ANNOUNCEMENTSPIN debit authentication gateway provider Acculynk received a patent from the European Patent Office for the company's PIN-based online customer authentication process over the Internet. The patent protects the mechanisms and processes behind Acculynk's PaySecure service as the firm expands into European e-commerce markets.
Apple Inc. agreed with the Federal Trade Commission to refund consumers for allowing children to make iTunes purchases without their parents' consent. The FTC complaint alleged that Apple did not inform accountholders that entering iTunes passwords opens a 15-minute window in which children can pay for an unlimited amount of purchases from Apple's App Store. Apple will pay a minimum of $32.5 million to settle the FTC action.
Remote deposit capture specialist CheckAlt said it ended 2013 by surpassing $4 billion in check payments processed last year. The results indicate to CheckAlt that it is continuing to gain momentum in the payments and financial services industries by improving the way banks, credit unions and merchants accept and process paper and virtual checks.
The Electronic Transactions Association said Wells Fargo Merchant Services' Debra Rossi, Vantiv LLC's Donald Boeding and Bank of America Merchant Services LLC's Brian Mooney will lead an executive roundtable at Transact 14: Powered by ETA. The tradeshow will be held April 8 to 10, 2014, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
EMVCo, the global Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) chip card standards body, reported it will expand its specification to include transaction tokenization. Using tokenization methods frees merchants and digital wallet operators from the necessity to store sensitive card account numbers, EMVCo said.
County Kerry, Ireland-based dynamic currency conversion (DCC) provider Fexco Merchant Services completed ISAE 3402 and SSAE 16 certifications. By being certified on the internal risk governance and control standards, Fexco further demonstrates its commitment to providing sound and transparent financial services, the company noted.
Payment processor Fiserv Inc. incorporated gamification principles to its CheckFree RXP electronic bill payment service to make paying bills more intuitive and engaging. Fiserv stated the addition of a progress bar, tutorial elements and a gradual introduction of more advanced capabilities will boost adoption and use of electronic bill payments among online banking users.
Bitcoin mobile wallet specialist KryptoKit unveiled the KryptoDirectory, which compiles a list of online retailers and vendors that accept bitcoin as an alternative form of payment.
"As Bitcoin becomes more universally known and accepted as currency, we saw a clear need to have a single, clean and easy to use resource for finding businesses that welcome cryptocurrency," said Anthony Di Iorio, KryptoKit co-founder.
With recreational marijuana use now legal in Colorado and Washington State, medicinal marijuana payment provider MediSwipe Inc. is gearing up to expand its operations in both states. The company reported it will be receiving approximately $1,100,000 from a Chicago-based private equity firm over the next six months.
On Jan. 17, 2014, the National Retail Federation asked a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., to uphold a ruling made by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon in July 2013 that the Federal Reserve set its cap on debit card swipe fees far higher than intended by Congress when it promulgated the debit card interchange fee reform imposed by the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. The NRF believes the cap needs to be recalculated so that the fees merchants pay to accept debit cards are reduced.
Mobile payment firm Paydiant Inc. was granted a new patent from the U.S Patent and Trademark Office that enables consumers to use smartphones to withdraw cash from ATMs. Paydiant said the patent covers the way an ATM code or token is obtained by a mobile device and used to associate an end-user and their payment accounts to a transaction at an ATM.
Prepaid voucher firm paysafecard group redesigned its mobile app to include an "Augmented Reality" feature, called 360° paysafecard. The feature enables smart-device users to locate paysafecard-accepting sales outlets closest to their current GPS locations. The app also informs paysafecard users of news, promotions and competitions.
Big data provider Swipely Inc. unveiled its "Winter '14" cloud-based software release designed to give its hospitality sector customers insights into menus, staff and customers. "We can tell which menu item brings customers back, which server does the best job selling wine and which dishes are the favorites of your most valuable customers," said Angus Davis, Swipely founder and Chief Executive Officer.
Hosted e-commerce software provider 3dcart released version 6.1 of its shopping cart solution. The new version offers integrations to Amazon Inc. advertisements, as well as eBay Inc. and Intuit Inc. QuickBooks connections directly inside its online store manager. 3dcart 6.1 also features 20 new web templates and three new payment options.
Total System Services Inc. said it plans to release the TSYS Authorization Controls, which will allow cardholders to turn accounts on or off from various mobile devices. The product is designed to enable consumers to temporarily disable accounts to prevent unauthorized account use and set single-use and recurrent payments authorizations.
VeriFone Inc. said it will deploy its newest near field communication-enabled multimedia payment devices to over 3,100 U.S. retail locations of GNC Holdings Inc. GNC operates health, wellness and sports nutrition stores nationwide.
The Women's Network in Electronic Transactions (W.net) added the Washington, D.C., area to its roster of places where it holds networking and educational events for professional women in the payments industry. W.net's Local Interest Network Circles events also take place in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, Northern California, Phoenix and Southwest Texas.
RESEARCHAn ATM Marketplace report, EMV, PCI and the ATM Industry: What Operators and Suppliers Need to Know Today, delves into the ATM security threats posed by organized crime syndicates, particularly against ATMs within the United States. It also provides an overview of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard-mandated ATM security practices, guidelines and deadlines.
The Online Trust Alliance's 2014 Data Protection & Breach Readiness Guide provides best practices for prevention of online data breaches and other system exploits. The OTA suggested that businesses adopt a data stewardship strategy that safeguards data based on two premises: consumer data generally contains personally identifiable information, and at some point most businesses will experience data loss.
The Mobile Technology Handbook 2014 published by Vertical Systems Reseller offers insights from three leading experts in the mobile field. They discussed what solutions providers can do to ensure mobile products attract end-users in a variety of vertical markets, as well as how to enhance the shopping experience for consumers.
Based on research reported in WorldPay's Your Global Guide to Alternative Payments (Second Edition), electronic wallets are expected to rival cards as the most popular payment method. They are projected to capture 41 percent of total global payments by 2017. Report highlights include popular alternative payment schemes, card-based e-wallet options and regional statistics.
Mercator Advisory Group's report on the U.S. and European mobile POS acquiring solutions market, Mobile Point-of-Sale (m-POS) Acquiring Solutions, provides a view of emerging technology developments in the mobile POS arena, recommended pricing strategies, how financial institutions can participate and potential challenges facing providers in both regions.
PARTNERSHIPS2Checkout and the Brink's Co. teamed to launch Brink's Checkout, a PCI-compliant e-commerce payments service that allows merchants to accept online credit, debit and PayPal Inc. payments from customers in 196 countries, using 26 different currencies and 15 languages. Under the agreement, 2Checkout will provide the payment platform, and Brink's will market the service.
Global eTelecom Inc. entered a partnership agreement with e-Nabler Corp. to integrate GETI's check and automated clearing house processing, and gift and loyalty card solutions with e-Nablers' eMobilePOS, which can function as a stand-alone or fully integrated solution in restaurant and retail establishments, the companies stated.
Heartland Payment Systems Inc. entered a strategic partnership with AJB Software Design Inc., whereby Heartland's Portico Gateway will support merchants through the AJB Flexible Integrated Payments and Retail Transaction Switch payment software via Heartland's Dynamic Interchange Management Solution.
In other news, Heartland partnered with EasyWay Ordering to integrate its online ordering platform with Heartland's multichannel payment processing solutions. This will eliminate fees and restrictions associated with third-party websites, the companies stated.
iMobile3 and Ingenico co-developed an integrated mobile POS system that combines iMobile3's patent-pending PassMarket Beacon multiwallet platform with Ingenico's Telium POS devices. The objective is to deliver mobile payments at the POS using Bluetooth low-energy beacon devices. Ingenico North America President Thierry Denis said the integration offers "novel ways for retailers to engage with customers and improve their shopping experience before they even walk into the store."
Mercury Payment Systems LLC enlisted Infinite Peripherals Inc. to integrate IPC's encrypted card readers, including the Linea Pro and Infinea Tab peripherals, with Mercury's payment processing platform. According to IPC, both products are designed to enhance Apple iOS devices with encrypted reader, bar code scanner, radio frequency identification and Bluetooth chip capabilities.
Vantiv and Microsoft Corp. entered a partnership agreement to jointly develop mobile POS and cloud-connected payment solutions that will integrate with Microsoft Dynamics' business offerings. The goal is to create an omni-channel commerce experience for merchants large and small, the companies said.
ACQUISITIONSLos Angeles-based payment gateway and processor Allied Wallet acquired CloudAsia, a payment processor based in Hong Kong. The acquisition will provide Allied Wallet with greater access to consumers and local banks throughout Asia, and expand its payment offerings to include 164 currencies, Allied said.
Demandware Inc. acquired Mainstreet Commerce, incorporating order management into its commerce platform. This will reportedly simplify order orchestration between online and in-store channels. "Fulfill anywhere capabilities are critical for managing the entire order lifecycle and delivering an omni-channel consumer experience," said Tom Ebling, Chief Executive Officer of Demandware.
Global Payments Inc. entered an agreement to acquire Payment Processing Inc., also known as PayPros, for $420 million in cash. Pending regulatory approvals, PayPros' integrated products and services, currently available through a network of more than 1,000 technology-based enterprise software partners, will add about 58,000 small to midsize merchants to Global's existing network.
APPOINTMENTSMeritus Payment Solutions selected Joe Daly as its new Senior Vice President of Operations. In this role, Daly will take a key leadership role with the company's expanding operations, commitment to security and world-class customer service. Daly previously held management roles at Comdata Network Inc., where he served in Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President roles. Before joining Comdata, Daly was an executive at Ceridian Corp. His credits also include work as an executive consultant for Hewlett Packard and DST Healthcare Solutions.
Long-time industry leader Joe Kaplan, CEO of Total Merchant Services, was appointed to the 2014 Presidential Advisory Council of the Electronic Transactions Association. As such, he will have a nonvoting seat on the ETA Board. Kaplan was appointed to the council by ETA Board Chairman and 2014 President Kim Fitzsimmons.
Additionally, Paul Rosenfeld, TMS Vice President and General Manager was appointed to the ETA Mobile Payments Committee for 2014. The committee's mission is to facilitate the global flow of e-commerce, while ensuring that the lives of consumers are enriched and improved in the process. Rosenfeld will fulfill a one-year term.
AnywhereCommerce hired Jody Latimer, formerly of Roam Data Inc., to lead a strategic business development effort designed to reinforce the business objectives of the merchant services reseller market with a portfolio of end-to-end mobile point of service solutions. "Jody Latimer is a respected industry leader who understands the pain points and unique opportunities inherent in this market," said Mitchell Cobrin, founder and CEO of AnywhereCommerce.
Joe O'Konek is the new CEO at the Merchant Risk Council. O'Konek has spent the majority of his career in the wireless and mobility sector, working globally from Helsinki, Finland to Taipei, Taiwan. Most recently, he was the CEO of CSL Ltd., a subsidiary of Telstra, in Hong Kong. Previously, he held senior management positions at 3SNetworks, Nokia Siemens Networks and Singlestep Technologies, among other companies. 
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