NEWSThe Western Payments Alliance (WesPay) launched the WesPay Certificate Program, an online training curriculum teaching the fundamentals of payment systems across functional areas within financial institutions (FIs). The organization also presented awards for contributions in the western financial services market to the advancement and best use of electronic payments.
The WesPay curriculum allows trainees to use its video training library at their own pace. Participants are tested for proficiency and receive a certificate upon successful completion. Programs now include Automated Clearing House (ACH) for Customer or Member Services and ACH for Operations Staff. Additional certificate programs will be added in 2011.
The 2010 leadership awards include the:
Shier has served on several WesPay committees since 2004. Gilchrist's 25 years in the ACH industry include representing WesPay on several NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association panels.
The Zipf award recognizes Laru Corp.'s development of a risk-reporting and management system that provides near real-time monitoring of ACH transaction traffic.
Dynamics Inc. received the DEMOgod award and the People's Choice Award at the DEMO Fall 2010 conference for its new computing card form factor. The Dynamics Card 2.0, a paper-thin, flexible computing platform in a payment card form factor, includes a card-programmable magnetic stripe that can be read by any POS mag stripe reader.
The computing system on the card can change the information on the mag stripe at any time. The card reportedly can last three years on a single battery charge. As part of the People's Choice Award, Dynamics receives $1 million in advertising from IDG magazines, a co-sponsor of the conference.
The card has been in use in the United States in "stealth trials," according to Dynamics Chief Executive Officer Jeff Mullen. Payment card executives can change the core functions of the payment cards. Mag stripe readers cannot differentiate between traditional cards and the Dynamics Card 2.0, Mullen told conference attendees.
Mullen demonstrated a multi-account version of the card, which allows consumers to choose which account to use for a specific transaction by pushing a button on the card. To watch a video of Mullen's six-minute demonstration, visit www.demo.com and click on Dynamics Inc.
Some commuters in New York and Los Angeles now use Visa Inc.'s payWave to pay bus, subway and train fares. In New York, riders use payWave-enabled cards and mobile phones. In Los Angeles, passengers use a special Visa prepaid TAP ReadyCARD, which is available to all riders of the metro system.
In the New York pilot program, the cards and smart phones communicate with contactless readers at fare gates and on buses. Riders use payWave-enabled credit, debit, prepaid and commuter benefits cards. The smart phone technology was developed by DeviceFidelity Inc. Visa's payWave has also been used in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Paris and London.
ANNOUNCEMENTSCalpian Inc. became a publicly traded company in the business of acquiring retail credit card processing residuals from ISOs and merchant service providers. Since 2002, the management team has acquired residuals under the Calpian brand through previous partnerships. Calpian's new public company status, under the ticker CLPI:OB, enables it to compensate ISOs for their sales production, according to CEO Harold Montgomery.
The ComplyShield v3.5 from ComplyGuard Networks Inc. reportedly meets new Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) guidelines for Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs). ComplyGuard is a PCI QSA and Approved Scan Vendor. ComplyShield is a hosted software service that enables merchants to scan their Internet-facing payment networks for PCI compliance.
First Data Corp. was included for the first time on the InformationWeek 500 listing of the most innovative users of business technology. InformationWeek ranks U.S. companies by tracking their technology, strategies, investments and practices.
Global Payments Asia-Pacific Ltd. said it is the first foreign payment card processor to provide China UnionPay card acquiring services in China. The service is offered to merchants in partnership with Global Payments' bank partner, HSBC. Global Payments Asia-Pacific is a joint venture with The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp.
Heartland Payment Systems Inc. was ranked among the top 200 technology innovators by InformationWeek. Heartland was reportedly honored for its E3 (end-to-end encryption) technology.
Hypercom Corp. said its L5300 and L5400 multilane payment terminals have achieved PCI approval. The models reportedly meet PCI PIN Transaction Security 2.x security compliance.
NACHA stated that it transitioned Secure Vault Payments to full commercialization. SVP enables consumers to make private, secure payments for purchases and bill payments through their FIs' online banking platforms using the ACH network and eWise's Online Banking ePayments platform. Several FIs, merchants, billers, payment gateways and processors reportedly have agreed to offer SVP. NACHA continues as the governing body for SVP.
Hong Kong-based POS manufacturer PAX Technology Inc. joined the nonprofit Secure POS Vendor Alliance. The alliance was created by Hypercom Corp., Ingenico S.A. and VeriFone Inc. to foster compliance with existing data security standards to protect cardholder data. Membership now includes 18 payment and security companies. Thomas Xu, PAX Vice President of Marketing and Sales, will serve on the board of the SPVA for the remainder of 2010.
Precidia Technologies Inc. signed restaurant and pet-store chain clients for its TransNet payment engine application. Chicago restaurant The Signature Room at the 95th chose TransNet to integrate card processing with the Focus POS system. TransNet was recommended by Alpha POS Services Inc., a Focus POS dealer. TransNet reportedly can route transactions to any payment processor.
Also, Global Pet Foods deployed the TransNet engine with the L-POS system from Logivision in pet food stores across Canada. The system was recommended by Globe POS Systems Inc.
ProPay Inc. is launching the Payment Card Security Road Show, a series of one-day payment card security seminars. The agenda includes an update on data breach trends, a PCI DSS overview, advice on achieving compliance, and end-to-end encryption and tokenization. The first session will be held Oct. 20, 2010 in Dallas. To register, visit www.propaysummit.com.
In August 2010, USA Technologies Inc.'s wireless noncash transactions grew to an annualized run rate of approximately $100 million, an increase of 72 percent over August 2009. The transactions are processed through the company's ePort cashless payment systems for vending machines and kiosks.
Three credit unions picked DeposZip Mobile service from Vertifi Software LLC, a subsidiary of Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union.
DeposZip provides mobile RDC services to credit union members through downloadable software applications for smart phones. The software uses a phone's built-in camera to capture images. Checks are processed through Vertifi, and deposits are posted to members' accounts in real time.
PARTNERSHIPSAmong the spate of recent partnerships advancing mobile payments, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., ING Groep N.V., KPN N.V., Rabobank Group, T-Mobile Nether-lands B.V. and Vodafone Europe B.V. agreed to create a joint venture to enable mobile phone payments in the Netherlands using near field communication technology.
Payment network provider Aptys Solutions licensed patented image-capture technology from DataTreasury Corp. Aptys provides FIs a common infrastructure to support payments processing, including image exchange, ACH, wire processing and mobile payments.
Two Dallas-area restaurants deployed phone-based payment technology from BAMpay that bypasses the use of payment cards. Shuck N'Jive and Highlands Café are using the technology to accept payments directly from customers' Apple Inc. iPhones.
The Banco Nacional de Costa Rica contracted to deploy SafetyPay Inc.'s e-payment system.
The network links banking customers to their accounts, giving them a way to pay directly for online purchases. The agreement adds 1 million banking customers to the SafetyPay network.
CheckAlt Payment Solutions, an electronic check processor specializing in remote deposit capture (RDC), partnered with ACH Federal, a provider of ACH services to banks and businesses. The alliance supplies merchants with tools to streamline payment processing. The two firms now refer clients to each other.
College of the Holy Cross chose Campus Solutions from Heartland Payment Systems Inc. to implement a card program. The ID card may be used both on and off campus as a payment card.
Payment gateway eProcessing Network LLC's ePN Mobile software for the iPod touch supports the Linea-pro mag-stripe reader and scanner from Infinite Peripherals Inc.
When matched with ePNMobile, the Linea-pro, which can encase an iPod touch, allows store personnel to process customers waiting in line from the handheld device by scanning barcodes and processing credit cards.
Financial Transaction Services LLC, a transaction processor for merchants, secured a $50 million equity commitment from FTV Capital, a private equity firm investing in high-growth companies. FTS experienced transaction processing volume growth of 40 percent in 2009.
Check processor Global eTelecom Inc. certified TransactionX payment software from 1stTransaction Corp. The Windows-based application unifies the merchant's transaction processing for checks, payment cards and benefits into a single application.
IRN Payment Systems selected ROAM mobile payment software from Ingenico Inc. to offer to merchants seeking mobile payment capability using smart phones.
The integration includes the ROAMpay swipe card reader from ROAM Data Inc., which operates off the merchant's phone audio jack.
ISO Merchant Data Systems Inc. adopted the use of ROAM Data's ROAMpay swiper for mobile phones. The device enables merchants using smart phones to process credit cards for real-time authorizations.
The cities of Palo Alto, Calif., and Lamar, Colo., added Bling Nation as a payment option for residents paying for city services. Residents who obtain Bling Nation tags may use the tap-and-pay method to pay for utilities and long-term parking, as well as other fees.
USA ePay integrated Payliance for ACH processing. Payliance also provides a collection service to recover items that are returned.
ACQUISITIONSFifth Third Processing Solutions LLC recently agreed to acquire National Processing Company, significantly expanding the scope of what is already a major U.S. merchant acquiring business. NPC's focus on small to midsize merchants is expected to contribute to Fifth Third's expertise in that arena. The transaction is slated to close in November 2010.
Ingenico Inc. made a strategic investment in a Singapore-based payment service provider. Ingenico obtained a 49 percent stake in Korvac Holdings Pte. Ltd. for $30 million.
Founded in 1999, Korvac is a merchant acquirer providing payment infrastructure and transaction processing in various markets in Southeast Asia.
South African electronic payments system Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. agreed to buy 98.7 percent of Korean payment processor Ksnet Inc. for approximately US $233 million.
The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2011.
APPOINTMENTSJulie Fergerson joined e-commerce anti-fraud specialist Ethoca Ltd. as Vice President of Emerging Technologies. Fergerson is a former Vice President at Debix Inc. and ClearCommerce.
First Data named Jonathan J. Judge CEO, succeeding interim Chief Executive Joe Forehand, who is Chairman of First Data's board of directors and a senior advisor at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Judge served as President and CEO at Paychex Inc. for six years. Previously, he was CEO of Crystal Decisions, overseeing its buyout and merger with a rival software company in 2003.
Brian McGinley joined Identity Theft 911 as Senior Vice President of Data Risk Management.
He is a former Senior Vice President at Wachovia Corp. McGinley served as Chairman of the Financial Services Roundtable/BITS Identity Theft Assistance Center Board.
CardReady LLC appointed Art Porth Executive Vice President. Previously, he was a Director at Chase Merchant Services LLC.
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