ANNOUNCEMENTSAvanti Markets issued an update on a data breach that occurred over the July 4 holiday involving malware, which may have captured user card data on mag-stripe equipped Avanti kiosks. According to Avanti, at the time of the incident the company had delivered updated payment devices, with encryption technology, that operators were in the process of deploying. As of Aug. 4, the solution had been installed on all Avanti U.S. kiosks, the company noted.
CO-OP Financial Services donated $10,000 to CUAid, an online disaster relief system organized by the National Credit Union Foundation. The donation was targeted to a CUAid effort organized to help credit unions and their members in Texas impacted by Tropical Storm Harvey. The donation augments the nationwide CO-OP Shared Branch and CO-OP ATM networks used extensively during times of disaster.
The recently published GlobalPlatform Managing Entity Specification completes complementary software standards from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and the NFC Forum to ensure multiple mobile contactless services can coexist within a device and operate as intended. The collaborative effort between GlobalPlatform, ETSI and the NFC Forum provides a standardized approach and clarity to NFC service providers.
Net Element Inc. subsidiary Unified Payments launched a no-cost processing program for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in the United States called Zero Pay. According to Net Element, it is the first and only cash discount program available on mobile POS. The program automatically applies a service fee to all non-cash sales at the POS regardless of payment type, the company said.
Entities covered by the New York Department of Financial Services' new cybersecurity regulation are now required to have a cybersecurity program designed to protect consumers' private data, as well as a board- or senior-officer approved written policy or policies, an appointed Chief Information Security Officer, and controls and plans in place to ensure the safety of New York's financial services industry.
RESEARCHThe Global Consumer Survey: Consumer Trust and Security Perceptions, published by ACI Worldwide and Aite Group LLC, found mobile wallet adoption is on the rise globally and consumers in the United States and Europe are catching up with the fast-growing economies in Asia and Latin America. Research revealed that 17 percent of U.S. consumers now pay by smartphone. Spanish consumers in Europe are the most active mobile wallet users at 25 percent, followed by Italy (24 percent), Sweden (23 percent) and the United Kingdom (14 percent).
The Federal Reserve published Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System: Federal Reserve Next Steps in the Payments Improvement Journey, which identifies updated tactics the Fed plans to pursue to help improve the speed, safety and efficiency of the U.S. payment system. The paper additionally presents refreshed strategies and nine new tactics the Federal Reserve will employ, in collaboration with payment system stakeholders, to help achieve payment system improvements.
According to a new report from FICO on U.S. debit card usage, the number of cards compromised at U.S. ATMs and merchants rose 39 percent during the first six months of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016. FICO also tracked a 21 percent increase in compromises of U.S. ATMs and POS devices year-over-year for the same period. In the report, FICO offers tips to consumers on safe ATM practices.
The National Retail Federation adjusted its 2017 retail sales forecast to a 3.2 to 3.8 percent increase versus the 3.7 to 4.2 percent projected earlier this year. "Meaningful revisions to retail sales numbers by the Census Bureau and similar revisions to personal income and consumption by the Bureau of Economic Analysis have both affected our forecast and have required us to adjust our 2017 sales projection," said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz.
The Verizon 2017 Payment Security Report demonstrates a link between organizations being compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) and their ability to defend themselves against cyber attacks. Of all payment card data breaches Verizon investigated, no organization was fully compliant at the time of breach, demonstrating lower compliance with 10 out of the 12 PCI DSS key requirements. The report found PCI compliance has increased globally, with 55.4 percent of assessed organizations in 2016 passing the interim assessment.
PARTNERSHIPSHealthPay24 partnered with CardConnect to enhance its existing integrated platform with CardConnnect's Bolt P2PE cloud-based solution, which simplifies software app and device integrations. The combined offering will provide secure payment acceptance and data breach protection for healthcare providers and their patients through PCI-validated point-to-point-encryption (P2PE) and tokenization, the companies noted.
Deck Commerce partnered with Clutch, an integrated marketing platform that helps brands identify, understand and motivate their best customers through data management and multi-channel engagement. Customers who use Deck Commerce for their Distributed Order Management solution can now use Clutch to manage loyalty, gift card and stored value programs; as well as text, email and direct mail campaigns.
The Electronic Funds Transfer Association entered a formal partnership with the Association for Financial Technology. The relationship will enable members of both associations to share information and potentially collaborate on a range of issues including electronic payments and commerce; credit, debit and prepaid technology; cyber security; data privacy; mobile payments; and legislative and regulatory initiatives that may impact them.
Apruve entered an agreement with Matrix Payment Systems to offer business-to-business (B2B) customers a simpler way to manage revolving lines of credit. "Credit cards are just one part of the payment landscape when it comes to B2B and many of our customers extend lines of credit or offer purchase orders to buyers," said Glenn Hughes, CEO of Matrix. "This process can be extremely manual and expensive to manage. Apruve automates the entire process."
Sterling Payment Technologies partnered with ExaDigm Inc. to offer an EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) solution for the wireless ExaDigm G3 mPOS. "Sterling is proud to expand our partnership with ExaDigm to provide merchants with a secure, cost effective and convenient EMV solution like the G3," said Jim Raftice, President U.S. and Canada, EVO Payments International, parent company to Sterling. "G3's ability to process secure EMV transactions in the field will greatly benefit our customers."
Through integration with CCBill, the international community of more than 45 million Weebly merchants, developers and designers can leverage the CCBill payment platform to optimize the checkout experience of their Weebly stores. In addition, CCBill merchants can integrate the Weebly platform with their existing CCBill payment services and use Weebly to build ecommerce websites.
ACQUISITIONSFiserv Inc. completed acquisition of Monitise Plc, further expanding its digital technology suite to enable financial institutions worldwide to meet customer expectations for digital banking. "We are confident that Monitise clients will be served well by Fiserv and its long-standing commitment to creating value for its clients," said Lee Cameron, CEO of Monitise.
APPOINTMENTSRetail technology provider Aptos Inc. appointed Steve Aulds to the role of Development Leader. Aulds will oversee global product development, including the company's POS, order management and merchandising technologies. His prior roles include senior level engineering and product management positions at Oracle/Acme Packet, Sterling Commerce and Yantra.
Fitech Payments LLC promoted Shawn Dillon from General Manager to President. Dillon's background in sales, combined with his knowledge of the banking industry, has helped him build the Fitech brand into a leading payments provider for financial institutions, the company noted. "I look forward to leading the hard working and talented Fitech team to reach our goals and best serve our banking partners," said Dillon.
PatientPay appointed Shahzad Qadri as Vice President of Operations. In this role, Qadri will lead PatientPay's operations, implementation of its healthcare patient payment platform with new clients, as well as creation of additional solutions for existing clients. Qadri started as a consultant for A4 Health Systems before taking on increasing responsibility with Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc.
Merchant e-Solutions veterans Trevor Rubel and Marcelo Bernal, were appointed to jointly serve as Interim Co-CEO. Bernal will also retain his former Chief Financial Officer position and Rubel will continue to serve as Executive Vice President Product. Both have over 20 years of experience in financial services, with Rubel focused on technology strategies, product management and business development; and Bernal concentrating efforts on cross-border and acquisitions financing.
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