The U.S. House of Representatives just took a major step toward dismantling federal barriers to banking cannabis businesses. The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which passed overwhelmingly in a Sept. 25, 2019 vote, would provide a safe harbor for financial institutions that want to serve cannabis businesses. The 321-103 vote marks the first time either house of Congress has taken up cannabis reform legislation. “American voters have spoken and continue to speak, and the fact is you can't put the genie back in the bottle,” said Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., author of the legislation. “Prohibition is over. Our bill is focused solely on taking cash off the streets and making our community safer.”

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The PCI Security Standards Council’s annual North America Community Meeting, held Sept. 17 to 19, 2019, in Vancouver, B.C., drew more than 1,300 attendees. Top agenda items included upcoming releases of the PCI Standard for contactless payments on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile devices and PCI Data Security Standard Version 4.0 (PCI DSS v4.0).

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The executive at the center of the payroll firm that went bust, saddling payment processors with millions of dollars in losses, was arrested Sept. 23, 2019, near Albany, New York. Michael Mann, the owner of MyPayrollHP, and its parent company, ValueWise Corp., based in Clifton Park, New York, has been charged by federal prosecutors with a $70 million fraud scheme. A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Albany accuses Mann of obtaining at least $70 million in bank loans through a convoluted fraud scheme involving bogus companies.

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More than 600 payments industry professionals gathered at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort, Rancho Mirage, Calif., from Sept. 18 to 19, 2019, for the 16th annual Western States Acquirers Association conference. Conference planners mixed back-to-basics training with payments innovation and emerging technologies for its signature event. Established in 2003, WSAA is a not-for-profit organization for ISOs, merchant level salespeople (MLSs), financial institutions and technology companies that serve ecommerce and consumer retail sectors. The annual conference endeavors to educate and inform acquirers, ISOs and MLSs about the ever-changing needs of the financial services industry, event organizers stated.

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Access to voice-enabled technologies and alternative payment types are top-of-mind among consumers worldwide, according to new studies by Capgemini and Paysafe Group. Paysafe researchers found young consumers use emerging payments schemes more than any other demographic group. Capgemini researchers found financial institutions and fintechs are competing and collaborating to meet demand for emerging payment methods.

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In a case that could have implications for direct deposit and payroll services providers, a payroll processing firm ceased operations, vanishing into the ether with $35 million earmarked to pay client employees and their tax withholdings. Now the FBI and regulators in New York, where the payroll company was based, are investigating the matter. “I am calling on the [New York Department of Financial Services] to investigate the sudden and disturbing shutdown of MyPayrollHR in Clifton Park,” Governor Andrew Cuomo stated in a recent tweet. “The company’s reckless actions have left employees across the state with negative bank accounts. They deserve answers.”

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As ecommerce merchants struggle to meet the European Union’s revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), TSYS launched an advanced technology platform designed to validate customers and combat application, transaction and account takeover fraud. The TSYS Authentication Platform went live Sept. 12, 2019, two days before PSD2’s new provisions, including its Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) mandate, became effective. The solution will be launched in North America in 2020, TSYS representatives stated. Justin Griggs, senior vice president of product strategy and commercialization for TSYS Issuer Solutions, said remote transactions involving fake identities and account takeovers are a growing concern for merchants, issuers and regulators.

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Strict new customer authentication rules are set to take effect in Europe, but not everybody is ready, leading the European Banking Authority to allow additional time for banks, financial technology firms and merchants to start toeing the line. The new security rules aim to thwart online payment fraud, which has been skyrocketing now that the EMV security protocol is the norm for card-present transactions worldwide. According to Mastercard, the fraud rate for digital payments in Europe is now 10 times greater than it is for card-present transactions.

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The Culture of Innovation index, published Sept. 10, 2019 by ACI Worldwide and Ovum, maps approaches to innovation by different business sectors, including fintechs, merchants, corporates and financial institutions. Fintechs and retail banks that leverage real-time payments and transformative technologies scored highest in the study, researchers found. “We wanted to understand what drives our audience of fintechs, merchants and corporates on the innovation front and what inputs and outputs put them ahead of the curve, from organic alignment of embracing technology to digitally-led businesses that foster innovation,” said Michael Grillo, vice president, merchant segment and solution marketing at ACI Worldwide.

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Payments veteran Marc Beauchamp, author of How to Survive and Thrive in the Merchant Services Industry and creator of Bankcard Bootcamp, recently launched Bankcard Life. Devised to offering industry-leading training and resources, the new website and online community also provides a platform for like-minded individuals to share experiences, challenges and best practices, Beauchamp stated. “This business is not easy,” he said. “It takes perseverance, commitment and hard work to build something of significance. I am sharing what I’ve learned over the last 25 years to help members avoid some of the mistakes I made along the way.”

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An unprotected directory containing approximately 419 million Facebook user IDs and phone numbers has roiled the security community. TechCrunch reporter Zach Whittaker broke the news Sept. 4, 2019, in a post titled, “A huge database of Facebook users found online.” Whittaker and other security analysts criticize Facebook for unwittingly exposing user credentials to hackers. “The exposed server contained more than 419 million records over several databases on users across geographies, including 133 million records on U.S.-based Facebook users, 18 million records of users in the U.K., and another with more than 50 million records on users in Vietnam,” Whittaker wrote. “But because the server wasn’t protected with a password, anyone could find and access the database.”

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The thirteenth annual Mobile Payments Conference, held Aug. 26 to 28, 2019 at Chicago’s Swissotel, showcased mobile technologies’ evolution and growth. Industry leaders and subject-matter experts discussed security, technology, communications and the global app marketplace. The event provided a diversity of presentations, resources and networking opportunities. “This year, the Mobile Payments Conference sharply focused on the future and brought a range of experts to speak on very timely topics for both strategists and payments veterans,” said Katherine McClure, partner, business development at PPRO. “Of particular interest to me were the themes of customer experience and international payments. Both of these topics are very important to the industry and to me in my role at PPRO.”

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