NEWSThe Smart Card Alliance touted its new smart card payment certification program as the first of its kind. The Smart Card Alliance Certified Smart Card Industry Professional/Payments (CSCIP/P) credentialed course and exam will be offered in May at the NFC Solutions Summit 2012 in San Francisco.
Randy Vanderhoof, Smart Card Alliance Executive Director, said the CSCIP/P credential will "fill a noticeable gap in education and information" around smart card technologies, such as Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) and near field communication (NFC).
The CSCIP/P adds to the alliance's Certified Smart Card Industry Professional certification with information concerning EMV migration, mobile and NFC contactless payments, secure remote transactions and smart card use in transit payment systems.
The course will cover smart card fundamentals, security, application and data management, mobile and NFC, payments and financial transactions, and technology and implementation. The program is part of the Smart Card Alliance's Leadership, Education and Advancement Program. For more information go to www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/activities-leap.
AisleBuyer-sponsored analysis reveals that retailers are replacing traditional cash registers with mobile devices. The report entitled Tablets as Point of Sale said 22 percent of smart phone users have been to stores where retail associates use mobile devices instead of cash registers. Additionally, 57 percent of survey respondents feel retailers who use tablets and other mobile devices are more innovative than retailers who still use cash registers.
"The cash register has a new rival," said Andrew Paradise, Chief Executive Officer at Boston-based in-store mobile commerce provider AisleBuyer. "We're seeing increased interest from retailers in supplementing and potentially replacing traditional registers with a tablet-based mobile POS or store associate solution."
The report is the third and final installment in AisleBuyer's Mobile Shopping Survey series based on information provided by 1,027 respondents. Online survey provider Zoomerang conducted the survey in February 2012.
PayPal Inc., the payment subsidiary of eBay Inc., said it is dropping the word "website" from its U.S. product names to better reflect the movement of the company from an exclusively online entity to one offering multichannel payments for retailers.
Ed Eger, PayPal Americas Senior Vice President and General Manager, said, "In the same way that Apple did when it dropped 'computer' from its name in 2007 to represent its move beyond the Mac to a comprehensive consumer electronics company, this name change represents our move away from our online heritage to the future of PayPal."
The change in focus was reflected by PayPal rolling out PayPal Payments, a service that offers solutions for online, offline and multichannel businesses. Services include online, POS and mobile payments, as well as invoicing and access to PayPal debit card accounts.
Additionally, PayPal initiated a mobile payment pilot at Massachusetts-based convenience store chain Cumberland Farms. The pilot involves PayPal's SmartPay mobile application, which allows motorists to pay for gasoline using smart phones.
The Task Force for the Payments System Review, an investigative body appointed by Canada's Minister of Finance in June 2010, issued its final report that advised the Canadian government how to improve its payments system. The report, entitled Moving Canada into the Digital Age, recommended the government:
The task force also called for legislation to form a new oversight board to regulate the industry and enforce rules, and encouraged the Canadian payments industry to form a self-governing organization to develop and implement strategies and standards.
All consumer and financial institution lawsuits brought against Heartland Payment Systems Inc. for the massive data breach disclosed in January 2009 have now been resolved. In March 2012, Federal District Judge Lee Rosenthal of the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, approved a consumer settlement brought in the wake of the compromise of 130 million debit and credit card numbers. Now the judge has dismissed all claims brought by financial institutions against Heartland.
Rosenthal threw out a breach of contract suit filed by a group of financial institutions against Heartland and its acquirers Heartland Bank and KeyBank N.A. The ruling followed the court's earlier dismissal of a class-action lawsuit brought by nine banks against Heartland. The banks subsequently re-filed an amended claim, which was dismissed on March 14, 2012.
Judge Rosenthal said the banks' claim that Keybank had a duty to monitor Heartland adequately on their behalf failed as a matter of law. The judge held that there was no proof the acquirers were part of a joint venture with the banks and had agreed to share losses with the banks.
ANNOUNCEMENTSPayment gateway operator Braintree Payment Solutions LLC released a plug-in for the Magento Inc. e-Commerce Solutions platform. Braintree's plug-in offers credit card vault storage that reportedly reduces merchants' Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) compliance burden by 90 percent. Magento, a business unit of eBay, services more than 110,000 merchants online.
Mobile banking and payment solutions company Clairmail Inc. released Clairmail Plus. Clairmail said the new service is designed to help mid-tier regional banks, community banks and credit unions deploy the same mobile banking and payments solution used by over one-third of the top 50 financial institutions in North America
Clearent LLC heralded its inaugural appearance at No. 73 on The Nilson Report's 2011 list of Top U.S. Merchant Acquirers. The report also highlights Clearent's position as one of the fastest growing credit card processing companies in the industry, Clearent noted. The report ranks acquirers according to their annual credit and debit card processing volume.
Electronic funds transfer processor Elan Financial Services introduced a turnkey dispute processing solution called eAdjust Plus. The service, designed to manage disputes from first complaint through resolution, features a dedicated call center, dispute investigation and reporting, and adjustment thresholds such as for dollar amounts.
Global eTelecom Inc. (GETI) is now offering back-end processing services to check and automated clearing house (ACH) transaction processors. GETI, a processor of electronic checks, ACH transactions and stored-value cards, said its processing engine can handle all standard entry class codes and remote deposit capture items regulated under the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21).
Through its Campus Solutions division, Heartland launched three mobile applications that add mobile phone functionality to its Campus OneCard System. The MyPay app enables students to make on-campus purchases. The MyAccount app allows students to manage accounts. And the OneCard Mobile Admin app provides school administrators with the ability to manage the OneCard System from mobile devices.
With the addition of a check acceptance service,
Hauppauge, N.Y., based ISO Merchant Express updated and expanded its website to serve as an online business-to-business resource for merchants and service providers to learn about credit card processing and merchant accounts.
U.K.-based online identity verification service miiCard released a short video on the predicted impact of digital identity on financial services in 2012. At the 2012 FinovateEurope held in March, company representatives filmed experts in financial services discussing the role digital identity will play in 2012. The video can be accessed at www.miicard.com/blog/201202/impact-digital-identity-financial-services-2012-finovateeurope.
RedFin Network Inc. launched its cloud-based PocketPOS platform. The platform allows merchants to process transactions using smart phones or tablet devices. PocketPOS runs on the operating systems of Google Inc., Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd., connects mobile devices to printers and card readers, and provides lower transaction rates for merchants, RedFin stated.
Roam Data Inc. said it released the payment industry's first device-agnostic card reader that combines NFC contactless technology with mag stripe swipe capability. The device, called NFC Swipe, transforms smart phones, tablets and PCs into mobile POS devices. The company plans a commercial release of NFC Swipe by the middle of 2012.
Check and ACH payment automation company transmodus Corp. added recurring credit card and electronic check payment options to its linked2pay payment platform. The new options enable linked2pay users to set payment terms and present them to clients via email, mobile and online payment forms. The addition of recurring payments to linked2pay is targeted at businesses that accept recurring payments or donations.
TriSource Solutions LLC converted five new ISO clients to its merchant accounting and settlement system. The company boasts that each conversion took less than 60 days to complete once it was notified of an ISO's request to move to TriSource from another processor.
TriSource said the additional business will boost its processing volume to more than 60 million transactions for over 20,000 merchants.
PARTNERSHIPSAmerican Express Co. and data communications and interoperability solutions provider Transaction Network Services Ltd. released the American Express Payment Gateway, a single-source payment solution for e-commerce and other card-not-present transactions. The solution includes tokenization and fraud management.
Elavon Inc. teamed with NewNet Communications Technologies LLC to enter the Brazilian payments market. Elavon is using NewNet's TraxcomSecure Total Control 1000 Dial Transaction Gateway platform as part of its payment processing network in Brazil. Elavon said the new network can handle several million transactions per year.
SunGard K-12 Education, a division of SunGard Data Systems Inc., integrated its eSchoolPLUS student management system with FrontStream Payments Inc.'s fasttransact payment platform. The deal allows SunGard to expand its service capabilities to include a front-end payment interface.
In other news, FrontStream aligned with next generation media outlet Infomous Inc. to create a self-service online subscription portal for Infomous clients. The technology allows clients to select account levels and set up one-time or recurring payments.
TSYS extended its long-term processing agreement with Atlanta-based ISO Veracity Payment Solutions Inc. Veracity reportedly serves more than 12,000 businesses and facilitates the processing of approximately $2 billion in transactions annually. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
TSYS also signed a long-term agreement with First Hawaiian Bank to renew their processing relationship. First Hawaiian Bank is Hawaii's largest and oldest bank with nearly $16 billion in total assets, offering customers service, solutions and security for nearly 153 years, according to TSYS.
Los Angeles-based gateway and processor USAePay stated it effectively integrated its payment gateway solutions with Hiopos, an ICG Software Group product.
Hiopos, a POS solution, is available in the United States and internationally. ICG, headquartered in Spain, develops solutions for a variety of industries including hospitality, retail and distribution.
Online payment processor WePay chose Layered Technologies Inc. to support its payment platform. Layered Tech offers cloud-based hosting and computing services. The WePay solution includes free tools that allow people to sell items and tickets, send invoices and accept donations online.
ACQUISITIONSMasterCard Worldwide signed a strategic agreement to invest in U.S. mobile banking provider mFoundry Inc. More than 600 banks and credit unions use mFoundry mobile banking solutions. MasterCard's PayPass tap-and-pay system is now part of mFoundry's mobile financial services platform and can be accessed by mFoundry's clients.
YapStone Inc., a processor of recurring property management, nonprofit and bill payments, acquired the assets of ParishPay LLC, a processor of electronic donations for faith-based organizations in the United States.
YapStone said nonprofits using ParishPay experience a rise of between 30 and 70 percent in average donation size. Smart Tuition, a tuition management service provider for private and parochial schools and formerly ParishPay's parent company, is not affected by the transaction.
APPOINTMENTSDavid Marcus, formerly Vice President of Mobile at PayPal, became President of PayPal, succeeding Scott Thompson, who left PayPal in January 2012 to become CEO at Yahoo! Inc. Marcus joined PayPal's executive management team in August 2011 when PayPal acquired mobile payment company Zong. Marcus was Zong's founder and CEO.
Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) promoted Frank Martire from President to Chairman of the Board of the processor; Martire also retains his CEO title. Meanwhile, Gary Norcross added President to his title of Chief Operating Officer at FIS.
AmEx named Neal Sample to the position of Senior Vice President of Technologies for its Serve digital commerce platform. He will be tasked with broadening and strengthening AmEx's technology development and operations. Sample was formerly the Chief Technology Officer of eBay's open development and commerce platform X.commerce.
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