RETAIL BRIEFSANNOUNCEMENTSClearent LLC raised $25 million from FTV Capital. As part of the investment, FTV Capital Partner Chris Winship joined the Clearent board of directors. Dan Geraty, Chief Executive Officer of Clearent, said, "With the support of FTV, I'm even more confident Clearent will continue its track record of significant growth through increased service features, expanded technology enhancements, and industry-leading support for our customers."
Digitzs launched an equity campaign on Crowdfunder and its founders will use the funds to complete the Digitzs' suite of payment solutions to be launched this summer. "We compared many platforms before choosing to launch on Crowdfunder. I feel fortunate to have such an experienced and proven team of experts on our side, and access to a superior network of investors in the equity crowdfunding space," said Laura Wagner, Digitzs Chief Executive Officer.
Loop Commerce, a checkout and e-gifting platform devised to power the retail shopping experience, reported it raised $16 million, bringing the total funds invested in the company to $30 million. The company said this infusion represents continued support from existing and new strategic investors and influential individuals. It plans to use the funds to accelerate growth, including the hiring of key personnel.
MasterCard Worldwide released the latest version of MasterCard Business Network 2.0. The new site is built on feedback from hundreds of small to midsize businesses that expressed needs to minimize costs, increase efficiency and engage with customers. "MasterCard Business Network 2.0 helps save time by putting c-suite level information at business owners' fingertips, all just a click away," said Jay Singer, Senior Vice President of U.S. Commercial Products for MasterCard.
Net Element Inc., a global provider of mobile payments and value-added transactional services, stated it had entered into agreements with a qualified institutional buyer and certain institutional accredited investors for financing transactions up to an initial amount of $10.5 million. The deal also offers potential additional amounts of up to $14 million available to the company.
Pay.On AG, a provider of white-label global payment gateway solutions, said it expects to expand its payment network in 2015. Focus areas for growth in the second and third quarters of 2015 include such markets as North America, Australia and Latin America. The company noted that its payment network connects to more than 300 acquirers and alternative payment methods in over 160 countries worldwide.
The Payments Security Task Force (PST) issued an update on chip-enabled credit and debit cards in the United States that indicated approximately 63 percent of U.S. credit and debit cards will be chip-enabled by the end of 2015, with an increase to 98 percent by the end of 2017. The PST also joined the PCI Security Standards Council and the EMV Migration Forum to launch a chip education curriculum and "pre-qualification" program for value-added resellers and independent software vendors.
Paycape Advisors celebrated the grand opening of its newest office in the Louisville, Ky., area. The new district office will be led by Caleb Johnson, serving as District Sales Manager. A Kentucky native, Johnson graduated from Western Kentucky University where he studied communications and sales. "We couldn't be more thrilled to expand our business into such an incredible city with so much opportunity," Johnson said.
Smart Packaging Solutions, a dual interface banking and electronic identification document solutions provider, expanded its eight-year presence in the Americas and appointed Benoit Guez as its Vice President, Americas. Due to an expected demand for dual interface cards in North America, SPS is positioning to deliver its high-quality, high-reliability dual interface products to North American banking card manufacturers, the company stated.
The Members Group reported that its fraud detection and prevention strategies saved its financial institution clients $28 million in potential fraud losses in 2014, a savings that is nearly 40 percent higher than the firm reported in 2013. This accomplishment was recently highlighted through an announcement from Visa Inc. that recognized San Diego County Credit Union for its efficient processing of e-commerce exception items, a service TMG said it is proud to provide to the $6.9 billion credit union.
Visa introduced online resources for business owners to manage the transition to EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) chip technology for credit and debit cards. The toolkit provides a 10-step implementation guide, downloadable tools and resources, and a module to train employees on accepting chip cards at the POS. "Chip technology will bring an important new layer of security for credit and debit cards by helping to make stolen account information useless to criminals," said Stephanie Ericksen, Visa's Vice President of Risk Products.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman, sent a letter to President Barack Obama concerning the recent data breach on the White House information system and the chance it may have compromised Americans' personally identifiable information. Specifically, the letter requested information regarding notification policies the White House is committed to following should it find evidence that personally identifiable information was likely compromised.
RESEARCHFollowing up a 2014 survey of financial organization market experts, ACI Worldwide Inc. conducted a survey of attendees at Payments 2015, a NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association annual conference. Survey results indicated nearly 25 percent of respondents believe the U.S. should move directly to real-time faster payments; 92 percent also indicated same-day automated clearing house (ACH) settlement will add significant value, and 75 percent stated they believe same-day ACH should be pursued.
According to the latest CAN Capital Inc. Small Business Health Index, powered by SurveyMonkey, 49 percent of small business owners expect business growth within the next 12 months. This is a decline from the firm's September 2014 findings, indicating 58 percent of small business owners were expecting growth. The results led the firm to conclude small businesses expect 2015 to be a year of stability rather than expansion.
Official figures for the fourth quarter of 2014 released by the global technical body, EMVCo, show significant advances are being made in the adoption of EMV chip technology. By the end of 2014, the number of EMV payment cards in circulation rose by 1 billion, up 43 percent, to 3.4 billion, from 2.37 billion noted in the fourth quarter of 2013. EMVCo members reported global EMV chip card adoption rates had increased in every region across the globe by the end of 2014.
Experian Data Breach Resolution and Ponemon Institute released what is said to be the first industry study available that closely examines payment technologies and how companies are managing the growing threat of data breaches. The study, Data Security in the Evolving Payments Ecosystem, asked professionals to weigh in on who should be responsible for securing payment systems and how effective their organization is in preparing for and responding to a payment card breach.
A new research note from Mercator Advisory Group, Seeking Pastures Beyond Walmart: Green Dot Buys Distribution Diversity, examines how two quiet deals have expanded Green Dot Corp.'s distribution network and reduced its reliance on Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for retail distribution. Researchers indicated the company's recent acquisitions of AccountNow and AchieveCard show how the prepaid industry is changing and demonstrates the pressure prepaid providers face as a single-product business.
PARTNERSHIPSATMequipment.com and the National ATM Council Inc. established an affinity program to provide NAC members with exclusive discounts on EMV upgrade kits for Nautilus-Hyosung, Genmega and Hantle ATM equipment. Spencer Matthews, Executive Vice President of ATMequipment.com, said, "We applaud NAC for their continued efforts in supporting and building the industry and each individual ATM operator."
Blue Star Payment Solutions entered an affinity relationship and sponsorship agreement with The Dallas Entrepreneur Center for the 1 Million Cups initiative, founded by the Kauffman Foundation and hosted at The DEC. The partnership offers DEC entrepreneurs, and members of its sister branch, Addison Treehouse, access to low-cost solutions for payment acceptance including retail, e-commerce, mobile, POS, security and encryption products, and working capital.
POS system provider Datasym and bLoyal, a provider of omnichannel loyalty services, partnered to release an integrated solution delivering omnichannel capabilities to independent retailers. The new integration is designed to allow retailers to offer advanced private-label loyalty programs to engage consumers across all sales channels and reward them accordingly.
Systems East Inc., owner/operator of the Xpress-pay ePayment solution, completed integration of its mobile wallet with the Dinerware restaurant POS system. The partnership gives restaurant patrons the ability to pay with a smartphone and set up an Xpress-pay wallet account to store payment credentials for future transactions. Patrons simply scan a quick response code printed on the ticket to launch the Xpress-pay web application where they can finalize the transaction.
Mobile loyalty and payment company LevelUp teamed with Danal, a provider of mobile commerce and mobile identity solutions, to add Danal's Direct Carrier Billing service to LevelUp's payment options. LevelUp and Danal said they are offering an entirely new, completely mobile way to make in-store purchases through carrier billing integrated with LevelUp, creating the first payment method of its kind in the United States.
Newtek Business Services Corp. reported it entered an exclusive partnership with Lending Club. The partnership will allow Newtek to expand its lending product menu and offer business loans to customers through the Lending Club platform. Lending Club is the world's largest online marketplace connecting borrowers and investors with a lending platform that has facilitated loans totaling over $9.3 billion since its inception in 2007, the companies stated.
Ping Identity Corp. partnered with UnboundID Corp. to resell components of UnboundID's identity and preference management platform. Ping Identity and UnboundID said that as a result, they are now providing a combined directory and single sign-on solution to enable businesses to provide their customers with secure and convenient access to applications anytime, anywhere, from any device.
Bitcoin processor Snapcard Inc. partnered with international payment provider International Payout Systems Inc. (i-Payout) to enable hundreds of merchants worldwide to accept bitcoin payments and receive instant settlements in the digital currency. Merchants using i-Payout's eWallet service can now accept bitcoin in over 190 countries and enjoy the benefits of bitcoin, including lower transaction costs, instant settlements, fraud protection, and zero chargebacks, the companies noted.
Tillster Inc., maker of digital engagement and ordering platforms for quick service and casual restaurants, partnered with location and proximity mobile engagement company Gimbal Inc. The companies stated that together they will bring advanced, mobile location-based guest services to Tillster's restaurant customers using Gimbal's geofencing, Bluetooth smart proximity beacons, and analytics technologies.
TransFirst LLC and iNtelli-Bill, a division of American Medical Systems Inc., aligned to provide payment products and integrated processing services to the medical community. iNtelli-Bill's Chief Technology Officer, Larry Evans, said, "TransFirst has been extremely easy to work with and helpful with all phases of implementation. iNtelli-Bill is very excited to roll out this new system, which increases patient payment options, improves patient relationships and saves everybody time and money."
USA Technologies Inc., provider of wireless, cashless payment and machine-to-machine and Internet of Things (M2M/IoT) solutions for small-ticket, self-serve retailing industries, and the JPMorgan Chase & Co. global payments business, Chase Commerce Solutions, created a new strategic relationship. Through a multiyear agreement, self-service retailers can now benefit from USAT's best-in-class, cashless payments and M2M/IoT service powered by Chase Commerce Solutions' payment processing, according to the companies.
ACQUISITIONSPrivate equity firm DFW Capital Partners acquired Creative Computing Solutions Inc., adding the firm to its confluence of information technology companies focused on tackling issues in both the health and cyber security verticals. DFW said Rockville, Md.-based CCSi will add further value to DFW's Triple-i portfolio company, as both companies are in business to provide services exclusively to federal government customers in cyber security and health data sectors.
MasterCard reported it entered into an agreement to acquire Applied Predictive Technologies, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. APT is a cloud-based analytics provider that offers a proprietary analytics platform product known as Test & Learn. The platform was devised to help companies tailor investments and maximize bottom-line impact by harnessing analytics to design, measure and calibrate marketing, merchandising, operations and capital initiatives.
APPOINTMENTSMyECheck Inc., an electronic check provider for Internet and mobile payments, made two appointments to its management team. Joe Creamer, JD, former Vice President of Legal at United Parcel Service Inc. and graduate of Fordham University and Fordham Law School, was appointed as MyECheck General Counsel. Banking software and services veteran, Jim Wojtak was appointed to the position of MyECheck National Sales Manager.
TouchSuite added three members to its executive team. Ed Gagliardi joined the company as Director of Strategic Markets. Previously, Gagliardi served as the Vice president of Marketing and Sales for such leading national brands as Colgate Palmolive Co., Airwick Industries and Atlas Paper Mills.
Patrick Pritchard assumed TouchSuite's new Strategic Partner Team Director position. Pritchard, who brings the experience of a career aligned entirely within the financial services space, drove sales initiatives for such companies as Bank of America Corp., First Data Corp., Vantiv Inc. and Mercury Payments. David Purisch joined TouchSuite as Inside Sales Manager. Always focused on sales and business development, Purisch has worked in a variety of industries, including real estate, higher education and medical services.
Elavon Inc., a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, promoted Wally Mlynarski to Senior Vice President of Global Product and Innovation. Mlynarski will head the company's global, cross-functional product development teams. He will be responsible for driving the rollout of innovative and industry-leading initiatives, including mobile payment solutions, as well as EMV migration and security solutions, to help customers grow their businesses.
ABC Financial Services, a software and payment processing provider to the health and fitness industry, promoted Nikki Roe to Vice President of Client Relations. An integral part of ABC's client relations department for more than four years, Roe previously worked in ABC's sales department as an educator to health and fitness clients. In her new role, Roe will lead the Account Executive team, the company stated.
Financial services provider and EMV chip card maker CPI Card Group hired former Softcard Technology Director Tony Sabetti to lead mobile and near field communication (NFC) market initiatives through its digital issuance solution, CPIMobile. Prior to Softcard, Sabetti was Senior Director of Sales and Marketing for NXP Semiconductors, where he "secured designs of NFC chipsets and secure elements into mobile phones, and secure chips for EMV bank cards, ePassports, and government ID cards throughout North and South America," CPI said. 
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