Monday, September 14, 2009

VerifySmart Press Release

September 14th 2009 - PIN Payments News Blog - Manila, Philippines

VerifySmart(TM) Corp. Enhanced Credit Debit Card Security Solution Provides Next Generation, Near Real-Time Identity Fraud Protection Far Superior to Chip PIN.

Sep. 14, 2009 (PR Newswire) -- TAGUIG, Metro Manila, Philippines, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - VerifySmart(TM) Corp. (VSMR: OTCBB): VerifySmart(TM) (VSC) ("VerifySmart" or the "Company"), a global leader in secure and fraud free payment processing services is providing a transaction authentication solutions that bring a level of security unprecedented in the credit / debit card industry.

Identity theft and credit card fraud are the fastest-growing categories of Federal Trade Commission complaints. The cost of credit card fraud in the United States is estimated to be US$50 million a day which amounts to a staggering US$18.25 billion a year. In Canada, card fraud costs Canadians $8,000,000 per day or $2.9 billion per year.

VerifySmart(TM) debit and credit card security and fraud detection technology allows the cardholder to be aware and authorize any payment transaction and provides the cardholder to be an active watchdog in Credit/Debit Card Fraud and Identity Theft. Current so-called solutions, such as Verified by Visa, 'Chip and PIN' and CVV Code, can all be compromised, and have not reduced payment card fraud by any significant margin.

Chip and PIN technology which originated in the UK in 2004 and launched recently in parts of North America has disappointed the industry. In 2008 APACS (Association of Payment Clearing Services) reported card-only fraud losses as a percentage of card turnover amounted to 0.12%. Prior to the introduction of Chip and PIN, this same statistic was 0.14% - a mere 0.02% reduction in losses gained at the expense of tens of millions in technology modifications.

According to the Bruce Schneier, Counterpane Internet Security, "The soluton is not to better authenticate the person, but to authenticate the transaction." Jean Garascia, Associate Analyst at Javelin Strategy and Research: 2007 Banking Identity Safety Scorecard comments "The Banks must empower customers from the start. Offer them text message account alerts and two-way messaging; let them set limits and parameters on their accounts. The sooner banks provide these tools, the sooner their customers will become identity fraud watchdogs."

In smart contrast to Chip and PIN, VerifySmart(TM) provides a complete solution to lost or stolen cards, identity theft and cloned cards while putting control of the transactions directly in the hands of the card owner. VSC has developed key technology that is simple yet effective. The cornerstone is an authentication model that decouples the verification and PIN process from the physical card or transaction medium offering the industry a new and proven fraud reduction mechanism. VerifySmart's key benefit is a two-part authentication whereby a second source (mobile phone or PDA and a PIN) of identification which cannot be forged, is required to complete the transaction.

VerifySmart's credit and debit card fraud detection and prevention technology is patent and patent-pending (PCT approved) in 29 countries ranked by strategic importance and wireless penetration rates.

Using VerifySmart's credit and debit card fraud detection and prevention technology, card transactions and other applications, such as internet transactions can be verified without requiring the banks and merchants to invest in new equipment and without major modifications to legacy systems. Merchants and financial institutions already heavily invested in Chip and PIN technology upgrades will be significant beneficiaries.

VerifySmart(TM) technology provides for verification through the end client's mobile device, such as a cell phone, with the transaction completely under the control of the card holder at all times. The process is simple and secure, uses technology that consumers and businesses alike are familiar with, does not require new hardware and only takes seconds to complete. VerifySmart's methodology uses a two factor system to verify both the transaction and unique owner credentials in real time creating a security model that is effectively impossible to be breached.

About VerifySmart(TM) Corp.

VerifySmart Corp designed and developed a Proprietary Hardware/Software Solution that solves Credit/Debit Card fraud by using two Factor Authentication.

The Company's Core Technology is designed to meet the needs of the Security challenged Trans action Processing Industry. Present day solutions, such as Verified by Visa, Chip and Pin and CVV Code (all which can be compromised) have not reduced payment card fraud by any significant factor.

The VerifySmart solution has reduced fraud to zero in earlier production pilots. The Company's proven and highly scalable solution is gaining worldwide attention and placing VerifySmart at the forefront of the fraud prevention revolution.

PayPal to Open Office in Israel

eBay to open PayPal office in Israel

At present, Israeli buyers have only limited options for paying through PayPal.

Noa Parag14 Sep 09 14:24

Online auction company eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) has cleared the way to open an office of PayPal in Israel, the company's online international money transfer and payments unit. Leumi Card VP Oded Zahavi will run PayPal Israel.

Although eBay has a Hebrew-language site eBay Israel with product prices listed in both dollars and shekels, as well as a search function for popular items, Israeli buyers have only limited options for paying through PayPal. They have to open an account using an international credit card, but they cannot withdraw money accumulated in the account because PayPal has no agreement with Israeli commercial banks.

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Fundtech and Microsoft Announce SEPA Integration Suite

Fundtech and Microsoft Introduce SEPA Integration Suite to Consolidate SEPA and Legacy Payments

Adds complete SEPA transaction processing to existing payments infrastructure centralizing payment services with minimal disruption and risk

HONG KONG, Sep 14, 2009 -PIN Payments News Blog- Fundtech Ltd. (NASDAQ: FNDT), a market leader in global transaction banking solutions, and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) today announced the introduction of the SEPA Integration Suite, a new suite of SOA (service-oriented architecture) services that adds complete SEPA transaction processing to a bank’s existing payments infrastructure with minimal disruption and risk. By leveraging their existing payments infrastructure, banks will save time and money adding transaction processing capabilities for both SEPA Credit Transfers (SCT) and SEPA Direct Debits (SDD). Corporate clients will benefit by being able to send a single stream of payments, in various formats, to a centralized payment service, streamlining their accounts payable operations while improving multi-country cash management visibility.

SEPA Direct Debit and Credit Transfers are a key issue in the development of payment systems in Europe, and the SEPA Integration Suite will be the first SEPA payments solution built entirely on the Microsoft platform. The infrastructure uses Microsoft’s cost-effective and reliable Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft SQL Server 2008, and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009, a widely deployed and powerful integration, messaging and business activity monitoring solution. Its web-enabled user interface is built with Microsoft Silverlight technology, offering great flexibility and customization capabilities.

The SEPA Integration Suite supports multi-country deployments, and offers extensive mandate management functionality. Its robust middleware transforms, organizes and routes transactions between legacy and SEPA formats using ISO 20022 XML messaging standards.

"SEPA has been the priority issue for European Payments for years now, but it seems likely that a significant number of banks will still miss the November 2009 deadline for SDD”, said Gareth Lodge, Regional Research Director at TowerGroup. “As a result banks not only have to be compliant but Fundtech Corporation 30 Montgomery Street, Fifth Floor, Jersey City, NJ 07302, USA Tel: +1-201-946-1100 www.fundtech.com

have solutions that are as scalable and resilient as those for legacy payments. Standards-based integration solutions will allow banks to leverage as much of their existing systems as possible to minimize both cost but also risk."

“Fundtech and Microsoft are offering the market an affordable and quickly implemented solution that addresses the eurozone harmonization dilemma related to SEPA payments. By leveraging existing payments infrastructure, banks using SEPA Integration Suite will be able to meet the SDD deadline while minimizing the expense of adding this required capability,” said Dieter Prang, Managing Director, Fundtech GmbH.

“Our alliance with Fundtech substantially expands our partner ecosystem for payments by helping our banking clients meet the imperatives of cost-cutting and innovation in these challenging economic times,” said Susan Hauser, vice president, Worldwide Financial Services, Microsoft. “Fundtech’s commitment to Microsoft’s banking and payments solutions leverages our familiar mission-critical enterprise platforms, including Microsoft BizTalk Server with the BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT as the payments messaging infrastructure — a solution that has been certified SWIFTReady over the past six years.”

###

About Fundtech

Fundtech (NASDAQ: FNDT), was founded in 1993, and is a leading provider of software and services to banks of all sizes around the world. Payments systems include wire transfers, ACH origination, cross-border payments and remittance. Cash management systems are designed for large corporate through small business clients. Fundtech operates the world’s largest SWIFT service bureau. We offer an extensive line of financial supply chain applications including electronic invoice presentment and supply chain financing. And we are the leading provider of CLS systems to the world’s largest banks. More than 1,000 clients throughout the world rely on Fundtech solutions to improve operational efficiency and provide greater competitiveness through innovative business-to-business services. For more information, visit www.fundtech.com.

About Microsoft in Financial Services

Microsoft’s Financial Services Group provides software that helps financial firms transform the customer, employee and operations experience so they can maximize opportunities for increased market share and profitability. Microsoft software helps empower people and IT staff within financial firms — and across key focus areas such as advisor platforms, channel renewal, insurance value chain, enterprise risk management and compliance, and payments. Through a combination of Microsoft- and partner-provided solutions, customers enable their employees to turn data into insight, transform ideas into action and turn change into opportunity. More information about Microsoft’s Financial Services Group can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/financialservices.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include, but are not limited to, projections of revenues, income or loss, capital expenditures, plans for growth and future operations, competition and regulation. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which cannot be predicted or quantified. When used in this Release, the words, "estimates," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "intends," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by or underlying the forward-looking statements. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed or identified from time to time in Fundtech's public filings, including its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2008, including general economic and market conditions, changes in regulations and taxes and changes in competition in pricing environment. Undo reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are applicable only as of the date hereof. Fundtech undertakes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this Release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Corporate Press Contacts

Microsoft

Wendy Grover

+1 425 705 7609

Fundtech

George Ravich – Fundtech Ltd.

+1 201 215 6530

george.ravich@fundtech.com

Press Agency Contacts:

Metia

Chanda Gathani

+44 795 11 63615

chanda.gathani@metia.com

Metia (APAC)

Jenny White

+65 6372 5286

jenny.white@metia.com

Brodeur India:

Praveen Nagda

+91 20 26154540

pnagda@brodeurindia.com

Verifone Releases Payware PC 1.06

San Jose, Calif., Sept. 14, 2009 -PIN Payments News Blog- VeriFone Holdings announces the release of PAYware PC™ version 1.0.6, its state-of-the-art PC-based payment processing solution for small-to-medium-sized merchants.

PAYware PC version 1.0.6 offers the following new features:

Added support for the American Express payment processing network – PAYware PC's certifications with American Express include credit transactions for retail, MOTO, e-Commerce, and restaurant environments via a TCP/IP SSL (Internet) connection. Additional features include support for purchase card (level II) transcations, CID verification, and AVS verification (with street and zip code).

Added support for the payment processor Chase Paymentech Tampa (Terminal) – PAYware PC's certifications with Chase Paymentech Tampa (Terminal) include credit, debit, EBT, gift, and check for retail, MOTO, e-Commerce, and restaurant environments via a TCP/IP SSL (Internet) or dial connection. Additional features include support for purchase card (level II) transcations, CVV2/CVC2/CID(AmEx/Disc) verification, AVS verification (with street and zip code), check verification support, installment payments & recurring billing, and support for FSA/HRA transactions. Recent initiatives from the IRS will require many businesses to support the ability to process FSA/HRA cards for health care related items.

Added support for the FDMS North-Nash payment processing network – PAYware PC's certifications with FDMS North-Nash include credit, debit, EBT, and check for retail, MOTO, e-Commerce, and restaurant environments via a TCP/IP SSL (Internet) connection. Additional features include support for purchase card (level II) transcations, CVV2/CVC2/CID(AmEx/Disc) verification, AVS verification (with street and zip code), check verification support, installment payments & recurring billing, and support for FSA/HRA transactions. Recent initiatives from the IRS will require many businesses to support the ability to process FSA/HRA cards for health care related items.

Added support for FSA/HRA & EBT transactions via FDMS North – Support has been added for EBT transactions. Also added support for FSA/HRA sale, pre-auth, and voice-auth transaction types in retail/MOTO/e-Commerce environments, as well as FSA/HRA partial approval support for sale and pre-auth transactions (for the same environments). Recent initiatives from the IRS will require many businesses to have the ability to process FSA/HRA transactions.

Added support for FSA/HRA & EBT transactions via Fifth-Third St. Pete – Support has been added for FSA/HRA sale, pre-auth, and voice-auth transaction types in retail/MOTO/e-Commerce environments, as well as FSA/HRA partial approval support for sale and pre-auth transactions (for the same environments). Recent initiatives from the IRS will require many businesses to have the ability to process FSA/HRA transactions.

Added support for processing via REF_TROUTD – Credit card sale, pre-auth, post-auth, and voice auth transactions can be processed by transmitting the previously processed TroutD instead of ACCOUNT_NUM, EXP_DATE, and TRACK_DATA (security feature accessible to developers).

PAYware PC is a perfect blend of results-inspired styling and business-driven substance. PAYware PC provides secure, end-to-end payment processing and a multitude of advanced features complimented by an intuitive interface based on Microsoft Office 2007.

PAYware PC can handle any payment need—credit, debit, checks, gift/loyalty, EBT and more—while providing the comprehensive functionality to easily manage customer records, payment schedules, contracts, and payment devices. Able to accurately and automatically perform tasks such as settlements, report generation, and solution updates, PAYware PC eases daily transaction burdens and lets you focus on other aspects of your business.

VeriFone Software Solutions (www.verifone.com )

VeriFone payment processing software solutions enable businesses of all types and sizes to quickly and securely process electronic payments including credit, debit, loyalty/stored value gift, purchasing cards (levels II and III), checks, EBT and more. VeriFone offers compelling PC-based, payment gateway and OS independent solutions - from standalone applications to customized, enterprise level payment servers - that meet nearly any need.

Source: Company press release.

MasterCard Can be Used for OGC Procurement Activities

MasterCard to Serve UK Public Sector with Efficient Electronic Payment Solutions under New OGC Framework

Government agencies to benefit from greater payment choice and financial management and control tools

London, UK - PIN Payments News Blog- September 14, 2009 - For the first time, public sector agencies in the UK will have the choice to use MasterCard electronic payment solutions for their procurement activities under the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Framework Agreement.

Under the new framework announced by the OGC and running from 2010-2014, MasterCard solutions such as the MasterCard® Purchasing Card, MasterCard® SmartData Online^™ and MasterCard® inControl^™ can be made available to the 3,300 national, regional and local public sector bodies in the UK through financial institutions AirPlus, Barclays, J.P. Morgan and RBS Group. The 44,000 disparate buying units across the UK public sector will also be able to use MasterCard payment solutions as tools to streamline and improve their purchase-to-pay processes. A global payments leader, MasterCard has been providing state-of-the-art procurement and other financial management solutions to government agencies in the UK and around the world for many years.

Hany Fam, General Manager, MasterCard UK & Ireland, comments: “Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone for MasterCard, one that is testament to the customer focus and innovation we bring to the payments market. MasterCard electronic payment solutions will enable public sector agencies across the UK to reap real bottom-line savings by realising back-office efficiencies, accelerate payments to meet the 10-day payment target and tap into improved liquidity. We are highly confident that the MasterCard platform provides a solution which meets the UK public sector strategic requirements for scalability, security and flexibility through internationally acknowledged best of breed tools.”

With the MasterCard Purchasing Card, public sector organisations will be able to leverage a range of powerful data reporting, integration and management tools provided by the SmartData Online system. In addition, financial institutions will have the option to leverage the proprietary MasterCard inControl platform. This will allow them to provide government agencies with enhanced authorisation controls that direct how, when and where payment cards may be used, combined with robust alert functionalities that deliver personalised real-time communication on transaction activities.

Brian Lang, Vice President, Commercial Products, MasterCard Europe, adds: “Commercial payment solutions constitute one of the largest growth opportunities in Europe. Thousands of commercial organisations across the continent are already benefiting from MasterCard’s efficient electronic payment solutions, delivering greater end-to-end control over the procurement process. We are proud to be able to extend our value adding payment services to public sector agencies throughout the UK, thereby also benefiting their constituents, and we are committed to continuously make the buying process more efficient and more accountable.”

MasterCard Europe has been involved in providing payments and reporting solutions to diverse public sector organisations in the UK, including the Welsh Purchasing Card (WPC) framework set up by Value Wales Procurement and provided through NatWest. The WPC system has served to significantly improve the efficiency of the procurement process and to create considerable cost savings for public sector organisations in Wales; not least because the majority have chosen to use the NatWest MasterCard programme and the associated SmartData OnLine.

Note to editors:

The challenge set by the UK Government for Buying Solutions, the executive agency of the OGC, is to deliver at least £1 billion of savings to customers year-on-year from 2010/11 (www.buyingsolutions.gov.uk).

Verifone Settles with FTC on Cookbook Charges

VeriFone settles accounting irregularities charges

SAN JOSE, Calif. -PIN Payments News Blog— VeriFone Holdings Inc. on Tuesday agreed to settle regulators’ charges that it falsified accounting records by pledging to never violate federal securities laws. A VeriFone employee implicated in the accounting debacle will pay a $25,000 fine.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged VeriFone, a provider of electronic pay services, and a former supply chain controller, with overstating operating income by 129 percent by improperly accounting for its inventory.

In February 2007, VeriFone discovered that in the fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31 its gross margin fell unexpectedly to 42.8 percent, or about 4 percentage points lower than the forecast provided to Wall Street analysts.

The SEC said senior management were convinced prior forecasts were correct. The agency claimed the company then directed employees to search for and fix the problem to avoid what an executive called an “unmitigated disaster.”

The SEC said 38-year-old Paul Periolat of Rocklin, Calif., manipulated inventory levels to boost margins — and thereby income as well — so VeriFone wouldn’t miss expectations. The company said Periolat acted without scrutiny or authorization from more senior management.

“Through poor oversight and controls, VeriFone senior management allowed an employee to make millions of dollars of unsubstantiated accounting adjustments that enabled the company to meet its guidance to Wall Street,” Marc Fagel, San Francisco regional director for the SEC, said in a statement.

From Verifone Website:

VeriFone Statement on Securities and Exchange Commission Settlement

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY - News) announced that it has entered into a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the previously disclosed investigation into the Company’s 2007 restatement of certain of its quarterly financial results.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY - News) announced that it has entered into a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the previously disclosed investigation into the Company’s 2007 restatement of certain of its quarterly financial results.

The SEC’s complaint recognizes that the Company’s restatement resulted principally from incorrect inventory accounting adjustments made by a former employee, but does not accuse the Company of intending to misstate its financial results or to mislead anyone.

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, VeriFone has agreed to a permanent injunction against future violations of certain reporting, books and records and internal accounting control provisions of the federal securities laws. No other charge or monetary penalty was assessed against VeriFone, which cooperated fully with the Commission’s investigation. This settlement is subject to court approval and concludes the SEC’s investigation of this matter with respect to VeriFone.

“VeriFone is pleased to have resolved this matter with the SEC. We will continue to focus on serving our customers, growing our businesses, and creating a more secure electronic payment environment,” said Douglas G. Bergeron, VeriFone’s Chief Executive Officer. “Over the past 18 months, the Company has substantially improved its governance and internal controls in order to prevent a recurrence of this type of event.”

Additional resources: http://ir.verifone.com

eProcessing Network Certified by First Data North (CardNet)

Gateway Platform Receives Certification

September 14th, 2009 - PIN Payments News Blog - Houston, Texas.

eProcessing Network, LLC, the leading independent payment gateway and software development company, announced today that it has completed certification to First Data Corp’s North platform, formerly known as CardNet, for Retail, MOTO, eCommerce, Recur and PIN-Debit transactions.

Addition of First Data’s North platform to ePN’s extensive list of processor certifications combines ePN’s robust PABP/PA-DSS-compliant payment solutions, such as the ePNPlugIn for QuickBooks®, ePNJPOS Point-Of-Sale software, ePNMobile wireless processing and ePN’s many ecommerce options, with a widely popular processing

platform.

“First Data is a recognized leader in payment processing and this latest certification through our frame-relay into First Data shows our commitment to our sales offices by offering them fast, low cost transactions, and leading the market with more processor certifications than any other independent gateway,” says Steve Sotis, President of eProcessing Network. “Use of ePN's product set through the North platform will be a welcomed opportunity for sales offices considering First Data's initiative to increase usage of the North platform for both their wholesale and retail ISO base.”

* * *

About eProcessing Network, LLC.

eProcessing Network, LLC is a software development company specializing in secure, real-time transaction processing services and support. The eProcessing Network Payment Gateway processes merchant transactions using each merchant’s own credit card, ACH/check and/or shipping account. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, eProcessing

Network is certified to process a comprehensive suite of electronic payment transactions through many processing platforms, including First Data Omaha, North and Nashville, Global Payments, Paymentech Tampa, TSYS, Elavon and CrossCheck, Its integrated solutions are also certified through MagTek, AT&T, FedEx and the U.S. Postal System.

eProcessing Network is a registered Visa USA Third Party Service Provider and is compliant with the PCI Data Security Standard. For more information, go to www.eprocessingnetwork.com

Chase Bank Notifies Customers of Breach

Chase Customers are the latest to receive "free credit report monitoring for 12 months!

Bank Info Security is reporting that Chase Bank is notifying an undisclosed number of customers that their personal data may have been breached. Here is an excerpt:

Backup Tape Reported Missing from Vendor Storage Facility

From: Linda McGlasson, Managing Editor of Bank Info Security:

"Chase Bank has sent out data breach notification letters to an undisclosed number of customers after a computer tape with customers' personal information was reported missing from a third-party vendor's storage facility.

Tom Kelly, spokesperson for New York-based Chase, the commercial/consumer banking arm of financial giant JPMorgan Chase, says the vendor -- which he would not name -- confirmed it received and maintained the tape, and that its offsite facility had been searched thoroughly after the tape disappeared. Kelly would not say if the data on the tape was encrypted, but says its data can be read only with special equipment and software.

Affected customers are being offered a free one-year subscription to the bank's identity protection program, Kelly says. (Translation: Free Aspirin for the headache we caused you!)

For more information on 2009 data breaches involving financial institutions, see this interactive timeline

Two Seconds Before e-Consumers Bail Out of eCommerce Website

Akamai Reveals 2 Seconds as the New Threshold of Acceptability for eCommerce Web Page Response Times

Press Released: Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 11:32 am

Findings indicate 47 percent of consumers expect an eCommerce page to load in two seconds or less; site performance is a key factor in a consumer’s loyalty to an eCommerce site

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leader in powering video, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, today released key findings from a commissioned study (www.akamai.com/2seconds) conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Akamai examining eCommerce web site performance and its correlation with an online shopper’s behavior. The most compelling results reveal that two seconds is the new threshold in terms of an average online shopper’s expectation for a web page to load and 40 percent of shoppers will wait no more than three seconds before abandoning a retail or travel site.

Additional findings indicate that quick page loading is a key factor in a consumer’s loyalty to an eCommerce site, especially for high spenders. 79 percent of online shoppers who experience a dissatisfying visit are less likely to buy from the same site again while 27 percent are less likely to buy from the same site’s physical store, suggesting that the impact of a bad online experience will reach beyond the web and can result in lost store sales.

In 2006, Akamai conducted a similar study (www.akamai.com/4seconds) to understand consumer reaction to a poor online shopping experience. The 2009 study is a follow up to examine how customer expectations around online shopping have evolved in the past three years.

Based on the feedback of 1,048 online shoppers that were surveyed, Forrester Consulting concluded the following key findings:

The study also shows that consumers continue to be frustrated by online shopping sites’ performance, which leads to an increase in site abandonment. 23 percent of dissatisfied online shoppers attributed their dissatisfaction to the web site being too slow or taking too long to load, while 57 percent of online shoppers insist on a rapid checkout process, up nearly 10 percent from three years ago. One-third of shoppers who abandoned a recent shopping session were dissatisfied with a retail or travel site’s performance. These results demonstrate that a poorly performing web site can be damaging to retailer’s brand and reputation.

“Today’s consumers demand a fast, engaging and secure online shopping environment when searching for a product online. We see a direct relationship between online revenues and site performance and therefore, we have to ensure our site performs well and loads fast,” said Michael Cooper, Vice President and General Manager, HomeDepot.com. “Akamai helps us achieve these goals. Leveraging Akamai’s Dynamic Site Accelerator solution, we can deliver an enhanced and reliable online shopping experience to our customers, and shoppers will want to keep coming back to our site.”

The Forrester study also states that usability, site content and speed are key factors to online customer loyalty. By taking the time to improve the overall site content and functionality, retailers can bolster the overall brand and image of their company. For example, adding rich, interactive and dynamic content to a retail site can help reflect the in-store experience for the consumer, which can lead to increased satisfaction and loyalty from the consumer.

“The takeaway from this study is that site performance remains a major factor for keeping visitors coming back to a retail site. Online shoppers demand – and expect – quality site performance which is a requirement for optimal online success,” said Pedro Santos, Chief Strategist for eCommerce at Akamai. “With two seconds as the new benchmark for a retail or travel site to load, it leaves little room for error to maintain a company’s loyal online customer base. Leveraging Akamai’s Dynamic Site Accelerator services and our globally-distributed network, retailers have been able to speed up page response times, meaning less shoppers abandoning the site due to slow response times and more shoppers making their purchases as a result.”

Akamai will host and deliver a Webcast discussing the trends and findings from this study together with an analyst from Forrester Consulting on September 25, 2009. To register, please visit: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=61864

To read and download a complimentary copy of the full study, please visit www.akamai.com/2seconds.

The Akamai Difference

Akamai® provides market-leading managed services for powering video, dynamic transactions, and enterprise applications online. Having pioneered the content delivery market one decade ago, Akamai’s services have been adopted by the world’s most recognized brands across diverse industries. The alternative to centralized Web infrastructure, Akamai’s global network of tens of thousands of distributed servers provides the scale, reliability, insight and performance for businesses to succeed online. Akamai has transformed the Internet into a more viable place to inform, entertain, advertise, interact, and collaborate. To experience The Akamai Difference, visit www.akamai.com.

Press Release Contacts

Media Relations Akamai Technologies Helen Yang, 858-404-1436 hyang@akamai.com or Investor Relations Akamai Technologies Noelle Faris, 617-444-4676 nfaris@akamai.com

Press Release Tags

Tags: communications, hardware, massachusetts, networks, North America, Publishing, Software, Technology, United States, webcast

Perago Chosen to Modernize Palestinian Interbank Payments

PALESTINE MODERNIZES INTERBANK PAYMENTS WITH PERAGO

According to Finextra, Italy-based payments processor Perago has won the contract to supply the technology infrastructure for the Palestine Monetary Authority's overhaul of its interbank payments.

More on this story: http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=20479

Perago (Sia-Ssb): vince gara per pagamenti interbancari in Palestina

MILANO (MF-DJ)--Il gruppo Sia-Ssb, attraverso la controllata Perago, si e' aggiudicato il bando di gara indetto dalla Palesatine Monetary Authority (Pma) per la progettazione e la realizzazione della nuova infrastruttura tecnologica per i pagamenti interbancari in Palestina.

La nuova infrastruttura tecnologica, si legge in una nota, permette infatti una piu' efficiente gestione della compensazione e del regolamento dei pagamenti, garantendo una solida e sicura piattaforma per lo sviluppo del settore dei servizi finanziari, a beneficio dell'intera comunita' imprenditoriale palestinese. Si tratta della prima implementazione al mondo di una soluzione di mercato capace di gestire il regolamento sia dei pagamenti interbancari all'ingrosso sia di quelli al dettaglio, tramite il sistema Rtgs (Real-Time Gross Settlement), con funzionalita' integrate di compensazione dei pagamenti retail.

Attualmente sono 20 le banche (di cui 10 straniere) che operano sul territorio palestinese attraverso un network di 205 filiali. L'infrastruttura consentira' di trasferire una media giornaliera di circa 10.000 pagamenti. Grazie alle innovative funzionalita' multi-currency, il nuovo sistema Rtgs potra' gestire contemporaneamente le quattro attuali diverse valute legalmente riconosciute in Palestina: Euro, Dollaro statunitense, Shekel israeliano e Dinaro giordano. Si prevede che il progetto possa concludersi entro la prima meta' del 2010. com/vz

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 14, 2009 04:31 ET (08:31 GMT)

Fast Remittance = SWIFT

SWIFT Moves Toward Fast Remittance

Bank Technology News | September, 2009 by John Adams

John Adams writes for Bank Technology News about a move for faster Bank-to-Bank remittances...here's a snippet.

"Hoping to hold off an intrusion by mobile phone providers and non-bank competitors, banking co-op SWIFT has developed a new service to streamline bank-to-bank remittance payments

Scheduled to be showcased at this week’s SIBOS conference in Hong Kong, the workers remittance framework includes contract templates, a market practice for service levels and product definitions, reference data services, ISO 20022 standards and a messaging service. The contract templates, reference data and XML standards allow banks to use any payment product. And the service is “commercial neutral,” so banks have flexibility in branding, pricing and foreign exchange for payments.

SWIFT says the product has been piloted, with participating institutions enjoying an 80 percent decrease in remittance costs. The cooperative says traditional correspondent banking remittance arrangements have not enabled price benefits, time transparency or ease of use, leaving banks vulnerable in the remittance game."

Continue Reading at BTN

FundTech Wins BofA/Merrill Lynch Online Payments Contract

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Chooses Fundtech's Global PAYplus-SP(TM) as the Foundation for its Next-Generation Online Banking Channel for Treasury Management

Fundtech's New SOA-based Transaction Banking Platform Receives Broad Industry Support as the Premier System That "Truly Fulfills the Promise of SOA"

HONG KONG -- Sibos Conference -- Sept. 13, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fundtech Ltd. (Nasdaq:FNDT), a market leader in global transaction banking solutions, today announced that Bank of America Merrill Lynch has selected its new Global PAYplus-Services Platform (Global PAYplus-SP) as the foundation for its next-generation on-line treasury management banking platform. The bank expects the new system to provide its clients with new levels of convenience and control in cash management.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is using the new Global PAYplus-SP solution to develop a hub that will enable a new online payments experience. The hub will support consistent processing for all payments regardless of channel. It will provide faster payment processing at a lower cost, enhance flexibility and improve response times to new opportunities, as well as allowing other advanced functions. The transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Fundtech's operating results for the third quarter of 2009.

Global PAYplus-Services Platform Introduction

Today at the Sibos conference (Editor's Note: Typhoon Warning T8 Just Issued) Fundtech introduced Global PAYplus-SP, a next generation payments platform developed using Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Global PAYplus-SP preserves all of the rich, market-proven capabilities of Global PAYplus, while adding the power of an independent suite of SOA services.

Today's announcement from Fundtech is part of a company-wide evolution to a services-based approach that transforms all of Fundtech's transaction banking products into an integrated suite of SOA services including payments, cash management, financial messaging, and financial supply chain. Fundtech has developed a single shared-services framework that is platform independent, based on an open architecture and XML-based data model, ensuring seamless compatibility with bank-developed and third-party SOA-based services.

Fundtech has worked closely with the industry on product development, and by delivering significant and tangible benefits to financial institutions with Global PAYplus-SP, is demonstrating its innovative leadership.

As an example of Global PAYplus-SP's innovative use of SOA, it now becomes possible to integrate full payments functionality into the corporate customer's online experience, thereby enhancing self-service, streamlining workflows, and significantly increasing straight through processing (STP). In what Fundtech calls STP@Source(TM), clients are engaged in the validation and enrichment of payment transactions, resulting in fewer exceptions and lower cost. Clients are empowered to make routing and pricing decisions resulting in a faster and more responsive service.

Quotes

Fundtech - Michael Sgroe, president and COO

"The introduction of Global PAYplus-SP offers banks the most comprehensive approach to implementing SOA across their transaction banking enterprise. It is a single platform that allows financial institutions to consolidate processing for all payment types; reduce costs by eliminating the waste and duplication of multiple payment silos; and offers consistent service regardless of the payment type anywhere on the globe. We are delighted to support Bank of America Merrill Lynch's goal of developing the industry's most advanced payments platform."

Supporting Fundtech's successful bid with Bank of America Merrill Lynch were IBM and Oracle:

IBM - Chae An, VP of Financial Services Sector Solutions

Commenting on the introduction, Chae An, VP of Financial Services Sector Solutions, for IBM Software Group said: "We have worked with Fundtech over a number of years as they have developed their new SOA platform and services-component library that integrates with the IBM WebSphere Application Server platform and the IBM Banking Industry Framework. Fundtech's approach provides banks with the ability to fulfill the promise of SOA with independent services that can be shared among many applications, and combined with other services to create a wholly new capability. Our close collaboration and interoperability helps ensure that our clients are able to gain rapid return from such investment, and nowhere could this be better demonstrated than with our first major joint implementation at Bank of America Merrill Lynch."

Oracle - Andrea Klein Vice President, Global Financial Services - Banking

Andrea Klein Vice President, Global Financial Services - Banking from Oracle said: "To meet the challenges of a fast-changing competitive environment, the transaction banking industry will benefit from the new capabilities of a SOA-based system. Oracle and Fundtech have worked closely over the past several years as they developed their new Global PAYplus-SP. We believe that it fulfills the promise of SOA, with independent services that enable banks to have a new level of responsiveness and agility."

Supporting Fundtech's Global PAYplus-SP product introduction is HP:

HP - Andy Orent, Director, Banking & Capital Markets, Financial Services Industry

"Financial institutions can lower transaction costs, reduce time to market for new services, and respond quicker to changing business needs with Fundtech's transaction banking applications on HP Technology," said Andy Orent, Director, Banking and Capital Markets, Financial Services Industry, HP. "Fundtech's services-based, modular approach fits tightly with HP's end-to-end, next-generation payments strategy."

About SOA

The move to SOA is a widely accepted fundamental paradigm shift in software development and business architecture that evolves from deploying full-functioning applications to deploying services that can be reused across the enterprise as part of end-to-end business workflows. Reusability of services reduces the time-to-market and expense for deploying new functionality, thereby minimizing development and testing timelines and reducing overall project risk. This new level of flexibility will make banks more agile, able to be more competitive and more market-responsive.

About Fundtech

Fundtech (Nasdaq:FNDT), was founded in 1993, and is a leading provider of software and services to banks of all sizes around the world. Payments systems include wire transfers, ACH origination, cross-border payments and remittance.

Cash management systems are designed for large corporate through small business clients. Fundtech operates the world's largest SWIFT service bureau. We offer an extensive line of financial supply chain applications including electronic invoice presentment and supply chain financing. And we are the leading provider of CLS systems to the world's largest banks. More than 1,000 clients throughout the world rely on Fundtech solutions to improve operational efficiency and provide greater competitiveness through innovative business-to-business services. For more information, visit www.fundtech.com.

CONTACT:  Metia Inc.
          Press Contacts:
          (UK/U.S.) Andy Martinus
            +44 (0) 20 3100 3585
            andy.martinus@metia.com
          (APAC) Jenny White
            jenny.white@metia.com

          Brodeur India:
          Praveen Nagda
          +91 20 26154540
          pnagda@brodeurindia.com
         
          Fundtech Ltd.
          Corporate Contact:
          George Ravich 
          +1-201-215-6530
          george.ravich@fundtech.com

Hacker Hits RBS WorldPay Systems Database

Hacker Hits RBS WorldPay Systems Database

Romanian hacker says he discovered a SQL injection flaw on a WorldPay application, but RBS says no merchant or cardholder data was compromised

By Kelly Jackson Higgins | DarkReading

A Romanian hacker well-known for discovering SQL injection vulnerabilities in high-profile Websites has struck again -- this time on RBS WorldPay's site, where he says he hit the jackpot, the company's database.

The hacker, who goes by "Unu," says he accessed RBS WorldPay's database via a SQL injection flaw in one of its Web applications. RBS WorldPay maintains Unu accessed a test database that didn't carry any live data, and that no merchant or cardholder data accounts were compromised. The company has since taken down the pages.

Unu says the company's response to his email warning of the vulnerability, as well as other security problems, was "unprofessional" and "confused."

Continue Dark Reading

Bonus Coverage!

RBS WorldPay downplays database hack reports

Updated RBS WorldPay and a hacker are at loggerheads over the seriousness of a supposed breach on websites run by the payment processing firm.

Security shortcomings - since blocked - on RBS WorldPay website exposed confidential information, including admin passwords and the contact details of partners, according to blog posts by Romanian hacker Unu.

The grey-hat hacker previously exposed similar problems on the websites of the UK parliament and HSBC France, among many others. As before he published screenshots to back up his latest claims.

RBS WorldPay initially responded to our inquiries by saying that the reported SQL injection attacks mounted by Unu were thrown against test websites. All the dummy data involved was fictitious and in no way confidential, so there was no breach...

Editor's Note: You may or may not remember that RBS WorldPay previously had 1.5 million cards hacked. Here's a refresher provided by DataLossdb.com

1.5 million credit card records compromised via hack
Records	1,500,000
Record Types	CCN SSN
Breach Type	Hack
Source	Unknown
Organization	RBS Worldpay
Other Organizations	None
Lawsuit?	YES
Data Recovered?	NO/UNKNOWN
Arrest?	NO/UNKNOWN
Submitted By:	securityninja

TIMELINE

Date	Event
2008-11-10	Incident Occured
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None. Add Data	Incident Discovered By Organization
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2008-12-23	Organization Reports Incident
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2008-12-23	Organization Mails Notifications
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None. Add Data	Records Recovered
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2009-02-18	Lawsuit Filed
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None. Add Data	Arrest Made
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