NEWSThe U.S. ATM industry is concerned that the U.S. District Court's recent ruling against the Federal Reserve's actions to regulate debit card interchange will further delay implementation of the Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) standard in the United States. "It is widely acknowledged that Durbin has contributed to the delayed development of a common U.S. AID [Application Identification] for EMV which puts ATM operators of all sizes in an untenable position to meet liability shifts with networks," said Bryan Bauer, President of Kahuna ATM Solutions.
"Implementation of Durbin was also 'not positive' for the ATM industry because the Federal Reserve failed to put in place the two unaffiliated bugs for PIN debit and two for signature debit in the first place."
The Durbin Amendment mandates that the financial services industry reconfigure its infrastructure so that every debit card transaction can be processed over one of two competing debit networks.
"Should the court ruling withstand appeal, it would appear to require adoption of new rules by the Fed mandating two unaffiliated bugs for PIN debit," said Bruce Renard, Executive Director of the National ATM Council Inc.
PayPal Inc. is continuing to form new partnerships for POS and online transactions. Mercury Payment Systems LLC is collaborating with PayPal to offer PayPal payments in-store.
"By adding PayPal to our payment processing systems, and empowering our developer and reseller partners to offer PayPal to their merchant bases, we believe we have reached a tipping point for mobile and digital wallet payments," said Mercury Chief Executive Officer Matt Taylor.
Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) agreed with Discover Financial Services to process PayPal payment transactions within the contiguous United States after PayPal established a relationship with Discover through which PayPal has access to Discover's brick-and-mortar merchant customers.
"We believe PayPal provides merchants and consumers more choices and helps reach new consumers at the point of sale, relying on our robust payment transaction processing platforms, as well as other value-added products and services," said Mark Pyke, President of TSYS' Merchant Services segment.
Capital Access Network customers can now opt to have funds deposited directly into a PayPal account or a traditional bank account. "Online merchants and other businesses that rely heavily on PayPal don't want the extra hassles of transferring money between accounts," said Daniel DeMeo, CAN's CEO. "By offering a direct link to PayPal, we remove one more hurdle that previously stood between business owners and their access to capital."
Communications Concepts Inc. honored The Green Sheet Inc. for the twelfth year in a row. The publication garnered three awards in the APEX 2013 Awards for Publication Excellence, and wants to thank the winning writers for their fine articles, as well as all those who, by sharing their expertise, have made the publication a standout in the trade publication sphere.
Contributing writer Brandes Elitch, Director of Partner Acquisition for CrossCheck Inc., won in the editorial and advocacy writing category for "Whatever happened to the British motorcycle industry?"; Dan Watkins, Associate Editor at The Green Sheet, won in the feature writing category for "Join the race to prepaid"; and Jim McCaffrey, former Staff Writer at The Green Sheet, won in the news writing category for "Visa discusses DOJ probe, explains FANF, raises no signature limit."
To date, the publication has been given a total of 48 APEX awards.
The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) opened registration for the fourth annual simulated cyber security exercise. The exercise is designed to test the security of financial institutions' payment processes.
The registration deadline is Oct. 16, 2013, and the exercise will take place Oct. 23 and 24, 2013. Participation is free, but businesses must be FS-ISAC members to participate. To register, visit www.fsisac.com/capp.
ANNOUNCEMENTSCash drawer solutions firm APG Cash Drawer LLC garnered the Silver Vendor Award of Excellence for Outstanding Provider of Hardware at the Retail Solutions Providers Association's RetailNOW 2013 conference held Aug. 4 to 7 in Las Vegas. APG, a member of the RSPA, said it is committed to supporting the reseller channel and the payments industry.
The Canadian division of prepaid card distributor and Safeway Inc. subsidiary, Blackhawk Network, rolled out a new travel insurance product called SmartAssure to be sold at Safeway store locations throughout Canada. The insurance, which comes in the form of a card, is designed to suit a variety of travel needs, including providing emergency medical travel coverage for people traveling abroad.
"Many Canadians do not have access to a credit card and are therefore excluded from purchasing travel and other forms of everyday insurance online," said Steve Dekker, Group Vice President at Blackhawk Network Canada.
ISO Braintree Payment Solutions LLC released Marketplace, a way for mobile marketplace operators, such as e-commerce websites, to pay and manage sellers on marketplace sites while decreasing administrative and regulatory burdens.
Braintree said the flow of money between sellers and buyers is managed by Braintree so marketplace operators never touch the funds, thereby alleviating many compliance and regulatory burdens.
Global e-commerce solutions provider CCBill LLC added new features to FlexStats, including a new Form Hits report, as well as enhancements to Merchant Transaction reports. Form Hits allows merchants to view traffic received from payment forms. A new option in Merchant Transactions provides merchants country-specific transaction data.
Mobile taxi service provider Flywheel Software Inc. expanded its e-hailing enterprise into Los Angeles. Flywheel's solution, which allows users to hail, track and pay for rides with smartphones, is available in 300 L.A. taxis.
Honeywell International Inc. released two new mobile POS phone encasements: the Captuvo SL42 and SL22 for the Apple iPhone 5 and fifth generation iPod Touch mobile digital devices, respectively. Both "mobile sleds" feature Honeywell's bar code reading technology, which also reads coupons and loyalty club bar codes.
Integrity Payment Systems launched the VIP Referral Program that allows merchants currently processing with Integrity to earn extra cash by referring other merchants to Integrity. Merchants receive $200 for each referral and can also receive a $500 bonus by making five referrals in 2013, the company said.
International business technology firm MPayMe Ltd. unveiled its mobile business platform ZNAP at the Chester Racecourse, a horse racing venue in England. At an exclusive, invitation-only, VIP event on the grounds, the ZNAP mobile payments application was used to process drink orders and other payments.
Punchh, a mobile solutions startup for the restaurant industry, said it raised $3 million in venture capital funding to accelerate its growth in the $20 billion U.S. restaurant marketing sector. Punchh reported that since its inception in 2010, it had closed on $4 million in funding.
Revel Systems, payment app developer for Apple Inc. iPads, unveiled version 2.0 of its Revel iPad POS System for retail, quick service restaurant and kiosk needs. New features include an enhanced kitchen display view, customer display units for advertising and an updated login screen.
RESEARCH A recent 2020 Foresight report, The Role of the Domestic Payment Card Network, projected international payment networks Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide will face increased competition from government-backed domestic card networks in the future.
In the report, the emergence of China's UnionPay and India's RuPay were cited as examples of government-backed networks actively vying for a piece of the network pie.
The report offers a detailed analysis of domestic payment networks in countries throughout the world, major players in the competitive landscape, recommended global strategies and potential areas for market growth.
The Aite Group LLC Global Fraud and Clueless Consumers report revealed consumer concerns about fraud and lack of education from financial institutions (FIs) are inhibiting adoption of new electronic payment technologies and may lead to FI attrition.
"If financial institutions are actually providing education, it is not being done in a manner that the data is understood and retained, which is leading to 'clueless consumers'," said Shirley Inscoe, Senior Analyst at Aite.
According to a Yankee Group report, Mobile Wallets for the Masses, despite mass awareness of mobile payment applications, only 14 percent of consumers surveyed have completed a mobile wallet transaction within the past three months.
The report explores the mobile wallet ecosystem, why adoption as a payment method has been slow, and seven tactics mobile wallet vendors should implement to win ecosystem partners and earn consumer trust.
PARTNERSHIPSGreater Giving, a division of Global Payments Inc. set up to deliver fundraising and payment processing solutions to the nonprofit sector, signed an agreement with in-stream, social commerce provider Chirpify. Under the agreement, Greater Giving clients will leverage Chirpify's platform to conduct fundraising campaigns across major social media networks, the companies stated.
Sage North America formed an alliance with Yola Inc. to deliver an integrated e-commerce solution for small and midsize businesses powered by the Sage Payment Solutions division of Sage.
"Through the integration to Sage Exchange, our customers can securely process credit card transactions while allowing them to link to Sage accounting and ERP [enterprise resource planning] systems and various other front- and back-office systems," said Yola CEO Trevor Harris Jones.
Trustwave joined forces with Transaction Network Services Inc. to offer an open, vendor agnostic point-to-point encryption service. TNS intends to host the Trustwave Point-to-Point Encryption technology in its network and data centers as a means of further protecting cardholder data.
TSYS inked a deal with FICO to integrate the FICO Falcon Fraud Manager 6 with TSYS' licensed PRIME card and merchant management solution. As a hosted service to TSYS' licensing clients, the integrated Falcon solution will employ advanced analytic models to help users manage fraud by examining behavioral aspects of cardholder activity.
ACQUISITIONSCO-OP Financial Services acquired minority interest in Finivation, which specializes in systems integration and software development for FIs and technology providers. CO-OP said it plans to strengthen its existing technical partnership with Finivation through ongoing development of web and mobile applications and related middleware connected with CO-OP products.
FrontStream Payments Inc. acquired GiftWorks and Artez Interactive. GiftWorks, a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstGiving, will integrate its customer relationship platform for nonprofits with FrontStream's FirstGiving product line to collectively serve over 10,000 nonprofit organizations. With the acquisition of multichannel fundraising solutions provider Artez, FrontStream will further leverage its fundraising platform.
APPOINTMENTSJeff Bankowski, formerly Vice President at Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., joined Capital for Merchants as the company's new President. "Jeff brings a proven track record to Capital for Merchants," said Marc Gardner, President and CEO of North American Bancard, which partners with CFM for merchant cash advance. "His extensive experience both in the financial industry and product optimization sector brings an invaluable skill set to our executive team."
BlueSnap Inc. hired Manny Pansa as its Senior Vice President, Account Management and Support. He will lead the global payment service provider's business expansion by growing and enhancing BlueSnap's relationships with existing customers through superior service.
Pansa has more than 20 years' experience in payments, having worked in the software, cash management, payroll, payment card and merchant acquiring industries.
Cort Ouzts is the new CEO at POS system provider POS Nation. The 29-year-old Ouzts previously worked in the fields of investment banking and private equity. "More than anything, I bring a fresh perspective to the business - a new lens to view the operations through," Ouzts said.
"One of the first things I told the team was that, 'because we've always done it that way' was not an acceptable answer to any question."
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