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NewsBriefs

Editor's Note: Following are excerpts from news stories recently posted Analysts predict record post-holiday
under Breaking Industry News on our home page. For links to these and fraud, chargebacks
other full news stories, please visit www.greensheet.com/breaking-
news.php?flag=previous_breaking_news. Record 2018 holiday spending may lead to high levels of
returns, chargebacks and consumer fraud, retail analysts
warned. The Chargeback Triangle, a May 2018 independent
study by Javelin Strategy & Research and sponsored by
Verifi, linked U.S. consumer disputes and chargebacks to
$31 billion in losses, with merchants sharing almost $19
billion of the overall costs. Authors identified merchants,
issuers and customers as three points of a chargeback
triangle in which each should bear equal responsibility for
prompt, accurate communication.
Software-based mobile payments
join EMV product family
Malware attacks PayPal, exploits Android EMVCo launched the Security Evaluation Process for
software-based mobile payments (SBMP) on Dec. 18, 2018,
ESET researchers disclosed Dec. 11, 2018, that a Trojan adding software-based payments to its growing list of
attack vector is exploiting a weakness in the Android EMV-certified (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) products.
operating system. The Internet security provider said the The global technical body, jointly owned by American
malware targets Android users who access the PayPal app Express Co., Discover Financial Services, JCB, Mastercard,
and warned that it can override two-factor authentication. UnionPay and Visa, said it revised the EMV standard to
The malicious app is designed to steal money from PayPal support a variety of emerging mobile payments schemes.
accounts and phish for credit card credentials by placing "There are an increasing number of solutions being
overlays on Google Play, WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, and deployed that use software applications to store and
Gmail. perform payment transactions on mobile devices," EMVCo
Accurate info, BOPIS a must members wrote. "As SBMP applications must operate in the
for many this holiday season more vulnerable consumer device environment, solutions
often [utilize] a layered security approach incorporating
Episerver recently issued A-Z Seasonal Rules: Global various device and software components to help with
Findings, its 2018 holiday commerce report, which includes combating the potential threats."
26 ways merchants can "stuff" their sites with holiday Fed study IDs card payments
cheer to draw more shoppers and entice them to buy.
Episerver found several features to be especially important growth driven by CNP transactions
this year. Top of mind for many shoppers is accurate The number and value of card payments continue to
information. "In search of the perfect gift, holiday shoppers grow while check and ATM transactions decline. Card-
are more willing to visit new websites," researchers wrote. not-present (CNP) transactions appear to be leading the
"Since there is no context in which to trust the company, overall card payments charge, while chip-authenticated
any element of a web page, from top to bottom, that seems cards dominate card-present transactions, according to a
"off" will send them packing." Buy online and pick up in- new report from the Federal Reserve Board. The sum of
store (BOPIS) was also a draw for many. all credit, debit and prepaid card payments grew by 11.3
Cash is king, even as ATM growth slackens billion between 2016 and 2017 to total 123.5 billion, the Fed
said. The total value of card payments in 2017 was $6.5
Despite predictions to the contrary, cash remains a staple trillion, up from $6.0 trillion in 2016.
if the American consumer's payment choices. That's an
underlying message gleaned from the 2018 Health of Mastercard report: holiday sales grew 5.1 percent
Cash Study, prepared by Cardtronics. Separately, a new The retail sector appears poised to report its best year-end
report by the strategic research and consulting firm RBR holiday sales season in years. According to the Mastercard
predicts a decline in worldwide ATM installations over SpendingPulse, which tracks spending trends across
the next several years as Chinese consumers' growing payment types (cash, cards and checks), retail sales this
adoption of digital payments contracts demands there for holiday season rose by 5.1 percent over 2017 to total more
cash. According to RBR's Global ATM Market and Forecasts than $850 billion, the largest increase in six years. Online
to 2023, the worldwide installed base of ATMs peaked at shopping sales registered the biggest gains, rising 19.1
3.28 million in 2017 and will drop to 3.23 million by the percent over 2017 online holiday sales.
end of 2023.

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