RETAIL BRIEFSANNOUNCEMENTSACI Worldwide received top honors at the annual Merchant Payments Ecosystem Awards, winning the International Award for its UP eCommerce Payments solution. The solution combines a global payment network of card acquirers and alternative payment methods, delivered by the PAY.ON payments gateway, with ACI ReD Shield's fraud prevention capabilities.
The Electronic Transactions Association wrote members of Congress requesting use of the Congressional Review Act to examine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule on prepaid cards and its one-size-fits-all framework on financial service products. The ETA also submitted a letter to the CFPB regarding consumer benefits and risks associated with products that rely on access to personal account and account-related information. The letter states government attempts to implement regulations on account access will negatively impact financial sector institutions, impeding innovations that benefit consumers.
Kount Inc. and its Kount Complete product won awards at both the 2017 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards and the InfoSecurity Awards. The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards program honors individuals and companies that demonstrate excellence, innovation and leadership in information security. Kount Complete won in the Fraud Prevention awards category and the product was also named a Gold winner of the 2017 Global Excellence Awards in the Best Deployment (Asia-Pacific) category.
NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association launched a comprehensive outreach effort and issued a case study on the benefits of using direct payment via automated clearing house (ACH) for donor retention. The outreach is designed to increase understanding of the value of ACH payments for fundraising and build confidence in use of these payments by charitable organizations to grow and sustain donation dollars and expand their donor bases.
Net Element Inc. subsidiary, Digital Provider, expanded its Direct Carrier Billing services to the emerging markets of Poland and Turkey. Integration of Digital Provider's proprietary Trinity Platform allows access to 113.5 million mobile users in these markets, the company said. A full suite of Net Element's Digital Provider services is available in these countries, along with the company's anti-fraud and in-house call center platforms.
Rambus Inc. unveiled a comprehensive mobile payment platform designed to enhance payment security, reduce operational costs and increase revenue for retailers. The Rambus Unified Payment Platform securely converts and manages digital value to enable consumers to pay with credit, points and coupons in a single transaction, Rambus said. Its primary components include a digital value manager, retail wallet engine, white-label retail app, and optional modules to support credit, debit and gift cards, loyalty points and coupons.
System Innovators reported that it released iNovah EMV Direct, a processor-agnostic and secure EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) card payment solution for governments. The flexible, scalable solution combines SI's POS centralized cashiering and enterprise revenue management solutions. EMV Direct is integrated with iNovah, which allows payment amounts to be automatically sent to the credit card terminal and securely encrypts customer data to mitigate risk of card-present fraud, the company noted.
Super G Funding LLC reported it changed its name to Super G Capital LLC to "reflect increased lending size, expanded deal team and push into the lower middle market." The company added that it has transformed into the leading provider of second lien debt (known as airball financing) to the lower middle market and focuses on sub $5 million subordinated loans that are too small for business development companies and small business investment companies.
"Our Cash Flow Lending division today has an average deal size in excess of $1.5 million with the majority of loans being subordinated debt," says Darrin Ginsberg, the company's Chief Executive Officer. "Increasingly Super G is the 'go to' provider of stretch piece or airball financing for asset based lenders and commercial banks. … We modified our name to reflect to our positioning and goal to be the market leader in second lien cash flow debt."
Visa Inc. indicated mVisa, its quick response code (QR)-based payment service, already live in India, Kenya and Rwanda, will soon be available to merchants and consumers in Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam. mVisa allows consumers to use mobile phones to make cashless purchases at merchant outlets, pay bills remotely and send money to friends and family members by securely linking a Visa debit, credit or prepaid account to the mVisa application using a QR code, Visa said.
RESEARCHAccording to new research from Accenture Strategy, 54 percent of U.S. consumers have switched loyalty program providers in the past year; almost one fifth (18 percent) of respondents confirmed their expectations pertaining to brand loyalty have changed. The report, Seeing beyond the loyalty illusion: it's time you invest more wisely, revealed new factors influencing loyalty today, gauging the experiences and attitudes of 25,426 consumers around the world, including 2,532 U.S. consumers, about their loyalty relationship with brands and organizations.
In its new study, From ATMs to Smart Safes and Recyclers: Retail's Next Big Step, the ATM Industry Association covers growth prospects in the U.S. retail cash management sector. ATMIA researchers predict strong growth ahead for cash management automation in the nation's retail sectors. The report stresses the benefits to businesses of expanding automation capability with evolving technologies like recyclers and smart safes.
In a new report, The Enemy at the Gates: Payments Fraud Is a Symptom, Mercator Advisory Group discusses the increased cyber threat faced by financial institutions and their clients and how that fosters opportunities for payment fraud schemes. The report reviews underlying issues associated with global fraud and their relation to payment fraud, and it identifies actions to take to help manage the threat going forward.
Webgility Inc. and Retail Systems Research stated that its new research identifies and solves the major problems limiting independent retailers' effective use of omnichannel selling. The report, titled Three Hidden Costs of Omnichannel That Impact the Independent Retailer, tackles key issues independent retailers face, including inaccurate product availability data, poor product information and unexpected fulfillment costs. Researchers also endorsed the notion that data is both the greatest hope and the greatest obstacle for small and midsize businesses (SMBs).
PARTNERSHIPSBluefin Payment Systems and AudienceView Ticketing Corp. released a Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS)-validated point-to-point encryption (P2PE) solution on the AudienceView platform. AudienceView provides an integrated ticketing, ecommerce and customer engagement platform for performing arts, athletics, university campuses, festivals and more. Through the partnership, AudienceView clients receive PCI-validated P2PE and integrated payment processing with EMV through Bluefin's PayConex payment platform or a P2PE gateway-only solution.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business extended its agreement with Chase Paymentech Solutions and formed a new agreement with Mastercard to offer preferred pricing for merchant services to participating CFIB members. The partnerships demonstrate the benefits of electronic payments in Canada, while helping to reduce the cost of acceptance for SMBs, the CFIB said.
The Merchant Risk Council confirmed its selection of artificial intelligence company Feedzai Inc. as the headline sponsor for MRC Vegas 2018. The partnership signifies the MRC's commitment to spearhead solutions for the next generation of retail and risk by bringing together science and technology, the council stated. "Through Feedzai's partnership with MRC, we're very excited to be able to add our expertise in artificial intelligence to their 'human' knowledge pool," said Nuno Sebastiao, Feedzai's co-founder and CEO.
Fidelity Payment Services established a strategic partnership with PAX Technology Ltd. as the preferred provider of EMV terminals and PIN pads. According to PAX, Fidelity has been a strong advocate of its products and was a key player in PAX's entry to the U.S. market in 2011. Fidelity said it named PAX to be its EMV terminal provider of choice due to PAX's competitive pricing, device quality, advanced software and expert support.
First Data Corp. and ShopKeep formed a new partnership that expands their existing relationship. First Data reported it will make ShopKeep's POS software available through First Data's distribution network, which includes major bank partners, retail partners and its network of ISOs. In addition, ShopKeep will incorporate First Data's payment processing and security tools, as well as the Clover Go software developer kit and the Clover hardware portfolio as its strategic infrastructure, the partners noted.
VersaPay Corp. indicated Intuit Inc. implemented VersaPay ARC for select SMB and accountant customers. The service allows customers that primarily pay Intuit on a net term basis to use a self-service portal and pay online 24/7. This is expected to improve Intuit's collection tools and enable the company to better manage its invoice to cash cycle. With VersaPay ARC, Intuit customers also have 24/7 access to invoices and a variety of secure payment options, VersaPay added.
iPayment Inc. and Company.com teamed up to help SMB owners launch, run and grow business. The partnership offers iPayment's agent, ISO and referral partners Company.com's suite of services, productivity tools and social networking resources designed for the SMB customer. "We are excited to be able to bring a value-based suite, like the one offered by Company.com, to both our partners and merchant customers," said O.B. Rawls IV, CEO of iPayment.
iTellio integrated with Morphis Inc. to deliver what the partners believe is the industry's most accurate cash forecasting solution to small and midsize independent ATM deployers with enterprise-level capability at an affordable price via the iTellio software suite. The iTellio-Morphis collaboration enables ATM operators to accurately predict cash usage across their fleet, and combined with the rest of the iTellio features, the benefits of less downtime and more revenue, the companies said.
Vyze indicated Zibby joined the Vyze lending platform. Retailers using Vyze can now choose to extend Zibby's lease payment option to their customers at the POS with minimal additional integration time, effort or cost, Zibby stated. "We are fundamentally aligned with Vyze in the belief that customer experience is crucial to driving utilization of any effective payment option," said Zibby CEO Brandon Wright.
WEX Inc. forged a new agreement with Vibe Systems Ltd. under which Vibe will deliver advanced front and mid office technology to travel businesses, such as online travel agencies, retail agencies, travel management companies and consolidators. The agreement will allow a direct integration of WEX's virtual debit, prepaid and credit cards into the Vibe platform, which enables automated supplier payments in 24 currencies across the globe, the partners said.
ACQUISITIONSPayPal Holdings Inc. and TIO Networks Corp, a cloud-based multichannel bill payment and receivables management company, formed an agreement under which PayPal will acquire TIO for $2.56 per share in cash or an approximate $233 million equity value. TIO serves 14 million consumer bill pay accounts and offers convenient solutions for expedited bill payment services to financially underserved consumers, PayPal noted.
TouchSuite acquired the assets of Merchant Bankcard Systems of America. MBSOA has offices in Boston and Miami and services approximately 1,000 merchants. TouchSuite anticipates a seamless transition period with no disruption in business operations for MBSOA merchants. In addition, TouchSuite stated it will offer MBSOA merchants additional advanced technology, marketing products, POS systems and financial instruments.
APPOINTMENTSPayveris LLC appointed Ron Bergamesca as its CEO. Bergamesca joins Payveris as the company continues to build momentum, entering 2017 with more than 200 financial institution and fintech partners, doubling of revenues and the closing of the final phase of its $10 million Series C round of financing, according to Payveris. Bergamesca spent over a decade at Online Resources Corp. in a variety of executive positions, including Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Banking division.
Hyperwallet Systems Inc. appointed Mark Engels as its Chief Revenue Officer. Engels comes to Hyperwallet from SecureNet Payments, where he served as the Executive Vice President of Business and Channel Development before the organization's acquisition by Worldpay. As Hyperwallet's CRO, Engels will be responsible for the development and strategic leadership of Hyperwallet's North American sales and business expansion initiatives.
The Strawhecker Group recently appointed payments industry expert Peter Michaud as Director – Project Management. Prior to joining TSG, Michaud served as Vice President of Product Development at Hap-X, a healthcare B2B payments company acquired by Global Healthcare Exchange in 2016. He also led Market Research and Competitive Intelligence for TSYS Merchant Segment as head of Financial Planning and Analysis for TSYS Acquiring Solutions.
Larry Rosenberger, former CEO of Fair Isaac Corp. and current FICO research fellow, joined XOR Data Exchange as an investor and board observer. Rosenberger's experience and expertise in implementing data and analytical models for the financial services industry is expected to help the fintech startup continue rapid growth, development and adoption of fraud risk models to protect consumers and businesses from identity theft and data misuse, XOR said.
RevSpring Inc. added Richard Schlegel as its Vice President of Sales for the Northeast Region. Schlegel brings "two decades of experience providing exceptional analytical solutions to those in the accounts receivable management industry and is a recognized expert in this field," said Rich Turner, RevSpring's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Directly prior, Schlegel spent 25 years at TransUnion LLC, holding a variety of sales management and executive roles.
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