Texas Bank Sues Victim of Cybertheft Incident

Today's Featured Post

There's an interesting article at ComputerWorld.  A Texas banking customer lost $800k to some bad guys in Romania and Italy due to what they claim is insufficient online banking security. 



The bank, PlainsCapital, counter-sued, claiming that "someone" used valid "credentials" and therefore it is not the banks fault. 





The bank is asking the court to rule that their security is "reasonably secure."  So, what does "reasonably" secure mean?  I see in the article they also refer to "commercially reasonable." 



This case, and another, Shames-Yeakel vs. Citizens Bank will test both the commercial and consumer banking industry online banking security standards.  



If PlainsCapital loses this case, it will change commercial online banking forever.  On the consumer side, the same holds true with the Shames-Yeakel case, which is centered around  whether entering a username and password provides a secure online banking environment. 





There is a safe way to two-factor-authenticate an online banking session.  Think ATM's.  What is required in order for you to obtain $200.00 in cash from one?  You need your card, your PIN and an ATM.  Our PCI 2.0 Certified PIN Entry Device serves as a HomeATM.  Swipe your Card, Enter your PIN.  Voilla!  The user is Instantly authenticated, using existing bank rails.  I'm sure I've mentioned that any bank using our device to authenticate online banking sessions, would also virtually eliminate any and all threats posed by phishing,  as there would no longer be anything to phish phor.  (e.g. usernames, passwords, mother's maiden name, etc.)



Bank sues victim of $800,000 cybertheft 

In twist, Texas bank sues business customer, claiming cybertheft not its fault

Computerworld - A Texas bank is suing a customer hit by an $800,000 cybertheft incident in a case that could test the extent to which customers should be held responsible for protecting their online accounts from compromises.



The incident, which was first reported by blogger Brian Krebs this week, involves Lubbock-based PlainsCapital bank and its customer Hillary Machinery Inc. of Plano.



In November, unknown attackers based in Romania and Italy initiated a series of unauthorized wire transfers from Hillary's bank accounts and depleted it by $801,495. About $600,000 of the amount was later recovered by PlainsCapital.



Hillary demanded that the bank repay it the rest of the stolen money. In a letter to the bank in December, Hillary claimed that the theft happened only because PlainsCapital had failed to implement adequate security measures.



PlainsCapital promptly filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas asking the court to certify that its security procedures were "commercially reasonable." In its complaint, the bank noted that it had made every effort to recover the stolen money.



The bank sought to absolve itself from blame in the heist by stating that the unauthorized wire transfer orders had been placed by someone using valid Internet banking credentials belonging to Hillary Machinery. "PlainsCapital accepted the wire transfer orders in good faith" and had therefore not breached any of its agreements with Hillary, the bank said in its complaint.



The complaint itself is somewhat unusual in that it doesn't seek anything specific from Hillary. Rather, all it asks is for the court to certify that its systems are reasonably secure.



In an interview with Computerworld today, Troy Owen, Hillary's vice president of marketing, disputed the bank's claims. Owen insisted that it was the bank's failure to implement strong authentication and fraud-detection measures that had enabled the theft.



"The bank is doing what their attorneys are telling them to do, which is to deny everything," Owen said. "They obviously can't just come out and say they know their systems are insecure, so they are trying to bully us with a lawsuit."...

Continue Reading at ComputerWorld

Related articles by Zemanta

• Does Weak Online Banking Log-In Make the Bank Liable for Losses Incurred when Fraud Occurs? (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• More on the Shames-Yeakel vs. Citizens Bank Decision (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• Bank sues victim of $800,000 cybertheft (computerworld.com)


• Online Banking's Ticking Time Bomb... (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• New Phishing Attack Methods Duped Six Times as Many Consumers in 2009 than in 2007 (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• Security Fears Dog Online Banking (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• Online Banking Trojans Infesting the Web (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• Garlik's UK Cybercrime Report 2009 Released (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• Online Banking Provide Opportunity to Rebuild Trust Between Banks and Consumers, Says MasterCard CFO (pindebit.blogspot.com)

Amazon.com Announces Fourth Quarter Sales up 42% to $9.5 Billion

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009.



Operating cash flow was $3.29 billion in 2009, compared with $1.70 billion in 2008. Free cash flow increased 114% to $2.92 billion in 2009, compared with $1.36 billion in 2008.



Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards outstanding totaled 461 million on  December 31, 2009, compared with 446 million a year ago.



Net sales increased 42% to $9.52 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $6.70 billion in fourth quarter 2008. Excluding the $354 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 37% compared with fourth quarter 2008.



Operating income increased 75% to $476 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $272 million in fourth quarter 2008. Excluding the $31 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, operating income would have grown 63% compared with fourth quarter 2008.



Net income increased 71% to $384 million in the fourth quarter, or $0.85 per diluted share, compared with net income of $225 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2008.



“Millions of people now own Kindles,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “And Kindle owners read, a lot. When we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books. This is year-to-date and includes only paid books -- free Kindle books would make the number even higher. It’s been an exciting 27 months.”



Full Year 2009



Net sales increased 28% to $24.51 billion, or 29% excluding the $182 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year, compared with $19.17 billion in 2008.



Operating income increased 34% to $1.13 billion, or 39% excluding the $40 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year, compared with $842 million in 2008. Included in 2009 operating income is the impact of our settlement with Toysrus.com LLC for $51 million. In 2008, operating income included a $53 million non-cash gain recognized on the sale of the Company’s European DVD rental assets.



Net income increased 40% to $902 million in 2009, or $2.04 per diluted share, compared with net income of $645 million, or $1.49 per diluted share, in 2008.

Highlights

• Kindle and Kindle DX are available for immediate shipment to over 100 countries. Additionally, the Kindle for iPhone App is now available from the Apple App Store in more than 60 countries. Customers around the world can now synchronize reading between their Kindle, Kindle DX, personal computer, iPhone, iPod touch and soon, Blackberry, Mac and iPad.

• The U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 410,000 books, including 100 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers, more than 8,000 blogs, and more than 130 top U.S. and International newspapers and magazines, including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times (U.K.), Le Monde, The Economist, The New Yorker, Newsweek, and Time.


• The Company announced that authors and publishers around the world can now use the self-service Kindle Digital Text Platform (DTP) to upload and sell books in English, German and French to customers worldwide in the Kindle Store.


• Amazon.com announced a new 70 percent royalty option for Kindle DTP, enabling authors and publishers to earn more royalties. Beginning June 30, authors and publishers who select the new royalty option will receive 70 percent of list price, net of delivery costs.


• The Company introduced Kindle Development Kit, which gives developers access to programming interfaces, tools and documentation to build and upload active content for Kindle.


• North America segment sales, representing the Company’s U.S. and Canadian sites, were $4.96 billion, up 36% from fourth quarter 2008.


• International segment sales, representing the Company’s U.K., German, Japanese, French and Chinese sites, were $4.56 billion, up 49% from fourth quarter 2008. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, International sales grew 37%.


• Worldwide Media sales grew 29% to $4.68 billion. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 23%.


• Worldwide Electronics & Other General Merchandise sales grew 60% to $4.61 billion. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 54%.


• The Company completed its acquisition of Zappos.com on November 1, 2009. Zappos.com contributed approximately $200 million to fourth quarter revenue.


• Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), a new web service that makes it easy to set up, operate and scale relational databases in the cloud, was introduced by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon RDS provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity while automating time-consuming database administration tasks, freeing users to focus on their application and their business.


• AWS introduced Spot Instances for Amazon EC2, a new option that allows customers to purchase and consume Amazon EC2 compute resources. With Spot Instances, customers bid on unused Amazon EC2 capacity and run those instances for as long as their bid exceeds the current Spot Price. Spot Instances can enable lower costs and provide significant short-term capacity for customers with flexibility in when their applications can run.


• Both Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 lowered pricing during the quarter. Amazon EC2 lowered prices up to 15% for all On-demand instance families and sizes, while Amazon S3 introduced new pricing tiers that will reduce storage cost for multi-petabyte customers by more than 15%.

Separately, the Company is announcing that its Board of Directors has authorized the Company to repurchase up to $2 billion of the Company's common stock. The program allows the Company to opportunistically repurchase its shares from time to time when it believes that doing so would enhance long-term shareholder value. The repurchase authorization does not have a fixed expiration. Purchases may be effected through one or more open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions, transactions structured through investment banking institutions or a combination of the foregoing. This stock repurchase authorization replaces the previous $1 billion stock repurchase authorization, approved by the Board of Directors in 2008.



Financial Guidance

The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of January 28, 2010. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce and the various factors detailed below.

First Quarter 2010 Guidance

• Net sales are expected to be between $6.45 billion and $7.00 billion, or to grow between 32% and 43% compared with first quarter 2009.


• Operating income is expected to be between $275 million and $365 million, or to grow between 13% and 50% compared with first quarter 2009. This guidance includes approximately $110 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions or investments are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.

We are prospectively adopting Accounting Standard Update (ASU) No. 2009-13, Revenue Recognition – Multiple Deliverable Revenue Arrangements, as of January 1, 2010. The impact of the adoption of this standard is included in our first quarter 2010 guidance.



A conference call will be webcast live today at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, and will be available for at least three months at www.amazon.com/ir. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the Company’s financial and operating results.





About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle and Kindle DX are the revolutionary portable readers that wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle and Kindle DX utilize the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so users never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Kindle is the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, and www.amazon.cn. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Third Annual UK Ponemon Study Shows the Cost of a Data Breach Continues to Increase

LONDON and TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Privacy and information management research firm Ponemon Institute, together with PGP Corporation, a global leader in enterprise data protection, today announced the results of the third annual study into the costs incurred by UK organisations after experiencing a data breach. The "2009 Annual Study: UK Cost of a Data Breach" report, compiled by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by PGP Corporation, found that each lost customer record cost on average 64 pounds Sterling in 2009, a seven percent increase on 2008's figure of 60 pounds. In 2007 the cost per lost record stood at just 47 pounds. Lost business due to reduced consumer trust was the main contributor to this expense, making up 29 pounds per record.



The 2009 study is the first report of its kind to quantify the costs associated with both public and private sector breaches. The research showed that UK public organisations faced average costs of 59 pounds per lost record. While the financial impact of lost business is substantially lower for public bodies than for commercial firms, the costs associated with detecting and escalating a breach, with notifying citizens and dealing with subsequent enquiries, are all substantially higher in the public sector, and are the principle contributors to the overall costs. In comparison, the cost per lost record in the commercial sector stood at 69 pounds per record.



"This third annual study shows that the financial impact of data breaches is hitting UK organisations harder and harder each year," said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of The Ponemon Institute. "In the commercial sector the costs associated with customer churn and attracting new customers are particularly acute, but our research suggests these firms are getting better at detection, remediation and customer communications. However, these efficiencies aren't shared in the public sector, where the direct costs of a data breach are significantly higher. For example, the cost of notifying users that their records might have been compromised is more than four times higher for public organisations than for private firms."



The report focuses on the cost of activities resulting from real life data loss incidents occurring between May 2009 and January 2010. A total of 33 UK organisations – 25 from the private sector and eight from the public sector – participated in the research, revealing breach events of between 5,200 and 60,000 personally identifiable information records. These breaches cost between 365k pounds and 3.92 million pounds to manage, at an average of 1.68 million pounds.



A copy of the study, including a full breakdown of the various direct and indirect costs impacting organisations, is available from PGP Corporation at: http://www.encryptionreports.com/2009cdb.html



Factors impacting data breach costs



The 2009 study shows that the root cause of a data loss incident, and an organisation's reaction to the loss, directly affected the overall cost of the breach. When a third party was responsible for the loss, per record costs climbed to an average of 81 pounds. Organisations which fell victim to a malicious or criminal attack also sustained higher costs, with per capita costs rising to 76 pounds. The financial impact was also greater for those organisations experiencing their first ever breach, or suffering an incident as a result of a lost or stolen laptop.



Conversely, there were several factors that proved to reduce the overall financial impact of a data breach. Organisations which responded quickly to a loss incident, notifying customers of the breach with one month of detection, incurred costs of just 56 pounds per record, 8 pounds lower than the overall average. If the chief information security officer, or equivalent, took personal responsibility for managing the incident, costs dropped to 59 pounds per victim. Firms employing external consultants to assist in the management of the breach saw per record costs fall to an average of 60 pounds.



Post data breach responses



The organisations participating in the research identified encryption and data loss prevention (DLP) solutions as the top two technology responses following a data breach. In addition, manual control practices and training programmes were cited as the top two implemented manual processes. This suggests that UK organisations understand that an enterprise data protection strategy that is supported and understood by all employees must be implemented to properly safeguard information.



"There is positive news from this study - organisations that proactively protect their data suffer less when hit by a data breach," said Phillip Dunkelberger, president and CEO of PGP Corporation. "While the Information Commissioner is poised to introduce fines of up to half a million pounds for non-compliance with the Data Protection Act, organisations that employ a strategic approach that combines strong security leadership, well defined operational procedures and integrated technology solutions will reduce their exposure to costly loss incidents."



About the Ponemon Institute



The Ponemon Institute© is dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy management practices in business and government. To achieve this objective, the Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organizations in a variety of industries.



About PGP Corporation



PGP Corporation is a global leader in email and data encryption software for enterprise data protection. Based on a unified key management and policy infrastructure, the PGP® Encryption Platform offers the broadest set of integrated applications for enterprise data security. PGP® platform-enabled applications allow organizations to meet current needs and expand as security requirements evolve for email, laptops, desktops, instant messaging, smartphones, network storage, file transfers, automated processes, and backups.



PGP® solutions are used by more than 100,000 enterprises, businesses, and governments worldwide, including 95 percent of the Fortune® 100, 75 percent of the Fortune® Global 100, 87 percent of the German DAX Index, and 51 percent of the U.K. FTSE 100 Index. As a result, PGP Corporation has earned a global reputation for innovative, standards-based, and trusted solutions. PGP solutions help protect confidential information, secure customer data, achieve regulatory and audit compliance, and safeguard companies' brands and reputations. Contact PGP Corporation at www.pgp.com.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Cost of a Data Breach - $204 per record (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• Breach numbers fall while costs rise Ponemon study finds (v3.co.uk)

Entrust Placed in Leaders Quadrant in Gartner's Latest Fraud Detection Study

Leading solution from Entrust helps protect financial institutions from the latest online threats

DALLAS, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- As advanced malware and man-in-the-browser attacks continue to defraud consumers, businesses and financial institutions, the need for appropriate fraud detection and strong authentication is at an all-time high. A trusted security vendor that specializes in thwarting online fraud, Entrust, Inc., has been positioned in the leaders quadrant of Gartner Inc.'s 2010 Magic Quadrant for Web Fraud Detection.(1)



"Organizations with high-risk applications and sensitive customer data must look for vendors and technology that can fend off increasingly sophisticated and unpredictable attacks, such as the current round of man-in-the-browser attacks," said Gartner analyst Avivah Litan in the firm's latest Magic Quadrant for Web Fraud Detection.



Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Web Fraud Detection named Entrust as a leader based on its "ability to execute" and the company's "completeness of vision." The study placed 11 Web fraud detection vendors into four different quadrants — leaders, visionaries, challengers and niche players. The report is an unbiased, qualitative evaluation of the 11 vendors in the specific Web fraud detection market (i.e., providers of products and services that may help detect and prevent online fraud).



"There's never been a more important time for financial institutions to deploy online fraud detection technology alongside strong authentication solutions," said Entrust President and CEO Bill Conner. "In my opinion, this report is further affirmation that our strategic approach to addressing online fraud — including our ability to catch the very challenging man-in-the-browser attacks — is not only effective, but attractive to real-world customers with critical security needs."



And while large financial institutions seem to be the most likely targets, criminal groups are even targeting small- to mid-sized banks, government agencies and businesses. According to one report, the past two years have seen the FBI investigate more than 200 online fraud cases that have totaled more than $100 million in fraudulent transfers — $40 million of which is still unaccounted for.(2) Further, there are current legal cases pending between banks and businesses that argue who is responsible for the fraud losses, making the issue top-of-mind for all involved.



Global organizations continue to defend against malicious fraud techniques that evolve at an increasingly rapid rate. These targeted groups seek methods to help stop persistent fraud attacks on invaluable information, customer identities and brand image. Comprehensive fraud detection solutions — ideally collaborating with a strong authentication platform — monitor and profile all ongoing user behavior, a critical component to detecting and defending against the latest in malware and man-in-the-browser attacks.



According to Gartner, Magic Quadrant "leaders" are "vendors with well-established records in fraud detection. They have earned high scores from many of their customers for their ability to effectively stop fraud while minimizing inconvenience to end users. These vendors are financially able to expand through acquisitions as well as global marketing and business development efforts. They have a commitment to staying in and winning in this market and to developing their products and services to meet evolving customer needs. They have also demonstrated that they can support markets in different parts of the world, other than their home country. Still, even these market leaders have much work to do in improving their products, services and customer support."(1)



Entrust TransactionGuard transparently monitors and profiles user behavior to identify anomalies, automatically learning what is normal for that user, and then calculating the risk associated with a particular transaction — all seamlessly and in real time. Unlike competitive offerings, Entrust TransactionGuard can analyze all points of interaction with the user on the Web site without backend application modification, allowing organizations to gain a complete picture of potentially fraudulent behavior using intuitive case-management and reporting features.



Entrust enables organizations to layer security — according to access requirements or the risk of a given transaction — across diverse users and applications. Entrust's authentication capabilities include username and password, IP-geolocation, device, questions and answers, out-of-band one-time passcode (delivered along with transactional details via voice, SMS or e-mail), grid and eGrid cards, digital certificates (in software or on smart cards/USB Tokens) and a range of one-time-passcode tokens. Entrust also provides multiple methods of supporting mutual authentication, including picture and caption replay as well as Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates.



Leading financial institutions, enterprises and government agencies have deployed some combination of Entrust's consumer authentication and fraud detection solutions, including DnB Nor, Expedia, Commerce Bank, Bank of New Zealand, Banco Santander Santiago, Goteborg University, Ministry of Economic Development of New Zealand, SCHUFA, Arbetsformedligen, Alaska Law Enforcement Information Sharing System, Vejle Amt, Aristex, Swedish National Labor Market Administration, Skanska and more.



About Entrust



Entrust provides trusted solutions that secure digital identities and information for enterprises and governments in 2,000 organizations spanning 60 countries. Offering trusted security for less, Entrust solutions represent the right balance between affordability, expertise and service. These include SSL, strong authentication, fraud detection, digital certificates and PKI. For information, call 888-690-2424, e-mail entrust@entrust.com or visit www.entrust.com.



About The Magic Quadrant



The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2010, by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in The Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.



(1) "Magic Quadrant for Web Fraud Detection," Avivah Litan, Gartner, Inc., January 26, 2010.



(2) "Cybercrooks stalk small businesses that bank online," Byron Acohido, USA TODAY, January 13, 2010.



Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust, Inc. in the United States and certain other countries. In Canada, Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust Limited. All Entrust product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Entrust, Inc. or Entrust Limited. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.



SOURCE Entrust, Inc. RELATED LINKS

http://www.entrust.com

eCommLink, Inc. Names Vicente Mota Senior Vice President of Sales

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- eCommLink, a leading value-added prepaid debit card processor, announced today the appointment of Vicente Mota as Senior Vice President of Sales. Mr. Mota will oversee the company's domestic sales efforts, as well as its global efforts in Latin America, where his immediate focus will be on mobile cross-border remittance programs.



"I'm thrilled to be joining a company with a proven prepaid processing platform, as well as a solid understanding of the future of the prepaid market," stated Mr. Mota. "eCommLink's goal of expanding its U.S. and Latin American footprint by leveraging relationships with foreign banks and product aggregators and connecting them with new and existing program managers fits well with my expertise and the direction of the market."



Mr. Mota brings to eCommLink many years of experience in the prepaid landscape. Directly prior to joining the company, he served as Vice President of Sales for TransCard, LLC, where he developed and managed the retail ISO sales channel for private label prepaid card products in the U.S. and Latin America.



"Vicente brings broad expertise in the prepaid industry at both the program management and processing levels, as well as an outstanding record of sales success in the space," stated eCommLink CEO, Ennio Ponzetto. "He illustrates precisely the level of experience and success that we require of a member of our executive team and we are excited to have him on board."



About eCommLink, Inc.



eCommLink, Inc. (www.ecommlink.com) enables program managers and financial institutions to maximize revenue from their prepaid debit programs. The Company's flexible prepaid processing platform, innovative features and industry experience allows clients to create customized prepaid programs for their specific markets while ensuring quality, security and time to market. eCommLink supports the full array of prepaid debit programs, including general spend, payroll, teen, gift, travel, government and loyalty cards.



SOURCE eCommLink, Inc. RELATED LINKS

http:/www.ecommlink.com

Network International Offers Planet Payment's Pay In Your Currency Service in UAE

LONG BEACH, Calif., NEW YORK and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates , Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Planet Payment, Inc. (LSE: AIM: PPT and PPTR; OTCQX: PLPM), a leading multi-currency payment and data processor and Network International LLC ("NI"), the largest acquirer in the Middle East and North Africa and the preferred card solutions provider in the United Arab Emirates, today announced an agreement to provide Planet Payment's Pay in Your Currency™ service to merchants in the United Arab Emirates.



The Pay in Your Currency service will provide Network International merchants with the ability to present the end consumer with a choice of paying in the local currency, or completing the purchase in their own currency at the point of sale. This service enables the merchant to improve client service, thereby aiding their volume growth while at the same time increasing their operating margins.



"As the largest acquirer of international card transactions in the UAE and with many of our global merchant clients successfully offering similar services in other regions, the introduction of a world class currency conversion product is one of Network International's strategic objectives for 2010," said Abdulla Qassem, Chairman of Network International. "The UAE is a global destination for business and tourist travel and now with Pay in Your Currency, our merchants have an innovative way to better serve their international clientele. We look forward to being the first acquiring bank in the UAE to deploy Pay in Your Currency in partnership with Planet Payment, who we believe, offer Network International and our merchants a best-in-class product."



"We are excited to enter the dynamic Middle Eastern market with a world class partner like Network International. The adoption of the Pay in Your Currency service has increased dramatically over recent years as more merchants around the world view the service as a powerful tool to improve sales, customer satisfaction, and net profits," said Philip Beck, Chairman and CEO of Planet Payment. "Now, through our agreement with Network International, merchants in the UAE can enjoy the same quality solution, with its emphasis on merchant ease-of-use and a positive customer experience."



The United Arab Emirates, a center for business and tourism with a high volume of international visitors, presents a ready market for the solution. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council's report on the economic impact of travel and tourism, visitor exports (essentially, expenditures by international visitors on goods and services within the resident economy), currently at AED 83.5 billion dirhams (2009) in the UAE, will almost double to AED 162 billion by 2019. In addition, statistics released by Dubai Airport show that passenger traffic grew 9.2% in 2009 to 40.9 million and in December the number of passengers using the airport grew 14.5%, with the number expected to grow over 13% in 2010. Pay in Your Currency provides merchants with an innovative way to cater to this growing market of international visitors. The parties anticipate launching the service in Q2 2010.

About Network International:

Established in 1994, Network International LLC is the largest acquirer in the Middle East and North Africa and one of the leading payment solutions providers in the Gulf and Middle East Region geared to meet the needs of Banks, Financial institutions, and large and individual retailers. It is a Principal Member of Visa International and MasterCard International offering customers the most comprehensive range of payment products and services in the Gulf and MENA region for both the Issuing and Acquiring segment of the card payment industry. Offerings include credit and debit card processing services, ATM management and monitoring, merchant acquiring plus consumer finance applications. Network International provides consultancy services ranging from planning and designing, to developing of new card and consumer finance  products and services.

Network International is the first independent vendor certified by both Visa & MasterCard for card payments in the Middle East. It is UAE's largest payment acquirer for Credit & Debit Cards and the largest third-party processing vendor which is capable of providing banks, the retail industry and financial institutions with complete EMV certified solutions as they migrate to EMV Smart Card technology.



About Planet Payment®:

Planet Payment's Common Shares trade in the UK on AIM under the symbols PPT for unrestricted Common Shares and PPTR for Reg S Common Shares and in the USA on the OTCQX under the symbol PLPM.

Planet Payment enables processors, acquiring banks and their merchants to accept process and reconcile credit card transactions in multiple currencies, allowing cardholders to view prices and settle transactions in their native currency. The Pay in Your Currency™ service is Planet Payment's suite of multi-currency processing solutions, which includes a multi-currency pricing e-commerce service and a Dynamic Currency Conversion service. Planet Payment's BuyVoice™, a mobile payment and commerce solution, allows merchants to accept payments and sell product to customers using any mobile or landline phone. With the iPAY™ gateway, Planet Payment also offers comprehensive Internet processing solutions for credit card and electronic check payments.

Planet Payment is headquartered in New York and has offices in Atlanta, Beijing, Bermuda, New Castle Delaware, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.

SOURCE Planet Payment, Inc.

RELATED LINKS

http://www.planetpayment.com

Five Financial Institutions Sign with Fifth Third Processing Solutions

CINCINNATI, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifth Third Processing Solutions is pleased to announce that the following five financial institutions have signed contracts for electronic funds transfer services, including gateway access, ATM and debit card processing, card production services and ATM terminal driving:



Farmers State Bank based in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming and founded in 1915, is a full service community bank offering consumer, commercial and agricultural products and services. It continues to serve the rural community of eastern Laramie County as well as the community and businesses of the town of Pine Bluffs. http://www.bankinwyo.com



Security State Bank of Farwell, Texas has been serving customers since 1925. As a locally owned, independent and full-service community bank, it operates one location and one ATM. With over $90 million in assets today, Security State Bank continues to add services to better serve its customers while maintaining the relationships and personal service vital for a home-owned community bank. www.ssbfarwell.com



Hawaii National Bank headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, opened its doors in downtown Honolulu in 1960. As the largest of the 134 banks opening in the United States that year, Hawaii National has over $500 million in assets and operates 14 branch locations on the islands of Oahu, Maui and the Big Island and has 15 ATMs. Hawaii National Bank remains one of the keystone institutions of Hawaii finance, providing a wide range of services to small business customers and individual account holders www.hawaiinational.com



Coffee County Bank located in Manchester, Tennessee was formed in 1975 by local businessmen committed to serving the personal and business financial needs of the entire community of Manchester and Coffee County. Today, the bank operates two branch locations and 3 ATMs. With assets over $126 million, the Coffee County Bank's commitment to its community and customers remains the same as in 1975; exceptional customer service and products designed to suit every customer. www.coffeecountybank.com



The Bank of Mauston located in Mauston, Wisconsin, first opened its doors in 1868 as a privately held company. During the Great Depression, the Juneau County State Bank merged with the Bank of Mauston; the name the company continues to operate under. Today, the bank has assets over $223 million and operates six branch locations. Through all of the growth The Bank of Mauston has experienced, the bank remains an independent, locally owned, community bank. www.bankofmauston.com



"The reputation of Fifth Third Processing Solutions' leadership in the payments industry preceded their sales team," said Bryan Luke, Executive Vice President, Hawaii National Bank. "They have a proven track record for reliable service, affordable pricing, advanced features for ATM networks and debit card marketing programs. Their sales and administration teams exhibited the professionalism and experience of a company focused on delivering results."



"Our client relationships allow us to build programs that will continually evolve to meet the needs of all our financial institutions partners and their customers," said Angela Brown, President, Financial Institutions Services at Fifth Third Processing Solutions. We take pride in offering both our financial institutions and merchants the most flexible, customizable and high performance product suite available."



Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC delivers innovative payment transaction processing and acceptance solutions to create and support complex payment strategies for merchants, businesses, and financial institutions around the world. A pioneer in card payment acceptance in the early 1970s, Fifth Third Processing Solutions is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a joint venture with Advent International and Fifth Third Bank, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB).



As a premier full service payment solutions provider, the Company provides servicing solutions and product engineering for financial institutions' and retailers' credit card, debit card, merchant and private label programs processing over 33.3 billion ATM and point of sale transactions and over $315.5 billion in debit and credit card sales volume annually. The Company supports over 180,000 merchant and financial institution locations and 11,000 ATMs in 44 states and 11 countries. According to the Nilson Report (March 2009), the Company is the fourth largest U.S. merchant purchase transaction acquirer. Learn more at www.FTPSLLC.com.



SOURCE Fifth Third Processing Solutions RELATED LINKS

http://www.FTPSLLC.com

Related articles by Zemanta

• The "Perverse" Nature of the Bank Card Industry (pindebit.blogspot.com)

Bling Nation Adds Facebook Executive, Chamath Palihapitiya, To Board of Directors

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bling Nation, a provider of mobile payments services that connect financial institutions, businesses and consumers with mobile tap-and-pay purchases, announced today that Facebook vice president of User Growth, Mobile and International, Chamath Palihapitiya has joined its board of directors.



Palihapitiya is one of the longest tenured senior executives at Facebook and, during his time there, has been the executive responsible for managing Facebook’s Platform, launching its online advertising channel and most recently driving Facebook’s massive user growth and evolution into mobile. He also serves on the board of directors for Fixya.com and is recognized for his outstanding leadership in the Internet and financial services industries over the past 10 years in Silicon Valley.



“Silicon Valley is home to a number of innovative and highly successful technology ventures,” said Palihapitiya. “In fact, Bling Nation was named one of Bank Technology News’ Top Ten Innovators for 2010, and I believe they are poised to revolutionize and streamline the way payments are made in the United States. As a member of the board of directors, I am excited to contribute my experience in building and scaling new platforms to assist them in achieving their goal of simplifying everyday purchases for consumers.”



Prior to joining Facebook, Palihapitiya managed consumer Internet, advertising and technology investments for The Mayfield Fund, a leading Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. Before Mayfield, he served as AOL’s vice president and general manager of AIM and ICQ, two of the most popular instant messaging businesses on the Internet. Palihapitiya began his career in the financial industry as a derivatives trader before transitioning to the high tech industry with stints at Internet music pioneers, Spinner.com and Winamp.



“Since inception, Bling Nation has been committed to bringing in the brightest and most innovative minds to effectively re-invent the way consumers make everyday purchases,” said Meyer Malka, co-chief executive officer of Bling Nation. “Our services work through consumers’ mobile phones, enabling them to purchase, redeem loyalty incentives and receive transaction information in real time. In other words, together with our financial institution and business partners, we “make money mobile“ for consumers. Just as Facebook revolutionized the way in which people interact and share online, we plan to revolutionize the way in which payments are processed through mobile technology, and Chamath will play a pivotal role in assisting us in the realization of that vision.”



Bling Nation is currently live in diverse communities throughout the United States, including Colorado, New York and California. The company plans to continue aggressive deployments throughout 2010.



In addition to Palihapitiya, Bling Nation’s board of directors includes co-chief executive officers of the company, Wences Casares and Meyer Malka; Eric O’Brien, managing director of Lightspeed Venture Partners; and Roberto Bonanzinga, partner at Balderton Capital.



About Bling Nation



Bling Nation mobile payment services connect financial institutions, businesses and consumers. Consumers tap their mobile phones to purchase, redeem loyalty incentives and receive transaction information in real time. Businesses and financial institutions eliminate payment-processing middlemen to reduce costs, while differentiating their services and supporting community “shop local” programs. For additional information, visit www.blingnation.com.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bling Nation Raises Additional $20 Million Bling (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• More on Bling Nation's $20 Million Raise (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• HomeATM Headline News through January 22nd (pindebit.blogspot.com)


• Bling Nation gets another $20M funding for its pay-by-cellphone system (venturebeat.com)

CART and RetailConnections Partner Around Retail 3.0

Syracuse, NY: Hawkins Strategic’s Center for Advanced Retail Technology today announced a new partnership with RetailConnections, creators of peer-to-peer events that bring together a diverse range of retailing companies and senior management executives. RetailConnections’ events are widely esteemed for the quality of education attendees receive—and provide through sharing their ideas—aligning it perfectly with CART’s educational mission to move the industry to Retail 3.0.

Retail 3.0 is the next-generation retail industry ecosystem driven by relevant marketing to the individual shopper, realtime marketing and supply chain synergies, built on the foundation of shopper-identified transaction data. RetailConnections is the ideal interactive forum through which industry members can work through their evolution to the new ecosystem together.

"RetailConnections and Retail 3.0 are a natural fit. We look forward to together creating several new activities to add value in the industry and to working with a team I have known and respected for many, many years," said Marc Millstein, President of RetailConnections LLC.

“Given how much industry education occurs in dialogue with fellow retailers, it is only logical to bring the Retail 3.0 concept home to where the best of that dialogue takes place. I’ve been attending RetailConnections events for years and never fail to walk away impressed. Marc’s unique talent for bringing together a wide variety of high level industry executives will help the Retail 3.0 concept to develop organically across the supply chain” says Gary Hawkins, President of Hawkins Strategic. “Needless to say, the opportunities for collaboration are tremendous.”

About RetailConnections: RetailConnections was founded by longtime retail industry insider Marc Millstein. The company creates and hosts innovative peer-to-peer events to bring together an unusually diverse range of retailing companies and senior management executives. RetailConnections' events span a wide variety of formats designed to offer the highest quality opportunities for networking, brainstorming and thought-leadership presentations and discussions.

About the Center for Advanced Retail Technology: The Center for Advanced Retail Technology at Green Hills brings the Retail 3.0 vision to a live retail environment. Its mission: to enhance industry learning through retailer visits with hands-on, behind-the-scenes views into new and forthcoming technologies and discussion focused on changing business practices. A live retail operation, CART supports extensive data collection across products and shoppers, providing retailers quantitative views into featured technologies' impact. CART is a service of Hawkins Strategic, LLC.

About Hawkins Strategic: Hawkins Strategic is leading the genesis of Retail 3.0, a new industry ecosystem driven by relevant marketing to the individual shopper, supported by realtime marketing and supply chain synergies, and built on the foundation of shopper-identified transaction data. From launching one of the first loyalty programs in the U.S., to advising some of the world’s largest and most progressive retailers and manufacturers; from founding the world’s first truly personalized retail communication platform, to partnering with world-class enabling technologies; Hawkins Strategic is ideally and uniquely positioned to move the industry to this next level through thought leadership, strategic guidance, value creation, and its Center for Advanced Retail Technology.

For more information:

Hawkins Strategic, LLC: Berkeley Hawkins | berkeley.hawkins@hawkinsstrategic.com | 310.498.0975

RetailConnections, LLC: Marc Millstein | marc@retailconnections.biz | 914.620.5947

To view this press release online, please click here.

Advanced Bank of Asia Deploys Gemalto’s Strong Authentication Solution for e-Banking in Cambodia

First EMV Card-Based Authentication Solution in the Country



AMSTERDAM & PHNOM PENH, Cambodia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, today announced it is supplying Advanced Bank of Asia (ABA) in Cambodia with its strong authentication solution, Ezio Pocket Reader, to secure their new Internet banking services. The company also provides the bank with EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) credit cards. One of the leading banks in Cambodia, ABA is the first in the country to adopt an EMV card-based authentication solution. Ezio Pocket Reader is compliant with the latest industry standards - MasterCard CAP* and Visa DPA**.



ABA customers can use the EMV credit card to securely access their online banking services. To access online banking services, customers simply insert their EMV card into the Ezio Pocket Reader. Subsequently, a one-time-password, which is unique and different every time, will be generated to authenticate the cardholder. This combination of ‘something you have’ (the card) and ‘something you know’ (the one-time PIN) provides a high-level of security compared to simple username and password only schemes.



“It is imperative to ensure that a high level of security is maintained for consumers to feel confident and comfortable when using online banking services. We constantly strive to enhance the customers’ banking experience, providing greater convenience with the introduction of new services or technologies. We are delighted to leverage Gemalto’s expertise in digital security as we roll-out our internet banking offering,” remarked Mr. Temirov Galymzhan, ABA Chief Technology Officer.



“This contract with Advanced Bank of Asia further illustrates Gemalto’s consumer-oriented approach,” added Mr Tan Teck Lee, President, Gemalto Asia. “By creating a more secure environment for online banking, Gemalto will enable the bank to develop their offering and make more and more services available to their customers.”



For more information: http://www.gemalto.com/products/ezio_pocket_and_classic_reader/



CAP*: Chip Authentication Program



DPA**: Dynamic Passcode Authentication



About Gemalto



Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2008 annual revenues of €1.68 billion, and 10,000 employees operating out of 75 offices, research and service centers in 40 countries.



Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere—has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.



Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. We do this by supplying to governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises a wide range of secure personal devices, such as subscriber identification modules (SIM), Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, smart card access badges, electronic passports, and USB tokens for online identity protection. To complete the solution we also provide software, systems and services to help our customers achieve their goals.



As the use of Gemalto’s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.



For more information please visit www.gemalto.com.

Mutual of Omaha Bank Implements Fiserv Technology to Deliver Valuable Services to Customers

BROOKFIELD, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced today that Mutual of Omaha Bank, a full-service bank with $4.0 billion in assets providing financial solutions to individuals and businesses across the United States, has completed implementation of an innovative Fiserv banking solution, centered on the SignatureTM bank platform.



“Our decision to partner with Fiserv was based on their solid history with large financial institutions throughout the U.S., coupled with their scalability to meet our future needs. With solid partners, we are able to continue to deliver valuable services to our customers.”



Mutual of Omaha Bank chose Fiserv to provide more than 11 integrated solutions, including innovative products for account processing, online banking and bill pay. The leading technology will help Mutual of Omaha Bank continue serving its customers with comprehensive and reliable banking services in their communities.



“Mutual of Omaha Bank is dedicated to being a trusted financial services provider by offering our customers outstanding service, strength and reliability,” said Mutual of Omaha Bank chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Schmid. “Our decision to partner with Fiserv was based on their solid history with large financial institutions throughout the U.S., coupled with their scalability to meet our future needs. With solid partners, we are able to continue to deliver valuable services to our customers.”



Mutual of Omaha Bank is dedicated to community banking and a local approach in the markets they serve. Backed by experienced leadership and financial strength, the bank has grown quickly and established a strong presence in nine states - Arizona, Nevada, California, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and Florida.



For Mutual of Omaha Bank, the Fiserv solution includes the Signature bank platform, online banking through Corillian OnlineTM, online bill payment, commercial cash management, EFT, card management, item processing, Nautilus® Enterprise Content Management, WireXchange® and risk and performance management solutions.



“We want to extend our brand and service to markets across the country while maintaining our financial stability. With Fiserv as a partner, we are able to offer our customers proven technology such as Corillian Online for online banking coupled with online bill pay. Our customers can look forward to their experiences with our bank,” said Lynn Crane, senior vice president, Information Technology and Operations, Mutual of Omaha Bank. “Additionally, the Fiserv suite of solutions provides us with the ability to deliver new products and services to our customers in an efficient manner.”



By enabling financial institutions to access and provide consistent customer information across channels, Fiserv helps clients increase revenues, improve the customer experience and streamline operations.



“The experience of Fiserv in providing flexible solutions to innovative financial institutions will help Mutual of Omaha Bank as they continue expanding their banking model nationwide,” said Tony Catalfano, division president, Bank Solutions, Fiserv. “Additionally, the integration of multiple Fiserv solutions, coupled with the stability and resources of a Fortune 500 company make Fiserv an ideal technology partner for large financial institutions. We are uniquely positioned to provide best-in-class solutions and deep expertise to larger institutions globally.”



The multi-product solution at Mutual of Omaha Bank represents all of the Fiserv core competencies - processing services, customer and channel management, insights and optimization, risk and compliance and payments.



About Mutual of Omaha Bank



Mutual of Omaha Bank is a full-service bank providing financial solutions to individuals and businesses across the United States. With more than $4 billion in assets, Mutual of Omaha Bank has full-service locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Texas, and operates offices in Florida, Iowa and Kansas. It is a subsidiary of Mutual of Omaha, a 100-year-old insurance and financial services company with more than $22 billion in total assets and high ratings from leading ratings agencies. For more information about Mutual of Omaha Bank, visit www.mutualofomahabank.com.



About Fiserv



Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) is the leading global provider of information management and electronic commerce systems for the financial services industry, driving innovation that transforms experiences for financial institutions and their customers. Ranked No. 1 on the FinTech 100 survey of top technology partners to the financial services industry, Fiserv celebrates its 25th year in 2009. For more information, visit www.fiserv.com. (FISV-G)