ANNOUNCEMENTSGift card mall innovator Blackhawk Network won a Paybefore Award in the Up with Prepaid Marketing category for its "Before You" marketing campaign. The multimedia campaign – including in-store signage and print advertisements, as well as circulars and posters – is executed in a cartoon-style, three-strip format that is "easy to understand and makes for a fun display in retail locations," Blackhawk said.
ChargeAnywhere LLC unveiled a turnkey, end-to-end encryption solution called ComsGate eCrypt. The service, designed specifically for the ISO channel, provides each ISO with a unique encryption key that supports merchant retention, according to ChargeAnywhere. ComsGate eCrypt was demonstrated at the Electronic Transactions Association's Transact 14 tradeshow held in Las Vegas, April 8 to 10.
ATM manufacturer Diebold Inc. rolled out the Diebold 429 ATM, billed as able to operate on the amount of power required to run a traditional incandescent light bulb. Diebold said its new line of ATMs consumes as little as 70 watts of power, which is up to 40 percent less energy than other models. Diebold calculated that a bank operating a fleet of 2,000 Diebold 429 ATMs could save enough energy annually to power over 1,200 households in India.
Cape Town, South Africa-based transaction authentication specialist Entersekt opened a U.S. office in Atlanta. Entersekt stated that many U.S. banks and credit unions continue to use obsolete forms of security technology, leaving customers vulnerable to fraud.
"Having successfully assisted our overseas customers in eliminating account takeover fraud, we have set our sights on duplicating the same results here in North America and are confident that our unique approach to authentication, combined with decades of industry expertise, will have a substantial impact on today's fraud epidemic," said Francois van Schoor, President of Global Business Development at Entersekt.
IBM launched its "Smarter counter fraud" initiative, a software package that allows organizations to counter fraud through the application of big data analytics. IBM said its new software is able to uncover nonobvious fraud trends, identify and connect fraudulent patterns closer to the point of operation, and utilize machine learning that helps systems prevent future fraud based on previous attacks and behaviors.
Boise, Idaho-based data security firm Kount Inc. said it re-certified its processes for the seventh consecutive year to Level 1 Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) compliance, the highest level of compliance possible. Qualified security assessment firm Trustwave Holdings Inc. did the certification.
Kount Chief Executive Officer Brad Wiskirchen said, "With the current turmoil in the e-commerce space due to the proliferation of data breaches and accompanying fraud, PCI compliance is more important than ever to demonstrate our commitment to protecting the confidentiality and integrity of transaction data from end to end."
MasterCard Worldwide developed a new standard and best practice framework designed to help small to midsize merchants create efficiencies in their card acceptance operations. MasterCard said the standard demands that payment service providers and acquirers provide merchants with clear and detailed fee disclosures, while also ensuring a 30-day minimum notice before fees on MasterCard transactions can be modified.
New York-based Merchant Cash and Capital expanded its secured term loan to $75 million via funding led by Comvest Partners' Comvest Capital II debt fund. The merchant advance provider said its total debt facilities now approximate $100 million. MCC CEO Stephen Sheinbaum stated, "Like the businesses we finance, we need resources to develop more programs and services for our customers, and that is exactly what this new financing will allow us to do."
International online payroll provider Payoneer was selected by Google Inc. to process customer payouts for e-commerce merchants in the Google Trusted Stores program. Payoneer said that by providing bank transfer services, Google Trusted Stores will be able to send payments to their partners in many countries.
At the Pymnts.com's Innovation Project 2014 held at Harvard University, PayRange Inc. demonstrated its BluKey contactless payment acceptance device, which attaches to vending machines. The device works in conjunction with the PayRange app, which is downloadable to consumers' smartphones.
Paresh Patel, PayRange founder and CEO, said installing the PayRange software with BluKey "is as easy as plugging a USB thumb drive into a computer." Patel added that the BluKey device "works with virtually any vending machine made in the last 15 years, plus millions of other kinds of machines."
Vienna, Austria-based prepaid voucher firm paysafecard.com Wertkarten AG said it experienced 116.4 million euros in 2013 payment volume, representing 68 million payment transactions worldwide in 2013 – a year-over-year increase of 23 percent. In 2013, paysafecard expanded into Australia and launched voucher programs in 22 countries.
Toronto-based prepaid card firm SelectCore Ltd. provided MasterCard-branded instant issue prepaid cards for the World MasterCard Fashion Week held in Toronto March 17 to 21, 2014. SelectCore's real-time, instant issuance platform allows consumers to personalize card designs on the spot.
Mobile commerce firm Sionic Mobile Corp. added Google Wallet functionality to its ION Rewards app. The Google Wallet Instant Buy feature within the app allows Android phone users to be rewarded for purchases. Sionic Mobile said rewards points can be used at over 25,000 U.S. retail and restaurant locations, including Lowe's, Staples, Sephora and Papa John's Pizza.
RESEARCHMalware targeting POS devices has been the center of attention in recent high-profile data breaches at major retailers. A new white paper from Trustwave, based on real-life incident response investigations, offers a visual guide on how POS malware works, as well as what the three common types of malware – key loggers, memory dumpers and network sniffers – are designed to accomplish. It also recommends effective defensive strategies to combat malware.
Bitcoin: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, an 18-page Impact Note compiled by Aite Group LLC, explores the opportunities, risks and uncertainties associated with bitcoin and its potential role in the future of financial services. The report also discusses the abuses that have drawn regulatory scrutiny and the obstacles that must be overcome for bitcoin to gain widespread adoption.
Platt Retail Institute LLC research titled The Future of Retail: A Perspective on Emerging Technology and Store Formats reveals emerging trends and challenges retailers face due to such influences as consumer use of showrooming, social media and smartphones while shopping. A store-of-the-future section presents various store format scenarios, including drive-through pickup locations, interactive showrooms and community service stores.
A Forrester Research Inc. paper, TechRadar: Customer Analytics Methods, Q1 2014, identifies 15 key customer analytics methods businesses need to master to fully leverage available data. Among them are analysis of sentiment and location, personalization through next best-offers, customer churn and attrition. Information is presented in a playbook fashion. Researchers discuss both current and future prospects in this exciting realm.
The latest analysis by Litle & Co. titled Behind the Headlines: The Trickle-Down Effect of Card Data Theft describes the ripple effect of massive card breaches at major retailers that occurred toward the end of 2013. "Over the first five weeks of 2014, we observed degradations between 2 and 3 percent in credit and debit approval rates," stated author Alison Arthur in a Litle blog posting. PARTNERSHIPS
Billeo Inc. teamed with Danal Inc. to integrate Danal's mobile identity solution with Billeo's XpressBuy checkout service. The joint solution is expected to significantly reduce keystrokes required to complete mobile transactions. It is also expected to deliver enhanced transaction security on Billeo's platform via device identification and user data provided to Danal through Danal's mobile carrier and third-party partnerships, the companies stated.
Ingenico became a co-development partner for CardConnect's merchant base of 50,000 U.S. customers. CardConnect said it will leverage Ingenico's entire value chain of payment offerings from Europay/MasterCard/Visa and near-field-communication enabled payment devices to its On-Guard data encryption solution across all payment channels.
Mozido and SecureNet Payment Systems are working to enhance Mozido's white-labeled mobile apps with SecureNet's payment suite. "Mozido has experienced tremendous demand for payment choices in our mobile solutions, and the SecureNet platform allows us to offer more choices such as prepaid, credit and debit cards on all popular networks," said Scott Sandlin, Mozido President.
NCR Corp. and Movio Ltd. will integrate NCR's cinema POS and loyalty software with Movio's data analytics and campaign management platform, which will allow data flow and management between the two platforms. "The enhanced loyalty integration is an especially appealing feature as it offers [cinema] customers the ability to enroll, earn points, and even use their phone as a loyalty card," said Peter Beguely, Chief Solution Officer at Movio.
NonProfitEasy, a data management software platform catering to small and midsize nonprofit organizations, entered an exclusive partnership with Bluefin Payments Systems, a cloud-based integrated payments solutions provider for independent software vendors. NonProfitEasy said this will expand its platform to include donation, ticket sale, merchandise, membership, auction and other fundraising functions.
Software developer Retail Pro International entered an alliance with consumer engagement and analytics firm Swarm Mobile to make Swarm Mobile's dashboard for monitoring store operations and customer traffic available to Retail Pro customers. By aggregating transactional data from Retail Pro, Swarm analytics seamlessly integrates the POS data for a 360 degree view of in-store shopper and purchase activity, the companies stated.
Subscription commerce provider Zuora Inc. joined forces with Leeyo Software Inc., known for its next-generation revenue generation software, to encourage business participation in the subscription economy by combining Zuora's order-to-cash service with Leeyo's RevPro revenue recognition program. According to the companies, this will automate the entire recurring revenue process.
ACQUISITIONS
Cachet Financial Solutions, a remote deposit capture (RDC) services provider, acquired prepaid mobile platform Moneto from DeviceFidelity. "Prepaid represents one of the fastest growing financial product sectors," said Jeffrey Mack, President and CEO of Cachet. "This acquisition is a perfect complement to Cachet's current RDC mobile prepaid offering and demonstrates our strategic evolution to a more comprehensive mobile offering."
Clear Payment Solutions LLC acquired eKiosk Solutions LLC, a developer of web-based software for electronic donation and payment accepance. "For the last four years, we have put a lot of hard work into developing the eGivings brand, and we are excited about merging with Clear Payment Solutions as it affords us the opportunity to combine our shared visions to reach a much larger audience," said Jamie Walker, co-founder of eKiosk.
Texas-based Pivotal Payments acquired substantially all of the assets of Arizona-based Capital Processing Network, expanding Pivotal's direct sales channels in strategic markets, cross-selling capabilities and adding $2 billion in annual processing volume, Pivotal stated. Under the agreement, CPN will retain its own brand at its present headquarters.
APPOINTMENTSThe First Data Corp. Board of Directors named First Data CEO Frank Bisignano Chairman of the Board. Bisignano assumed the role from Joe Forehand, who became Chair in March 2010 and will remain on the board. "With this additional role, I pledge to continue to lead the company in the direction we have set as we transform First Data into a highly collaborative partner capable of bringing new and innovative solutions to the market," Bisignano said. He was named First Data's CEO in April 2013. Since then he has "put First Data on the right trajectory for a successful future," Forehand said.
Anovia Payments LLC named financial services executive Steven Neel as its Executive Vice President of Finance. In this role, Neel will oversee Anovia's finance functions, including accounting, strategic initiatives, and mergers and acquisitions activities. Directly prior, Neel was the Chief Financial Officer of rewards company vPromos. Previously, he served in key roles at Columbus Merchant Services and TransFirst Holdings Inc.
Marc Pereira joined the FreedomPay executive team as Vice President of Technology. Pereira has proven successful in coordinating complex projects and providing strategic guidance through the product life cycle, the company said. He will be responsible for overseeing, envisioning and maintaining the company's technology infrastructure, which covers both the development process and the network infrastructure management operations.
Pereira has close to 20 years' e-commerce and technology experience. He joins FreedomPay after serving nearly 12 years in strategic executive roles at eBay Inc.
OnDeck expanded its executive team by hiring Pamela Rice as Senior Vice President of Technology. She will oversee application and core engineering, platform operations and corporate IT, and will report directly to company CEO Noah Breslow. "Pamela has the leadership experience and proven track record in transitioning fast-growing companies to full-scale enterprises, which is exactly what we need as we take our business to the next level," Breslow said. Most recently, Rice led Global Credit Technology for PayPal Inc. Previously, she was an engineering leader at Bill Me Later Inc.
JetPay Payment Services, a division of JetPay Corp., appointed Jeffrey S. Tourek as its Executive Vice President and National Sales leader. Tourek came to JetPay from Heartland Payment Systems Inc., where he was Executive Director for Major Accounts. His addition is part of JetPay's efforts to increase its national presence among all of its product lines. Tourek's prior employers include American Express Co., First Data, Global Payments Inc. and Bank of America Corp. 
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