ANNOUNCEMENTSBlueSnap Inc., an online payments technology company, reported its All-in-one Payment Platform was named the Best E-Commerce Platform/Gateway at the 2018 Card Not Present (CNP) Expo. The company said it now holds eight CNP Awards, including multiple wins for Best Alternative Payment Solution and Best Subscription/Recurring Billing Solution, but this is the first time BlueSnap has been recognized for its innovative ecommerce platform and gateway.
The Emerging Payments Association wrote to the Open Banking Implementation Entity calling for it to amend terms of the Competition and Markets Authority's framework so that emerging payments organizations can realize the potential of open banking. The EPA's open letter shared members' concerns about the barriers that could inhibit fintechs from engaging with Open Banking. The EPA described some of the nine banks covered by the framework as striving to meet the letter, rather than the spirit, of open banking.
Flywire, a provider of global payment and receivables solutions, introduced a new international invoicing service designed to dramatically streamline the billing process for companies serving customers outside of their home country. The new solution, available globally, and free of charge, targets a variety of verticals including technology, manufacturing, travel, media, publishing, import/export, professional services, education and healthcare, Flywire said.
Mastercard unveiled a new service to automatically integrate fuel and maintenance data from a connected car's dashboard into the payment process. The service is designed to streamline the process, providing fleet managers greater transparency and control. U.S. Bank will be the first to pilot the new features. With the new service, "fleet vehicles that roll into a gas station will automatically register vehicle data including location, odometer and fuel gauge readings when they arrive at the pump," Mastercard noted.
The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) published a minor revision to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). PCI DSS version 3.2.1 replaces version 3.2 to account for effective dates and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)/early Transport Layer Security (TLS) migration deadlines that have passed. No new requirements are added in PCI DSS v3.2.1. PCI DSS v3.2 will remain valid through Dec. 31, 2018.
SecureKey Technologies Inc., the developer of Verified.Me – a blockchain-based digital identity network built upon Hyperledger Fabric – stated it will explore interoperability between Verified.Me and Hyperledger Indy-based identity projects. SecureKey is joining the Decentralized Identity Foundation to advance standards-based initiatives for decentralized digital identity ecosystems.
Worldpay signed on as an official sponsor of the Retail Realm Partner & User Conference slated for Aug. 20 to 22, 2018 in Las Vegas. Worldpay will sponsor the event's Payment Technology Panels, Exhibitor Social, and the Retail Management Hero Advisory Forum. Worldpay has long been a sponsor of the annual retail technology conference, now in its eighth year and designed to give attendees an insider's look at all the providers, platforms, developments and integrations around POS and enterprise resource planning solutions in the retail industry.
RESEARCHBarclaycard research revealed that 72 percent of retailers haven't introduced any new payment technology to their websites during the last two years despite consumer demand for a quick and convenient checkout process. "While 86 percent of retailers say they are looking to increase online transactions over the next 12 months, the study suggests that many aren't providing the best possible ecommerce experience for their customers," Barclaycard stated, adding that 15 percent of shoppers have chosen to abort an online purchase because they couldn't pay using methods such as "one-click" ordering.
The BRP Consulting 2018 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Survey revealed 73 percent of customers want cross-channel order tracking. "While most consumers expect the ability to shop seamlessly across channels, only 7 percent of retailers currently provide a complete unified commerce experience by allowing a customer to 'start the sale anywhere, finish the sale anywhere,' with another 50 percent planning to implement it in three years," said Perry Kramer, Senior Vice President and Practice Lead at BRP.
The Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization released its annual benchmark study, conducted by Mercator Advisory Group Inc. and titled Canadian Open-Loop Prepaid Market: 2017. The study revealed CAD $3.8 billion total was loaded onto open-loop prepaid cards and noted significant increases to average loads per card in all categories of corporate-, consumer- and government-funded cards. "The open-loop market has achieved consecutive growth over the past three years, with a 27 percent increase between 2015 and 2017," researchers found.
April retail sales increased 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted over March and 2.8 percent year-over-year as consumers continued to spend, the National Retail Federation said. The numbers exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants. The NRF also noted that the three-month moving average was up 4.1 percent over the same period a year ago, which is in line with NRF's forecast that 2018 retail sales will grow between 3.8 percent and 4.4 percent over 2017.
ThreatMetrix research revealed a 30 percent year-over-year increase in volume of European cyberattacks in the first quarter of 2018. The ThreatMetrix Q1 2018 Cybercrime Report: Europe Deep-Dive analyzes evolving attack trends and how they differ regionally. "European digital businesses were hit with 80 million fraud attempts, as they experienced more pronounced spikes of peak attack periods throughout Q1 2018 compared to previous years," ThreatMetrix stated.
PARTNERSHIPSCloud delivery platform provider Akamai Technologies Inc. and financial group MUFG revealed plans to offer a blockchain-based online payment network that will enable next-generation payment transaction scale and responsiveness. "This hyper-scale payment network, powered by an innovative and newly developed blockchain architecture, is designed to be capable of processing more than one million transactions per second at latencies of less than two seconds per transaction," the partners stated.
iPayment, Inc., a provider of payment and processing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, partnered with Aliant Payment Systems, Inc., a provider of digital payment acceptance and cryptocurrency processing. iPayment can now facilitate cryptocurrency acceptance for merchants and their channel partners. "Our goal at Aliant is to be one of the first adopters and facilitators of cryptocurrency in the traditional payments space," said Eric Brown, founder and CEO of Aliant. "Partnering with an established, quality organization like iPayment helps us achieve that goal."
Payment technology provider Paya Inc. and CardFlight Inc., a mobile POS and software-as-a-service payment technology company, reported that Paya now offers CardFlight's SwipeSimple payment acceptance solutions to its merchants. The SwipeSimple product suite provides BLE or audio jack EMV Quick Chip, NFC contactless-enabled card readers; mobile and web apps for payment acceptance; merchant portal; and virtual terminal.
Additionally, security solutions provider Bluefin Payment Systems LLC partnered with Paya, which will enable Paya to provide Bluefin's PCI-validated point-to-point encryption (P2PE) security solution to partners and customers using Paya's Payments Platform. Through its partnership with Bluefin, Paya strengthens its enhanced security suite while reducing PCI scope for clients without any changes to the payment transaction flow, Paya stated.
Sage Group Plc., a cloud-based business management solutions provider, partnered with PayPal Inc. to enable faster and simpler payment options. The integration of PayPal as a payment option on Sage 50cloud will enable users of Sage 50cloud to offer their customers a secure online payment method. The integration of Sage 50cloud with PayPal will also give businesses more choice by providing an integrated fast payment method to improve cash flow, the partners noted.
ACQUISITIONSAdobe entered a definitive agreement to acquire Magento Commerce for $1.68 billion, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. The addition of the Magento Commerce Cloud platform will enable seamless integration with the Adobe Experience Cloud to deliver a single platform for B2B and B2C customers globally, Adobe stated, adding that the Magento platform brings together digital commerce, order management and predictive intelligence for unified commerce across a wide array of industries.
Prineta LLC, one of the nation's fastest growing independent ATM operators, recently acquired a portfolio of ATMs in New York City, significantly expanding operations in the largest city in the country. "This is our fourth acquisition in the last year," said Tanner Morton, co-founder and Managing Partner at Prineta. "With a larger scale, we are better positioned to meet the needs of our clients in New York." Locations include a tourist hotel, convenience stores, a truck stop, bar restaurants, and condo buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Bronx.
APPOINTMENTSChargebacks911 hired ecommerce and affiliate marketing expert Melissa Fitzsimmons. She will focus on expanding business development efforts and supporting the company's new ecommerce solutions for merchants, franchises and affiliate advertising networks. Chargebacks 911 stated Fitzsimmons is recognized as a rising star in the ecommerce industry, has lectured at both Affiliate Summit West and East and is a published author, most recently featured in FeedFront Magazine. Previously she served as Advertising Account Director for Clickbooth.com.
Financial technology company Sezzle added Karen Hartje as its Chief Financial Officer. She will oversee the company's finance and accounting operations. Hartje comes to Sezzle as a veteran of the online payments and financial technology industries and has a proven track record of successful growth stimulation and strategic executive leadership, Sezzle stated, adding that she was the early finance leader at Bluestem Brands Inc. and was responsible for leading the company from relaunch to $2 billion in sales, which resulted in a successful acquisition.
North American Bancard Holdings LLC appointed Matt Hoskins as Executive Vice President of Sales and Distribution. Hoskins will report directly to Kirk Haggarty, CFO of NAB. "Matt brings top-tier enterprise sales, business development and leadership to further bolster the NAB executive team," Haggarty said. Hoskins founded Payment Processing Technologies LLC in 2004 and as CEO was responsible for the growth of the business to more than 50,000 acquired merchant locations. His expertise spans sales, technology, product and operations, NAB noted.
Tricia Phillips signed on as Senior Vice President of Product & Strategy at Kount Inc. Phillips brings extensive industry experience, having worked in executive roles in product strategy and management, fraud operations and client services for ecommerce retailers, payment management and fraud prevention service providers, and a major credit card brand, Kount stated. She most recently was a research director at Gartner Inc. 
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