NEWSThe Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council (SSC) - the governing body providing management of the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS), PCI PIN Entry Device (PED) Security Requirements and the Payment Application (PA) DSS, formerly known as the Visa Payment Application Best Practices Security Standard - released version 1.1 of the PA DSS.
In the fall of 2008, the council will also deploy a program to include validated payment applications' maintenance. The list will help buyers identify payment applications recognized by the PCI SSC that meet the new standard.
TD Canada Trust completed its first Canada TD Visa Inc. payWave transaction April 11, 2008, at a Dairy Queen Corp. restaurant in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.
TD's District Vice President Kevin Moffatt made a ceremonial purchase to introduce payWave in Canada.
PayWave gives cardholders the option of paying for small dollar purchases - typically under $25 - simply by waving their TD Visa chip card near a payWave reader.
In Canada, the TD Visa payWave payment platform is based on the Europay, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa (EMV) smart card payment standard in Europe that provides protection against counterfeiting and skimming fraud. EMV ensures interoperability and payment security for electronic transactions.
ANNOUNCEMENTSCHARGE Anywhere LLC (doing business as Comstar Interactive), a mobile payments software maker, released its CHARGE Anywhere Secure Payment Software solution for Intuit Inc.'s QuickBooks Point of Sale Pro software application. The CHARGE Anywhere software gives merchants the capability to securely and efficiently process credit card transactions through wireless Internet Protocol (IP), Wi-Fi and mobile POS terminals.
Comodo Group, providers of secure socket layer (SSL) certificates for Web site security, increased its set of automated SSL provisioning tools to simplify the SSL deployment process for the majority of servers used by online merchants.
The new tools provide automation efficiency for key functions including private key generation, creation of certificate signing requests and even automatic installation of the SSL certificates. These tools were developed for Apache Hypertext Transfer Protocol and Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 servers, which represent a majority of servers in the market.
Digital Check Corp., a provider of desktop check scanners for the remote deposit capture (RDC) and branch automation industry, designed a new scanner for the small business distributed check capture market. The new device, CheXpress, offers image capture capabilities required to perform check truncation for small business banking customers using RDC services.
"The small business market sector represents the next big opportunity for RDC," said John Gainer, Executive Vice President of Digital Check. "Our goal was to drive continued improvements in image quality while delivering a device that would be easier to operate for the small business customer." CheXpress features include dual image scanning, dual check endorsement and dual magnetic ink character recognition read technology to maximize image quality and capture data accurately.
E-xact Transactions Ltd., a Vancouver, British Columbia-based payment processing gateway provider, reportedly achieved full compliance with the PCI DSS.
Exact Transaction's gateway runs on Ruby on Rails, a free Web application framework designed to make Web development faster, simpler and more efficient.
Merchant acquirer Global Payments Inc. introduced Global Transport - Client software, enabling merchants, software developers, value added resellers and original equipment manufacturers to integrate payment devices such as magnetic stripe readers, PCI PEDs, signature capture devices and receipt printers.
Targeting the retail, grocery and restaurant sectors, the software interfaces with the Global Transport - Gateway, striving to enable merchants to process credit, debit and electronic benefits transfer transactions faster.
At the 2008 Electronic Transactions Association's (ETA) annual meeting and Expo in Las Vegas, Hypercom Corp., a POS terminal manufacturer, introduced the Mobile POS Solution Suite, a set of products and services that support the mobile POS infrastructure.
The suite includes Hypercom's General Packet Radio Service mobile payment terminals, Gateway and the Hypercom Mobile Network.
Customers can employ the entire solution or selectively choose individual components. The suite allows secure processing of credit, debit, gift, loyalty, check, automated clearing house and electronic benefits transfer or food stamp transactions from any U.S. merchant location where wireless payment terminals are now used.
Hypercom also presented "Pay-By-Customer" software, allowing customers to pay at the table. According to the company, this software was developed exclusively for the North American market and is certified by leading payment processors and acquirers.
POS technologies maker MagTek Inc. rolled out Excella MDX, a compact check reader and dual-sided scanner for use in back office conversion, POS, accounts receivable entry and remote deposit capture environments.
The MDX encrypts the encoded cardholder data on debit, credit and gift cards through its integrated MagneSafe m20 mag stripe reader for mobile and "pay-on-the-go" transactions.
Stored and encrypted cardholder data is transferred from the m20 to a personal computer where a PC-based application can retrieve the transactions to reconcile payments and orders as well as verify amounts and process payments.
Mobile Candy Dish Inc., an Alameda, Calif.-based provider of contactless payments services, introduced a mobile wallet that combines contactless payment based on near field communication (NFC) technology with person-to-person payments and mobile banking.
Blaze Mobile Wallet combines mobile banking and payment features previously introduced separately. It works on the AT&T Inc. Mobility and Sprint Nextel wireless networks and features an NFC sticker linked to a prepaid MasterCard account.
Mobile Candy offers a component the size and thickness of a quarter that adheres to the back of the phone. A plastic card to go with the account is optional.
Kansas-based Home National Bank selected NetDeposit Inc., a check payment technology company, to be its RDC services provider. Home National's customers can now make deposits directly from their place of business.
NOVA Information Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, has changed its name to Elavon. Elavon becomes the identity for NOVA and its affiliate merchant acquiring brands, including First Horizon Merchant Services and euroConex.
Trinity Field Services LLC, a subsidiary of national site inspection and risk mitigation management company Trinity Real Estate Solutions Inc., expanded its current product offerings to include merchant site inspections and offer 24/7 online availability, customizable services and comprehensive reporting.
Merchant site inspections can be critical to mitigating credit card fraud. They provide banks and acquirers assurance that a merchant is legitimate and has the service or inventory to represent itself as a bona fide business. As part of this service, Trinity provides business intelligence, merchant screening and monitoring, Web site verifications and silent shopping.
Trustwave Holdings Inc., a data security and compliance manager, unveiled its TrustKeeper Agent software at ETA Expo 2008. TrustKeeper Agent, an extension of compliance software TrustKeeper, is designed to help small and mid-sized merchants gain insight into their compliance position.
TrustKeeper Agent provides detailed system reports and consolidated summary reports, identifying possible security hazards.
United Cash Solutions, a division of payment, transaction processor and automated teller machine (ATM) solutions provider United Bank Card Inc., now offers two connectivity options - a wireless and IP solution - which will work with any standard ATM.
The IP router eliminates the need for a dedicated phone line if a location is wired for high speed Internet access. This solution helps merchants avoid phone line costs, installation fees and additional monthly service expenses.
In addition to its IP solution, UCS is also releasing its wireless ATM service, an alternative for merchants who don't have conventional dial-up or Internet access. UCS uses a wireless router that converts traditional ATMs into wireless ATMs.
At ETA, POS terminal maker VeriFone introduced PAYware PC, touted as the next generation payment processing solution for stand-alone or integrated environments.
PAYware PC provides end-to-end payment processing and customer management capabilities for small to mid-sized merchants as well as a secure integration platform for Web developers. PAYware PC is PA DSS validated and includes built-in safeguards to protect sensitive customer data.
ViVOtech Inc., maker of NFC mobile phone and contactless payment systems, introduced the ViVOpay Kiosk contactless payment module. The kiosk, an add-on module that can attach to new and existing systems, is designed for indoor and outdoor environments. It is compatible with all major contactless programs and works with NFC mobile payment technologies.
PARTNERSHIPSInnovative Card Technologies Inc., developer of the ICT DisplayCard for e-banking, e-commerce and data access authentication, signed a two-year licensing agreement with RSA Security Inc. to avail RSA's customers worldwide of ICT's one-time passcode authentication cards.
The ICT DisplayCard integrates the security of a one-time password authenticator into a card the size of a standard credit or debit card that can be conveniently slipped into a wallet for ready access. A button on the DisplayCard shows a passcode that changes with every transaction.
ISTS Worldwide Inc., an end-to-end technology services firm, collaborated with MagTek to supply custom integrated, secure Web applications to merchants.
The Royal Bank of Scotland and MasterCard World-wide have teamed up to implement MasterCard's payment platform MasterCard inControl. This solution provides RBS' corporate customers with advanced controls to better manage purchasing expenditures.
InControl combines enhanced authorization controls with a routing capability and real-time communication features, including alert functions for commercial and consumer products.
Columbus, Ga.-based processor Total Systems Services Inc. and ControlScan Inc., an approved PCI compliance scanning vendor, teamed up to help acquirers ensure small to mid-sized merchants are PCI DSS compliant. ControlScan provides on-demand PCI compliance solutions along with security certification seals and marketing tools.
The partnership will give acquirers a variety of tools to maximize compliance rates, including a self-assessment questionnaire, survey completion assistance and access to technical support to facilitate vulnerability remediation. It will also address a growing demand by level 3 and 4 merchants to achieve and maintain PCI compliance.
ACQUISITIONSEnergized by its recent funding partnership with The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., credit card processor BluePay Inc. completed its acquisition of four merchant portfolios. BluePay will add nearly 5,000 new merchants to its portfolio. The company supplies thousands of global business enterprises with electronic payment acceptance solutions such as:
Pipeline Data Inc., a payment solutions and services provider, purchased the Mobileswipe brand from Semtek Innovative Solutions Corp., a card data capture and magnetics technology maker. The Mobileswipe national trademark, Web site and customer list is included in the acquisition.
APPOINTMENTSProcessor Total Systems Services Inc. named Antonio "AJ" Castro Bueno as its new Business Expansion Director of TSYS do Brazil (of Brazil) to lead its market entry into the Brazilian payments market.
"The Brazilian payments market, dominated today by multi-terminal credit and debit card transactions, has a tremendous potential to evolve to offer diversified, practical and economical solutions, such as point of sale terminal sharing," Bueno said. "TSYS has the technology, experience, resources and intent to participate in this evolution."
International Merchant Services Inc., a Westmont, Ill.-based processor, expanded its management team with two new senior executives: J. Larry Daniels, Executive Vice President; and Bryce Gartner, Chief Marketing Officer. Daniels will head sales and business development to foster strategic partnerships and merchant accounts. Gartner will lead marketing and customer service to drive growth of the IMS brand.
TNB Card Services, a division of Town North Bank, N.A., appointed Wendy Stanczyk as its Vice President, Regional Sales Executive. She will be in charge of identifying and establishing new credit union relationships in its northeastern sector.
Stanczyk will work with credit unions to manage and optimize their card programs to drive card usage, retention and growth as well as provide strategic direction and counsel.
Planet Merchant Processing, a division of processor Planet Group Inc., added Bryan Wine to its sales management team. Wine brings more than 15 years experience in the payments and merchant processing industry. As its new Sales Manager, Wine will expand Planet Merchant Processing's services and solutions to acquirers and ISOs within the United States and establish strategic partnerships with key players in the payments industry.
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