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IndustryUpdate

ANNOUNCEMENTS ed by a late season rally. Sarah Quinlan, Senior Vice
President of Market Insights at Mastercard, said, "The
strong U.S. economy was a contributing factor, but we
ATMIA ebook lauds people behind the ATM also have to recognize that retailers who tried new strat-
The ATM Industry Association published Meet the People egies to engage holiday shoppers were the beneficiaries
Behind the ATM You Use Every Day, to commemorate the of this sales increase."
50th anniversary of the ATM as well as ATMIA's 20th
anniversary. The ebook is a compilation of dynamic RESEARCH
stories told by a variety of people and companies active
in both ATMIA and the ATM industry which were EMV troubleshooting for ATMs
published by the association throughout the past year,
ATMIA stated. About 80 percent of ATMs were expected to be chip-
enabled entering 2018, according to the U.S. Payments
CFPB prepaid rule on hold Forum. Its just released EMV Troubleshooting Guide for
In December 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection ATM Owners and Operators offers timely advice on trans-
Bureau extended the timeline to amend certain aspects action issues frequently encountered. The paper pres-
of the CFPB prepaid rule governing prepaid accounts. ents best practices to ensure data integrity and monitor
"As part of that process, the Bureau expects, based on its transaction activity, as well as troubleshooting tips for
review of the comments received, to further extend the managing fallback, declined transactions and chip trans-
effective day of the 2016 rule to allow additional time for action reversals.
implementation of the final rule," the CFPB wrote. The Fed notes rise in credit card usage
bureau proposed the rule changes in June 2017; the com-
ment period ended in August. Based on Federal Reserve Payments Study: 2017 Annual
Supplement data, the number of credit card payments
Infineon upgrades, joins NFC board increased 10.2 percent in 2016 at 37.3 billion payments

The NFC Forum Board of Directors approved a mem- totaling $3.27 trillion, a trend attributed to continued
bership upgrade for Infineon Technologies AG from strength in remote payments for online purchases and
Principal to Sponsor. Sponsor level is the top tier of NFC bill payment. The supplemental data also found 19.1
Forum membership; it entitles an organization to a seat percent of in-person general-purpose card payments
on the NFC Forum Board of Directors, the consortium's were EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) chip-enabled
governing body, and to run for officer positions. A in 2016 compared to 2.0 percent in 2015.
Principal member of the NFC Forum since 2005, Infineon Mobile pay readiness: US vs. UK
will now be able to take a greater leadership role in the
organization, NFC technology development and deliver- An Auriemma Consulting Group parallel study of U.S.
ables, the forum noted. and U.K. cardholder mobile payment adoption, satisfac-
tion and comfort levels found 90 percent of users in both
Retail sales up over 2017 holidays geographies were satisfied with their mobile payment

Mastercard SpendingPulse reported that holiday sales apps. U.K. users had a slight advantage in terms of con-
increased 4.9 percent in 2017, setting a new record for tactless payment usage and U.S. users ranked higher for
dollars spent. This is the largest year-over-year increase mobile wallet engagement.
since 2011 and a further indication of consumer confi-
dence, Mastercard noted, adding that online shopping "UK consumers were introduced to contactless payments
also saw gains of 18.1 percent compared to 2016, boost- in 2007," said Jaclyn Holmes, Director of Auriemma
Payment Insights. "Their increased comfort with this
technology, in the decade since its inception, makes
payment behavior at the point of sale less of a barrier for
mobile pay adoption." She noted that a direct correlation
We are dedicated to the exists between comfort with online mobile purchases
and mobile wallet usage.
education and success of the
ISO and MLS. Net Element forms blockchain unit
Miami-based Net Element Inc. launched a blockchain-
focused business unit, and partnered with Bunker
Capital to develop and deploy blockchain technology-
based solutions that connect merchants with consumers.

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