NEWS
Visa Inc. will begin integrating its new point-to point-encryption (P2PE) service, Visa Merchant Data Secure, into payment terminals and critical systems across the payment processing industry in early 2013, the company reported Aug. 21, 2012. Visa said the service will enable merchants and acquirers to add P2PE to their systems with minimal impact.
Visa Merchant Data Secure employs the same encryption standard and key management used to encrypt PINs at the POS. The solution enables encryption and decryption in multiple zones, giving merchants and acquirers flexibility in how they deploy encryption in their own systems.
Visa said its new encryption technology is compatible with the Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) technology standard the company is requiring processors to support by April 2013. P2PE technology will provide an added layer of protection against data breaches as the industry moves to the mass adoption of EMV chip-based cards and terminals, the company said.
Visa company spokesman Steve Burke said Visa Merchant Data Secure will be offered through acquirers. Pricing plans are still being finalized. At this point, Visa is not expected to offer incentives for adopting its P2PE compliance program. Burke said the card company is planning to have the P2PE service certified by the PCI Security Standards Council by the time it is released in 2013.
Miami-based Unified Payments LLC has cause for celebration as the top company on the Inc. 500/5000 ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies for 2012. Rankings were determined based on percentage of revenue growth from 2008 to 2011. In securing the top position, the payment processor achieved three-year sales growth of 23,646 percent and generated $59.5 million in revenue during 2011.
"To be recognized as the fastest growing private company in America is overwhelming," said Oleg Firer, Executive Chairman of Unified Payments. "This tribute would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our talented team at Unified Payments, our business partners, and our merchants."
More than 50 payments industry companies in the financial services industry category placed in the top 5,000; 10 earned a spot in the top 500, where minimum growth of 762 percent was necessary to qualify.
The next payment company in the rankings was Bluefin Payment Systems, formerly Capital Payments LLC, which placed sixth, with $55.6 million in 2011 revenue and 11,675.7 percent growth. "We are thrilled with the top 10 placement of our company on the Inc. 500/5000 in our very first year of application," said John Perry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bluefin.
Following are other merchant acquiring businesses in the 2012 Inc. 500, listed by ranking: Merchant Services Inc. (18), Complete Merchant Solutions (19), Century Payments (87), Transcendent One Inc. (105), Repay-Realtime Electronic Payments (330), TMG Financial Services (340), Allied Wallet Ltd. (369) and Braintree Payment Solutions LLC (415).
Global quick service restaurant chain McDonald's Corp. is testing mobile payment technology in its locations in France. Payment technology company PayPal Inc. and payment terminal manufacturer VeriFone Inc. reported McDonald's is testing their payment systems in its French franchises.
VeriFone's Point Group is providing its Paybox Services to process transactions through McDonald's GoMcDo pre-order service mobile application. Customers can use their mobile phones to place orders through the app prior to visiting store locations. At the restaurant they can complete the transaction at an unattended device, where they receive a printed ticket for food pickup. McDonald's confirmed it was testing PayPal mobile payments in France following the demonstration of a broader PayPal payments service during a franchisee convention in Orlando, Fla., earlier this year.
Mobile security company TrustGo Mobile Inc. warned it has discovered "a new and extraordinarily aggressive virus" in China's largest Google Inc. Android marketplace, GFan. The virus, named Trojan!SMSZombie.A, gives hackers remote control over the victims' short message service, mobile-phone-based payments system, allowing criminals to secretly authorize payments from the victim's phone. TrustGo Mobile said the virus poses a "significant threat" and that self-protection mechanisms make it difficult to remove from mobile operating systems. The company estimates more than 500,000 mobile phones have been infected with the virus.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
International payment processor ACI Worldwide Inc. released Retail Commerce Server 5.0, the newest version of its solution for acquiring, authenticating, switching and authorizing merchant transactions across multiple channels. Targeted to U.S. and Mexican markets, the framework integrates with existing and emerging mobile wallet applications, the company said.
Mobile communication and payment services provider Apriva LLC launched Apriva Customer Education, a web-based, self-help and customer-support portal. ACE will share knowledge about payment terminals, network security and software, and how new technologies will impact Apriva's wireless payment solutions. Real-time assistance via live chat sessions is also available.
Fifth Third Bank released an EMV-compliant chip card for business customers in the United States. The bank reported the new card will allow business clients traveling abroad to authorize international transactions more efficiently while improving the security of those transactions. Additionally, the new card contains a mag stripe for payment acceptance at terminals that are not enabled to read chips.
Integrated payment processing solutions and services provider Intrix Technology Inc. released Invoice Creator, a payment gateway module that permits merchants to create and manage invoices online. Merchants can create merchant profiles, payment profiles and invoice templates for billing their customers electronically via email. The "Pay Now" function allows customers to remit credit card or automated clearinghouse payments.
Merchant Warehouse continues its momentum with Genius, a customer engagement platform designed to aggregate and integrate emerging transaction technologies, payment types and consumer programs. The software is currently being preloaded into VeriFone's MX 915 terminal. Data is managed and accessed in the cloud. Genius is expected to be available for widespread distribution by January 2013.
My Clear Reports, a payment technology service provider that facilitates monetization of merchant portfolios for ISOs, acquirers and processors, was recognized as a 2012 Technology Innovation Award finalist in the Midwest Acquirers Association's Shark Tank competition.
MCR offers a virtual online business center with payment solutions, services and tools to help merchants manage and grow their businesses.
Mobile and online payment company payvia Inc. joined the Electronic Transactions Association's Mobile Payments Committee. The ETA committee was formed in August 2012 to develop policy and business strategies for the advancement of mobile payments globally.
E-commerce technology provider Revel Touch Inc. secured $10 million in venture capital financing from a group led by Foundation Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The funding will be used to build the company's retail cloud platform for tablet devices and smart phones.
USA Technologies Inc., a wireless noncash transactions network provider, unveiled ePortMobile. The mobile payment solution will connect merchants to USAT's secure ePort Connect service platform. In other news, USAT introduced QuickConnect, a web service for software developers and equipment manufacturers to interface with ePort Connect.
PARTNERSHIPS
Alternet Systems Inc., an investment holding company focused on cyber security and mobile financial services markets, expanded its partnership with mobile financial services solutions provider Utiba Mobility Inc. to extend Utiba's software-as-a-service platform to financial institutions, mobile network operators and payment service providers globally
Hosted payment solutions provider Adyen and Internet business developer Fnbox Ventures Inc. teamed in Brazil, Europe and the United States. Adyen will host payment solutions for Fnbox as Fnbox expands its Internet companies, Cuponica.com, Recarga.com and Tarjetastelefonicas.com, internationally.
Processing and content management solutions provider Bluepoint Solutions Inc. and software security provider Advanced Fraud Solutions LLC integrated Bluepoint's ImagePoint Teller with the AFS TrueChecks solution to automate identification of counterfeit checks.
Australian broadband and telecommunications provider Optus Group, a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd., and mobile payment solution provider Boku Inc. inked a deal to offer Boku's direct-to-bill mobile operator billing service as a payment option for online merchants in Australia.
Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. won approval from the Chicago Transit Authority to provide the CTA's Open Standards Fare System to suburban bus operator Pace Suburban Bus. The deal will allow transit customers to make contactless payments on the suburban bus line and brings Cubic's contract total with CTA to $508.9 million.
First Data Corp. will provide its TransArmor data encryption and tokenization technology to ID Tech for integration with the POS equipment manufacturer's SecureMag swipe readers.
U.K. mobile telecommunications company Everything Everywhere Ltd. signed an exclusive five-year partnership with MasterCard Worldwide to develop mobile and digital payment solutions for the company's 27 million U.K. customers, including co-branded solutions for person-to-person money transfers, digital payments, loyalty rewards and prepaid.
Everything Everywhere operates under the brand names Orange and T-Mobile.
Payment solutions provider ProPay Inc. and customer engagement marketing firm Constant Contact Inc. are collaborating on EventSpot from Constant Contact, an event management product to help small businesses and nonprofit organizations promote and host events. ProPay's technology will enable online mobile credit card payments through EventSpot.
Norwegian banking group SpareBank 1 Gruppen AS, an association of regional banks, licensed Total System Services Inc.'s PRIME 4 card management solution. SpareBank will utilize PRIME 4 for issuing and processing MasterCard and Visa retail, credit, prepaid and contactless payment cards to serve the evolving needs of its Norwegian consumers.
Virtual Piggy Inc. entered into a strategic partnership with e-commerce payment provider Payvision. Through Payvision's international acquiring network, Virtual Piggy will have an opportunity to expand its parent-controlled e-commerce platform into the global marketplace, the company said.
ACQUISITIONS
Payment gateway operator Braintree Payment Solutions LLC acquired mobile peer-to-peer payment and social application startup Venmo Inc. for a reported $26.2 million. Venmo will continue to operate independently as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Loyalty solutions provider Futura Loyalty Group Inc. exercised an option to repurchase the assets of the processing division it sold to three individuals in December 2010 for the same price at which the assets were sold, $8 million.
Private equity firm Lightyear Capital LLC completed purchase of payment technology provider FIS's Healthcare Solutions business. Renamed Alegeus Technologies, the company will continue to focus on benefits administration and payment processing for health-care accounts.
Payment and donor solutions provider FrontStream Payments Inc. acquired nonprofit solutions provider FirstGiving Inc. FirstGiving's peer-to-peer fundraising platform raises money for 501(c)(3) organizations through web-based fundraising pages that leverage network support of events, campaigns and causes.
APPOINTMENTS
ISO and payment processor Financial Transaction Services LLC appointed Chuck Bernicker Chief Financial Officer. Bernicker served as an Executive Director with Heartland Payment Systems Inc. before joining FTS, where he will be responsible for finance and accounting initiatives including merger and acquisitions analysis.
Adam Moss, who has been associated with Charge Card Systems since 2003, first as an independent contractor and then as the company's Vice President Sales, National Sales Manager, was promoted to Chief Operating Officer.
He will continue to manage CCS' day-to-day sales and marketing efforts in addition to overseeing the company's growth strategies for continued success.
Electronic payments solutions provider ClickPay Services Inc. hired John Redmond to be its new Sales Director. Redmond joins ClickPay from real estate software developer Workspeed Management, a division of MRI Software LLC, where he was Director of Business Development.
Fiserv Inc., a technology provider to the financial services industry, appointed Ginger Schmeltzer Senior Vice President of Emerging Payments, Digital Payment Solutions, a new company position. Schmeltzer comes to Fiserv from SunTrust Bank Inc. where she was Senior Vice President of Digital Channel Management. At Fiserv she will facilitate new payment services delivery.
Jeff Schmidt was hired by business intelligence software-as-a-solution provider PivotLink Corp. as its Chief Revenue Officer. Schmidt comes to PivotLink from IBM where he was Vice President of Worldwide Sales at IBM's marketing analytics company Coremetrics. At PivotLink he will oversee the company's sales and services organizations.
CO-OP Financial Services promoted Jackie Scheuerlein to Vice President, Relationship Management. She will be responsible for directing CO-OP's relationship management team and for guiding initiatives that impact retention, sales and client satisfaction.
BOTTOM LINES
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