ANNOUNCEMENTSPayments industry veterans Pat Moran, Howard Herndon and Josh Rosenblatt launched BlackLine Payments Advisors LLC. The principals said the consultancy will serve all segments of the industry, including investors, merchant acquirers, ISOs, aggregators, retailers, financial institutions, payment networks, technology providers, nonprofits and government agencies.
Top 10 merchant acquirer Heartland Payment Systems Inc. made Selling Power magazine's 2014 list of the 50 Best Companies to Sell For. Heartland tied for first place in the top 50 ranking of popular companies to sell for, making this the fourth time Heartland has earned the number one ranking.
San Jose, Calif.-based motion sensor provider mCube Inc. formed a subsidiary, Ten Degrees Inc., to focus on indoor navigation technology. "We look forward to delivering a solution that can easily and accurately guide users indoors, whether to an individual cubicle in an office building, to a specific item in a retail store, or to a room in a hospital, bringing users literally within arm's reach of their desired indoor location," said Ramesh Raman, Chief Executive Officer of Ten Degrees.
Dallas-based Calpian Inc. said its Mumbai, India-based subsidiary Money-On-Mobile has been accessed by 98.9 million unique users to date, with a total of 7.5 million users accessing the service in July 2014. The Money-On-Mobile service, which enables Indian consumers to use mobile phones to pay for goods and services, is now offered via 204,810 retail locations throughout India, an increase of 5,983 stores since June 2014, according to Calpian.
The first Yum! Brands Inc.-owned KFC restaurant in Brazil is now equipped with an NCR Corp. restaurant POS system. "NCR will help KFC sites across Brazil engage consumers more effectively and operate with greater efficiency," the company said.
Global payment firm Payza added bitcoin acceptance to its platform, which is used by more than 10 million consumers in over 190 markets worldwide. "As bitcoin continues to evolve and mature, it's becoming more and more difficult to deny its potential, especially in the developing countries where our current consumers have limited access to a banking infrastructure," said Firoz Patel, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Corporate Affairs at Payza.
Helsinki, Finland-based financial services group OP-Pohjola won a Red Dot Award for its mobile wallet, Pivo. The Red Dot Award: Communication Design 2014 was given for the interactive design of the mobile wallet, which was launched in May 2013. Red Dot winners will be celebrated at an Oct. 24 awards ceremony in Berlin.
William Clark, CEO at Scottsdale, Ariz.-based mobile payments firm Spindle Inc., penned a letter to Spindle shareholders that detailed the company's recent moves to strengthen its market position in the mobile commerce sector. Specifically mentioning its Yowza!! acquisition and partnerships with Acculync, iConnect Inc. and RisePay. Clark said Spindle devoted the spring of 2014 to "platform integration and development at the expense of short-term revenue generation, realizing that it was more important to bring a full-featured comprehensive platform to the market, rather than trying to sell a piecemeal solution."
Additionally, Spindle launched its new affiliate marketing program at the CJ University affiliate event, which took place Sept. 9 and 10, 2014, in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Square Inc. launched Square Analytics to further its mission of leveling the playing field for merchants of all sizes. The San Francisco-based company said its new big data offering "integrates the full suite of Square Register products including Pickup, Invoices, and Appointments, making it the most robust point of sale service."
Grocery store chain operator SuperValu Inc. reported a data breach that may have affected customers who shopped at 180 stores across the United States. SuperValu said cardholder data may have been stolen during the period of June 22 through July 17, 2014. SuperValu President and CEO Sam Duncan said, "The intrusion was identified by our internal team, it was quickly contained, and we have had no evidence of any misuse of any customer data."
The UPS Store Inc. reported the discovery of malware on its network, affecting 51 locations in 24 states. The independent mail delivery company, which operates a franchise network of 4,470 locations in the United States, said the malware could not be identified by current anti-virus software. The company hired a data security firm that located the virus in its network. Customer information, including names, postal addresses, email addresses and payment card information may have been exposed, but The UPS Store has no evidence of fraud arising from the breach.
Auckland, New Zealand-based online POS software provider Vend Ltd. opened its first office in Toronto. "We picked Toronto as our North American base of operations for Sales and Customer Success because Toronto's amazing art scene and culture of retail made it a natural fit for Vend," said Vend founder and CEO Vaughan Rowsell. Vend also has an office in San Francisco and plans to open operations in Berlin and London in the coming months.
POS hardware provider VeriFone Inc. is making plans to expand its taxi and media services to Istanbul, Turkey, and throughout Mexico's Mayan Riviera, a tourism and resort district that straddles the Caribbean coastline. VeriFone expects to equip over 20,000 taxis in those regions with in-taxi and mobile payments, mobile hailing and booking, and interactive multimedia content.
RESEARCHA report commissioned by Double Diamond Group LLC titled Agents of Change: The Next Agent Channel and Why You Need It explores the agent sales channel today, what agents can do to capitalize on emerging technologies, and how leading companies are managing the transition from market-driven strategies to strategic investments. The 51-page report features 32 charts and insights from 73 companies.
An RSR Research LLC study, Omni-Channel Retail 2014: Double Trouble, revealed that omni-channel retailers are shifting focus to zero in on customer fulfillment as consumers increasingly expect to begin and end the shopping experience digitally, or at least augment the experience digitally. The report analyzes the business drivers, opportunities and challenges omni-channel retailers face and offers baseline recommendations that address fundamental changes in shopping behavior.
According to a report from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. titled, Debit Profits Under Pressure: Alternative Revenue Models Needed, the regulatory actions that capped interchange fees and required customers to opt in for overdraft protection services have reduced debit card profit margins in recent years. The report offers strategies to counter this trend, including incentive programs that encourage higher debit card usage and fee-based services that generate income.
A Ripen eCommerce consumer survey revealed 92 percent of purchases made today in the $3.2 trillion U.S. retail industry still occur offline. The top reasons cited for making purchases in-store versus online were that customers prefer to see or feel the item in person (30.8 percent), want to buy item(s) right now (29.9 percent) and believe it protects their privacy (16.9 percent).
PARTNERSHIPS
ANXeBusiness Corp., a managed security and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance solutions provider to the retail, restaurant and pharmacy industries, and PCI University jointly launched a website. It provides video and self-assessment tools to help merchants better understand the PCI DSS and determine whether security vulnerabilities may exist within their enterprises.
Business Financial Resources LLC and Frates Insurance & Risk Management collaborated on Uncollectible Chargeback, a new insurance program that allows agents and ISOs to insure individual merchant accounts or entire portfolios with limits up to $5 million and deductibles as low as $10,000. Merchant services consultancy BFR said the new program will benefit future delivery merchants in particular, which include travel, furniture and online businesses.
Bridgeport, Conn.-based GoECart integrated Miami-based GlobalShopex's international shipping and checkout solutions with the GoECart e-commerce platform. GoECart retailers that add the international checkout option to their online shopping carts will receive global support for international shipping to locations in more than 200 countries and territories, the companies said.
First Data Corp. and LocalVox joined forces to roll out a merchant business tool that combines First Data's Insightics data analytics platform with LocalVox's multichannel targeted marketing solution. The LocalVox automated marketing platform reportedly operates across email, social, search and mobile channels to help drive customers to retail establishments. The combined LocalVox solution is available in the Clover App Market on the Clover Station.
POS software developer Posera-HDS inked a deal with LevelUp to integrate its mobile payment platform with Posera's Maitre'D POS system. "At Maitre'D, we aim to offer the most feature-rich and customizable restaurant POS system on the market," said Michel Côté, Maitre'D President. "With so many businesses accepting mobile payments, it made complete sense to partner with LevelUp."
Miva Merchant, an e-commerce software and services provider to small and midsized businesses since 1997, entered an alliance with Social Rebate. Under the agreement Miva will integrate SR's proprietary plug-in, enabling its clients to reward customers with instant cash rebates when customers make personal recommendations over social media networks related to purchases made at participating Miva merchants.
MyECheck Inc. signed an agreement with Giact Systems to integrate its fraud detection and prevention system with MyECheck's fraud tool suite and payment platform as a service to clients of both companies. MyECheck currently holds a patent for "method and apparatus for online check processing" and serves corporate, retail, government, payment processor and financial institution clients.
Retail petroleum technology provider Gilbarco Inc. Veeder-Root entered an agreement with VeriFone Inc. to develop next-generation pay-at-the-pump solutions and create the largest global at-pump interactive digital media network, the companies stated. Gilbarco also plans to merge its OutCast Media and Applause TV gas station TV network with VeriFone's digital media and VeriFone Digital Network businesses.
Worldpay U.S. Inc. solidified its relationship with OnDeck to leverage OnDeck's platform and proprietary lending technology platform, giving Worldpay merchants access to working capital through OnDeck's financing program. "By teaming with OnDeck, we can help connect our customers with the working capital they need to be successful," said Patti Newcomer, Chief Marketing Officer at Worldpay.
ACQUISITIONS Heartland acquired Leaf, creator of a mobile POS tablet designed specifically for commerce. In September 2013, Heartland made a $20 million investment in Leaf. With the latest purchase, Heartland gains minority interest in the company. Leaf will continue to operate as a separate division of Heartland, the company said. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
InComm acquired SIRAS.com Inc. from Nintendo of America Inc. SIRAS brings to the table patented methodologies for tracking products, creating dynamic data analytics, and validating return and warranty eligibility. "This acquisition helps InComm further expand the portfolio of integrated point-of-sale solutions we offer our global retail partners," said Brooks Smith, InComm President and CEO. SIRAS will become a wholly owned subsidiary of InComm.
Manhattan Associates Inc. acquired the assets of Global Bay Technologies from VeriFone Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Manhattan said the acquisition will extend its omni-channel inventory and order management solutions to include in-store sales and 'clienteling' capabilities. Clienteling refers to use of digital and mobile technologies to personalize the shopping experience. VeriFone said it will retain and rebrand its Global Bay Merchant solution.
APPOINTMENTS
SecureNet hired Jerry Bartlett, former Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer for First Data Corp., as its Chief Technology Officer. Bartlett will oversee development of new technologies and improvement of the infrastructure and architecture of the company's end-to-end payments platform. "Jerry's years of experience in the technology and payments arenas are a welcome addition to our team," said Brent Warrington, CEO at SecureNet. "I am confident his deep understanding of our customers' needs will not only improve our product offerings, but also lead to even stronger long-term strategy.
Ezic Inc. expanded its sales and marketing team by three. Chelsea King, Marketing Manager, is responsible for managing internal and external communications to enhance brand identity and awareness. She received a bachelor's degree with a marketing concentration from Purdue University.
As Business Development Manager, Columbia College graduate Nick Terlap will pioneer the development of new strategies to broaden Ezic's portfolio.
Kyle Larson, Account Executive, will be responsible for relationship development with aggregators, ISOs, and agents/resellers. Larson received a bachelor's degree with a business management emphasis from the University of Iowa. "The expansion of the Ezic team will enhance our innovation, operations, and customer service," said Chief Operating Officer, Valerie Salgado.
Don Kissock joined First American Payment Systems as Director of Client Relations for the company's Strategic Partner Channel. Previously, Kissock held multiple leadership positions at such companies as vPromos Inc., TransFirst and Motorola Inc. John Newton, Vice President of Sales, Strategic Partner Channel, said Kissock's "vision and extensive expertise in cultivating and maintaining partner relationships will be a tremendous asset to the firm."
Jyothish Varma recently joined ControlScan as the company's Senior Director of Security Product Strategy, and Sheria Ward signed on as Director of Inside Sales. ControlScan noted that Varma, who has extensive security product management experience, has primary responsibility for delivering managed security services intended to save business owners valuable time while cost-effectively protecting their businesses from data thieves.
And Ward, who most recently led a team of high-performance sales account executives at WorldPay, is now charged with expanding ControlScan's reach among single-location businesses and multilocation franchises.
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