NEWSCrossCheck Inc., the nation's third-largest check approval and guarantee company, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. CrossCheck has been providing check services - including check guarantee, verification and conversion services - and authorization technology to retail businesses, auto dealerships and the financial services sector throughout the United States since it opened its doors in Petaluma, Calif., in October 1983.
The company moved to its Rohnert Park headquarters a few years later and now has over 180 employees. In 2006, CrossCheck opened a second office in Dallas, with 60 employees and 20 field sales representatives. CrossCheck, which specializes in authorization systems, introduced e-commerce solutions over a decade ago and was one of the first check guarantee providers to market an electronic check conversion service.
"CrossCheck has been an innovative leader since its inception," said J. David Siembieda, the company's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our ability to quickly respond to the needs of the marketplace and provide exceptional support and customized programs to our partners and merchants has contributed to our growth." Siembieda said new banking rules and technology have opened additional markets for CrossCheck. In 2007, the company launched OptioSolutions LLC, a debt management business to help merchants manage their receivables.
New studies have been published on the market potential for mobile banking, mobile payments and emerging markets. With global economic growth being driven by emerging markets at a rate of 12 to 1 compared to mature economies, new markets are expected to become increasingly important investment and business centers.
The 2008 MasterCard Worldwide Emerging Markets Index evaluated 65 regions on eight standards related to business climate, political environment, economic growth, commercial connectivity and quality of life. Based on those metrics, the top four areas holding the greatest potential for growth in the payments industry are China, Eastern Europe, South Africa and Latin America.
An October 2008 report from Juniper Research LLC forecasts that Japan and emerging markets, including those in Southeast Asia, will have over 400 million subscribers using mobile phones to purchase various types of tickets by 2013. Juniper estimates transaction values could reach $92 billion by then, with the Far East, Western Europe and North America accounting for 80 percent of the mobile ticketing market.
The leading growth sector will be transport, followed by entertainment and sporting events. Many professional sports teams worldwide are now offering mobile options for ticket purchases. According to Howard Wilcox, the Juniper report author, mobile ticketing "offers exciting new opportunities for ticket issuers to achieve increased sales, especially when targeting last-minute sales campaigns."
ANNOUNCEMENTSFor the fourth consecutive year, Dynamic Card Solutions has been named to Deloitte LLP's Technology Fast 50 Program for Colorado, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunication and life sciences companies in the area. The company's increase in revenue from 2003 to 2007 resulted in a ranking of 43.
Elavon Inc. reported it is the first pan-European acquirer to successfully convert its merchant services business to one international processing platform. With the migration of over 210,000 European merchants, virtually all of Elavon's international acquiring volume is now processed on a single platform.
Eliot Management Group was chosen the exclusive provider of merchant services for the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival. Sundance Institute will use EMG's service during the annual Film Festival in January 2009, as well as throughout the year for its programs and events.
Atlanta Business Chronicle named Global Payments Inc. Chairman, President and CEO Paul R. Garcia seventh among the top performing CEOs in Georgia. The publication ranks CEOs of publicly traded companies with at least five years' tenure. Rankings are based on shareholder returns.
GSI Commerce Inc. signed a multiyear, full-service e-commerce agreement with Big Lots, said to be the nation's largest broad-line closeout retailer with annual sales over $4.5 billion. GSI will provide a full-service, integrated e-commerce solution.
MagTek Inc. and Network Merchants Inc. formed a partnership to provide merchants a "true end-to-end encryption solution" via the MagneSafe Transaction Security Solution, which is designed to exceed requirements of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS).
The solution uses a MagneSafe secure reader, which encrypts encoded track data at the point of swipe, never allowing the data to be seen or captured in the clear. After the swipe, the data travels through the merchant POS system as an encrypted data block and eliminates compromises at the merchant location.
Doug Free, Vice President and Regional Sales Manager at MagTek, said NMI's full support of MagTek's solutions is "clear validation that a secure transaction infrastructure in the marketplace is essential."
MasterCard Worldwide disclosed that Faber, Coe & Gregg will accept MasterCard PayPass contactless payment transactions at its more than 80 food and retail locations. Faber operates retail brands in airports, train stations, highway rest stops and hotels on the East Coast of the United States.
Beijing-based PayEase Corp. recently achieved compliance validation with the PCI DSS. Chicago-based Trustwave performed the compliance validation.
The PCI Security Vendor Alliance changed its name to the Payment Card Industry Security Alliance to better reflect the organization's commitment to helping merchants find solutions for meeting PCI DSS compliance. The PCI SA also enhanced its Web site, offering white papers, webinars, case studies and educational tools on PCI DSS compliance.
Radiant Systems Inc. launched Radiant Payment Services, a new business that provides electronic payment processing services to U.S. hospitality and retail businesses. The company also will provide Radiant Point of Sale and related technology to 36 Auto Stop-branded convenience retail locations in Wisconsin operated by SSG Auto Stop.
Transaction Network Services Inc. signed a deal with convenience store chain Worsley Operating Corp. The contract extends Worsley's broadband network to cover the Lil Cricket brand it acquired in May 2008.
PARTNERSHIPSBlueStar Inc. formed an agreement with Motorola Inc. to market its product line throughout Latin America. BlueStar Latin America acquired additional staff to support the initiative, including Susana Fonseca, BlueStar Business Development Manager for Colombia, and Ricardo Pineda, Business Development Manager for Peru.
Charge Anywhere LLC completed a partnership agreement with Orange, a brand of France Telecom. The agreement allows Orange to enrich its partner portfolio with wireless POS solutions offered by Charge Anywhere.
Citigroup Inc. launched Citibank Paylink for Cards, an end-to-end electronic payment solution for corporations, financial institutions and public-sector clients that combines the benefits of a purchasing card with the control of a traditional electronic payment process. The services were developed in partnership with MasterCard.
CO-OP Financial Services selected mFoundry's financial services platform to deliver mobile banking to credit unions. CO-OP also signed with Fortrex Technologies Inc. for its signature VendorPoint technology.
The three-year agreement includes a provision for CO-OP to offer VendorPoint at a special rate for members who sign up for the service by the end of 2008.
Cube Panel, a provider of server management and hosting automation software, joined Comodo Group Inc.'s affiliate program. Cube Panel will offer Comodo secure socket layer certificates to its Web host and Internet service provider clients.
Fiserv Inc. partnered with PayScan America Inc., obtaining exclusive rights to license PayScan's bar code bill payment process. The solution will employ a "smart bar code" on customers' bills. By scanning bills at existing POS terminals, cashiers or consumers can submit bill payments without manual data entry.
Merchant Warehouse joined forces with ControlScan Inc. to help merchants meet PCI security requirements. Merchant Warehouse customers now have access to ControlScan's PCI compliance solution, which includes a PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire and on-demand security scanning.
Mutual Merchant Services Inc. formed a marketing alliance with Zion Systems Ltd. to provide mobile market credit card processing services to Christian organizations and businesses nationwide. Zion Systems concentrates in the nonprofit sector.
Payvision partnered with Trustwave to provide security and compliance services to merchants. The alliance will allow Payvision customers to take advantage of Trustwave's suite of technology and services.
Revolution Money Inc. and RBS WorldPay signed on for RBS WorldPay to offer RevolutionCard as a payment option to its merchants. This agreement is expected to extend the RevolutionCard network to nearly 300,000 online and brick-and-mortar merchant locations.
TSYS Acquiring Solutions signed a multiyear agreement with Sony Finance International Inc. to process its new credit card program. Sony Finance will issue the credit card, which offers cardholders the ability to settle their credit card bills in either dollars or yen at Sony Bank.
In addition, TSYS signed three new clients and added a new data center in Japan. The TSYS Okinawa Data Center will be used initially as a data center for Japan but may eventually serve as an Asian hub within the TSYS global network.
APPOINTMENTSHypercom Corp. tapped Samia Christine Bounaira to be Managing Director, Hypercom Mexico. Bounaira joins Hypercom from Oberthur Technologies where she was Sales Director, Mexico and Central America. She also held positions with Krones AG and Dornier System GmbH.
Spencer Fong is the new Vice President, Engineering for Obopay Inc. His 23 years of software design experience include serving as Vice President, Engineering for Digital Insight and Vice President, Engineering for Teknowledge Corp. Previously he was a Principal Project Manager with Edify Corp.
Inside Contactless appointed Andy Germano as its Vice President of Sales and Business Development. Germano has more than 21 years of experience in wireless and telecom marketing. He joins Inside from Authen-Tec Inc.
The company also named Bob Locascio Director of Product Marketing and Business Development. Locascio has more than 15 years' strategic, technology and team leadership experience. He was previously with Agilent Technologies Inc. and Motorola Inc.
Marc Haskelson is the new Vice President, Business Development for Litle & Co. Directly prior, Haskelson was with Questcon Inc. He also served as Vice President and General Manager for Business Solutions at The Hearst Corp. and Vice President, Strategic Sales and Development at NewRoads Inc.
Lisa Tennant joined the company as Director of Account Management. Tennant was Vice President, Consumer Protection and Cash Management for Jewelry Television.
Previously she was National Account Manager at Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC and Senior Relationship Manager with Chase Merchant Services.
Litle's new General Counsel is Jonathan Ellman. He was Vice President of Academic, Government and Enterprise Alliances from ChaCha Search Inc. and Chief Operations Officer of OrderMotion. In addition, he was a key figure in the establishment and growth of CommercialWare, which today is Micros-Retail.
Payment software provider Vindicia Inc. appointed Steve Klebe as its Senior Vice President of Business Development. Klebe has more than 30 years of professional experience. He served as Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Danal Inc. as well as Vice President of Strategic Alliances at CyberSource.
Ghassan Nassif has been named Regional Sales Manager for the Montreal office of BlueStar Canada. A BlueStar employee since 2000, Nassif previously held the position of Senior Account Manager.
Mary Winingham joined Wausau Financial Systems as its Vice President of Business Development - Merchant Services. Winingham has more than 20 years of leadership experience in marketing, sales and business development in the payments industry. She was previously Vice President, ISO Channel Development for TSYS.
For news briefs related to the prepaid sphere, please consult SellingPrepaid E-Magazine at www.greensheet.com.
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