ANNOUNCEMENTSMobile POS provider AnywhereCommerce stated that its Walker mobile POS dongle was approved to accept Visa Inc.-branded cards via the card brand's Visa Ready Program. Walker supports EuroPay/MasterCard/Visa chip and signature, as well as mag stripe-based payments and is compatible with iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8 operating systems.
Virtual currency processor BitPay said its checkout platform now offers bitcoin transactions in 10 languages other than English. The additional languages allow merchants with international customers, especially in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East, to offer bitcoin payment instructions in buyers' native languages.
BlueSnap reported that its SnapMobile one-click mobile checkout solution reduces the habit of consumers abandoning mobile purchases out of frustration with slow or cumbersome interfaces. SnapMobile auto detects the type of device consumers use to purchase from websites and optimizes content for those devices to make the shopping experience easier, BlueSnap said.
Ceridian Stored Value Solutions completed the separation of its Human Capital Management (HCM) and payments businesses. Ceridian's payment business is now operated as Comdata Inc., while the HCM business is operated as Ceridian HCM Holding Inc.
Top 10 merchant acquirer Chase Paymentech LLC rolled out Safetech Page Encryption, which encrypts payment data when consumers enter payment information into web browsers. Paymentech said it is the first acquirer to offer such data protection technology, which employs tokenization to encrypt data.
CoinX Inc. recently debuted its digital currency exchange. CoinX's exchange, which supports bitcoin transactions, utilizes the same hosting facility and corresponding security protocols as the New York Stock Exchange, said the Atlanta-based company. The exchange is also registered with the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, CoinX added.
Payment software developer eProcessing Network LLC (ePN) launched its mobile software development kit (SDK) to help developers integrate their payment apps into ePN's mobile payment gateway. One goal of ePN's SDK is to keep developers' apps out of scope of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS).
MasterCard Worldwide joined the Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) Alliance with a seat at the online authentication association's board of directors. FIDO said the association is dedicated to "open specifications for universal strong authentication" achieved via such technologies as biometrics, tokenization and near field communication (NFC).
At the October 2013 Money2020 conference, PayPal Inc. Vice President of Retail Services Don Kingsborough introduced an enhancement to the PayPal mobile app that allows in-store payments via quick response (QR) or four-digit codes. Beyond simplifying the payment experience, Payment Code will allow consumers to automatically redeem special offers, gift cards and other rewards, Kingsborough said. PayPal expects to roll out the service globally in the first quarter of 2014.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) security firm Prolexic Technologies reported it was named the Gold Winner in the Security Service Innovations category at the 2013 Golden Bridge Awards. Prolexic won the award for PLXabm SSL, its application-based DDoS attack monitoring solution for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) -encrypted traffic.
According to a Matrix Payment Systems newsletter, Marc Rosenberg, Principle at the Settlement Recovery Group LLC, said the final judgment of the proposed $7.25 billion Payment Card Interchange Fee settlement draws near. Rosenberg attended the Sept. 12, 2013, hearing and noted that the tone of the hearing led him to believe the settlement would be approved. It may be four to six more weeks before a formal ruling, he added.
Mobile telecommunication firm Sprint Nextel launched Pinsight Touch, a cloud-based platform that allows for the storage and retrieval of consumer credentials to authenticate users in NFC environments, including payments and restricted access. Sprint said its open platform allows for secure access to credentials, "creating opportunities for increased distribution and wallet share."
Tabbedout raises $7.75 million Bar and restaurant mobile payment app specialist Tabbedout closed on $7.75 million in Series B funding to accelerate its growth and market penetration. Tabbedout stated its app connects thousands of bar and restaurant locations nationally with over 70 percent of payment processors for the U.S. hospitality industry, including Heartland Payment Systems Inc.
RESEARCHA new report from The Strawhecker Group titled Tablet POS – Merchant Insights & Company Research offers an assessment of merchant-level interest in and attitudes toward adoption of tablet POS systems in brick-and-mortar establishments. It also offers a competitive analysis of POS tablet providers. According to the report, 45 percent of small to midsize businesses surveyed said a tablet could replace their current POS systems in the future.
The Javelin Strategy & Research Mobile Wallet Game Changers: A Glimpse into 2014’s Projected Winners and Losers report offers a competitive analysis of 12 major mobile wallet providers, leading technologies in the field, and consumer sentiment and adoption within the market. Javelin Director-Mobile Mary Monahan observed that "it is a mistake to assume that consumer attraction to a particular technology (e.g. cloud, NFC, QR code, Bluetooth, etc.) alone will separate winners and losers."
PARTNERSHIPSHeartland partnered with e-commerce platform provider Bigcommerce in launching Heartland’s Online Storefront. According to Heartland, the integrated e-commerce platform will enable merchants to launch online stores in less than an hour or upgrade existing e-commerce websites with advanced shopping cart functionality and other features, permitting smaller merchants to effectively compete with larger players.
Merchant Warehouse formed a partnership with ReSource Inc. to integrate ReSource’s business insights tools with its Genius Customer Engagement Platform, which will reportedly leverage transactional information to enhance business intelligence and deliver quality customer service. In a separate development, Merchant Warehouse teamed with AmeriMerchant to deliver working capital to merchants through loan and merchant cash advance programs.
Paydiant Inc. recently integrated its mobile wallet solution with the Future POS restaurant and hospitality system. As a result, nearly 8,000 Future POS customer locations can now offer mobile payments in a variety of checkout scenarios, from pay-at-the-counter to pay-at-the table, the companies stated.
POS Portal Inc. teamed with IDology Inc. to integrate its identity verification and fraud prevention system with POS Portal's P2 cloud-based customer relationship management platform for ISOs. "Partnering with IDology provides our customer’s online merchant applications with integrated knowledge based authentication that streamlines the underwriting process and speeds time to account activation," said Scott Agatep, Vice President of Marketing at POS Portal.
PCI-compliance services provider Sysnet Global Solutions formed an alliance with mobile scanning security devloper iScan Online. The objective is to enable acquiring organizations to embed mobile security functions into existing mobile applications to effectively search for stored payment card data and other security vulnerabilities on merchants’ mobile devices, the companies said.
ACQUISITIONSeBay Inc. agreed to acquire Braintree, a global payment platform for online and mobile-first startup companies, for approximately $800 million in cash. Under the agreement, Braintree will continue to operate as a separate service within PayPal under the continued leadership of Braintree Chief Executive Officer Bill Ready and existing members of the Braintree team.
Intrix Technology Inc. agreed to purchase payment services provider uProfit Payments. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. "With our fast, secure payment processing gateway, Intrix has established itself as the top choice for merchants,” said Jeffrey Connors, Chairman and CEO of Intrix. “Now, we can bring our resources, capabilities and technology to the uProfit Payments agents."
WorldPay US, the U.S. payment processing division of WorldPay Group, agreed to purchase Century Payments Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition of Century, which has boarded over 50,000 merchants in the past four years and processes an estimated $12 billion in annual volume, will bolster WorldPay's growth strategy in the U.S. market, the companies stated.
APPOINTMENTSAnovia Payments LLC selected Ron Carter as its Executive Vice President of Operations. He will have strategic oversight of Anovia's operations and finance functions, including risk, underwriting, merchant operations, finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Before joining Anovia, Carter served as founder and CEO of RGC Consulting, providing various consultative services to the payments industry.
SecureBuy appointed Barbara Hvasta to its board of advisors. At eBay, Hvasta currently spearheads global billing and payments services. She possesses considerable experience in billing and financial product development and has expertise in both traditional and cutting edge payments systems, SecureBuy noted. Previously, she held leadership positions within the payments industry, where she led teams in closing contracts with Fortune 500 clients.
Marsha Jones was named Director of the Third Party Payment Processors Association, a trade group providing leadership, advocacy and support to third-party payment processors and their associated financial institutions, merchants and consumers. Jones will oversee outreach for the TPPPA. Before joining the association, Jones was a member of the Risk Management and Advisory Group of NACHA – the Electronic Payments Association, as well as Product Manager for Viewpointe, a Regional Payments Association.
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