ANNOUNCEMENTSNaples, Fla.-based processor ACI Worldwide was named to the American Banker's FinTech 100 list. The ranking of 24 – four places better than its 2012 FinTech 100 showing – follows ACI's naming to the Forbes list of America's Best Companies with revenues under $1 billion.
Digital gift card network operator CashStar Inc. added 5,000 square feet of office space to its Portland, Maine, headquarters. CashStar expanded so it could hire more engineers, product managers, and client services, marketing and sales personnel.
CradlePoint Inc., a mobile wireless networking solutions firm, joined the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) as a participating organization. CradlePoint will add its network security expertise to the PCI SSC community, said Kent Woodruff, the company's Chief Security Officer.
Smart chip testing organization FIME was accredited by Visa Inc. to deliver Visa Mobile Payment Application (VMPA) testing. VMPA is a near field communication (NFC) -based application that resides in the secure element of smartphones and transforms them into payment devices.
Forth Worth, Texas-based ISO First American Payment Systems LP issued a next day funding product called Next Day Funding. The product allows qualifying merchants to receive funds in half the time of traditional processing timelines, First American said.
Online data backup provider Gillware Data Services reported on the new CryptoLocker "ransomware" virus. The virus targets corporate networks via fake emails that trick employees into downloading the virus. The ransomware then encrypts important files and sends a message to the company that decryption of the files will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, Gillware said.
Digital payment platform provider International Payout Systems Inc. (i-payout) reported it has facilitated the processing of 1.5 million transactions over the past year. The company recently issued a new brand logo and website geared toward global growth in the multilevel marketing, direct selling association, union and the legal industry vertical markets.
Mobile payment and credentialing firm Jumio Inc. updated its proprietary credit card scanning and validation technology, Netswipe 2.0. The new release features what Jumio called near-instant processing speed and more comprehensive card data extraction, which results in reduced payment friction.
JUSP S.p.A., the Milan, Italy-based mobile POS provider, released a dynamic pricing model for its all-in-one chip-and-PIN mobile POS (mPOS) solution. JUSP waives commission fees and charges a different (dynamic) fee each month based on mPOS sales in any given month. Dynamic pricing is designed for larger merchants, JUSP said.
Merchant360 Inc., a value-added service network operator, released what it terms a "bi-directional" NFC solution that enables POS terminals to communicate with mobile devices for more than just payments. The solution allows for the direct transfer of receipts and issuance of coupons from terminals to smart devices, even when such devices are offline, according to Merchant360.
Rovio Entertainment Ltd., developers of the popular Angry Birds mobile game and franchise, launched the Angry Birds-branded general purpose reloadable prepaid card in Canada via Ontario-based program manager Paymobile. The card is designed to promote smart spending for Canadians and is available for purchase at www.paymobile.com.
POS Supply Solutions Inc. added the Pike iPad POS Stand to its hardware offerings. The POS hardware reseller said over 121 million Apple Inc. iPads have been sold since 2010, which has created a large market for POS kiosk stands and enclosures.
Hardware provider POS Portal unveiled POS Tablet, a newly created venture designed to supply small merchants with tablet-based POS systems. "This is an exciting time for small business," said Josh Johnstone, Marketing Director for POS Tablet. "Merchants can now get their hands on some pretty amazing POS software apps; all they need to make it work is hardware." Merchants can lease or buy equipment from POS Tablet .
At the BAI Retail Delivery 2013 held Nov. 5 to 7 in Denver, remote deposit capture technology firm RDM Corp. unveiled its new EC9000i check scanner series. The scanners feature simplified auto-feed and single-feed scanning and can scan up to 90 checks per minute, according to RDM.
San Francisco-based mobile payment pioneer Square Inc. signed a deal with office supply retailer Staples Inc. to sell Square Stand, the mobile firm's iPad-based POS terminal. Customers can purchase Square Stand online at Staples.com or in over 1,000 Staples stores across the United States.
Dublin, Ireland-based identity verification specialist Trustev closed on $3 million in seed funding from several U.S. venture capital firms. The funding will finance Trustev's expansion to the U.S. market, which includes the opening of an office in New York City.
Top 10 U.S. acquirer Vantiv Inc. agreed to sell 15 million shares of its Class A common stock in a secondary public offering. Citigroup is underwriting the offering.
RESEARCHThe report Payment Security and the SMB: The Fifth Annual Survey of Level 4 Merchant PCI Compliance Trends, jointly released by ControlScan and Merchant Warehouse, revealed that nearly three-quarters of Level 4 merchant respondents believe Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance improves business security. However, overall this group showed "a lack of corresponding activity for prevention and detection" and "are not prepared should a breach occur," said Joan Herbig, CEO of ControlScan.
According to an Infogroup Targeting Solutions study, Breaking Through Customer Engagement Barriers with Innovative Marketing and Technologies, 26 percent of retail executives surveyed have deployed mobile POS systems and over half plan to implement mobile checkout strategies by 2018. The report explores current trends in purchasing via social media channels, Wi-Fi access in retail environments and big data's inherent challenges from a retail perspective.
A Smart Insights Report, NFC applications beyond payment to boost adoption, explores multiple use cases for NFC in the retail, government, transport and health care spheres. "These applicative values including contextual information, identification, access control and smart objects management, among others, show the advantages NFC can bring in all aspects of our lives," said Jean-Christophe Lecosse, General Manager for CNRFID, co-publisher of the report.
Boston Consulting Group reported in The Trust Advantage: How to Win with Big Data that organizations effective at creating consumer trust regarding sensitive information can potentially increase the amount of accessible data from fivefold to tenfold in most nations. The report identifies a set of actions to help establish consumer trust. It also offers differentiated strategies for navigating trust in both developed and emerging global regions.
PARTNERSHIPSCarrier billing-based mobile payment provider Boku Inc. partnered with PassportParking in launching a multicity trial that permits drivers to purchase daily and hourly parking time at select lots using their mobile phone numbers. This triggers a charge on their carrier billing statements. "With carrier billing, our parkers can just grab their phone, text and get back to business," said Bob Youakim, Managing Partner for PassportParking.
Campus Nation Network LLC and LoopPay Inc. entered a strategic alliance to market Campus Loop, a new digital wallet product line targeting university campus communities in North America. "We share a vision to have smartphones act as a complete student wallet which will host transaction payment cards and student IDs, thus eliminating the need to carry traditional wallets," said Will Graylin, CEO of Loop .
Texas-based Forte Payments Systems expanded its relationship with the Franklin County Collector of Revenue, also in Texas, with the addition of its BillPayIt web-based, omni-channel payment platform. As a result, the county office, which manages collection and distribution of taxes for over 64 taxing entities, can now offer taxpayers additional payment options.
Through a dual partnership agreement, Payelp merchants will gain access to Inpay payment options in 54 countries concurrently with Inpay merchant access to the over 300 localized payment options available through Payelp, the companies stated.
TransFirst, in alliance with ShopKeep POS, plans to launch an integrated iPad POS system to merchants during the first quarter of 2014, after completion of a pilot program currently in progress. System features include a customer database, inventory management, employee timekeeping and payment processing in addition to tools for tracking discounts and split tenders.
ACQUISITIONSEVO Payments International LLC completed acquisition of controlling interest in Banco Popular's merchant acquiring business in Spain, which will operate under the name Popular Payments. Under a 10-year marketing alliance included as part of the agreement, the bank will exclusively refer its merchant customers to the joint venture. Banco Popular operates over 2,000 branches in Spain and approximately 250 branches outside the nation.
In a separate development, EVO entered an agreement to acquire a 66 percent interest in PKO Bank Polski's eService business in Poland. Pending regulatory approvals, the more than $113.5 million deal is expected to close by the end of 2013.
First Data Corp. acquired mobile marketing and consumer loyalty platform provider Perka for an undisclosed sum. As a First Data subsidiary, Perka will continue to develop new features for its cloud-hosted service for the small to midsize retail and restaurant business sectors. Current features include merchant-validated transactions, triggered offers, mobile messaging and customer relationship data management, among others.
San Francisco-based growth equity firm Mainsail Partners acquired Kennesaw, Georgia-based nCourt, an online payment solutions provider to over 2,000 local U.S. government partners. The capital investment will reportedly aid nCourt in further development of its platform and expansion initiatives.
APPOINTMENTSMozido LLC, a provider of mobile and cloud marketing, commerce and financial services, promoted members of its executive management team. Chief Technology Officer Mike Love was named President and COO; Minaz Sarangi was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer; and David Luther was named Executive Vice President, Global Business Development and Chief Marketing Officer. The promotions are designed to "enhance Mozido's strong senior leadership team and continue to build on the company’s position for rapid growth," the company stated.
In addition, Mozido noted that Adolfo Salume, a business leader in El Salvador, and Robert (Bob) E. Turner, co-founder of Turner Investments, joined its board of directors. Each brings a "unique and extensive experience in both the financial and technology industries that will continue to advance Mozido's progress," Mozido noted.
Total System Services Inc. promoted Andrew Mathieson to Group Executive of Relationship Management. Mathieson joined TSYS in 2009 and is responsible for providing TSYS clients with marketing, risk management and business consulting services. His team is also responsible for the development, implementation and ongoing management of turnkey credit card services. Before joining TSYS, Mathieson was the founder and President of Fintura Corp., which provided financial institutions with product management outsourcing solutions.
Square appointed David Viniar to its board of directors, where he will also serve as Audit Committee Chairman. Most recently, Viniar was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Goldman Sachs, and is currently a member of its board of directors. "David's extraordinary financial insight and expertise will add another valuable perspective to our world-class board," said Square CEO Jack Dorsey. Viniar joined Goldman Sachs in 1980 and became the company's CFO in 1999.
Cynergy Data LLC named Afshin Yazdian as its new CEO, stating he will be the perfect leader for the company, which is poised for accelerated growth. Yazdian joins Cynergy with over 14 years' experience in the merchant processing industry. He served most recently as President of Boca Raton, Fla.-based TouchSuite. Previously, Yazdian was Executive Vice President and General Counsel for iPayment Inc.
Cynergy's current CEO, Kim Fitzsimmons, will remain with Cynergy as a member of the board of directors and take on a strategic role with Comvest Partners, Cynergy's Private Equity investor.
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