Revolution, the private investment company which Case launched in 2005 with $500 million of his AOL fortune, is the largest shareholder in GratisCard, which is based in St. Petersburg, Fla. GratisCard will be formally launched in April.

Case’s GratisCard aims to loosen the grip of Visa, Mastercard (MA), and their bank partners, on the payment industry. Retailers complain the card giants charge them high fees—known as interchange fees—when their cards are used in stores. In 2005, Visa and Mastercard generated $25.1 billion in fees on more than $1.1 trillion in credit card purchases, an average of 2.2% per transaction, according to The Nilson Report, a payment industry trade publication. Visa and Mastercard debit cards charged fees at a rate of 1.75%.

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India’s high-tech services industry has set the country’s economic flywheel spinning. Growth is running at 9%-plus this year. The likes of Wal-Mart (WMT ), Vodafone (VOD ), and Citigroup (C ) are placing multibillion-dollar bets on the country, lured by its 300 million-strong middle class. In spite of a recent drop, the Bombay stock exchange’s benchmark Sensex index is still up more than 40% since June. Real estate has shot through the roof, with some prices doubling in the past year.

But this economic boom is being built on the shakiest of foundations. Highways, modern bridges, world-class airports, reliable power, and clean water are in desperately short supply. And what’s already there is literally crumbling under the weight of progress. In December, a bridge in eastern India collapsed, killing 34 passengers in a train rumbling underneath. Economic losses from congestion and poor roads alone are as high as $6 billion a year, says Gajendra Haldea, an adviser to the federal Planning Commission.

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On the Web, we let strangers tell us who to trust, what to read,
and where to go. Which means your good name can be worth
real money.And reputation hacking can be big business.

More at Wired.com