ANNOUNCEMENTSCachet Financial Solutions Inc. said its patent application for a mobile remote deposit capture (RDC) process is moving forward. The United States Patent and Trademark Office cleared Cachet's patent application from internal review, which clears the way for the patent to be granted. Cachet said its mobile RDC platform allows Apple device users to make bank check deposits remotely.
Cubic Transportation Systems, a division of Cubic Corp., was awarded a contract for over $8 million to upgrade the payment system of Washington, D.C.'s mass transit network, managed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Cubic is tasked with converting existing paper magnetic fare card vending machines to POS and reload devices for the WMATA's SmarTrip contactless mass transit smart card. The project is part of the transit agency's goal of eliminating paper ticketing from its system by Spring 2016.
Personalized card-linked offer provider edo opened an office in Chicago's River North neighborhood, considered Chicago's tech hub. "Chicago's market provides us with diverse talent across technology, advertising and financial disciplines," said Ed Braswell, edo founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Our new office lets us continue the momentum we've built as the market leader in card-linked marketing."
Lavu Inc.'s Lavu Hospitality hotel management POS system was featured on the reality television show Hotel Hell, hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. On the show, Lavu Hospitality was used as a solution to help failing hotel owners get organized with intuitive integrated business management tools, Lavu said, adding that its POS service has appeared on six episodes of Ramsay's other reality TV series, Kitchen Nightmares.
ATM Industry Association CEO Mike Lee authored Codebreaking our Future: Deciphering the future's hidden order, aimed at providing business leaders with a way to identify future trends. "Business leaders today cannot afford to be inattentive to the future," Lee said, "It's a myth that the future is lost behind a mist of uncertainty, that it's out of bounds for our thinking. It can be understood, anticipated and managed. … Our ATM industry is subject to the same forces of change as the rest of the world and no product, technology, organization or individual is unaffected by these currents of time."
For the sixth consecutive year, Vantiv-owned ISO Mercury Payment Systems took home the Gold Vendor of Excellence award as an Outstanding Provider of Electronic Payments/Financing at the Retail Solutions Provider Association's RetailNOW 2014 convention and expo held recently in Orlando, Fla.
The National Retail Federation heralded the July 2014 formation of the Small Business Retail Council to organize, recruit and engage Main Street merchants and independent community retailers in grassroots advocacy activities.
NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said the SBRC will work to "amplify the voice of small retailers in advancing the retail community's agenda."
Austria-based prepaid voucher provider paysafecard.com Wertkarten GmbH became the main sponsor of the German football club 1. FC Kaiserslautern, known as the "Red Devils." The players' jerseys now bear the paysafecard logo. The paysafecard brand also appears around the club's home field, Fritz-Water Stadium in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Independent software vendor (ISV) Payscout Inc. reported that it is now ISO-registered with Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide. Payscout said this registration reduces fraud risks and potential fees for e-commerce businesses that want to sell goods and services internationally.
The Europay/MasterCard/Visa (EMV) migration specialist SCIL-EMV Academy expanded its upcoming EMV public workshop schedule to support the U.S. EMV migration effort. The expanded curriculum is designed to help acquirers, issuers, merchants and processors make the transition to EMV seamlessly and cost effectively. "Much remains to be done and education and communication remain key building blocks in preparing the U.S. to move to EMV," noted Stewart Chalmers, Vice President Marketing & Communications for the SCIL-EMV Academy.
The European Central Bank said that, after 15 years of work, the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) has been successfully implemented for credit transfers and direct debits in the Eurozone. The ECB expects over 2 billion payments will now flow monthly in new standardized formats across the 18 countries in the European Union. "The successful completion of SEPA further accelerates Europe's financial integration," said Yves Mersch, ECB executive board member. "It removes barriers to credit transfers and direct debits which will no longer impede businesses or consumers."
Square Appointments is the newest feature rolled out by Square Inc. "With Square Appointments, sellers can easily manage appointments, ensure they never miss a sale, and offer their customers a seamless booking experience," the company said.
Swift Capital Partners LLC launched a campaign aimed at acquiring ISO merchant portfolios. Swift Capital Founder Steven Bettinger said his company's entrance into the payments industry makes for an "excellent complement" to its existing offerings in the real estate, legal and structured settlement industries. "We believe this new line of business will immediately diversify our portfolio and improve our growth potential," he added.
In a preliminary report to its second quarter 2014 financial statement, discount retailer Target Corp. said expenses resulting from its 2013 holiday season breach totaled $148 million in the second quarter. "Since the data breach last December, we have been focused on providing clarity on the company's estimated financial exposure to breach-related claims," noted John Mulligan, Interim President, CEO and Chief Financial Officer at Target. The costs included "claims by payment card networks," Target stated.
Wipit Inc. said it has developed new omni-channel payment technology designed to allow in-app bar code payments at the POS. Via Wipit's mobile wallet, users can employ mobile devices to scan barcodes to make in-store payments. Wipit's mobile wallet consumers can also load accounts, set up direct deposit or deposit physical checks remotely.
RESEARCHAn ATM Marketplace report, How to Profit from ATMs: A Guide for Retailers and Restaurateurs, offers an inside glance at the retail ATM market. Critical points covered in the guide include revenues and costs, choosing an ATM model, cash management, insurance, security, and the potential for selling additional products and services at ATMs.
The Strawhecker Group issued a report titled, Merchant Aggregation: A guide to understanding aggregation, the opportunity available and how ISOs may participate. The 70-page report compares and contrasts the aggregation rules and policies of the four major card brands, and focuses on how ISOs may participate in merchant aggregation in relationship to card brands, payment processors and sponsoring acquirer institutions.
The PCI Security Standards Council released PCI Data Security Standard Requirement 12.8. The Third-Party Security Assurance Information Supplement was added to version 3.0 of the PCI DSS. "One of the big focus areas in PCI DSS 3.0 is security as a shared responsibility," said Bob Russo, PCI SSC General Manager. "This guidance is an excellent companion document to the standard in helping merchants and their business partners work together to protect consumers' valuable payment information."
Host card emulation (HCE) specialist Bell ID published an infographic titled, Host Card Emulation 2014: How ready is the market for mobile payments using host card emulation? The infographic charts growth in HCE-equipped Google Android KitKat 4.4 smartphone deployments, global rankings for mobile operating systems that can support HCE, and regions of the world where contactless mobile payments are gaining traction.
Mercator Advisory Group projected 58 percent of credit cards and 26 percent of POS terminals will be EMV -compliant by the end of 2015. In Preparing for 2015: The Year of the Liability Shift, Mercator explores EMV issues related to chip and PIN, and contactless payments, as well as the potential impacts of network liability shifts as the U.S. market approaches the Oct. 15, 2015, deadline when noncompliant merchants will bear the cost of data breaches.
PARTNERSHIPS BlueSnap Inc. and iGlobal Stores introduced an online checkout page, which combines automated international tax and shipping calculations with localized checkout in over 180 countries. "Cross-border shipping and logistics are complex, and our partnership with iGlobal provides simple and comprehensive solutions that help merchants sell all over the world," said Jeff Coppolo, Senior Vice President, Global Business Development at BlueSnap.
Cachet and Contact Solutions LLC partnered to deliver Contact Solutions' My:Time mobile customer care to Cachet's Select Mobile Money clients. "Customers today expect to be able to resolve issues on their own terms with minimal effort, and My:Time equips Cachet's clients with mobile customer care that will help them do just that," said Michael McShea, Senior Vice President of Market and Product Management for Contact Solutions.
Epson America Inc. and Digital Dining partnered in deployment of an integrated POS system for Eataly dining venues in New York and Chicago. Each venue houses more than 20 food-centric businesses including restaurants, bars, coffee houses and cooking schools. "At the end of the day, customers are served at multiple points of service, with varying degrees of complexity – seamlessly," said Andre Nataf, Senior Business Development Manager at Digital Dining.
In separate news, Epson entered a strategic alliance with Mobivity Holdings Corp. to offer Epson's OmniLink TM-T88V-i smart printer preconfigured to communicate with Mobivity's SmartReceipt cloud-based software as a service to merchants interested in creating receipt marketing message campaigns.
Heckler Design and POS Portal teamed to make Heckler's patented WindFall Stand, WindFall Cash Drawer and its other mobile POS products available to ISVs and resellers through POS Portal's distributor network. "Strategic partnerships with leading manufacturers like Heckler Design mean more value to ISVs and merchants," said Buzz Stryker, CEO of POS Portal.
Leapfactor, a cloud-based mobile platform specializing in vertical-specific business apps, inked a deal to white-label ROAM's secure mobile card readers and integrate its mobile application programming interfaces as a service to Leapfactor customers. Vertical markets served by Leapfactor currently include direct selling, pharmaceutical/beauty, retail and financial services.
Mobilisk LLC and Bolt On Solutions LLC developed a mobile POS system that integrates Mobelisk's MoGo Chimera enterprise tablet "smart case" with Bolt On's mobile POS retail management software. The secure smart case is said to fit most standard consumer tablets. The Bolt POS software suite offers payment processing, customer relationship management and supply chain management tools.
NTC Texas entered a joint agreement with iCheckGateway.com to provide advanced online automated clearing house and credit card payment processing solutions. According to NTC Texas, the partnership will allow clients more payment options, whether their customers are paying online, with checks, over the phone or via text messaging.
Payoneer Inc. teamed with Gosocket Corp. SpA, to offer cross-border e-invoice payments to Latin America-based companies. Gosocket's e-invoicing platform now connects over 1 million businesses and suppliers in Latin America. "Introducing Payoneer to the Gosocket ecosystem will help our customers accelerate their global expansion by enabling simple and secure cross-border payments," said Mario Fernandez, CEO of Gosocket.
Powa Technologies' PowePOS T-Series tablet-based POS system is now integrated with e-Nabler Corp.'s eMobilePOS software. E-Nabler plans to promote the new system to its reseller network. "The powerful partnership of Powa's first-of-its-kind integrated hardware, combined with the market-leading eMobilePOS solution delivers a unified, secure payments system," said Jeff Dumbrell, CEO of PowaPOS.
Wave Systems Corp. paired with Bell ID in developing a card-not-present online payment fraud prevention service. Using Bell ID's Trusted Service Manager and Secure Element in The Cloud service in combination with Wave's ERAS for TPM management, and endpoint identity and monitoring expertise, the joint offering provides protection for payment transactions and stored payments, the companies stated.
ACQUISITIONSDigital Payments PLC completed acquisition of Muscato Group Inc., which includes M2 Payment Solutions and all of its affiliates. The acquisition reportedly expands Digital's vertically integrated platform globally. Under the agreement, M2 Payment will continue to operate under its current brand and business structure as it continues to develop and release new products into global markets.
Heartland Payment Systems Inc. signed an agreement to purchase TouchNet Information Systems Inc. for $375 million. Pending regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of 2014. The acquisition will add more than 600 higher education clients to Heartland's existing Campus Solutions business, the company stated.
Square purchased Caviar, an outsourced delivery service for restaurants. "Caviar's curated, seamless delivery experience is exactly the kind of service we want to provide buyers and sellers," said Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
APPOINTMENTSMichael Bayer joined NCR Corp. as Senior Vice President and President, Retail Solutions Division. Bayer will report to NCR Chairman and CEO Bill Nuti. Bayer has extensive experience in communications technology, most recently serving as President of Global Growth Markets for Avaya. Bayer has also held leadership positions at companies such as Motorola, Symbol Technologies and Cisco.
The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association selected Doug Bower to be its Executive Director and President. Bower has more than 20 years' experience guiding business-line operations, strategic planning, new business development, marketing, revenue growth and financial planning for profit and nonprofit businesses. Most recently, he was Executive Vice President of Business Development for BlueYield, an auto lending exchange.
Sequent Software appointed Andrew Doyle as its Managing Director for EMEA. In this role, Doyle will be responsible for directing and accelerating the growth and presence of Sequent's expanding business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He will be based in London. Previously, Doyle headed up sales, presales, marketing, delivery and support teams for both startups and large corporations, including Telepo AB, Connexn Technologies, Global Crossing and Racal Telecom.
Hugh Gallagher joined the First Annapolis Consulting Inc. team as a Principal, focusing on mobile and alternative payments, innovation, and payments strategy. He brings 25 years' experience in payments and financial services, including prior senior executive roles with First Manhattan Consulting Group, SunTrust Banks, Edgar, Dunn & Co. and eFunds Corp., which is now part of Fidelity National Information Services Inc. 
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