Visa Inc. payment system has announced today that Second Cup has joined a growing roster of Visa payWave(TM) contactless payment enabled merchants, which will allow consumers to simply "wave and go" when making every day transactions like purchasing coffee. It was announced that by the end of March 2009 360 Second Cup stores in Canada will be equipped with Visa payWave enabled terminals. 

Finnish Tieto specialized for IT services in cooperation with US First Data are going to deliver card services for Latvian consumers and state institutions. Within this framework Latvian side will get Tieto Card Suite Acquiring technology. Essence of TietoEnator Card Suite Acquiring is systematization of functions of merchant network management. Also it is used for solution making process with merchants and provides the exchange of transaction data with payment systems such as Visa, American Express, Master Card and Diners Club.  

Rahaxi Inc. has announced its partnership with ChinaPay which will allow Rahaxi to accept all Chinese-issued payment cards and thus to allow all the Chinese internet consumers to purchase European goods from European retailers.  This is the latest in a series of agreements designed to extend Rahaxi's strategic advantages in the Chinese payments business.

MasterCard today announced organizational changes designed to better align its global customer-focused strategy with customers' expectations in the new economic and marketplace environment, as well as ensure that it continues to innovate and deliver products and services that better position it for success now and in the future.

Gemalto has announced that it will provide Banco Santander with innovative technology for its university identity card program. It is Brazil’s first multi-functional smart card combining EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) payment and contactless access control on a single ID card, to be used within the university buildings – for students, teachers and staff.