ANNOUNCEMENTSThe ATM Security Association introduced a new subscription level designed for security, software and cash management companies whose markets include the ATM industry. Each of these business types can benefit significantly from access to ASA resources, including the Crisis & Crime Management Intelligence System, which allows subscribers to track all types of ATM crime across the globe, the ASA stated.
Key subscription benefits include faster and more comprehensive information and knowledge-sharing on recognized ATM attack scenarios and threats; proactive, cross-vendor recommendations on countermeasures; participation in workgroups with other ATM industry stakeholders; and participation in standardization processes.
Global technical body EMVCo updated its secure remote commerce (SRC) specifications to support more flexible online checkout options for merchants and consumers. EMVCo worked with EMVCo Associates to update the specifications in line with marketplace needs. Version 1.3 of the EMV SRC Specifications add increased flexibility, choice and control for merchants; expanded authentication options; and improved SRC identity validation. Version 1.3 is now available on the EMVCo website, bit.ly/3W4Swf9, and can be used royalty-free.
Nova Credit UK, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Nova Credit, received the requisite permissions from the Financial Conduct Authority to provide credit references in the UK. Through its Nova Passport technology, the firm intends to make it easier, faster and more equitable for immigrants living in the UK to access credit products and services, Nova Credit stated. Nova Credit, is a consumer-permissioned credit bureau.
Since launching in 2016, the company noted, it has developed partnerships with credit bureaus in over 20 countries, enabling millions of immigrants to bring their foreign credit history with them when applying for credit products. It counts American Express, HSBC, Verizon, the United Nations Federal Credit Union and SoFi among its customers.
Intelligent identity security firm Sontiq, a TransUnion company, said it earned the top spot in the Fraud Protection category for the 2022 CyberSecured Awards. The company was recognized for its proprietary data breach analysis capability, BreachIQ. The annual CyberSecured Awards are issued by 1105 Media’s Security Today, an industry media brand that provides technology, education and solutions for security professionals.
The awards are independently judged and honor outstanding product development. BreachIQ’s proprietary AI algorithm analyzes more than 1,300 data points using information from publicly reported data breaches, fraud risk patterns, and feeds from the Dark Web and online criminal forums, Sontiq noted, adding that it then calculates a personalized risk score ranging from one to 10 based on the severity and risks, and provides the specific steps to take to mitigate risks.
Wafi Inc. reported it launched Wafi.cash, a payment processing platform that provides ecommerce businesses with a simple API to enable fast, secure and cost-effective processing of payments. The platform eliminates redundant entities in the payment processing flow, giving businesses significant cost savings and increasing profitability, Wafi stated, adding that ecommerce businesses reduce payment processing fees by over 50 percent, and users earn up to 0.75 percent cash back on every purchase.
In addition to reducing fees, Wafi noted, the platform helps reduce payment failures. Wafi.cash includes automated workflows and smart fallbacks that handle multiple payment scenarios, increasing payment success rates and helping to reduce fraud with advanced security features such as encryption and multifactor authentication, the company stated.
RESEARCHDespite a challenging economic environment, the 2022 holiday shopping season exceeded projections, according to ACI Worldwide, a provider of real-time digital payments solutions whose research analyzes millions of ecommerce transactions annually to assess year-over-year growth. From October through December 2022, ecommerce transactions saw a 21 percent increase, beating estimates by 6 percent. Consumers spent more on gaming and travel, as both sectors saw a significant uptick in transaction volumes during Cyber Weekend 2022.
The gaming sector experienced a 153 percent increase in transaction value, and the travel sector experienced a 57 percent increase. Meanwhile, the retail sector had a 4 percent increase in volume over Cyber Weekend, driven by general retail, which saw a 14 percent increase, and sports and athletic sales, which experienced a 13 percent increase in transaction volume, ACI noted.
The Customer Intelligence and Analytics market study, published by research firm Customer Engagement Insider found that despite recognizing the importance of data, brands are struggling to capture, unify and operationalize worthwhile customer insights. CEI also found that the majority of customers surveyed do not feel their interactions with brands are personalized, and they do not feel the agents with whom they spoke know or care about them and their issues.
Key topics in the report include the biggest data challenges brands face; shocking statistics about the lack of a 'single source of CX truth'; insight on what the "voice of the customer” really means in today’s landscape; and the impact of customer intelligence gaps on employee performance and engagement.
New research from SecureSave revealed the impact high inflation is having on Americans’ savings, with 67 percent of respondents surveyed reporting they would be unable to cover an unexpected $400 expense. The findings come on the heels of the Labor Department’s data that revealed consumer prices rose 6.5 percent on an annual basis.
Researchers cited inflation as the factor that impacted participants' finances the most. In addition, lack of financial security has resulted in a significant decline in work productivity, according to the study: 75 percent of respondents said increasing financial stress is hampering their productivity at work, with nearly 30 percent of respondents saying they spend one to two hours a day on money worries, costing employers billions of dollars.
A new Threat Pulse report from security consulting firm NCC Group examined ransomware attacks during December 2022. Among the key findings were that December saw ransomware activity from cyber threat actor BlackCat surge 100 percent, with the highest number of attacks the criminal group has undertaken in a single month; 269 ransomware attacks occurred in December, a 2 percent increase over November (at 265 attacks).
Researchers found this increase contradicts the patterns observed in 2021 in which November and December experienced a decrease, attributed to a holiday period slowdown, and we’re approaching the highest number of ransomware victims since the peaks reached in March and April 2022, illustrating major growth since the summer and autumn months, with a possible inclining trend on the horizon.
PARTNERSHIPSFactor4 LLC, a provider of gift card and loyalty solutions, partnered with CoCard, a member-owned, merchant-driven ISO. The partnership enables CoCard to offer their members omnichannel gift card and loyalty solutions to seamlessly process gift card and loyalty transactions in-store, online and via mobile devices, the partners stated.
As one of the only companies that offers complete omnichannel gift card and loyalty solutions, Factor4, they added, leads the gift card and loyalty industry in strategic partnerships and was recognized in the United States Gift Card and Incentive Card Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics -Q1 2022 Update report by ReportsandMarkets.com.
Greenpenny selected Jack Henry to empower its mission to facilitate the green energy transition in the Midwest. Greenpenny is a virtual bank focused on sustainable energy lending and powered by Decorah Bank & Trust Co. Launched in 2021, Greenpenny offers consumers and businesses a full suite of banking products and dedicates its deposits to financing renewable energy and/or carbon-reducing projects.
Greenpenny said it chose Jack Henry to increase automation and boost efficiencies, enabling employees to spend more time with customers, delivering a high-touch, personalized experience using digital channels, the partners stated. With Jack Henry, the bank expects to gain access to an open, comprehensive technology suite, including core processing, real-time payments, bill payment capabilities, fraud detection and more.
Payment acceptance solutions provider Ingenico and Fujitsu Frontech North America, through its subsidiary Fulcrum Biometrics Inc., unveiled what they described as "the world’s most secure, accurate and seamless biometric payment solution based on palm vein identification."
This innovation enables merchants to speed up checkout, minimize the risks of fraud and streamline the customer experience, the partners stated, adding that the solution enables contactless payments, reduces queues and transforms in-store commerce.
Designed on Ingenico’s AXIUM range, its Android payment terminals, the solution allows consumers to identify themselves and authenticate their payments by moving the palm of a hand over a near infra-red sensor—no need to take out a credit card or enter a PIN.
MagTek, a world supplier of secure payment technology, and Xpress-pay, a Software-as-a-Service digital bill payment solution provider, collaborated using MagTek's tDynamo card reader authenticator and Xpress-pay's cloud-based epayment service. This mobile, handheld solution is built to meet the needs of in-person payments for organizations in the retail, restaurant, hospitality and service sectors.
Select businesses, like insurance companies, are required to meet compliance measures where the fees for services and transaction fees must not be commingled; the retail industry is unique in that they are allowed to pass fees onto the consumer, the partners stated. Having a payment solution that addresses either scenario, they noted, can be critical to success. By integrating the MagTek tDynamo with the Xpress-pay payment application, merchants and consumers are both able to benefit from lower card-present interchange costs associated with in-person transactions, they added.
PayJunction, a developer of payment processing technology, integrated with Plaid, a consumer-permissioned network powering the digital financial ecosystem, to enable PayJunction customers and partners to deliver a better pay-by-bank experience. Integrating Plaid’s secure account-to-account (A2A) bank connectivity technology with PayJunction’s payment gateway will allow B2B and B2C businesses to easily extend to their customers a simple way to pay for goods and services via direct bank transfer, whether online or via invoicing, PayJunction stated, adding that it routes the transactions via the low-cost ACH processing rails, which can result in significant savings versus payments made with credit and debit cards.
The partners additionally noted that according to Nacha, more than 29 billion ACH Network payments were made in 2021, valued at close to $73 trillion.
ACQUISITIONSGlobal card-issuing program Marqeta entered into an agreement to acquire credit card program management platform Power Finance Inc. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Power’s cloud-native platform offers credit card program management services for companies creating new credit card programs.
As part of this acquisition, Power Finance CEO Randy Fernando will lead the product management of Marqeta’s credit card platform. The combination of Marqeta and Power’s platforms allows Marqeta to directly offer its customers the tools they need to create innovative credit products that meet the changing demands and expectations for credit cards from consumers and businesses, Marqeta stated.
Zafin, an SaaS cloud-native product and pricing platform for banks and credit unions, acquired FINCAD, a global leader in pricing and risk analytics of financial derivatives and fixed income products. By acquiring FINCAD, Zafin expands its product portfolio and analytics capabilities to become one of Canada’s largest B2B fintech companies with significant global presence including more than 450 institutional clients, over 60 ecosystem partners, and more than 500 employees spread out across 13 global offices, the company stated.
FINCAD provides derivative and fixed-income pricing, modeling and risk analytics to banks, asset management firms, insurance companies and hedge funds. The addition of FINCAD’s expertise, next-generation analytics and extensive global client base will position the combined company for extraordinary growth, Zafin added.
APPOINTMENTSPayroc WorldAccess LLC promoted Joe Garza to chief revenue officer. Garza previously served the organization as chief innovation officer, driving success across payment channels by providing the first-to-market World Access integrated platform. Garza, Payroc stated, has over two decades of payments experience and has been integral in the development and expansion of Payroc's integrated platforms supporting ISVs, payment facilitators, and fintech organizations globally.
Before joining Payroc, Garza was the co-founder of eConduit—a global SaaS integration platform providing access to payment devices and acquirers globally. His prior professional experience extends into such payments organizations as Elavon, Moneris Solutions and American National Bankcard.
Payments technology platform Global Processing Services appointed Jim McCarthy as executive vice president – global head of sales and product, and Kevin Fox as the company’s new chief revenue officer. In this newly created role, McCarthy will lead GPS’ global commercial and product teams in close collaboration with Fox on sales acceleration. McCarthy is an accomplished payments veteran with over 30 years' experience, including 18 years at Visa where he held senior roles in sales, risk and authentication, consumer credit, digital products and product innovation.
Fox is a seasoned international payments and technology executive with more than 25 years of experience. During his time at i2c, he scaled the company’s sales organization globally and expanded its penetration into the banking sector, diversifying i2c’s revenue stream by segment and market. Prior to i2c, Fox served as executive vice president for NovoPayment and was responsible for designing and executing the firm’s banking-as-a-service delivery model across 11 markets.
Sift, a provider of digital trust and safety, hired Kris Nagel as CEO. Nagel brings more than 30 years of experience in senior leadership positions at venture-backed and public SaaS companies from pre-revenue to $4.5 billion in annual sales, and from early funding to in excess of $10 billion in market capitalization, Sift noted.
He most recently served as the chief operating officer at identity security platform Ping Identity, where he played a critical role in taking the company public in 2019. Prior to Ping Identity, Nagel was CEO of Vindicia, an Amdocs Ltd. company.
EBANX, a payments fintech, appointed Fabio Scopeta as its new chief product & technology officer to lead the company's product and technology divisions globally. With more than 25 years of experience, Scopeta will focus on leveraging EBANX's products and payments platform, and will be based out of Miami, Fla.
Prior to EBANX, Scopeta served in multiple product engineering and commercial roles at Microsoft, more recently as general manager for digital and app innovation solutions. Before joining Microsoft, he was head of IBM Watson Health for Latin America, following his role as head of IBM Watson for Brazil, in addition to serving as the company's director of software engineering and product management.
Utimaco, a global provider of IT security solutions, appointed Hacan Tiwemark, a long-serving solutions and services professional who previously served as Utimaco’s vice president of professional service and solutions, as its new chief operating officer. Tiwemark has held various management positions at Siemens Nixdorf, Siemens Business Services and Wincor Nixdorf.
Before joining Utimaco, he was group vice president, global head of service delivery & operations at Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security. Combined, he has more than 25 years of experience in solutions and services—from solution design, solution sales, system integration, managed services and operation of critical cloud/DC operations. 
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