Bank of America's credit cards led to $5.7 billion in profit, or 23% of the bank giant's non-interest income, for BofA last year. They are the nation's leading credit card issuer with 40 million active credit card accounts. Now, BofA may be looking to parlay that into even greater earnings. They are considering developing its own payments network to rival Visa and MasterCard, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Grasek, who recently met with senior BofA officials, including Chief Executive Ken Lewis. Visa and MasterCard currently command 60% and 27% of market share, respectively. While official bank spokesmen are declining to comment on the issue, some bank employees in Charlotte, speaking anonymously, say that the idea is being studied.

Grasek estimates that BofA's annual earnings could get boosted by as more than $70 million if BofA had its own card payments network. This is because of savings realized on transaction fees. Grasek estimates that BofA could save approximately 0.8%–0.9% per transaction, which may total $240 million to $270 million annually, based on BofA's $302 billion credit card volume in 2005. Another $74 million in savings would be realized from debit card transactions. Annual operating costs are operated at $245 million to $270 million.

MSNBC: BofA ponders card to rival giants

Last week, OfficeMax became the focus of reports of the debit card fraud wave that had resulted in over 200,000 debit cards needing to be replaced by Bank of America, Citibank, and Washington Mutual. Visa and MasterCard had both acknowledged that a merchant had been the target of a data theft, although neither would identify the merchant. Police reports, however, have shown that the common denominator in the vast majority of the 200,000+ victims of the fraud wave had shopped at OfficeMax.

More recently, Visa issued a warning to retailers that a certain version of some Fujitsu debit card transaction software may be storing sensitive customer data, including PIN codes. Fujitsu Transactions Solutions' customers include Best Buy, Staples, and ... OfficeMax. Although, it is unknown whether or not these retailers are using the allegedly faulty version of the software. Could Fujitsu actually be to blame for the debit card fraud?

Neither OfficeMax nor Fujitsu are taking responsibility for the security breach. Fujitsu claims that no sensitive data could be stored by its software alone; additional tweaks would have to be made to the programs. OfficeMax claims that they had found no evidence of any data theft on their end. So the mystery continues.

Most likely, the breach will be traced to some source in due time. Meanwhile, it is baffling to see that there could possibly be such a huge crack in the system of debit card security. Especially with identity theft becoming more and more prevalent, one would think that retailers and software developers would take extra precautions to ensure that their customers were being taken care of. Ultimately, the responsibility lies with the retailer. No matter at which exact point in the chain the security breach occurred, it is the retailer's responsibility to seal these cracks. They are the ones with whom the customer has the relationship and they are the ones who will take the brunt of the poor PR should something like this happen. I know one thing for sure: I won't be using my check card at OfficeMax any time soon.

Last year, the United States' personal savings rate was -0.5%, the first time that it has been negative since the depression era. In a recent broadcast of To the Point, a daily national news radio program co-produced by KCRW Los Angeles and Public Radio International, host Sara Terry discussed the growing American consumer debt with guests Tony Proctor, CFP and president of Proctor Financial; Robert Manning, author of Credit Card Nation; Chris Thornberg, senior economist at UCLA Anderson Forecast; and Shira Boss, financial journalist and author of Green with Envy.

Listen to the show: "Drowning in Debt" on To the Point (3/8/06)

Early yesterday morning, the FBI raided a home in Las Vegas and busted a credit card fraud ring that had been counterfeiting up to 600 fake cards per day. Two Romanian men were arrested in the raid on the Vegas home. Six others were also arrested, five in New Jersey and one in New York. The ring had been able to obtain credit card numbers by having members inside retail and restuarant locations.

Read more at KVBC: FBI raids Vegas home; busts credit fraud ring

Fair Isaac Corp, the company that developed the FICO credit-scoring model, has released the results of a national survey that reveals just how important finance is when it comes to love and romance. The survey included responses from 1,022 people and was conducted by Opinion Research.

Surprisingly, the results of the survey showed that roughly one-third of respondents said that a lack of financial responsibility would hurt a relationship more than infidelity. In terms of sustaining a long-term relationship, 22% of respondents said that financial responsibility is an important personal trait, compared to only 10% who cited sexual compatibility.

In terms of getting to know someone before romantic commitment, 76% of respondents said it is very important to know if the person pays bills on time and has a good credit history. Only 68% cited desire to have children as being important to know and only 40% cited good kissing ability.