As the recent data breaches of Capital One and Sephora make clear, global enterprises make compelling targets for today's increasingly stealthy and nimble cybercriminals. Both data security incidents were discovered within the last two weeks, according to recent reports. News media outlets have been playfully attacking the companies' taglines, reframing Capital One's "what's in your wallet?" (a hacker!) and Sephora's "let's beauty together," (You first!). Colin Bastable, CEO at Lucy Security, pointed out that data breach victims will need additional protections beyond the usual 12-month credit monitoring that compromised companies provide. "The Dark Web probably knows more about most people in North America than their governments will publicly admit to," he said. "Employers need to protect themselves by ensuring that their employees are security aware."

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The Western States Acquirers Association revealed July 25, 2019, that Molly Bloom will deliver a keynote address at its upcoming annual convention, to be held Sept. 18 to 19, 2019, at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort, Rancho Mirage, Calif. The not-for-profit trade association, established in 2003, educates and serves merchant acquirers in retail and ecommerce. “Molly Bloom is an inspirational keynote speaker, entrepreneur and bestselling author,’” event organizers stated. “She is best known for her memoir, Molly’s Game, which was adapted into an award-winning film of the same name by Aaron Sorkin.”

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The Federal Reserve has been a staunch advocate of faster payments, having convened an inter-industry task force in 2015 to come up with a road map for a faster payments system with real-time settlement capabilities. The Fed indicated it doesn't necessarily want to be in charge of running a new faster payments system, however. Now, there's a push in Washington for the Fed to take charge, with some positioning the move as beneficial to consumers and small businesses. A group of lawmakers introduced legislation in both the House and the Senate this week that would instruct the Fed to build and operate a real-time payment system. The Payment Modernization Act of 2019 was authored by Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, D-Ill.

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Los Angeles, Calif.-based Signature Card Services, a technology-focused ISO, disclosed July 22, 2019, that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire iDeposit, a gateway company headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., that specializes in mobile POS and integrated commerce solutions. In addition to its API library and integrated POS expertise, iDeposit offers traditional countertop terminals and integrated POS solutions. The company's proprietary mobile app with card reader peripheral supports EMV, Apple Pay and Android Pay, SCS representatives stated.

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More than 700 payments industry attendees convened July 16 to 18, 2019, at Chicago’s Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel for the 17th anniversary of the Midwest Acquirers Association Conference. A festive opening night party filled with games and cotton candy reflected a buoyant industry that continually adapts to changing trends in consumer behavior, regulatory initiatives and emerging technologies. Keynote speakers and panelists examined integrated payments from multiple perspectives, from the technical aspects of software to strategic viewpoints and business models to the financial rewards of working with independent software vendors.

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The Federal Trade Commission slapped social media giant Facebook with a huge fine as part of a long-running investigation into the company’s privacy practices. According to reports in several media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, the FTC voted to approve a $5 billion settlement of claims arising from the so-called Cambridge Analytica scandal. The settlement, which would be the largest ever involving the FTC, still must be approved by the Department of Justice, the reports noted. The FTC declined to respond to The Green Sheet’s request for confirmation. But Facebook made clear in an earnings report earlier this year that it expected the FTC’s investigation would result in a $3 billion to $5 billion hit.

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The Midwest Acquirers Association (MWAA) will host its 17th annual conference July 17-18, 2019, at Chicago’s Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel. This year’s conference will highlight payments industry leaders, technology, products and services in exhibits, workshops and presentations. The not-for-profit trade association remains committed to educating payments professionals by keeping them up to date on emerging trends in the ever-changing payments ecosystem, event organizers stated.

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Trustwave, a managed security service provider, disclosed July 11, 2019, that it has completed a six-month remediation process with Uniguest, following the discovery of a software flaw in one of the company's older kiosks. Originally identified by Adrian Pruteanu, senior security researcher at Trustwave SpiderLabs, during routine penetration testing, the vulnerability had the potential to expose guest information and log-in credentials to hackers, if left untreated. In a July 11 blog post titled, "Hardcoded Credentials in Uniguest Kiosk Software lead to API Compromise," Pruteanu observed that Uniguest deploys self-attended solutions in hotel lobbies across North America. The machines are centrally managed and run a locked-down version of Windows that restricts users to basic tasks like web browsing and printing boarding passes.

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Aite Group LLC reported it will formally recognize payments industry innovators this year. Ceremonies include the August 2019 digital wallet innovation awards and December 2019 Impact Innovation Awards for Cash Management and Payments. Representatives from the global research and advisory firm said the events will honor market leaders impacting the future of commerce and banking. Boston-based Aite derived its name from the Japanese word "Aite" (eye-tay), meaning a complementary relationship between counterparts that facilitates balance and success.

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The Retail Industry Leaders Association, a trade group representing some of the nation’s largest retailers, including Walmart, wants the Federal Trade Commission to take a closer look at how big tech platforms, like Amazon, Facebook and Google, influence consumer purchasing behavior, and by extension, competition in retailing. In a detailed letter to the FTC, the RILA also pushed for government action to compel greater competition in credit and debit card acquiring. Think in terms of interchange pricing and honor-all-cards requirements.

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Installment lending is enjoying a renaissance, fueled in part by consumer pushback over the high cost of credit card purchasing. Visa and Mastercard are angling to support these types of loans, which are variously described as point-of-purchase financing and point-of-sale installment loans. So, too, are Square and a handful of other financial technology firms. Affirm, a fintech founded by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, was reported to have processed more than $2 billion in POS installment loans for customers of 128 stores and ecommerce sites in 2018. In February 2019, Affirm partnered with Walmart to support POS installment loans on purchases ranging from $150 to $2,000 at nearly 4,000 Walmart Supercenters nationwide.

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