Every day brings news of innovation in money and payments. Consider what turned up just since we reported on MasterCard's ambitions last week:

"Cashless society" means something different to law enforcement agencies, privacy advocates, consumer agencies, development consultants, retailers, and other constituencies. MasterCard has been in the news often lately, revealing what it thinks about the place of cash in a consumer society. Let's look at the evidence.

"The Payoff" and, more generally, ec-bp, advocate automation and related supply-chain efficiencies; our general attitude is that "trimming the fat" is always a good thing. That's why we explain the latest techniques in EDI (electronic data interchange) and ERP (enterprise resource planning), and how to make the most of them.

Most ec-bp.com readers work for bricks-and-mortar stores, or for the suppliers that feed these retail outlets. How much do on-line purchases matter to them? Plenty. It's not just that on-line activity pulls away revenue that might otherwise be yours; laws and regulations aimed at on-line shopping often impact consumer relations in physical operations.