NEWS

Most online shopping done at the office

Most e-commerce shopping happens during work hours, according to CyberSource Corp. Processing statistics show the majority of people do their online shopping from the office. The peak hour from Dec. 3 to 9, 2006, a high-volume week, was 1 p.m. PST. The highest-volume online shopping days are Monday and Tuesday, with Saturday and Sunday typically showing the lowest volumes.

Global small-business outlook is mixed

Small business owners around the world have differing views on the current business climate, but feel more optimistic (28%) than not (21%) about the upcoming year, according to MasterCard Worldwide's annual Global Small Business Survey.

While they view competition as their top challenge for 2007, half of small business owners feel that globalization will help their business, rather than hurt it. The survey polled 4,000 owners from around the world who manage businesses with one to 99 employees.

Small business owners in the United States and Australia are the most likely to say their business's outlook is promising - 66% and 65%, respectively. Only 22% of small businesses in Hong Kong and 36% in France say the future is promising. Concern over competition rose dramatically, to 27% in 2006, versus 10% the previous year.

MasterCard Europe publishes Maestro SEPA interchange rates

MasterCard Europe announced fall-back interchange rates for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) for Maestro POS transactions, effective Jan. 1, 2008. For cross-border Maestro POS transactions, the fall-back interchange rates are significantly reduced versus current intra-Europe cross-border rates. For a typical transaction of EUR 50 (approximately 1 EUR = 1.317 USD), the new rates will be between EUR 0.09 and EUR 0.20, as compared with the current Maestro intra-Europe rates of EUR 0.25 to EUR 0.59.

Special retail measures protect against gift card scams

Reports about a new gift card scam in which criminals steal the numbers from the back of cards are somewhat misleading, according to the National Retail Federation. Most gift cards are outfitted with scratch-off security codes and protective packaging, in addition to verification numbers. Also, complex back-end retail systems prevent criminals from obtaining proprietary gift card information.

Shoppers are encouraged to keep the original receipt from the purchase of gift cards in the event the card has already been used. Retailers can then check to verify the card was fraudulently used and, in most cases, refund the gift card value to the customer.

The NRF also recommends checking the back of the card before purchasing it, to ensure the identification information has not been scratched off. The NRF estimated that gift card sales would total $24.81 billion for the 2006 holiday season, up from $18.48 billion in 2005.

FIs striving for market share

Payment processing faces intense pressure as financial institutions (FIs) strive to increase payment volume and market share, according to a TowerGroup report entitled, "Where's My Payment? Using Logistics Management to Drive an Enterprise View of Payments."

Banks are strained by a number of changes in the payments arena, including new payment infrastructures like image clearing, greater competition and increasingly stringent regulatory demands.

TowerGroup estimates that check conversion volume in the United States will rise from 500 million items in 2002 to approximately 4.6 billion items by 2008.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Gas station debit card fraud drops in Canada

Debit card fraud at gas stations across Canada declined by more than 60% over the past year, Interac Association reported. Representing about $15 million, the deep decline was the result of Project Protect, a joint education initiative spearheaded by Interac and law enforcement, with support from payment card partners.

Crescent Systems is PCI-certified for level 1

Crescent Systems, a provider of utility-payment services, has received Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard certification as a level 1 service provider. Crescent's certification audit was conducted by Solutionary Inc.

VeriFone honors four for hospitality innovation

Mexico's Fund of Infrastructure of Electronic Payments (FIMPE), McDonald's Corp., Micros Systems Inc. and American Express Co. were awarded VeriFone's 2006 Innovation Leadership Awards. The awards honor innovations in the hospitality industry.

FIMPE, a joint venture of 15 Mexican banks, increased electronic transactions and sales volume by 49% in 2005. McDonald's adoption of high-speed systems and contactless payments reportedly spurred the entire QSR industry to accelerate the deployment of new payment technology.

Micros fought card skimming in restaurants with an integrated pay-at-the-table solution. AmEx leveraged wireless technology to offer pay-at-the-table solutions in Latin America, deterring card fraud, according to VeriFone.

Optimal Group makes offer for FireOne

Optimal Group Inc. announced it will offer GBP 0.60 (approximately 1 GBP = 1.96 USD) per share for all outstanding shares in FireOne Group plc.

MasterCard certifies Apriva solution on Nurit terminals

Apriva announced that MasterCard has certified its Secure POS Suite, running on the VeriFone Nurit family of wireless and Internet-protocol-enabled terminals, to be compliant under its Payment Terminal Security Program.

Q Comm named among fast-growing Utah companies

Q Comm International Inc. was named one of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in Utah for the fourth consecutive year by MountainWest Capital Network. The award is based on sales growth for companies with a minimum five-year revenue history.

Q Comm generated $35.8 million for the first three quarters of 2006, an 11% increase over the same period in 2005. The company provides prepaid transaction processing and electronic POS distribution solutions.

PARTNERSHIPS

Partners enable multicurrency payment acceptance

Through a strategic partnership, Planet Payment and Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions, the fourth-largest merchant acquirer, will offer multicurrency pricing. The pricing structure enables merchants to offer customers around the world the ability to shop, view prices and pay for purchases in their own currency across a number of card-not-present channels, including the Internet and MO/TO.

PG&E customers can pay with Visa

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Visa U.S.A. announced an 18-month pilot program to enable Californians to pay their utility bills using Visa-branded payment cards. Under the no-fee program, 5.2 million residential customers may use Visa cards to make individual payments by phone. The program will be expanded in early 2007.

EFunds to process AmEx prepaid cards

American Express and eFunds Corp. announced a global, multiyear partnership in which eFunds will provide processing services for AmEx prepaid cards.

Anthology integrates gift card program for booksellers

POS developer Anthology Inc. has integrated Givex's gift card program with its bookseller software, Visual Anthology V5. The combination makes it easier for American Booksellers Association members to participate in the Book Sense Gift Card Program, which uses Givex's line of gift card services.

Jukeboxes process through Optimal Payments

TouchTunes Music Corp. has selected Optimal Payments Inc. to process credit and debit card payments for its music-on-demand, digital-downloading jukeboxes. TouchTunes delivers music on its network of more than 23,000 digital touch-screen jukeboxes in commercial locations across the United States, Canada and Latin America.

Dallas County tests eTelcharge kiosks

Merchant services provider eTelcharge.com announced that Dallas County, Texas, will test its traditional merchant services, using kiosks in government buildings. The county is also considering the alternative payment system to assist citizens in preventing Internet fraud and provide a viable payment option.

Jeweler deploys fraud protection

Internet jeweler Ice.com (which recently purchased competitor Diamond.com) reported an 80% increase in international sales after deploying fraud protection services from Paily. Prior to the partnership, the company required international customers to arrange prepayments via wire transfers.

Advanta renews with First Data

Advanta Corp. has renewed its agreement with First Data Corp. for small-business credit card processing services. First Data will continue to provide transaction processing, statement production and mailing, plastics personalization, and fraud services for over 1 million Advanta customers.

First National Merchant Solutions adds Discover

Payment processor First National Merchant Solutions expanded its product portfolio to include Discover Financial Services LLC card transactions. First National Merchant Solutions will add Discover Network card processing to its suite of credit and debit card processing services in 2007.

Gemalto adds contactless to Garanti's EMV cards

Gemalto is providing Garanti Bank, a credit card issuer in Turkey, with smart banking cards featuring contactless payment capability, as well as EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) technology and loyalty programs.

APPOINTMENTS

Cliburn and Tarapore sign on at Ceridian

Ceridian Corp. named Perry Cliburn Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer and Kairus Tarapore Executive Vice President of Human Resources. Cliburn formerly was Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Hewitt Associates Inc.

Cliburn replaces Robert Severson, Ceridian's Senior Vice President of Corporate Technology, who retired at the end of 2006. Previously, Tarapore was Senior Vice President of Global Quality for GE Fleet Services.

TNB Card Services hires Dawes

Mitch Dawes has joined TNB Card Services as Vice President, Account Executive. He comes to TNB from First Data Resources, where he was Director of Service.

Welcome welcomes Del Col

Welcome appointed Rose Del Col Regional Director for Latin America. Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, she has 18 years of experience in the financial services arena, the last six for MasterCard in Brazil.

NetSpend appoints two

NetSpend Corp., a processor and marketer of prepaid cards, expanded its executive team with the appointments of Marlene Maxon as Senior Vice President of Marketing and James DeVoglaer as Vice President of Information Technology (IT). Maxon joined NetSpend from Heinrich, where she was Executive Vice President. She assumed the responsibilities of Bertrand Sosa, NetSpend Co-founder and Vice President of Advertising, who assumed the role of company ambassador. DeVoglaer has more than 20 years of leadership expertise in a wide range of IT operations. He co-founded Kaian Inc., an IT consulting company.

Four join the CFSI board

Four executives have joined The Center for Financial Services Innovation's board of directors. They are Bruce Murphy, Keybank President of Community Development Banking; Gary Palmer, eFunds Corp. Executive Vice President for Global Strategic Business Development; Kevin Rhein, Executive Vice President and Business Manager for Wells Fargo Card Services; and Luz Urrutia, President and Chief Operating Officer for El Banco Financial Corp.

BOTTOM LINES

• The cost of "The 12 Days of Christmas" was $18,920 in 2006, a 3.1% increase over the previous year, according to PNC Wealth Management's 22nd annual survey. The partridge's home rose the most, as pear tree prices climbed 44%, attributed to landscapers' demand for ornamental trees. Labor costs were also up. Based on data from a Philadelphia dance company, nine ladies dancing earned 4% more than in 2005, compared to a raise of 3% for 10 lords-a-leaping.

• The National Clearing House settled record image volumes of 124.7 million items totaling $103.7 billion in November, a growth of more than 21% over October item volume.

• Outstanding consumer revolving credit, which includes credit card debt, rose a projected 4.1% in October 2006, to $863.4 billion, the Federal Reserve reported.