Americans Pay Off Credit Card Debt!

This is good news except for, as the article points out, credit card companies, but I think it only hurts the credit card companies in the short term (that is if, and this is a big IF, this trend continues). Long term (again, IF the trend continues) this could be good news because it reduces the risk of a big bust in the future.

May I See Your Voice, Please?

Using voice recognition to activate a new credit card. Good idea? Yeah. Will it actually work? I have my doubts. A person's voice is such a fine instrument I don't know how the technology will account for subtle differences in someone's voice between the time they record their signature and when they activate a card. What if you have a cold when you record your signature but not when you activate the card or vice versa?

Mitigating identity theft

Bruce Schneier argues in this article that the focus of information crime prevention should be on fraudelent transactions rather than on identity theft. I'm not sure I completely understand the distinction or how it helps solves the problem but I thought I would post it because it sounds contrarian (and because I haven't posted in awhile).

Dialing up to do business

The subtitle of this article about Korea's 3G loving, Internet connected society says it all: "Paving the way for a cashless society."