In a Jan. 24, 2013, webinar hosted by the NFC Forum, the forum's director, Debbie Arnold, said near field communication- (NFC) based mobile contactless payments is on the verge of ubiquity now that it has met major milestones in specifications and certification. The job now of the NFC Forum is to develop new uses for the technology across devices and platforms. "No other organization is positioned to support market implementation efforts," she said in the webinar entitled NFC Goes Vertical: Introducing NFC Forum Special Interest Groups.

read more

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide enacted a rule change Jan. 27, 2013, allowing merchants to surcharge customers up to 4 percent on credit card transactions to cover the costs of interchange fees. The new surcharging rules – revealed by Visa Dec. 20, 2012, and by MasterCard Dec. 21, 2012 – were instituted as part of a $7.9 billion preliminary settlement agreement in the class action lawsuit brought on behalf of 7 million retailers against the card companies.

read more

The American PrePaid Phonecall Association voiced concern that a potential decision by the Federal Communications Commission would have an adverse impact on the end users of prepaid long-distance phone cards. The APPPA said the FCC is weighing whether to uphold a ruling made by its Wireline Competition Bureau to allow pay phone providers to bill prepaid card providers for calls made by prepaid card users from pay phones, even if the calls were not completed. The end result would be prepaid companies would have to offset the costs of the pay phone charges by raising the price of phone cards for consumers, according to the APPPA.

read more

Acquiring isn't so different than climbing a mountain: success requires inspiration, perspiration, imagination and achievement. Dee Karawadra, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Impact PaySystem LLC, made this point Jan. 2, 2013, when he planted his flag on the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. At 19,342 feet above sea level, it is the highest point in Africa. #h2Inspiration, goals, achievement Karawadra, an American of Hindi descent, was born in Arusha, Tanzania, the city closest to Kilimanjaro. He retains the diversity of his life in the medley of his languages: English, Hindi, Swahili and the Indian dialect of Gujarati, a language common to the large Indian population that settled in East Africa during British colonization.

read more

Quick response (QR) codes are popping up everywhere, from sports venues to coffee shops, to facilitate mobile payments and comparison shopping. But QR codes are also showing up on bill statements. The Council for Electronic Billing and Payment, operated by NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association, issued final guidelines for the use of QR codes in such consumer bill payment environments.

read more

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau delayed implementation of a final rule pertaining to remittance transfers it had issued in 2012 in accordance with the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which required that portions of Regulation E under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act be amended. The rule had been slated to take effect Feb. 7, 2013. The postponement is due to "limited amendments to our new international remittance transfer rule," stated David Silberman, CFPB Associate Director of Research, Markets and Regulation in a Jan. 22 post on the CFPB blog.

read more

Like other states before, Mississippi has taken up the task of changing its unclaimed property laws to increase state revenues. Part of the legislature's attempt to repeal the current law and implement changes is to remove the exempt status of "gift certificates" from the ranks of abandoned property that can be claimed by the state after a dormancy period has lapsed.

read more

Against the backdrop of persistent and pernicious cyber threats targeting the financial services industry, the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) released results of a simulated test of security protections and protocols employed by financial institutions (FIs) against attacks. The FS-ISAC said the 2012 Cyber Attack against Payment Processes (CAPP) exercise showed FIs react and adapt quickly to new threats, and that most firms employ multilayered security to counter threats, especially distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Four hundred and forty-six financial institutions participated in the CAPP test, in which simulated attacks included online bank account takeovers, DDoS attacks, altered automated clearing house files, fraudulent wire transfer requests and the loss/theft of personally identifiable customer information.

read more

Following are research highlights from recently published payments industry reports. #h2Rising DDoS attacks on banks According to A Study of Retail Banks & DDoS Attacks conducted by Ponemon Institute LLC, and sponsored by Corero Network Security, 64 percent of bank information technology professionals surveyed reported at least one distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in the past 12 months. Forty-eight percent of respondents experienced multiple attacks, while 50 percent cited insufficient personnel and expertise and lack of effective security technology as the most serious security concerns.

read more

On Jan. 14, 2013, a former Hewlett-Packard employee pled guilty in a Georgia courtroom to charges that she illegally accessed the accounts of Medicaid providers and changed bank routing numbers to have funds deposited to prepaid cards. In DeKalb County Superior Court, Romona Ferrell-Davis was sentenced to 20 years, with three of those years to be served in prison, and to pay over $17,000 in restitution, according to the Georgia attorney general's office.

read more

In December 2010, payments industry entrepreneur Bipin Shah created Universal Business Payment Solutions Acquisition Corp. "to seek opportunities to acquire one or more 'platform' companies in the payment processing industry," according to the preliminary prospectus for the $72 million initial public offering filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Shah currently serves as UBPS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In December 2012, UBPS completed acquisition of the Texas-based online card processor JetPay Corp. and the Pennsylvania payroll services company A D Computer Corp. In July 2012, UBPS also purchased the Ohio-based ISO Electronic Merchant Systems. In a 2012 investor presentation, UBPS reported it had paid $179 million for the three companies.

read more

A Jan. 17, 2013, CNNMoney report said JPMorgan Chase & Co. and PNC Bank were launching ATMs that dispense cash in any dollar amount. But a PNC spokeswoman said the news is not new, as a substantial portion of its ATMs already had that capability.

read more

On Jan. 16, 2013, the office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said it reached a settlement with five prepaid card providers over alleged unclear disclosures and misleading statements made to consumers. The AG's office said the "first-of-its-kind settlements" with AccountNow Inc., First Data Corp., Green Dot Corp., NetSpend Corp. and Unirush LLC require the companies to institute reforms to their business practices and donate a total of $115,000 to the Central Florida Chapter of Junior Achievement (JACF).

read more

Zaxby's Franchising Inc. disclosed it has experienced a data breach involving more than 100 of its locations. The Athens, Ga.-based chain of restaurants believes malware was used in the attack. In a press release posted on its website, the company stated that "certain licensed locations have identified suspicious files on their systems that may have resulted in unauthorized access to credit and debit card information or have been identified by credit card processing companies as common points of purchase for some fraudulent activity."

read more

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to mobile phone billing technology firm IDI Billing Solutions for its prepaid mobile payment solution, AdvancePay. IDI characterized AdvancePay as a hybrid service that melds the most desirable aspects of prepaid and postpaid mobile communications platforms.

read more

One year after releasing a benchmark study on Level 4 merchant Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) compliance from the acquirers' perspective, ControlScan and the Merchant Acquirers' Committee issued an update: Risk and Revenue: Second Annual Survey of the Acquirer's Perspective on Level 4 Merchant PCI Compliance. The report explores major shifts in the process as PCI programs gain traction. In all, 123 banks, processors and ISOs with Level 4 merchant portfolios were surveyed for this year's report. One obvious shift identified was the move toward revenue generation as opposed to risk mitigation as a primary goal of acquirer PCI compliance programs. The report also revealed that acquirers with organizationally supported PCI programs continue to achieve higher compliance rates and experience fewer breaches.

read more

American Express Co. reported its 2012 fourth quarter net income was negatively impacted by restructuring charges, reward redemption enhancements and the cost of consumer reimbursement following the company's October 2012 consent agreement with several U.S. regulatory agencies. The company additionally said it is eliminating 5,400 jobs, mostly in its Global Business Travel division, and it is reducing overall 2013 staffing levels 4 to 6 percent below the current 63,500 positions. #h2Fourth quarter results AmEx reported a fourth quarter adjusted net income of $1.2 billion which matched the adjusted fourth quarter net income of the same period the previous year

read more

Dwolla Inc., the Iowa-based online and mobile payment company famous for only charging a $0.25 transaction fee for purchases of more than $10, is allowing designated entities to make transfers that involve large sums of money, the company said in a blog published Jan. 8, 2013. "Dwolla has always believed that it costs the same amount of money to move $11 as it does $51 million," the company said.

read more

With the 2013 tax season gaining momentum, results from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's pilot program to evaluate the take-up rate of prepaid cards as a delivery mechanism for federal tax refunds suggest that programs with low fees will experience higher take-up rates. An Urban Institute appraisal of the pilot said that the prime target for tax refund prepaid cards – the unbanked – will more likely enroll in and use such cards when monthly fees are kept to a minimum or not charged at all.

read more

Employees at Certified Payment Processing concluded their annual Holiday Food Drive. The company teamed with local charity Metrocrest Social Services, and more than 900 pounds of food were donated, along with $1,047 in cash.

read more

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., a long-time critic of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (known as Dodd-Frank Act), reintroduced a bill to repeal that legislation on Jan. 3, 2013 – the same day she was sworn in for her fourth term in Congress. The bill, H.R. 46, was referred for consideration to eight House Committees with jurisdiction over provisions in the legislation: the committees on Financial Services, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, the Judiciary, the Budget, Oversight and Government Reform, Ways and Means, and Small Business.

read more

Addictions to drugs, alcohol and gambling can only be fueled when addicts have the money to fund their addictions. Next Step Network LLC unveiled a general propose reloadable (GPR) prepaid card that allows caretakers to manage the purchasing behavior of recovering addicts. The MasterCard Worldwide-branded Next Step Card restricts users from feeding addictions at such locations as bars, liquor stores, gambling establishments and massage parlors. Additionally, the card cannot be used to withdraw cash at ATMs or to get cash back at the POS.

read more

NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association recently awarded nearly 400 individuals the Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) credential. According to NACHA, this establishes one's credibility, professional competency and expertise within the payments industry. The new AAPs join the more than 4,000 ACH professionals who have been awarded the credential since the inception of the AAP Program in 1993.

read more

A judge in the U.S. Central District of California Court refused to grant a Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide request for a protective order barring Chaya Coleen Hendrick, President and Chief Executive Officer of SmartMetric Inc., from access to discovery materials the card companies' deem confidential.

read more

New Zealand's Commerce Commission issued new guidelines for companies operating in the country's prepaid phone card market. The guidelines, which address the disclosure practices of phone card providers, were promulgated after the commission received complaints from phone card users that they were not receiving the number of call minutes advertised. The commission said providers that do not follow the guidelines will be in violation of New Zealand's Fair Trading Act.

read more