The Electronic Transactions Association, in conjunction with consulting and research firm The Strawhecker Group, released the U.S. Economic Indicators Q3 2009 Report on Aug. 19, 2009. The document provides an overview and detailed examination of the financial services industry's recent performance and areas of opportunity. Mike Strawhecker, Director of Marketing & Strategic Research for TSG and the report's primary author, said it is the most complete compilation and analysis of U.S. economic data available to payment professionals.

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Responding to the alleged sale of imitation products online, fashion giant Gucci America made an unusual move last week: It filed a lawsuit against the processor, acquiring bank and merchant services provider of a retailer it claims broke the law. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, Manhattan Courthouse, follows Gucci's successful civil case against online retailer TheBagAddition.com.

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In August 2009, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey charged Albert Gonzalez, 28, with wire fraud and conspiracy for his role in a series of data breaches from 2006 to 2008 in which a reported 130 million credit card numbers were stolen. The United States Department of Justice said the case represents the largest alleged credit and debit card data breaches ever in the United States. If convicted of both charges, Gonzales faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

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Minneapolis-based Radisson Hotels and Resorts notified its guests in a letter posted on its Web site Aug. 19, 2009, that the computer systems of certain Radisson hotels in the United States and Canada were accessed without authorization between November 2008 and May 2009, a violation of both criminal and civil laws. Radisson is a division of Carlson Hotels Worldwide, which has more than 400 locations in 68 countries. Fredrik Korallus, Radisson's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and the letter's author, said the hotel chain has been coordinating with federal law enforcement authorities to assist in the breach investigation.

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Travelex Currency Services Inc. has established a new position, Vice President of Currency Select Sales for North America to generate new business for its dynamic currency conversion (DCC) product in the United States and Canada. It has appointed its own Paul Ackermann, formerly Head of Sales for North America in the company's outsourcing division to fill the position. "We've designed Currency Select as a secure and flexible platform that our clients can count on to provide a marketable margin for each transaction, in most cases comparative to the amount the cardholder is charged by their issuer," Ackermann said. "So, DCC is effectively a transparent transfer of revenue from the issuer to the acquirer."

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CO-OP Financial Services, the nation's largest credit union service organization reported that, along with 130 of its participating credit unions, it raised nearly $1 million for the Children's Miracle Network, a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit that provides financial assistance to more than 170 children's hospitals. From January through June 2009 the credit unions raised $517,000; CO-OP' Miracle Match program donated an additional $445,000.

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Payment processor Electronic Payment Exchange recently launched a data security system for merchants that combines end-to-end encryption and tokenization, two of the industry's most exalted solutions for securing card data. The company said it is the payments industry's first processor to develop a product that joins the two. "There maybe are a few entities that have tokenization as a real product today, and there are a bunch of entities talking about doing end-to-end encryption for the merchant, but we haven't heard of anybody combining the two, much less delivering the product to the market," said Matt Ornce, Chief Operating Officer for EPX.

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On Aug. 5, 2009, Lev L. Dassin, Acting Attorney for the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and Joseph M. Demarest Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI, filed an indictment charging 34-year-old Canadian Dennis Rennick with bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business. The charges stem from Rennick's role in processing more than $350 million for Internet gambling companies.

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In 2007, complaints and recriminations about VeriFone terminals integrated into New York City and Philadelphia taxis forced a two-day cabbie strike. But times have changed. VeriFone worked to eliminate bugs in the system and acceptance of paying for cab fare with plastic has increased among cabbies and consumers. And VeriFone reported in August 2009 that over 1,000 payment terminals have been successfully implemented in Boston-area cabs.

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Satisfaction was in the air as the Midwest Acquirers Association's seventh annual conference came to a close July 24, 2009, at what the Chicago Tribune rated the "coolest" Chicago suburban hotel: the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center in Lombard, Ill. The show offered a mix of classic tradeshow offerings, refinements to previously tested ideas and new options – all coordinated to help industry professionals adapt and thrive in today's uncertain economic environment. "Some new people on the advisory board and on the board really came through for us," said Mark Dunn, MWAA Treasurer and founder of Field Guide Enterprises LLC. "Donna Embry's connections to the banking industry and the Federal Reserve really beefed up our meetings, and the idea of the Innovation Hall came from a group of people on the board. It's a little bit different change in format, but I think it brought in a lot of people."

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