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NewsBriefs

Editor's Note: Following are excerpts from news stories recently posted NFC Forum boosts interoperability,
under Breaking Industry News on our home page. For links to these and quality, differentiation, metrics
other full news stories, please visit www.greensheet.com/breaking-
news.php?flag=previous_breaking_news. Following its mission to advance the use of near field
communication (NFC) by developing specifications,
Bank of Ireland, WorldFirst deliver ensuring interoperability and educating the market, the
world payments to U.S. SMBs NFC Forum just added an NFC tag and reader certification
to its global Certification Program. This addition means
As more small and midsize U.S. businesses enter global that tag/inlay, NFC reader and handset manufacturers
markets, the search for cost-effective international pay- will now be able to test and verify the performance
ments is a pivotal concern. Through an alliance between and interoperability of all key components in the NFC
international money transfer and exchange services pro- ecosystem. This program is designed for companies
vider WorldFirst USA Inc. and Bank of Ireland Global who put a premium on customer experience and want to
Markets, a new service has been designed to allow U.S. ensure that their NFC-enabled devices function the way
businesses to make fast, secure international payments they want when they want, the NFC Forum stated.
without the transfer fees that are typically assessed.
Apple's Face ID faces uphill challenge
Trustonic receives FIPS 140-2 certification
Apple iOS user reaction to the new Face ID authentication
The National Institute of Standards and Technology system built into the iPhone X has been mixed. Face
certified Trustonic's cryptographic library Sept. 11, 2017, ID, unveiled Sept. 12, 2017, requires users to look at the
verifying that Trustonic hardware and software modules screen to unlock the phone, access secure apps and enable
comply with Federal Information Processing Standard Apple Pay. Despite Apple's claims that "all saved facial
(FIPS) 140-2. The certification further validates the information is protected by the secure enclave" and that
rigorous security and best practices used in Trustonic's "processing is done on-device and not in the cloud to
app development platform, according to company protect user privacy," research indicates many are skeptical
representatives. of using facial recognition for identification purposes.

Google takes mobile payments to India SEC uncovers massive breach
Google launched a new digital payments app in India. Hackers exploited a software vulnerability to access the
On Sept. 18, 2017, the search engine giant released an app Security and Exchange Commission's corporate filing
called Tez for downloading to Android and Apple mobile system in 2016, according to a Sept. 20, 2017, SEC disclosure.
devices. "Tez" is also a Hindi word meaning fast. The Tez The agency discovered the intrusion during a security
app is a free download that supports person-to-person as assessment authorized by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton,
well as POS transactions. It leverages the Unified Payments the commission stated. Security analysts questioned why
Interface, a government-backed platform supporting the SEC failed to patch a known vulnerability in its Edgar
ecommerce and interbank transfers that links most of the filing system.
nation's banks. Google said it also plans to offer credit and
debit card acceptance via Tez, although it's not clear when. Payments leader Biff Matthews retires

1-click checkout now out of Amazon's control Payments industry veteran Biff Matthews, Chief Executive
Officer at CardWare International Inc., retired on Oct. 1,
Amazon Inc.'s 1-click purchase patent expired Sept. 11, 2017, following a remarkable 45-year career in payments.
2017, following a successful, 20-year run. Awarded in Matthews founded CardWare in 1975 and grew it into
1997, when Amazon was selling books online, it enabled a leading hardware, software, supply logistics and call
consumers to purchase items with a single click, using center services provider. The company officially closed
stored billing, shipping and payment credentials. Retail Sept. 22, 2017.
analysts say the 1-click concept revolutionized online
retail and boosted ecommerce spending. Casey Gannon, "Retirement is welcome, while closing the company is
Vice President of Marketing at Shopgate Inc., expects to bittersweet," Matthews said. "My assumption is about the
see 1-click checkouts broadly implemented across the first of the year, my wife, Terre, will find me another job to
retail ecosystem in the wake of the patent's expiration. get me out of 'her' house." Matthews, a founding member of
the Electronic Transactions Association, received an ETA
leadership award in April 2010 and lifetime achievement
award from the Midwest Acquirers Association in July
2013.