Lots of good stuff in today's Payments News

Japan: KDDI, JCB Collaborate On Credit Card Mobile Phone

Reuters reports that KDDI, Japan's second-largest mobile phone operator, is planning to cooperate with credit card issuer JCB to offer mobile phones that can be used as credit cards - apparently aiming to counter a service by NTT DoCoMo.

A Look At Remittances Out Of The UK

The British Government's Department for International Development has prepared a research report titled "BME Remittance Survey" (PDF) that provides a comprehensive look at the private money transfer habits of Britain’s Asian, African, Caribbean and Chinese communities.

The Banking Potential Of Remittance Recipients

Visa International, Latin America and Caribbean Region, has conducted a study that "revealed the banking potential of remittance recipients, as well as their interest in establishing more productive relationships with financial institutions. The remittance market reached US$52 billion in 2005, marking a 15 percent increase over the previous year."

Retailer Concerns About Google Checkout

Brian Smith blogs on Comparison Engines about comments made yesterday in a research note by Piper Jaffray's Safa Rashtchy regarding retailer concerns about "ceding customer ownership to Google" if they implement Google Checkout. Rashtchy's survey of retailers raised "concerns about disintermediation, lack of system flexibility and the perception that Checkout provides Google too much visibility into their business, especially relating to Google search driven conversion rates."

eBay Ban Against Google Checkout Is ‘Overplayed’

Digital Transactions reports on comments by a PayPal executive that eBay's action barring eBay auction sellers from using Google Checkout is "aimed at barring new payment techniques until they can prove they control fraud and otherwise protect users."

Latest E-Commerce Fraud Scheme

The 41st Parameter has announced it has identified an e-commerce fraud scheme in which fraudsters are coordinating their attacks against e-commerce merchants by using personal, digital and financial data that all appear legitimate to typical detection systems.