RETAIL BRIEFSANNOUNCEMENTSThe ATM Industry Association honored its Government Relations Committee Co-Chair and former Cardtronics General Counsel Mike Keller for his long and fruitful years of service to the ATM industry and to ATMIA in the United States and Europe. Keller retired as head of Cardtronics' legal department in 2016 and will retire from his position on the ATMIA GRC during the ATMIA U.S. Conference in February 2017.
Auth0 raised $15 million in Series B financing led by Trinity Ventures. The new funding follows a year of strong growth, the company said. It is expected to further accelerate the growth of Auth0's identity platform and aid in the launch of additional advanced security features for customers. As part of the financing, Trinity General Partner Karan Mehandru joined the Auth0 board of directors.
Eddie Bauer LLC said its POS systems at retail stores were affected by malware, enabling unauthorized parties to access payment card information. The company said it engaged third-party digital forensic experts to conduct an extensive investigation to determine and report the facts. HEI Hotels & Resorts also reported a security incident possibly affecting the personal information of customers who made payment card purchases at POS terminals at certain HEI managed properties.
EMVCo said it now provides formal industry approval to confirm whether contactless mobile payment-enabled devices can operate seamlessly with EMV Level 1-approved payment acceptance terminals. The new approval process incorporates Level 1 tests usually managed by the individual payment systems. Thus it brings efficiencies to the process and reduces time to market, EMVCo stated. EMV Contactless Mobile Payment Type Approval covers both secure element (SE) and host card emulation (HCE) technologies. EMVCo stated the new testing and approval process includes the following:
ePAY Healthcare said it launched Loyale, an enhanced suite of healthcare provider services, which combines ePAY Healthcare's patient engagement and payment platform with technology-enabled solutions to assist patients with care-related financial obligations. The Loyale platform utilizes predictive analytics, personalized communication workflows and revenue cycle management to drive financial patient engagement.
The SilverLake System offered by Jack Henry Banking, a division of Jack Henry & Associates Inc. that provides integrated computer systems to banks, was recognized by technology research firm Celent LLC. The product earned two XCelent Awards, as noted in the Core Banking Systems for Midsize Banks: North American Version, 2016 report. The awards were in the Advanced Technology and Customer Base categories.
First American Payment Systems L.P. won the Association of TeleServices International Call Center Award of Distinction for the fourth consecutive year. The award was created 14 years ago to recognize the overall quality of the call center industry. Following a six-month test, an independent panel of judges selected FAPS for its response time, courtesy, etiquette, accuracy, proper call techniques and customer relationship management.
"As we continue to serve our merchants with a best-in-class customer service team, this award demonstrates the level of service we are providing is truly outstanding," said Latiffa Sharpe, Vice President of Merchant Services for FAPS.
HotHand Inc. was awarded a patent covering the association of debit or credit card information with a mobile device to execute commercial transactions. This patent is the most recent of five U.S. patents granted to HotHand. It describes a mobile commerce framework and the technology necessary for payment transactions conducted by mobile devices. The company said it now has intellectual property rights encompassing the full end-to-end mobile commerce cycle.
For the seventh consecutive year, Mastercard collaborated with Stand Up To Cancer and invited cardholders to give back by dining out and sharing the hashtag #Reasons2StandUp on social media. During the campaign, Mastercard made a donation to SU2C every time cardholders spent $10 or more for a qualifying meal using a Mastercard card. The company reached its goal of raising $4 million this year, bringing the company's overall contribution to more than $35 million toward cancer research in the United States and Canada.
NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association stated a new rule was approved that will require Originating Depository Financial Institutions (ODFIs) to identify and register their third-party sender customers. The registration process will promote consistent customer due diligence among all ODFIs and serve as a tool to support NACHA's continuing efforts to maintain automatic clearing house (ACH) network quality.
The National Retail Federation welcomed the release of draft online sales tax legislation by U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., stating action is needed to break a long deadlock on the issue. "We hope this move will bring the attention needed to get Congress to move forward in treating purchases made online the same as those made in local stores when it comes to sales tax collection," said David French, NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations.
Payscape recently presented a check for $19,200 to the nonprofit organization Junior Achievement of Georgia. The donation is the result of the Glow on the Green charity golf tournament, hosted by Payscape, at Atlanta's North Fulton Golf Course. In its fourth year, the event has transformed into a sold-out summer charity event. Glow on the Green combines a four-man moonlit golf scramble, live music and libations with an impressive roster of Georgia-based sponsors, Payscape stated.
Total Merchant Services Inc. was recently ranked No. 9 in Fortune magazine's Best Workplaces in Finance and Insurance. It is the only payment processing company that made the list. The list's rankings of the 30 top workplaces are based purely on feedback from 41,000 employees regarding trust, camaraderie and respectful treatment. According to the survey, 96 percent of Total Merchant Services' employees feel that their workplace is great.
The Third Party Payment Processors Association filed an amicus brief in support of the defendants' motion to dismiss in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's lawsuit against Intercept Corp. Likewise, U.S. Consumer Coalition President Brian J. Wise issued a statement against the same CFPB lawsuit. Both organizations believe that if the lawsuit is not dismissed, the CFPB's position will adversely affect the due process rights of third-party payment processors and others.
Maeve McKenna Duska, USA Technologies Inc. Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, was recognized as part of the first annual 2016 Women of IoT in Marketing Award program from the editors of Connected World magazine. The new list celebrates women responsible for getting the word out on advancements in the connected world. The award acknowledged Duska for her approach to marketing and communications, which enhanced USAT public relations, customer service and sales.
RESEARCHATMIA released an updated version of its ATM Convenience Fee Position Paper. Originally published in 2006, the paper outlines ATMIA's position that the freedom to apply a convenience fee on ATM transactions is a fundamental economic and business right for both independent ATM deployers and all financial institutions, along with a practice that is conducive to greater convenience, choice and fee transparency for consumers.
Mercator Advisory Group's recent note Mobile Card Controls: Do-It-Yourself Fraud Management examines the evolution of mobile card controls and the increasing array of card control features being introduced by payments industry players. The research note also addresses how card networks and issuers can benefit by presenting their customers with additional fraud management protection.
According to a new study released by the NRF and Forrester Research Inc., chief information officers and technology executives indicated the implementation of EMV chip card acceptance is the retailer's top payment issue in 2016. The State of Retail Payments 2016 study – subtitled Securing Consumer Payment Data Continues to Dominate the Payments Agenda – also found that EMV adoption has been hampered by competing security enhancement priorities, such as point-to-point encryption and tokenization.
Ten million new consumers, 52 percent of whom are younger millennials, entered the credit card marketplace in the last year. TransUnion LLC's Q2 2016 Industry Insights Report also found that total balances have increased to $662 billion as of the second quarter of 2016, up 6 percent from the second quarter of 2015. "Credit card usage continues to increase at levels in line with consumer confidence and likely due to a relatively strong employment market," said Paul Siegfried, TransUnion Senior Vice President and credit card line business leader.
USForex Inc. released its SMB Confidence Indicator. With survey partner Researchscape International, USForex surveyed more than 300 U.S. small to midsize businesses (SMBs) to understand market sentiment and confidence associated with international expansion. Results indicated 96 percent of SMBs are confident in conducting business abroad and see going global as a way to access high-quality employees and suppliers, as well as a key stepping stone to continued growth.
PARTNERSHIPSViewpost IP Holdings LLC created a secure business network and teamed with Bank of America Corp. to ensure that the bank's small business customers can easily join the network to access the information and credit needed to effectively manage business finances online. The program is a cost-saving development for small businesses, which are currently estimated to be paying between $4 and $20 for processing a single business check, and between $4 and $8 to process a business invoice.
Blue Sage Software Inc. integrated to Cayan LLC's Genius Platform, a cloud-based payment solution that mitigates the business challenges associated with integrating POS payments. As a result of this partnership, users of Blue Sage's PaceSetter solution will be able to provide customers with a faster, more flexible and engaging EMV payment processing solution at the POS. "It works with every card brand and requires no software upgrades or additional testing for the merchant," said Henry Helgeson, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Cayan.
ACI Worldwide extended its long-term relationship with Computer Services Inc. to power CSI's card fraud protection platform. The company said that by integrating ACI's award-winning payments risk management solution, ACI Proactive Risk Manager, into its Card Sentry solution, CSI can monitor debit card transactions and proactively identify fraudulent transactions before they occur, reducing overall fraud losses.
Equinox Payments and NCR Corp. stated they have made available a robust payment solution that helps increase security and quickly enables EMV-certified technology in retail POS systems. The Equinox L5000 series payment devices are now certified on NCR's Connected Payments platform. According to the companies, it is a powerful software-as-a-service payment solution that eliminates the need for retailers and value-added resellers to go through the complex and lengthy EMV Level 3 certification process.
Fragmob LLC partnered with Complete Merchant Solutions LLC to assist joint corporate customers in processing their mobile commerce transactions for all major credit and debit cards, gift and loyalty cards, ACH, remote deposit capture, as well as other noncash payment methods. In addition, by integrating the CMS ePayment solutions with the Fragmob direct sales business platform, the two companies will offer corporations insight into the numbers that drive business, the companies stated.
NAB Velocity partnered with Enspire Commerce's RetailPoint mobile POS customer engagement solution, which is targeted for small and midsize businesses. The partners said their relationsip enables Velocity to provide RetailPoint with access to its extensive sales force, allowing it to expand its visibility and sales reach. In return, RetailPoint will utilize Velocity as its payment gateway to securely process credit card transactions.
Net Element Inc. subsidiary PayOnline, entered into an agreement with OOO Bank Round, a Russian Federation-licensed commercial bank. The agreement includes transaction clearing, draft capture and settlement of bankcard processing in the Russian Federation. "We are pleased to have signed a partnership agreement with PayOnline," said Yegor Davydov, Director of Business Development of Round Bank.
Clients of Soar Payments are now automatically enrolled in Chargeback.com Inc.'s unique technology-driven solution. According to the companies, this sends a strong signal to Soar Payments' merchant clientele that customer disputes need to be taken seriously and managed with proper tools and resources. With Chargeback, Soar Payments' clients will gain access to reporting tools, data discovery resources, a team of analysts, automated representments, custom workflows and managed issuer alerts from all participating card issuers, Soar Payments said.
Paragon Application Systems partnered with India-based Financial Software & Systems Ltd., which will serve as an international distributor reselling Paragon's products and services and providing local support in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. "We are delighted to announce our partnership with Paragon to provide leading testing products and solutions to banks and financial institutions in GCC countries," said Yogesh Dhuldhoya, President Software Services at FSS.
TouchBistro partnered with Square Inc. to help restaurateurs using TouchBistro to expand their capabilities to include all the services Square can offer: payment processing, accepting Apple Pay, depositing money instantly and accessing a loan through Square Capital. "This partnership has been many years in the making; we are excited to finally bring Square's elegant, best-in-class hardware and processing to our customers," said Alex Barrotti, CEO and founder of TouchBistro.
Symphony EYC and The Partnering Group Inc. formed a partnership that will focus on delivering an automated joint business planning (JBP) workbench designed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of retailers and their suppliers. The JBP workbench simulates JBP process consulting and best practices, and integrates with the Symphony EYC Customer-Centric Retailing platform to deliver strategic insights and actionable results for customers, according to the companies.
ACQUISITIONSDiebold Inc. reported that it completed the acquisition of Wincor Nixdorf AG through its voluntary takeover offer for all the company's ordinary shares. Under the terms of the takeover offer, Wincor Nixdorf shareholders received €38.98 in cash plus 0.434 Diebold common shares in exchange for each Wincor Nixdorf share. In the United Kingdom, the Diebold and Wincor Nixdorf brands and operations will remain distinct, pending regulatory review.
Independent financial research and advisory firm PayStream Advisors was acquired by Levvel LLC, an information technology consulting firm that offers technical implementation and strategic advisory services to organizations. This endeavor will combine PayStream's record of groundbreaking research and thought leadership with Levvel's broad expertise in IT strategy and execution, Levvel stated.
PayTech Corp, a Puerto Rico-based company with over a decade in the payment processing and fintech industry, was acquired by a group of local investors. PayTech will operate under the name of Accepta. Under this agreement, Accepta will strive to significantly increase its share in both the Puerto Rican and U.S. markets, and will continue developing innovative products and payments services.
APPOINTMENTSTotal System Services Inc. named Karim Ahmad, a veteran of the financial services and consulting industries, as its Executive Vice President of Global Product and Innovation. Ahmad will report directly to Pam Joseph, President and Chief Operating Officer of the company. "We are excited to welcome someone with Karim's industry knowledge and experience to our executive leadership team at TSYS," Joseph said.
First Data Corp. hired Ivo Distelbrink to lead its business in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Reporting to Chairman and CEO Frank Bisignano, Distelbrink will be based in Singapore and serve on the company's Management Committee. Distelbrink lead First Data's efforts for a region where it has offered innovative solutions tailored to the APAC market for more than 20 years, the company said.
Kabbage Inc. said it hired three key executives with deep expertise in scaling world-class organizations across the financial services and technology sectors. Jeff Hodges was appointed as Kabbage's Chief Financial Officer and Scott Askins signed on as General Counsel and Secretary. The company also hired Richard Schafrann to lead its Capital Markets team.
The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center appointed Greg Temm to the newly created role of Chief Information Risk Officer. Reporting to FS-ISAC CEO Bill Nelson, Temm will be responsible for the organization's global intelligence program, including its overall risk management program. He will also serve as a trusted security advisor in member development and engagement opportunities around the globe, the organization said. 
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