NEWSRBS WorldPay changed its name to WorldPay following its acquisition by private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, which sold WorldPay, retains a minority stake. Management is investing UK£200 million to help WorldPay meet demand for e-payment technology. In 2009, WorldPay processed transactions totaling £243 billion.
WorldPay Chief Executive Officer Ron Kalifa said, "Independence and private ownership give us the potential to transform the payments industry through long-term investment in our technology, our people and our business." The management board includes two new appointments to the existing team. Floris de Kort, formerly of GlobalCollect, joined WorldPay as Head of E-commerce. Peter Smith, previously with Burger King Corp., became Chief Human Resources Officer. The acquiring equity partner interests are represented by Advent Managing Director James Brocklebank and Bain Managing Director Robin Marshall.
United Bank Card Inc. is sponsoring an addition to the North American air show circuit for 2011. The Heavy Metal Jet Team is a five-ship aerobatic, civilian-owned team. UBC's sponsorship enables the team to be a featured act for shows not hosting a military jet team. UBC founder and CEO Jared Isaacman is the team's right-wing pilot. Heavy Metal has one T-33 and four L-39 jets, all painted in Arctic camouflage. Although the team is new to the circuit, veteran air show performers hold key positions. The lead pilot is Lt. Colonel Jerry "Jive" Kerby, USAF (retired). Featured solo performer in the T-33 is Capt. Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, USN (retired). Isaacman has accumulated 2,500 flying hours over the past four years. For more information, contact Team Manager L.M. "Lunar" Sawyer at lunar@flyjivefly.com.
The top public payment companies had a strong third quarter, despite tough economic conditions, according to the latest analysis from The Strawhecker Group. Titled Public Payments Companies Analysis, the report looks at the strategies and tactics driving financial performance at the top 11 publicly traded payments companies. The report covers First Data Corp., TSYS Acquiring Solutions, Global Payments Inc., Heartland Payment Systems Inc., Fidelity National Information Services Inc., Visa Inc., MasterCard Worldwide, American Express Co., Discover Financial Services, VeriFone Inc. and Hypercom Corp. (which is being acquired by VeriFone).
The report contains TSG's Payments Index, which comprises 31 publicly traded companies. The index has gained 22 percent since the third quarter of 2009, compared to a return of 8 percent for the S&P 500 index over the same period.
The use of debit cards overtook cash spending in the United Kingdom in August for the first time ever, according to the region's Payments Council. The number of summer purchases on debit cards rose 10 percent over the prior summer. The volume spent rose 11 percent year over year. Credit card spending remained flat during the period. The total balance outstanding on credit cards fell to its lowest level since 2003.
The European Commission agreed to drop proceedings on debit interchange fees charged by Visa Europe after the card brand made commitments to cap the fees. Visa Europe's weighted yearly average intra-regional multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) for immediate debit transactions will be capped at 20 basis points, or 0.2 percent, for four years. Visa Europe President and Chief Executive Peter Ayliffe said the commitment is a step toward a Single Euro Payment Area. The agreement establishes a common methodology that can be used by competition authorities across SEPA to calculate debit MIFs in local jurisdictions, according to Visa. The agreement does not affect credit, deferred debit or commercial MIFs.
ANNOUNCEMENTSAmazon Web Services LLC obtained Level 1 compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). Amazon's hosted web services allow merchants to run applications on its infrastructure to store, process and transmit card information.
Nicholas P. Cucci of Network Merchants Inc. was awarded credentials as a certified fraud examiner (CFE) by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Cucci is Director of Marketing at NMI in Schaumburg, Ill.
Two additional southeastern universities now accept Secure Vault Payments from eWise Systems USA Inc. Auburn University and Columbus State University joined the University of Georgia in turning to eWise for tuition payments.
Technology consulting firm Gartner Inc. ranked SecureWorks Inc. within its Leaders Magic Quadrant of Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) in North America. SecureWorks is one of four MSSPs included in the quadrant, out of the 22 MSSPs evaluated based on surveys of Gartner's enterprise clients.
A segment of Genesco Inc.'s computer network was hacked, according to the firm. The criminal intrusion affected part of the network that processes payment card transactions for its U.S.-based Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Shi by Journeys, and Johnston & Murphy stores. The company took steps to secure the network and is conducting an investigation to determine the extent of the compromise.
The Dutch Central Bank granted an operating license to GlobalCollect, which provides electronic payment services for card-not-present channels. The Payment Services Directive license harmonizes rules governing payment services providers throughout the European Economic Area.
Hypercom's SmartPayments Wynid hosted payment platform achieved certification to the PCI DSS. According to Hypercom, the platform gives merchants a centralized transaction routing system to manage card payments across all their store locations.
HyperWallet Systems Inc. expanded its payment net-work to Russia, establishing an office in Moscow and beginning to process transactions in rubles. HyperWallet's interlinked automated clearing house capability now operates in 45 countries.
Ingenico's easycash payment network processed its one billionth payment transaction for the year in October 2010 - earlier than any previous year in the network's history. The company expects to process 1.3 billion easycash transactions in total for the year.
KreditFly Inc. launched a payment service to allow mobile phone subscribers in the United States to complete online transactions using debit and credit cards or prepaid accounts. KreditFly plans to add additional payment methods in the future.
Moneris Solutions celebrated its tenth anniversary as a major debit and credit card processor in Canada. The company reportedly is the eighth largest processor in the world.
The Never Forgotten Foundation, a Cypress, Calif.-based nonprofit created by Steven H. Bryson, tripled its 2010 donation of meals to the Long Beach Rescue Mission. Bryson is the founder of Global Electronic Technology Inc., OrbitalPay LLC and record label I55 Productions LLC. In December, with the assistance of GET employees and local businesses, the foundation donated 60,000 meals and personal items to the mission. In 2009, the foundation gave 20,000 meals, funded solely by the Bryson family.
Security magazine named James D. Ratley, CFE, one of the most influential security executives for 2010. Ratley is President of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He was profiled in the December issue of the magazine.
The flagship products of VeriFone's VX Evolution product family were validated as compliant with the PCI Payment Transaction Security (PTS) 3.0 security requirements. PCI PTS 3.0 added to the standard open protocols, integration, and secure reading and exchange of data. The VX 680 mobile system, desktop VX 520 and PIN entry VX 820 met the requirements.
Visa reported increased card spending throughout the Asia Pacific region for the fiscal year ended in September 2010. Payment volume generated on Visa cards in the region reached $800 billion, an increase of 12 percent over the prior year. The number of payment transactions increased 11.4 percent, to 10.2 billion transactions. Volume for debit transactions increased 42.9 percent in the region, while credit grew 9.7 percent over the prior year.
PARTNERSHIPSCitgo Petroleum Corp. began offering SmartLink network services from Heartland to its retailers at 6,500 Citgo-branded gas stations. SmartLink consolidates in-store devices onto one broadband line.
Citigroup Inc. subsidiary Credicard and Elavon Inc., a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, formed a joint venture to create a merchant services company in Brazil. The venture will use Elavon's processing platform.
DBS Bank Ltd. began a partnership in Singapore with StarHub mobile, EZ-Link Pte Ltd. Co., Gemalto and MasterCard. In an eight-month trial that began in December 2010, 1,000 bank customers are using a near field communication (NFC) mobile payment application on their conventional cellular handsets. Users can make payments at merchants who accept MasterCard's PayPass or the EZ-Link card.
First Atlantic Commerce is providing multicurrency processing for the Bahamas Telecommunications Co. Ltd. The service is part of the launch of commercial wireless services in the Bahamas through a Wi-Fi mesh network enabled by Aptilo Networks Inc.
HID Global and Wincor Nixdorf co-developed an ATM system with an integrated contactless smart card reader. It enables a single piece of equipment to process ATM and fare-collection transactions. The system utilizes HID's cashless payment reader and Wincor Nixdorf's ProCash ATM platform.
Lone Star National Bank signed Clearent LLC to provide merchant account processing to its 25 banking centers in Texas. Clearent's Compass online reporting tool provides merchants with web-based reports that are updated daily.
Monitise PLC partnered with NFC software developer ViVOtech Inc. to enable mobile phone payment services to banks in the United States. This allows banks to extend NFC mobile payments service to their customers.
Newtek Business Services Inc. joined Charge Anywhere LLC's Certified Distributor Program. The program specializes in secure mobile payments systems for small to mid-sized businesses.
PPC Card Systems joined a previously announced partnership between ViVOtech and Bell ID to launch an NFC mobile payment capability in Europe. PPC is an established Europay/MasterCard/Visa-certified card personalization bureau.
Secure Payment Systems collaborated with Mitek Systems Inc. to create MobileXpress21, a mobile remote deposit capture (RDC) and check guarantee system. As part of the arrangement, SPS becomes a direct processor of Mitek's Mobile Deposit RDC application, which enables check deposits via camera-equipped smart phones.
Veolia Transportation Inc. implemented technology from Ingenico for the Rhonexpress tramway in France. Ingenico partnered with Amesys to create a system for the transportation industry. The system deploys Ingenico mobile payment devices for on-board ticket officers and unattended terminals for self-service kiosks.
Visa and Visa Europe approved the In2Pay microSD card from DeviceFidelity Inc. for commercial use with smart phones. The mobile contactless payment device is compatible with the BlackBerry Bold 9650, three iPhone models and the Android-based Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S. Visa plans to add more compatible phone models.
Voltage Security expanded its SecureData Open License Program with POS vendor integrations in a range of channels, including countertop, multilane, PIN pad, integrated POS devices, mobile devices and e-commerce platforms.
Companies now participating in the program include Hypercom, Uniform Industrial Corp., XAC Auto-mation Corp., ExaDigm Inc., ID Tech, Radiant Inc. and ViVOtech.
ACQUISITIONSSelf-service kiosk solution provider Global Axcess Corp. revealed that it signed an agreement to purchase a portfolio of ATMs from an undisclosed, privately held nationwide network of automated financial service terminals. Global Axcess will purchase 140 ATMs, as well as existing relationships with a large, global oil and gas company to manage the ATMs at service station locations in three states in the Midwest.
APPOINTMENTSContract management software company Recombo Inc. appointed Tony Abruzzio as Vice President, Global Electronic Payments and Banking.
Abruzzio is now responsible for leading all customer-facing resources that support Recombo merchant card services and banking customers.
Frontline Processing Corp. appointed payments industry veteran Jay Johansen as Sales Manager. He oversees product and business development, as well as sales and marketing. The company, which simultaneously opened an office in Billings, Mont., also intends to expand its sales force.
Christopher Smith joined Nationwide Payment Solutions LLC as Vice President of Business Development for the Software Integration Division. Most recently, Smith worked in Ingenico's national sales division. He has also worked at Hypercom and Heartland.
Trustwave hired John Yeo to become Director of SpiderLabs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He heads the advanced security team responsible for incident response and penetration testing. Most recently, Yeo led Verizon Business's threat management practice in the U.K.
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