerce for Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa for MasterCard.

A study released by Think Finance surveyed 640 Millennials who have used some type of alternative financial services product within the last year and earn less than $75,000 in annual income. A new survey of underbanked Millennials – 18-34 year olds who supplement their bank accounts with alternative financial services such as prepaid debit cards or check cashing – challenges the stereotype of alternative financial service users as the poorest members of society who are forced to turn to alternative products. The survey found that underbanked Millennials with mid – high levels of income are using alternative financial services at rates similar to, and in some cases higher than, their lower-income peers.

Lots of interesting numbers.

On the web:

• iZettle, Europe’s rival to Square, hits the UK - GigaOM
• PayPal Teams With Coinstar To Move Cash and Coins Online - PayPal Blog
• Sprint Expands Carrier Billing Options for Google Play Store - GottaBe Mobile
• Credit Card Dispute Goes Before Competition Tribunal in Canada - CBCnews.ca
• PCI Council Urges P2P Encryption For Mobile Payments - TechTarget

On the wires:

• Mercury Payment Systems Acquires Sundrop Mobile
• MasterCard inControl Family Solutions to Launch in Philippines
• 24/7 Card Introduces Powerful Prepaid Visa Debit + Remit Card to the Hispanic Community
• uShip Selects Payoneer’s Innovative, Flexible Payment Solution
• Buck Reports Q1 2012 Mobile Payments Metrics

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated.

Jumio has announced the release of its Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK). The Netswipe Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) is a fast and easy way to implement reliable credit card capturing into mobile apps. There is no need for extra hardware, and it is available for iOS. Android will follow soon.

Jumio also announced they are giving away $5 Million worth of scanning fees to support young Start-ups and the developer community.

Cardlytics has announced the release of “Cardlytics for Credit,” an integrated suite of technology and services that enable financial institutions to effectively leverage transaction marketing to strengthen relationships with their credit card customers. “Until now, the broad category of ‘merchant-funded rewards’ for credit cards has simply not produced meaningful results for retailers or banks,” said Scott Grimes, CEO of Cardlytics. “Because of our reach into 70 million households’ checking accounts and their associated high transaction debit card volume and frequent online access, we are well positioned to now leverage our massive scale in checking/debit to bring rich content to credit.”

Digital River has announced 'Digital River Connect' to provides developers with access to its Global Commerce and Commerce Express application programming interfaces (APIs) and enables commerce-as-a-service (CaaS). “An open and accessible API is a critical component of today’s digital ecosystems,” said James Gagliardi, Digital River’s vice president of product and innovation. “We’ve designed the Digital River Connect technology from the ground up to set the standard in this area. It combines the power and capabilities of our enterprise-level solutions with a new, easy-to-use interface that lets developers become productive quickly – fostering a rapid onboarding process with an integrated test console that lets developers learn about our APIs and start using them in a single, seamless experience.”

TSYS announced its agenda for connected mobility to support commerce for digitally active consumers — those accustomed to navigating their daily lives with smart phones, tablets, game systems, electronic readers and computers. “Two years ago the devices of choice were smart phones; now they are tablets. Regardless of the devices used tomorrow, our focus on people-centered payments paves the way for this agenda, with functionality to support mobility, applications and commerce across any device,” said Paul Bridgewater, group executive of Global Product, TSYS. “Today’s consumers prefer trusted alternative channels for increased mobility to facilitate online business and commerce — and they expect security, reliability and a seamless purchase experience that is simple and intuitive. This agenda truly puts people at the center of payments.”

On the web:

• Google Wallet Now Available on Four NFC Handsets - Wired.com
• VeriFone’s SAIL Caught Copying Rival Square’s User Agreement - GigaOM

On the wires:

• VeriFone Media Brings Sky News into London’s Taxis
• ZipZap Launches Cascading Payments Solution for Online Merchants
• SafetyPay Introduces Cash Payment Option for eCommerce Merchants
• MyClear Appoints MOLPay as its Acquirer for Online Merchants (Malaysia)
• Smart Card Alliance Expands Industry Collaboration With Formation of Mobile and NFC Council
• POS Portal to Distribute Ingenico POS Devices for EMV and NFC Mobile Payments
• Wolfram Releases New Computational Software Platform for Finance

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated.

Isis has announced the first of its merchant partners to participate in its Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah market trial. “Today’s announcement signals the mobile commerce experience has arrived. A strong merchant base in Austin and Salt Lake City will make the Isis Mobile Wallet real for consumers as they choose to use their mobile wallet at many of their favorite merchant locations to pay and redeem offers,” said Jim Stapleton, chief sales officer, Isis. “We look forward to working closely with both local and national merchants to enable a mobile commerce experience that transforms how consumers shop and interact with their favorite brands.”

In addition to naming local merchants, Isis also indicated that Aéropostale, The Coca-Cola Company, Champs Sports, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice, and Macy’s would participate in the market trial as national merchants.

CIBC and Rogers Communications have announced an agreement to launch Canada's "first' joint mobile payment solution, allowing Canadians to pay with their CIBC credit card at the checkout counter using their Rogers NFC-enabled smartphone. "Canadians are embracing new technologies at an accelerated pace and we know they're interested in using their smartphone for mobile payments," said Rob Bruce, President of Communications, Rogers Communications. "We've been laying the foundation for mobile commerce and the ecosystem is ready to give Canadians the convenience, security, and peace of mind they deserve," said Bruce. "Today's announcement with CIBC represents an important first step toward a whole new world of mobile transactions which is a key growth area for the company."

American Express has launched a mobile offer engine that recommends and ranks relevant merchant offers in real time for US Cardmembers based on their spending history and location – a Cardmember’s “spend graph.” “In an increasingly crowded marketplace, where consumers are bombarded with daily deals, we saw an opportunity to help our Cardmembers save time as well as money by curating meaningful offers for them,” said Josh Silverman, president of the U.S. Consumer Services Group at American Express. “At the same time, we can help our merchant partners build their business by helping them reach the right Cardmembers with the right offers at the right time. We developed our mobile offer engine with three key points of differentiation in mind: relevance, convenience and value.”

On the web:

• FBI Explores The Implications Of Bitcoin - Techdirt

On the wires:

• Paymetric, Inc. Deploys Secure Mobile Payments
• CardinalCommerce Has Processed Over One Billion Transactions
• Digital River Introduces The App Practice for Online Merchants
• Bill.com Integrates with NetSuite to Deliver Seamless Cloud-Based Financial Management
• Citi and American Airlines Announce the New CitiBusiness / AAdvantage World MasterCard
• Virtual Piggy Adds New Family-Friendly Merchants to Growing Roster of Partners

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated.

American Express and Isis have announced an agreement to make American Express’ U.S. Consumer, OPEN Small Business and Serve Cards available in the Isis Mobile Wallet, starting in Salt Lake City, Utah and Austin, Texas later this year. “Now our Cardmembers and merchants can benefit from the ease and convenience of a tap-and-go experience on a mobile phone and still enjoy the benefits, services and support of American Express,” said Josh Silverman, President, U.S. Consumer Services for American Express.

On the web:

• Visa Increases 'No-Signature Floor Limits" to $50 - Digital Transactions
• Cooperating Competitors? Yes, When It Comes To Payment Standards - Portals and Rails
• Digital Wallet Battle Heats Up As Visa And MasterCard Enter The Game - TechCrunch
• Wallet, Wallet Everywhere: Making Sense of the Mobile Payment Wars - TIME.com
• Public Apathetic Towards Contactless Payments In UK - Marketing Week
• PayPal’s Key To Winning Mobile Payments: Data - GigaOM
• 10 Ways to Take Credit Cards on your iPhone - MacApper
• 4 Risky Places To Swipe Your Debit Card - Bankrate.com

On the wires:

• New Mercator Report on Mobile Opportunities for Closed-Loop Issuers
• Latest EMVCo Figures Reveal Continued Market Adoption of EMV Technology
• Computer Services Enhances Card Sentry Risk Mitigation with ReD PRISM
• Acculynk Announces Alaska Option Issuers Enabled with PaySecure Internet PIN Debit
• Wright Express Acquires CorporatePay, a Leading Provider of Prepaid Virtual Cards to the U.K. Travel Industry

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated.

Glenbrook's Erin McCune is fresh off a two-day, marathon blogging experience at Finovate Spring 2012 San Francisco. Her notes, over on Payments Views, highlight the key take aways from the sixty-four startup companies that were on hand to pitch their financial innovation.

Visa and Obopay have announced a collaboration to enable near real-time payment solutions for disbursing electronic funds to a prepaid card. “By introducing a Visa prepaid card solution, Obopay offers near real-time disbursement capabilities that allow our customers to avoid the time delay of issuing cash or check,” said David Schwartz, vice president of product and corporate marketing for Obopay. “Adding Visa prepaid cards to Obopay Disbursements enables our partners to send funds to any consumer in the U.S. at dramatically lower costs compared to issuing checks while they can also greatly increase the satisfaction of customers.”

First Data has released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of April 2012 compared to April 2011. Overall year-over-year dollar volume growth was 5.7% in April, down from March’s 8.7% growth. Transaction growth slowed to 5.8% in April, down from 9.3% in March. Despite the slowdown in overall year-over-year dollar volume and transaction growth, discretionary spending was healthy in April.

SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

PayPal and SOFTBANK announced that the two companies plan to establish a joint venture company, "PayPal Japan", to build a digital payments business in Japan. The joint venture will bring together the strengths of both companies - PayPal's global online and mobile payment solutions with 110 million active accounts in 190 markets and 25 currencies, along with the SOFTBANK Group's local market knowledge, 29 million mobile subscribers and vast distribution network including thousands of retail outlets and sales staff across Japan. PayPal and SOFTBANK also announced PayPal Here in Japan as the fifth "availability" country along side the USA, Canada, Hong Kong and Australia.