Vesta Corporation Launches Prepaid.com, a Global Payment Portal for Prepaid Mobile Operators

Expands Payment Footprint and Offers Innovative, Consumer-Friendly Features for Online Mobile Recharge

PORTLAND, OR and MEXICO CITY--(Marketwire - March 8, 2010) - Mobile Money Transfer Conference, Mexico City -- Vesta Corporation (http://www.trustvesta.com), a global pioneer and leader in electronic payment solutions, today announced the launch of Prepaid.com (http://www.prepaid.com), a recharge portal that allows mobile customers to send airtime to friends and family worldwide. The portal features immediate, no-fee recharging for prepaid mobile phone accounts and allows expatriates and immigrants to maintain strong family ties, regardless of distance and borders.



Prepaid.com provides mobile operators with a plug and play solution that supports in-country and cross-border recharge for mobile services such as prepaid airtime, subscriptions, and mobile broadband. The new portal helps mobile operators capitalize on the billions of cross-border payments sent annually, and includes a variety of consumer-friendly features that have been shown to increase the lifetime value of customers.



"By using Prepaid.com, consumers now have a convenient way to send airtime to family and friends in other countries," said Chris Parsons, chief marketing officer of Vesta. "Working with Vesta expands payment options for operators and assures purchasers worldwide the security and privacy they demand."



Having processed hundreds of millions of transactions, Vesta Corporation has earned a reputation for delivering innovative and secure payment solutions to telecom companies worldwide and their customers. Prepaid.com's operator-branded recharge process maintains the highest payment and data security standards in the industry, and integrates easily with an operator's infrastructure for fast time to market.



To purchase airtime at www.prepaid.com, a visitor simply selects the country and operator, and enters the phone number they would like to recharge followed by their payment details. Prepaid.com accepts a wide variety of payment devices including major credit and debit cards, internationally issued credit cards, and Visa or MasterCard signature prepaid debit cards.



With no cumbersome registration, PINs or refill cards required, the recharge process is fast, reliable and secure. Prepaid.com does not charge service fees or surcharges, and immediately applies airtime to the gifted account. The portal features 24x7 online and live-agent transaction support, and purchasers can create an account to securely store payment details and recipient phone numbers, review payment history, and print transaction receipts.



Consumers can perform a one-time recharge or schedule recurring gift payments to ensure that their friends and family can always be in touch. As one consumer stated, "I have peace of mind knowing that my mother can call me anytime because I set up recharges for her phone every month." Future enhancements will allow subscribers to send gift requests and recharges via social media sites and SMS.



Prepaid.com is launching with Telefonica Movistar, Iusacell and Unefon in Mexico, and is actively investigating partnerships with mobile operators in other geographies where cross-border gifting is common, including Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Southeast Asia, China, and India.



About Vesta Corporation

Prepaid.com is owned and operated by Vesta Corporation, provider of a fully managed payment platform that offers mobile operators the most efficient and cost-effective way to provide operator-branded direct top-up services (via phone, Web, SMS, USSD, handset application, and recurring charge). Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with operations in Europe and China, Vesta Corporation, has been a pioneer and worldwide leader in electronic payment solutions since 1995. Vesta has established long-term, successful relationships with leading international operators including AT&T, Boost Mobile, China Mobile, China Unicom, Cricket Communications, Eircom, Sprint, Telia, Tele2, Telefonica, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Vodafone, among others. For more information about Vesta Corporation, visit http://www.trustvesta.com. For more information about Vesta's consumer payment portal, visit http://www.prepaid.com.

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No Brand is Safe from Phishing/Hijacking

Bank Info Security musings on the recent APWG report...

Online fraud schemes and malware are casting an even wider net, far beyond the large national banks and well-known retailers, as phishers seek new victims.



This is the word from the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), which has just issued its latest quarterly report on phishing trends.



According to the APWG's fourth quarter 2009 report, the number of hijacked brands hit a record 356 in October, compared to the previous record month of 341 in August 2009.

Continue Reading

Paul Turgeon Added to Cardinal Commerce Industry Advisory Panel

Paul Turgeon added to panel of Industry Advisors



MENTOR, Ohio, March 10, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CardinalCommerce,

the worldwide leading enabler of payment brands, has added Paul Turgeon,
President of Payments & Processing Consultants, Inc., to its panel of
Industry Advisors.

With extensive experience in the debit and payments processing market,
including nearly ten years with First Data Corporation and the NYCE
payment network, Mr. Turgeon brings with him a wealth of knowledge to
help strengthen Cardinal's already robust line of product and service
offerings for its merchants, issuing banks and mobile transaction
processing customer base. Mr. Turgeon's focus will be on facilitating
the growth of Cardinal's debit-based ecommerce solutions within the
online and mobile payments markets.

"As the ecommerce and mobile commerce payments marketplace expands to
include not only traditional credit-based payment methods but also
debit products, Cardinal's unique position as an industry leader in
enabling payment brands affords the company a distinct advantage in
bringing these debit-based services to market," said Turgeon. "I am
excited to share my experience in this arena with such a dynamic
company and help leverage Cardinal's technology and intellectual
property in the ecommerce and mobile commerce debit space."

Michael A. Keresman, III, President and Chief Executive Officer of
CardinalCommerce, added, "Cardinal's universal authentication platform
design gives our Customers the ability to enable any number of various
authenticated ecommerce payment options, whether they be traditional
credit card brands, such as Visa(R), MasterCard(R) and JCB, or
alternative payments, including PayPal(TM), Amazon Payments(TM),
Google(TM) Checkout, eBillMe(TM), and Bill Me Later(R). We see debit
based ecommerce as the next step in the evolution of online payments
and are pleased to add Mr. Turgeon and his expertise to our Company in
this advisory role."

About CardinalCommerce

CardinalCommerce Corporation is the global leader in enabling
authenticated payments, secure transactions, and alternative payment
brands for both eCommerce and mobile commerce.

Cardinal Centinel(R)* enables payment brands such as Verified by Visa,
MasterCard(R) SecureCode(TM), Amazon Payments(TM), Bill Me Later(R),
ClickandBuy(R), Cred-Ex(R), Ebates(TM), eBillme(TM), eLayaway(TM),
Google(TM) Checkout, Green Dot(R) MoneyPak(R), Mazooma(TM), Moneta(R),
MyECheck, NACHA(R) Secure Vault Payments (SVP), NYCE SafeDebit (R),
OneTouch Online Purchasing(TM), paysafecard, PayPal(TM),
RevolutionCard(TM), SafetyPay(TM), TeleCheck(R), Ukash(TM), and more to
a network of thousands of merchants and merchant service providers.

Our mobile commerce platform, Cardinal MAX(TM), makes it simple for
retailers to sell and market products through the mobile channel.
Cardinal's proprietary and easily deployable technology provides
consumers, merchants, credit/debit card issuers and processors the
ability to conduct authenticated Internet, wireless and mobile
transactions safely and securely.

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, with facilities in the United States,
Europe, and Africa, Cardinal services a worldwide Customer base.

For more information, visit www.cardinalcommerce.com

CONTACT:  CardinalCommerce Corporation
          Media Contact:
          Chris Brown, Chief Financial Officer
          877.352.8444
          chrisb@cardinalcommerce.com

Why Gen Y Goes for Online Banking

Gen Y Goes for Online Banking

Gen Y consumers are more likely to perform a variety of financial activities online and are highly influenced by others in their choice of services. Full Article

BANKS FAILING TO PROTECT SMALL BUSINESSES FROM CYBER CRIME WAVE

Newsflash from Finextra.com.



BANKS FAILING TO PROTECT SMALL BUSINESSES FROM CYBER CRIME WAVE



The US banking industry is failing to protect its small business customers from a destructive epidemic of cyberfraud that is sweeping the nation, according to research by Guardian Analytics and Ponemon Institute



More on this story: http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=21169

Malaysian Linked to $210 Million Card Scam

MALAYSIA, KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian will be extradited by Thai police to the United States where he is wanted in connection with credit card fraud amounting to US$150 million (RM505 million). Gooi Kok Seng, aka Delpiero, 44, is wanted by US authorities to face charges of illegal possession of a data access device, illegal dealing in a data access device and hacking into a computer. A source from the Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department said they were waiting for a report from their Thai counterparts. It is understood that Malaysian police were aware of Gooi's arrest in January. "Gooi was a prominent member of a credit card fraud gang which had been operating in the US for the past three years," the source disclosed. "The group is alleged to have stolen credit card information from victims patronising restaurants and major department stores in the US. Continue Reading at New Straits Times

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CITI EXPOSES 600,000 SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS

Image via Wikipedia

Newsflash from Finextra.com.



10/03/2010 10:41:00

CITI EXPOSES 600,000 SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS



US banking giant Citi has been forced to apologise to around 600,000 customers after sending them year-end tax statements through the post with social security numbers printed on the outside of the envelopes.



More on this story: http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=21170

9 Ways Web Apps Woo Hackers

From CIO Insight:  Web security research gurus with the Santa Clara, Calif.-based Web application security firm Cenzic uncovered their findings at RSA from data collected during the second half of 2009. Though CIOs are constantly struggling to get their development teams spinning up new business-enabling Web applications as quickly as possible, leaders would do well to take a lesson from the disconcerting trends laid out in Cenzic's most recent report. The vast majority of proprietary web applications developed in house contain some sort of vulnerability or another, as seen by scans of customer applications conducted through the company's managed services. The following nine types of vulnerabilities are the most common found through Cenzic's scans of customer Web apps. Slideshow Archive

Cross-Site Request Forgery Frequency of Detection Within Scanned Applications: 14% Ratio of Occurrence Among Found Web App Vulnerabilities: 1% Unauthorized Directory Access Frequency of Detection Within Scanned Applications: 19% Ratio of Occurrence Among Found Web App Vulnerabilities: 1% Insecure Resource Location Frequency of Detection Within Scanned Applications: 24% Ratio of Occurrence Among Found Web App Vulnerabilities: 1% SQL Injection Frequency of Detection Within Scanned Applications: 32% Ratio of Occurrence Among Found Web App Vulnerabilities: 4% Remote Code Execution Frequency of Detection Within Scanned Applications: 32% Ratio Authorization and Authentication Frequency of Detection Within Scanned Applications:71% Ratio of Occurrence Among Found Web App Vulnerabilities: 8% Session Management Frequency of Detection Within Scanned Applications: 72% Ratio of Occurrence Among Found Web App Vulnerabilities: 9% Cross-Site Scripting Frequency of Detection Within Scanned Applications: 81% Ratio of Occurrence Among Found Web App Vulnerabilities: 20% Information Leaks and Exposures Frequency of Detection Within Scanned Applications: 93% Ratio of Occurrence Among Found Web App Vulnerabilities: 53%

Bank of America to Drop Debit Card Overdraft Fees

Graphic from of NY Times

BofA Plans To Drop Debit Card Overdraft Fees

Bank of America Corp. reportedly plans to announce Wednesday that it is eliminating $35 overdraft fees on debit card purchases as the bank tries to stay ahead of a sweeping round of regulations. Read More >>

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How the iPhone Provided a Catalyst for the Payments Industry

How the iPhone Provided a Catalyst for the Mobile Phone Industry

In the latest edition of a special blog series on "Invisible Engines," industry expert David S. Evans explains how Apple's iPhone potently demonstrates how software platforms will drive payments innovation and revolutionize the payments business.



Read more

Hawkins Strategic Announces Retail 3.0 Virtual Conference & Expo

Los Angeles, CA: Hawkins Strategic today announced the upcoming Retail 3.0™ Virtual Conference and Expo, to be hosted in coordination with Retail TouchPoints on April 21, 2010, from 11am to 6pm EST. Gary Hawkins, CEO of Hawkins Strategic, will be keynote speaker at the event. To learn more and register, please click here.



The Retail 3.0 Virtual Conference & Expo will bring together a comprehensive view of the next generation of retailing. The online conference will feature real-world case studies highlighting next generation strategies leading retailers are deploying to: engage with customers on new platforms such as mobile and social media; raise customer service levels and provide a consistent customer experience across channels; increase operational efficiency of associates and inventory; enhance collaboration across retailers and suppliers; drive revenue in-store and across direct channels with new and improved touch points; and, measure engagement and conversions both in-store and via direct channels.



The Virtual Expo and 10-Minute Digital Demos will provide a holistic model for building out a next generation retail ecosystem, featuring the latest innovations in digital marketing, in-store media, checkout/payment, CRM/loyalty, workforce management, cross channel commerce, and the networking solutions that enable advancement in wireless and mobility across the enterprise.



Addressing retailer’s growing interest in eco-friendly business practices and limited time to travel to physical events, the Retail 3.0 Conference will provide the next generation platform for networking with peers and solution providers. The Unisfair virtual event environment is intuitive, easy to navigate and does not require users to switch applications or click through multiple pop-ups. The platform provides easy to access data on peers attending, matchmaking capabilities and integration with popular social media networks such as Twitter.



The Unisfair environment also removes physical boundaries, allowing retailers from around the globe to review next generation solutions and share challenges and successes with retailers from around the world. As you build plans and strategies to transform your business with next generation strategies and solutions, start out by transforming the way you network by participating in a next generation event.

Hawkins Strategic’s Retail 3.0™ concept has received widespread coverage in industry press, and its latest paper installment, The Retail 3.0™ Organization, may be found here. To register for this event and learn about Retail 3.0™ from Gary Hawkins himself, visit www.nextgenretail.com.

Register here for the Retail 3.0™ Virtual Event.

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.

About Retail TouchPoints: Our mission at Retail TouchPoints is simply to provide executives in customer-facing roles with relevant, insightful content across a variety of digital mediums. By providing content in formats that are easy to access and share with peers, our goal is to create a platform that connects retail executives together with peers and solution providers who have unique knowledge into specialized areas of customer service, customer experience and marketing measurement.

For more information:

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

Online Banking and Phishing Attacks Record Double Digit Growth in UK

According to V3.co.UK "Online banking losses and phishing attacks both recorded double-digit growth last year.  UK customers continued to fall victim to online scams, according to figures released today by The UK Cards Association and Financial Fraud Action UK.



The two organizations reported a year-on-year increase in online banking losses to £59.7m in 2009, while phishing attacks rose by 16 per cent to reach over 51,000 during the period.





Continue Reading

More on FDIC's Online Banking Report

 

Computer World ran a story yesterday on the FDIC's recent disclosure that online banking fraud involving the electronic transfer of funds rose to a whopping $120 million in Q3 2009.  



Why not authenticate an internet based "electronic transfer of funds" the same trusted way they are conducted "outside the browser space."  With hardware.  With encryption.  With security.  With the only PCI 2.0 Certified PIN Entry Device designed for online banking and the electronic transfer of funds. 

Nationwide, computer scams targeting small businesses cost companies $25 million in the third quarter of 2009, according to new research from the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. What's worse, online banking fraud involving the electronic transfer of funds rose to over $120 million in the third quarter of 2009 -- a number that has steadily been rising since 2007, according to the FDIC.



The FDIC bases its estimates on a variety of confidential reports that it receives from financial institutions, according to David Nelson, an examination specialist with the FDIC. The vast majority of the hacking incidents "related to malware on online banking customers' PCs," according to Nelson. Victims are typically tricked into visiting malicious Web sites, or downloading Trojan horse programs, which gives hackers access to their banking passwords. Money is then transferred out of their accounts using the Automated Clearing House system, which banks use to process payments between institutions.

Read the whole story at Computer World .

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The Bancorp Bank Teams Up with EPS Financial and Drake Software

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Bancorp Bank Payment Solutions Group, a division of The Bancorp Bank (“Bancorp”), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: TBBK), today announced its partnership with EPS Financial, LLC to provide services to Drake Software customers.



Tax preparation customers of Drake Software can now utilize flexible and innovative systems provided by EPS Financial to enable electronic payment of their tax refunds. Taxpayers may choose from several options to receive their Federal and/or State refund using EPS’ new program known as e-Collect™. Options available to a taxpayer include receiving a fully reloadable personal use E1 Visa® Prepaid Card, receiving an ACH transfer, or returning to the tax preparer’s office to receive a check immediately after the refund has been processed. The E1 Visa Prepaid Card, issued by The Bancorp Bank, can be used anywhere that Visa debit cards are accepted and at thousands of ATMs worldwide. Cardholders are able to use their cards year round and reload their cards via participating load networks and direct deposit.



“Tax professionals nationwide are looking for the tools they need to build successful tax preparation businesses. Our e-Collect™ refund processing program, which includes the E1 Prepaid Card, enhances the user experience by offering multiple ways to receive tax refund proceeds, which offers greater flexibility to the refund recipient and the tax preparer. In these changing times in the tax industry it is important to provide flexible and sensible banking solutions," says Clark Gill, President of EPS Financial.



“We are delighted to announce this partnership with EPS Financial and Drake Software as it is consistent with our commitment of developing innovative products to meet changing payment needs. Our goal is to simplify payment processes and EPS Financial has created a refund processing infrastructure that is unique to the industry and can assist tax preparers and taxpayers by providing solutions that will improve the tax preparation experience,” says Jeremy Kuiper, Managing Director – The Bancorp Payment Solutions Group.

For more information regarding The Bancorp Bank’s prepaid card payment solutions, please contact Lindsey Frank at lfrank@thebancorp.com or 952.449.6014.



The E1 Visa Prepaid Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. The Bancorp Bank; Member FDIC.

 

About EPS Financial, Inc.

EPS Financial, LLC provides refund processing solutions to the tax industry as well as prepaid card program management services. Founded in 2009, EPS has quickly established itself as a leading-edge service provider for the tax industry. The EPS system architecture combines a number of services and customer options onto one platform which provides a one stop fully integrated system to innovate and lead the industry. For more information, please visit www.epsfinancial.net.

 

About Drake Software

For over 33 years, Drake Software has provided tax preparers the tools they need to build their business and attract new clients. Today, over 30,000 customers use Drake Software. Drake delivered over 15 million federal and state accepted returns last year. The company continues to meet its goals of customer satisfaction and product improvement by encouraging open customer feedback, listening closely to evaluations from industry authorities, and backing the product with a knowledgeable and innovative programming and support team. For more information, visit DrakeSoftware.com, or call 800.890.9500.

 

About The Bancorp Bank Payment Solutions Group

The Payment Solutions Group is a division of The Bancorp Bank (“Bancorp”), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: TBBK), and is a leading issuer of network branded prepaid cards. It has consistently delivered outstanding results for its program partners. Long-standing relationships with card associations and industry leading networks and processors are the key to the organization’s success. For more information about The Bancorp Bank Payment Solutions Group visit www.thebancorp.com or contact Lindsey Frank at lfrank@thebancorp.com at 952.449.6014.