NEWSCincinnati-based merchant acquirer Vantiv LLC celebrated its first anniversary as a publicly traded company by reporting it had surpassed the goals it set for itself one year ago. "When we went public last year, we set out to achieve aggressive financial objectives, and due to the hard work of our employees, we exceeded those goals last year," said Vantiv Chief Executive Officer Charles Drucker.
Vantiv said it is now the top ranked processor of PIN-debit card transactions in the United States and the number three ranked overall U.S. acquirer, based on transaction volume. The GSQ 2012 Acquirers Report said that Vantiv was on pace to process $400 billion in transactions in 2012. The report added that Vantiv's growth was attributed to its acquisitions, with large e-commerce ISO Litle & Co. among them.
In its fourth quarter 2012 and full year financial statement, Vantiv reported $188.4 million in net revenue, a 12 percent increase over the same period in 2011. On a full-year basis, net revenue increased 24 percent to $699.8 million, primarily due to a 24 percent increase in transactions, the acquirer said. Vantiv's initial public offering took place March 22, 2012.
The Electronic Funds Transfer Association was given the ATM Industry Association's Outstanding Service Award 2012 for its work on legislation to end the ATM dual fee-notification requirement. The award was presented at ATMIA's 2013 U.S. Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
In a press release about the award, the EFTA said the Electronic Funds Transfer Act had required ATM operators to notify a consumer of a possible fee via both the ATM screen and a physical placard or sticker on the ATM terminal.
"Over the past several years, unscrupulous individuals began defacing or removing the physical fee notice stickers and getting plaintiff attorneys to file claims against ATM operators claiming EFT Act violations," the EFTA noted. "More than 500 lawsuits were filed across the country demanding cash settlements or threatening class action lawsuits."
ATMIA and the EFTA belong to an inter-industry coalition that worked to persuade Congress that the EFT Act's dual fee-notification requirement had become a "burdensome, duplicative and outdated regulation" and that "consumers would not be harmed by the elimination of the need for a physical sticker since ATMs display the fee on the ATM screen prior to completing a transaction," the EFTA stated.
Congress unanimously passed legislation ending the requirement to have a physical fee notice posted on ATMs, and President Obama signed the bill into law in December 2012.
The Electronic Transactions Association reported that 50 new exhibitors will take part in the 2013 ETA Annual Meeting & Expo to be held in New Orleans from April 30 to May 2, 2013.
"The 2013 ETA Annual Meeting and Expo is the place to do business in the electronic transactions industry, so it's no surprise that more first-time exhibitors than ever before are securing their spots on the exhibit floor," stated Jason Oxman, ETA Chief Executive Officer.
"The 2013 Expo is a can't-miss opportunity to show off the latest in electronic payments technology and get cutting-edge electronic payment solutions in front of more than 3,000 professionals from across the industry."
The record number of new sign ups for the expo coincides with the ETA's having increased floor space for the expo to 150,000 square feet. The association said the 2013 expo will be the largest show in the ETA's 23-year history.
ANNOUNCEMENTS New York-based merchant cash advance (MCA) provider AmeriMerchant LLC secured over 16,000 square feet on Park Avenue South in New York City.
The company said the additional office space will facilitate its growth due to demand in the marketplace for small businesses seeking working capital.
Check guarantee firm CrossCheck Inc. celebrated 30 years as a nationwide provider of check processing services for retailers. The Petaluma-based company, founded in 1983, was among the first companies to provide merchants with electronic check conversion for deposit.
Las Vegas-based ISO Electronic Commerce International opened an office in Scottsdale, Ariz. The ISO said the new office is designed to provide better merchant support and plan for anticipated growth in mobile POS and Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) chip and PIN payments.
Processor Elan Financial Services launched eTranBlock, a transaction authorization blocking tool that allows financial institutions (FIs) to block ATM or POS transactions in real-time. FIs can set their own rules and thresholds with the tool to minimize fraud, EFS said.
Merchant acquirer and U.S. Bancorp subsidiary Elavon Inc. opened a mobile innovation center at its Atlanta headquarters to focus on developing innovative mobile payment solutions. Elavon said the center is expected to add at least 50 jobs in the next 12 to 18 months.
The Innovation Project awarded "Best in Show" cash grants to three startup companies during the Innovator Expo held in March. Chicago-based money transfer startup Pangea Payments Inc. won the grand prize of $10,000. New York City-based social banking startup Waspit LLC took second at $7,500. Cambridge, Mass.-based mobile payment platform Leaf finished third, receiving $5,000.
Tablet POS provider Leaf opened its platform to more than 20 new payment processors, including Heartland Payment Systems Inc., Merchant Warehouse and First Data Corp. Leaf allows merchants that use its tablet POS service to choose from any of the companies to process payments.
Miami Beach, Fla.-based ISO Merchant Data Systems Inc. expanded into the health-care sector. MDS is using online marketer and search engine optimizer Karma Snack LLC to help hospitals and medical equipment providers develop websites and accept online payments. MDS specializes in MCA funding via its Fast Cash program.
Online data security provider nProtect Inc. said it will soon release an application that targets short message service (SMS) phishing scams. The firm's anti-smishing technology is designed to protect data on smart phones from phishing scams attempted via SMS text messages.
School Family Media Inc.'s PTO Today, a media outlet and resource for parent-teacher groups, chose the mobile payment solution of PayAnywhere LLC for over 83,000 kindergarten through eighth grade Parent-Teacher Organizations and Associations in the United States.
With PayAnywhere, PTO Today members will be able to accept electronic payments via smart phones and tablet devices for sponsored school events, including fundraisers and auctions, and for the collection of group dues.
Automated clearing house payment provider PaySimple redesigned its Run-Your-Business App, a mobile payment and business management application for Apple Inc. devices.
The PaySimple Mobile solution combines the app with a mobile reader to offer mobile payment acceptance, as well as customer records management, recurring payments, and real-time updates of settled payments and cash flow.
New York-based Planet Payment Inc. now allows e-commerce merchants in the United States and Canada to accept China UnionPay-branded bankcards. Since the majority of Chinese consumers carry UnionPay cards, merchants need to accept UnionPay cards to reach that consumer group, according to Planet Payment.
RESEARCHAuriemma Consulting Group research shows that improving the perception of security is critical to increasing consumer adoption of mobile payment solutions.
In the Mobile Payments Report, ACG said that on a scale of 1 to 10, security is rated 4.7 when consumers only enter a username and password to activate mobile apps or payment processes for the first time. Security is rated higher when consumers are required to enter a username, password and either an authentication code from a card reader (5.6 rating) or an email verification code (5.2 rating).
Mercator Advisory Group issued a report that analyzes the positives and negatives of self-checkout terminals. The report, Self-Checkout Retail Terminals: Benefits, Detriments, and Opportunities, illustrates that the customer checkout process is a high priority for merchants.
"Merchants invest significant time and money to optimize the checkout process and ensure that it is expedient and secure and offers sufficient customer service to leave the customer with a positive impression," Mercator said. "Increasingly, retailers are finding this can be accomplished with self-checkout terminals."
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection services firm Prolexic Technologies issued the first of several white papers about DDoS attacks. The white paper, prepared by the Prolexic Security Engineering and Response Team, reports on Domain Name System (DNS) Distributed Reflection Denial of Service (DrDoS) attacks.
Such attacks exploit security weaknesses in the DNS Internet protocol, which allows for web addresses to be in the form of names rather than numbers. The white paper is available for free at www.prolexic.com/drdos.
PARTNERSHIPSBluefin Payment Systems aligned with Continental Utility Solutions Inc. to integrate its PayConex payment gateway with CUSI's utility billing software. As a result, CUSI's customer base of over 1,000 clients in the utility and local government sectors will gain access to a seamless solution for online bill presentment, customer self-service and payment processing.
Global data compliance solutions provider CSR partnered with Omega Processing Solutions to offer its PCI Toolkit and CSR Breach Reporting Toolkit services to Omega merchants.
"We're honored to meet their compliance needs and look forward to helping them, and consequently their merchants, successfully and affordably achieve higher rates of compliance," said Darrel Anderson, CSR Executive Vice President, Sales and Client Solutions.
Mobile payment app developer Flint Mobile Inc. selected Fidano LLC, a subsidiary of merchant services provider Nxgen International, to fuel growth in the mobile payments sector. Flint's Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard- (DSS) compliant card scanning app will incorporate Fidano's advanced reporting functions.
Mobile marketing developer Mobivity Holdings Corp. entered an agreement with CheckAlt to develop and deploy mobile remote deposit capture and electronic check acceptance applications that employ Mobivity's Short Message Service (SMS), social media and mobile loyalty capabilities to drive SMS payments, and payments based on loyalty and promotional offers.
The National Merchants Association formed a strategic dealer partnership with Future POS Inc. "National Merchants Association is one of the most recognized and respected merchant processing brands in the industry and we are proud to be their POS software partner," said Steve Pritchard, Dealer Manager at Future POS.
Payelp Global partnered with ISO Capstone Bankcard Inc. to expand Capstone's global e-commerce and alternative payment offerings to include Payelp's local and regional business licensing, tax and currency management, and website localization services. Capstone will in turn provide reduced processing costs and enhanced customer service to Payelp merchants.
ACQUISITIONSDallas-based Calpian Commerce, formerly Calpian Inc., completed its purchase of Atlanta-based Pipeline Data for an undisclosed sum. Pipeline's proprietary payment software and third-party payment platforms will be integrated with Calpian's existing products and services targeting small and midsize merchants, the companies reported.
Banking and payment technology provider FIS completed the acquisition of mobile technology company mFoundry for an unspecified amount. "Delivering industry-best mobile solutions that underpin our clients' ability to reach and serve their customers is a key focus area for FIS," said Gary Norcross, FIS President and Chief Operating Officer.
Net Element International Inc. entered an agreement to acquire Unified Payments LLC, the payment processor recognized by Inc. Magazine in 2012 as America's fastest-growing private company. Under the agreement, Unified will become a subsidiary of the newly formed holding company TOT Inc.
PayPal Inc. expanded its mobile capabilities with the acquisition of Duff Research, a mobile application developer that has deployed over 40 apps to date. PayPal stated in a press release, "This talented team of engineers will be joining the PayPal technology team to help us build creative and simple ways for our customers to use the PayPal digital wallet."
APPOINTMENTSVeriFone recently appointed three new company presidents: Jennifer Miles is now the President of VeriFone Americas; Bulent Ozayaz is the President of VeriFone Southern Europe, Russia, Middle East and Northern Africa; and Johan Tjärnberg is the President of VeriFone Europe and Southern Africa. Miles will oversee VeriFone operations in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ozayaz will cover Southern Europe, Russia, Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa. Tj„rnberg will lead company operations in Europe and South Africa.
VeriFone also named Eliezer Yanay Chief Operations Officer. He will oversee localization of VeriFone's global product portfolio by, among other things, ensuring local-level customizations and certifications of the company's product lines.
Lance Owen joined Integrated Merchant Services LLC as National Sales Director. He is charged with helping small business sales in the southern region of the United States.
James 'Woody' Woodall was appointed Chief Financial Officer at banking and payments technology provider Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS). Woodall joined FIS in 2008 and has served as the company's Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller. Woodall now oversees all aspects of FIS' financial operations, as well as its capital allocation strategy.
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