European Payments Council Publishes Annual Report

Source: European Payments Council, 17 March, 2010

Brussels: the European Payments Council (EPC), the coordination and decision-making body of the European payments industry, today published the EPC Annual Report 2009.

The EPC delivers the payment schemes and frameworks necessary to create the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). SEPA is an EU integration initiative in the area of payments designed to realise the completion of the EU internal market and monetary union. SEPA is currently defined as consisting of the EU 27 Member States plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Monaco. The EPC Annual Report 2009 highlights further substantial progress achieved in the following areas covered by the EPC work programme.

In November 2009, the EPC successfully launched the SEPA Core Direct Debit Scheme and the SEPA Business to Business Direct Debit Scheme. As of this date, banks throughout SEPA are gradually starting to deliver SEPA Direct Debit services to their customers. All branches of banks in the euro area must be reachable for SEPA Core Direct Debit by 1 November 2010 as mandated by the EU Regulation on cross-border payments in the Community.

In November 2009, the EPC released updated versions of the SEPA Scheme Rulebooks including new mandatory and optional elements which reflect further customer requirements as identified during the annual three month public consultation.

The realisation of SEPA requires agreement on a common set of data to be exchanged in a common syntax. The SEPA data formats specified by the EPC for the exchange of SEPA payments represent such a common data set. The SEPA data formats are a valid subset of the global ISO 20022 message standards. Following release of enhanced Implementation Guidelines for the customer-to-bank communication, in 2009 the EPC approved recommendations on the reporting of SEPA transactions by banks to their customers allowing for fully automated Straight-Through-Processing of SEPA transactions along the entire process chain (customer-to-bank; bank-to-bank; bank-to-customer).

In response to changing customer habits, significant progress was achieved in the design of the SEPA e-Payments Framework facilitating online payments with a payment-guarantee for web-retailers followed by a SEPA Credit Transfer. In addition, the EPC Roadmap for Mobile Payments approved in March 2009 spells out the main deliverables in the areas of SEPA card proximity payments and SEPA card mobile remote payments.

Also in 2009, the EPC, together with representatives of the main sectors active in the cards domain including retailers, vendors (manufacturers of cards, payment devices and related IT systems), processors and card schemes established the Cards Stakeholders Group (CSG) mandated to progress the use of open and free standards available to all parties in the SEPA cards market.

EPC Chair Gerard Hartsink comments: "The EPC Annual Report 2009 demonstrates the continued commitment of the European payments industry to making SEPA a reality. The successful conclusion of this harmonisation exercise requires action by all stakeholders. The EPC welcomes the fact that the EU Finance Ministers represented in the Economics and Financial Affairs Council - ECOFIN - recognise that setting a deadline for migration to SEPA provides the clarity and the incentive needed by the market; will ensure that the substantial benefits of SEPA are rapidly achieved and that the high costs of running both legacy and SEPA products in parallel can be eliminated. The European Commission, in collaboration with the European Central Bank and cooperating with all actors concerned, is now assessing whether legislation is needed to set binding end dates for migration to the SEPA Schemes and will come up with a legislative proposal should this assessment confirm that need. The EPC reiterates: a transformation process of this dimension must be transparent and predictable for all market participants. Mandating an EU-wide end date requires EU legislation".

Read the annual report here:

Download the document now1.7 mb (PDF File)

Rise in Online Banking Fraud Costing Banks Customers, Study Says

Ponemon Institute/Guardian Analytics study finds 40 percent of small and medium businesses change banks after a fraud incident. By Penny Crosman  March 10, 2010



Everyone knows business online banking fraud has increased over the past few years, with new incidents reported every day. But a study released by the Ponemon Institute and Guardian Analytics yesterday quantifies just how large and pervasive this problem has become.



According to the research, which polled 500 executives and business owners from small and medium businesses in the United States,  

• 55 percent of businesses were victims of fraud in the last 12 months, with 


• 58 percent of fraud enabled by online banking activities.


• Eighty percent of banks failed to catch fraud before funds were transferred out of their institution. 


• In 87 percent of fraud attacks, the bank was unable to fully recover assets and 


• 57 percent of the respondents that experienced a fraud attack were not fully compensated by their banks.


• Twenty-six percent were not compensated for any part of their losses.

 All this fraud has damaged banks' business customer relationships:

• 40 percent of businesses said they have moved their banking activities elsewhere after a fraud incident.


• Eleven percent of businesses that have experienced fraud claimed they have terminated their banking relationship following fraud attacks, and an additional 


• 29 percent said they did not fully terminate their relationship, but moved their primary cash management services to another institution.

The ROI of investing in fraud prevention is clear when you consider how fraud and churn drive productivity and profit loss as well as legal and reputation risks."

Continue Reading at BankTech 

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Voltage Security Selected by Fourth Largest Global Payment Processor for End-to-End Encryption and Tokenization

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Voltage Security Selected by

Fourth Largest Global Payment Processor for

 End-to-End Encryption and Tokenization

Fifth Third Processing Solutions to Offer Voltage Technology to Merchant Network as Preferred Solution

March 17, 2010 -- Palo Alto, CA -- Voltage Security, Inc. (www.voltage.com), the global leader in end-to-end data protection, today announced that Fifth Third Processing Solutions, the fourth largest merchant purchase transaction acquirer in the world, will offer Voltage-powered end-to-end encryption and tokenization to its merchant network of over 180,000 merchant locations including hundreds of PCI Level 1 merchants. Fifth Third Processing Solutions will integrate Voltage SecureData Payments™, a version of its industry-leading end-to-end encryption solution specifically tuned for merchants and payment processors, into its payment processing solution and make it available throughout its merchant network.



Voltage SecureData Payments extends data protection from card swipe to card brand hand-off, covering the critical endpoints of the payment stream. This means encryption and protection now covers authorization and settlement at card swipe and post-settlement business processes at the merchant and/or payment processor location.



“The multiple benefits of Voltage end-to-end encryption make it the natural choice for large payment processors such as Fifth Third Processing Solutions. We can scale quickly to meet their needs and integrate seamlessly with various data processing configurations, reducing audit scope and offering outstanding data protection at a greatly reduced cost as compared to other approaches,” said Sathvik Krishnamurthy, president and CEO of Voltage Security.



“We are committed to providing our merchant partners with the most secure payment processing solutions available,” said Bob Bartlett, CIO at Fifth Third Processing Solutions. “This end-to-end encryption solution offers an extremely comprehensive and useful approach to data protection.”

Voltage SecureData Payments Extends Protection, Simplifies Key Management

·         Critical Endpoints of Payment Stream Now Protected

In most existing payment systems, credit card data is left unprotected during the authorization and

settlement processes that immediately start upon card swipe or some other point of entry. At the

back end of the payment stream, cardholder data is often left unprotected during routine business

processes such as processing for loyalty programs, charge-backs or repetitive payments.

All too often data breaches can happen when cardholder data is left unprotected at these critical

endpoints of the payment stream. Now, with Voltage SecureData Payments, cardholder data is

protected at these endpoints and as it flows throughout the payment stream.

Voltage uses the Identity-Based Key Encapsulation and Encryption Protocol (IBKEEP) to

transmit data across the various end-points without the need for decrypting and re-encryption.

·         Innovation in cryptography provides end-to-end encryption without massive IT system changes

Voltage end-to-end encryption features an innovative cryptography approach called Format

Preserving Encryption or FPE. With Voltage FPE, credit card numbers and other types of

structured information are protected without the need to change format or structure. This means

that changes to existing IT systems, such as databases and business applications, are dramatically

reduced resulting in reduced PCI audit costs, rapid implementation and the lowest ongoing

operational cost.

·         Simplified Key Management Eliminates Need for Laborious Key Injection

With point-of-sale (POS) solutions that use legacy symmetric encryption, encryption keys must

be reset annually for each POS device through a process called key injection. This procedure is

expensive and cumbersome for merchants as they must take POS devices offline and ship them

back to a secure facility for new keys.

Now POS devices enabled with Voltage’s end-to-end encryption operate using simplified key

management which does away with any need to inject keys. With the Voltage approach, based

on the IBKEEP protocol discussed above, encryption keys can be changed and rotated as

needed and transparently, without impact to the underlying data or processes.

·         Easy Integration with Voltage SecureData Enterprise to Extend Data Protection Throughout Organization

Now merchants and payment processors can easily extend their data protection efforts to other

types of customer and employee data by integrating Voltage SecureData Payments with Voltage\

SecureData Enterprise. The use of common underlying architectures for end-to-end encryption

and tokenization for both solutions enables easy extensibility throughout the enterprise to protect

all types of private information, to reduce audit scope and to reduce costs associated with

potential data breaches.

·         Voltage SecureData Payments Compatibility with Host Systems and Wide Variety of POS Platforms

Voltage SecureData Payments provides native operation on a wide variety of merchant or

payment processor host systems including mainframes, mid-range computer systems or

open/cloud based-systems. In addition, easy connections can be implemented across a variety of

POS devices including electronic cash registers and ecommerce payment platforms enabled with

the previously announced Voltage SecureData POS software development kit (SDK).

The entire Voltage SecureData suite of solutions is available today and includes:

·         Voltage SecureData Payments for payment processors and merchants for protecting payment, settlement and authorization data.

·         Voltage SecureData Payments POS SDK for POS, ECR, mobile device manufacturers and ecommerce payment platform providers, enabling the protection of data at the point of card capture.

·         Voltage SecureData Enterprise designed to protect all types of structured and unstructured data such as social security numbers, driver’s license as well as cardholder data using end-to-end encryption and tokenization

Please visit Voltage at www.voltage.com/end-to-end for more detailed information.

Webinar to Discuss How End-to-End Encryption Reduces Merchant Risks

The Electronic Transaction Association (ETA), Mercator Advisory Group and Fifth Third Processing Solutions will participate in a web seminar on March 18^th, 2010, entitled “Protecting cardholder data - End-to-End Encryption and Tokenization” – which will describe how merchants can reduce the risks and costs associated with protecting cardholder data – to register visit http://www.voltage.com/solutions/technology/end-to-end-encryption/100311-protecting-cardholder-data.htm .

About Voltage Security

Voltage Security, Inc., an enterprise security company, is an encryption innovator and global leader in end-to-end data protection. Voltage solutions, based on next generation cryptography, provide end-to-end encryption, tokenization, masking and simplified key management for protecting sensitive information such as cardholder data. Voltage products enable reduction in PCI audit cost with rapid implementation and the lowest total cost of ownership in the industry through the use of award-winning cryptographic solutions, including Voltage Identity-Based Encryption™ (IBE) and a new breakthrough innovation: Format-Preserving Encryption™ (FPE). Offerings include Voltage SecureMail™, Voltage SecureData™, Voltage SecureFile™ and the Voltage Security Network™ (VSN), an on-demand managed service for the extended business network.

As a service to the industry and general public, the company maintains the Voltage Data Breach Index and Map which is continuously updated with global data breach information: www.voltage.com/data-breach. The Company has been issued several patents based upon breakthrough research in mathematics and cryptographic systems. Customers include Global 1000 companies in banking, retail, insurance, energy, healthcare and government. To learn more about Voltage customers and sign up for the customer news letter please visit www.voltage.com/customers.

###

Todos says Gartner Report Vindicates Transaction Verification

Gothenburg, Sweden, March 17, 2010 -- "Fraudsters are beating strong two-factor authentication and are proving that any authentication method that relies on browser communications can be defeated," says a recent report from Gartner, an IT research firm.



Using malware, fraudsters have been able to intercept users' logins and hijack authorised sessions or overwrite the legitimate transactions with their own. Even systems that rely on phone or SMS authentication are vulnerable to call redirection and social engineering.



Gartner makes a number of recommendations to defeat this threat. First, the report recommends that banks verify individual transactions as well as online banking logins. Todos's Sign-what-you-see technology allows banks to do exactly that. The user can verify the payee and amount of individual transactions on selected Todos authenticators and via our onMobile solution. This makes it harder for criminals to overwrite legitimate user transactions.



Second, Gartner says "enterprises should not deluge users with transaction verification requests, and should keep them simple and confined to high-risk transactions, so that users are sure to pay detailed attention to them." Todos has a solution for that too: Dynamic Signatures. This allows banks to request additional verification (such as a sign-what-you-see request) for transactions based on 'riskiness'. So, for example, a small payment to regular recipient is fine but a large, one-off payment triggers additional authentication.



Third, the company recommends the use of out-of-band communications that prevent calls being forwarded. Todos's next-generation connectible smart card readers support a secure channel between the reader and the bank that bypasses the browser altogether. This patent-protected innovation called Autograf is unique to Todos and prevents man-in-the-middle attacks.



These technologies - Sign-what-you-see, out of band communication channels and Dynamic Signatures are also available on smart phones using Todos onMobile. In addition, Secure Domain Separation - another unique Todos technology - keeps banking and ecommerce authentication separate so that a breach in one area does not compromise the other.



"Gartner have done a great service in highlighting the latest threats to online banking (and other web services)," says Håkan Nordfjell, COO at Todos. "The good news is that we're doing a good job of defeating these threats. This report vindicates our strategy in the fight against online fraud."



###

Todos AB helps banks and other businesses create trusted, secure relationships with their customers online. Founded in 1987, Todos designs, develops, delivers and supports security solutions for remote authentication. We have delivered over 20m products to 100+ financial institutions in more than 30 countries. When trust matters, trust Todos.



Source: Company press release.

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Discover Financial Services Reports First Quarter Results: Net Loss of $104 Million or $0.22 Per Share

Results include the recently announced addition to loss reserves of $305 million

RIVERWOODS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) today reported a net loss for the first quarter of 2010 of $104 million, as compared to net income of $120 million for the first quarter of 2009. Results for the first quarter of 2010 included a pre-tax addition to loan loss reserves of $305 million ($185 million after tax), which brings the company’s reserve coverage to approximately 12 months of losses. Net income for the first quarter of 2009 included approximately $297 million (after tax) related to the Visa/MasterCard antitrust litigation settlement.

“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”

The company has received regulatory approval to redeem the $1.2 billion of preferred stock that it issued to the U.S. Treasury under the TARP Capital Purchase Program. Prior to such redemption, Discover Bank will issue $350 million of tier 2 qualifying capital in the form of subordinated debt. The subordinated debt offering is expected to be completed during the second quarter, subject to market conditions.



First Quarter Highlights

• Discover card sales volume increased 5% from the prior year to $22 billion.


• Loans were approximately $50 billion. The student loan portfolio grew $2 billion from the prior year, while credit card loans decreased $3 billion.


• The first-quarter net charge-off rate was 8.51%, and the over 30 days delinquency rate was 5.05%.


• Expenses were down 15% from the prior year.


• Payment Services segment profit before tax was up 28% to $37 million, and transaction volume was $36 billion, a 2% increase from the prior year.


• Deposit balances originated through direct-to-consumer and affinity relationships were $14.8 billion, an increase of $2.3 billion from the prior quarter.

"Discover's performance this quarter reflects the emergence of a more favorable economic environment, as our Discover card sales volume has now shown four consecutive months of year-over-year growth and delinquency levels have declined," said David Nelms, chairman and chief executive officer of Discover. "We were also pleased with the continued strong growth of our direct-to-consumer deposit business."

"Our reserve addition this quarter is consistent with our conservative balance sheet management approach," Nelms added. "By continuing to strengthen our foundation and invest in the Discover franchise, we believe we are well-positioned to deliver on our strategy of becoming the leader in direct banking and payment services, particularly as the U.S. economy improves."



Segment Results:

The company manages its business activities in two segments: Direct Banking and Payment Services. The company changed the names of its segments to better reflect the nature of products and services included in each.

Beginning with the first quarter of 2010, the trusts used in securitization activities are included in the company’s results¹. In order to provide more meaningful historical comparisons for analyzing data, schedules have been prepared to reflect the results for 2009 on an “as adjusted” basis. The as adjusted basis assumes that the trusts used in the company’s securitization activities were consolidated into the financial results for 2009. The as adjusted basis also excludes from results income received in connection with the company’s settlement of its antitrust litigation with Visa and MasterCard for each quarter of 2009 and the income statement impact of the Morgan Stanley special dividend agreement dispute in the fourth quarter of 2009.



Direct Banking

The table below reconciles all numbers in the discussion that follows that would be reflected differently on an as reported basis. The discussions that follow will compare the first quarter of 2010 to 2009 on an as adjusted basis².

			Quarter Ended						Quarter Ended
			February 28, 2009						February 28, 2009
			Managed - As Reported			Adjustments			As Adjusted
Credit Card Interest Yield			12.28%			0.09%			12.37%
Net Yield on Loan Receivables			9.11%			0.08%			9.19%
Other Income			$863			($376)			$487
Provision for Loan Losses			$1,334			$143			$1,477
Income Before Taxes			$167			($509)			($342)
Allowance for Loan Losses			$1,879			$1,523			$3,402
Reserve Rate			6.70%			(0.01%)			6.69%
			Quarter Ended						Quarter Ended
			November 30, 2009						November 30, 2009
			Managed - As Reported			Adjustments			As Adjusted
Credit Card Interest Yield			12.75%			0.01%			12.76%
Net Yield on Loan Receivables			9.37%			0.01%			9.38%
Allowance for Loan Losses			$1,758			$2,144			$3,902
Reserve Rate			7.44%			0.23%			7.67%

A pretax loss of $208 million in the first quarter of 2010 was a $135 million improvement from the first quarter of 2009, as adjusted.



Loans ended the quarter at $50 billion, down 2% compared to the prior year. Student loans grew $2 billion to $2.8 billion while credit card loans declined $3 billion to $45.8 billion. The decline in credit card loans reflects lower balance transfer activity, partially offset by increased sales volumes. Sales volume increased 5% compared to the prior year, while balance transfer volume declined 53% from the prior year as the company reduced its marketing of promotional rate balance transfer offers.



Net yield on loan receivables was 9.01%, a decrease of 18 basis points and 37 basis points from the prior year and the prior quarter as adjusted, respectively. The net yield decreased from both periods primarily due to the increase in lower rate student loan balances and higher funding costs. The interest yield on credit card loans increased 33 basis points from the prior year as adjusted and decreased 6 basis points from the prior quarter as adjusted. The increase from the prior year reflects a reduction in promotional rate balances and higher interest rates on standard balances, partially offset by higher interest charge-offs.



The net charge-off rate increased to 8.51% for the first quarter of 2010, up 203 basis points and 8 basis points from the prior year and the prior quarter, respectively. The increase in both periods reflects elevated levels of consumer bankruptcies and unemployment, partially offset by a higher mix of student loans which have a lower charge-off rate. The net charge-off rate for the second quarter of 2010 is expected to be between 8.0% and 8.5%.



The over 30 days delinquency rate was 5.05%, an improvement of 21 basis points from the prior year and 26 basis points from the prior quarter, reflecting better overall credit trends. Based on these trends, the company believes that the amount of delinquent loan balances may have peaked in the fourth quarter of 2009.



Provision for loan losses decreased $90 million, or 6%, from the prior year as adjusted, due to a lower reserve build, partially offset by higher net charge-offs. The allowance for loan losses increased $805 million from the prior year as adjusted, and $305 million from the prior quarter as adjusted. The reserve rate increased to 8.40%, up 171 basis points and 73 basis points from the prior year and prior quarter as adjusted, respectively. The reserve addition in the quarter was a result of a new analytical process that enhances management’s ability to estimate incurred losses on non-delinquent accounts, which brings the company’s reserve coverage to approximately 12 months of losses.



Other income decreased $6 million from the prior year as adjusted, primarily due to the discontinuance of overlimit fees beginning in February 2010 and a decline in merchant fees, partially offset by higher discount and interchange revenue reflecting higher sales volume.



Expenses were down $81 million, or 15% from the prior year, reflecting the impact of cost containment initiatives and lower marketing expense, as well as a $23 million benefit related to the settlement of the Morgan Stanley special dividend agreement dispute.  

Payment Services

Pretax income of $37 million in the quarter was up $8 million, or 28%, from the prior year. Revenues were up $5 million, reflecting an increase in the number of transactions and higher margin volume on the PULSE network and lower incentive payments. Expenses were down $3 million.

Payment Services dollar volume of $36 billion for the first quarter was up 2% from the prior year. Third-Party Issuer dollar volume was up 15% from the prior year and Diners Club dollar volume was up 4%. The dollar volume on the PULSE network increased 1% and number of transactions increased 5% to 720 million due to increased volume from new and existing clients.



Capital/Dividends

The company’s board declared a cash dividend of $0.02 per share of common stock, payable on April 22, 2010, to stockholders of record at the close of business on April 1, 2010. Capital increased $34 million as a result of the settlement of the Morgan Stanley special dividend agreement dispute.



Conference Call and Webcast Information

The company will host a conference call to discuss its first quarter results on Tuesday March 16, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. Central time. Interested parties can listen to the conference call via a live audio webcast at http://investorrelations.discoverfinancial.com.



About Discover

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company operates the Discover card, America's cash rewards pioneer, and offers personal and student loans, online savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts through its Discover Bank subsidiary. Its payment businesses consist of Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in more than 185 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.discoverfinancial.com.



A financial summary follows. Financial, statistical, and business related information, as well as information regarding business and segment trends, is included in the financial supplement filed as Exhibit 99.2 to the company’s Form 8-K filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Both the earnings release and the financial supplement are available online at the SEC’s website (http://www.sec.gov) and the company’s website (http://investorrelations.discoverfinancial.com).

PayPal and China UnionPay Open the Global Marketplace to Chinese Consumers

SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PayPal and China UnionPay, China’s bankcard association, today announced that China UnionPay (CUP) card members will be able to use PayPal to shop online, representing a new opportunity for international retailers to sell to a large base of Chinese customers who, combined, hold 2.1 billion CUP cards.

“After years of being the export hub for the world, today marks the day that China is open for business as an import e-commerce market,” said Scott Thompson, president of PayPal. “PayPal’s partnership with China UnionPay removes an important friction point that exists across borders, and we are thrilled to eliminate the payments barrier so merchants can welcome millions of new Chinese customers to their sites.”



Chinese consumers have more disposable income than ever before and are starting to look for the best products the world has to offer. CUP card members will be able to use PayPal in the third quarter of 2010. This gives merchants the opportunity to spend the coming months preparing their Web stores for Chinese consumers, including adding Chinese translation and fast, cost effective shipping methods.  



About China UnionPay

China UnionPay, established in 2002, is the national bankcard association in China. As the pivotal role of China’s bankcard industry, China UnionPay is responsible for operating unified inter-bank clearing and settlement system in China and developing the international acceptance network for CUP card. By collaborating with various parties, China UnionPay has greatly boosted the development of China’s bankcard industry.

To date, the total number of CUP card issued worldwide has exceeded 2.1 billion; in 2009, the number of CUP card inter-bank transactions reached 7 billion with an amount of USD 1.1 trillion; the overall merchants, POS terminals and ATMs reached 2.13 million, 2.88 million and 930 thousand respectively. China UnionPay has also established partnership with around 400 financial institutions all over the world.



As of now, CUP card international acceptance network has been extended to 90 countries and regions. Over 10 of them, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Russia, Mongolia etc, have issued CUP card.

Relying on China, the world’s most vibrant emerging economy and the world’s largest cardholder group, China UnionPay not only provides quality, secure and efficient payment services for hundreds of millions of cardholders all over the world, but also brings brand new choices and values for partners as well as energy and opportunities for the global bankcard industry.

China UnionPay will further enhance international cooperation in the future, work hand in hand with partners to achieve mutual development and success, to build UnionPay into a major international bankcard brand with global influence, and to make greater contribution to the overall prosperity of the global bankcard industry.



About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With more than 81 million active accounts in 190 markets and 24 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. PayPal is an eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) company and is made up of three leading online payment services: the PayPal global payment service, the Payflow Gateway and Bill Me Later. The company's open payment platform, PayPal X, allows developers to build innovative payment applications on multiple platforms and devices. More information about the company can be found at https://www.paypal.com.

PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, California and its international headquarters is located in Singapore.

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PayPal to Double Its Presence in Asia by End of 2010

More Than 1,000 New Jobs Will Be Created with over 100 Based in Singapore

SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PayPal today announced that it plans to double the number of employees in Asia Pacific from 1,000 currently to more than 2,000 by the end of the year. The company plans to add more than 100 new jobs at its international headquarters in Singapore.





“While PayPal’s growth in Asia Pacific to date has largely been driven by our cross border business, we fully expect the domestic business in many of our Asian markets to explode in the coming years”



New jobs will be located at all seven offices in the region including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. For its Singapore business headquarters and development center, PayPal will be recruiting Singapore-based professionals with expertise in technology, product development, infrastructure design, risk and engineering.



PayPal processed more than $6 billion of total payment volume* in Asia Pacific in 2009, an increase of 38 percent from 2008. Since its establishment in the region in 2006, the company has struck dozens of strategic partnerships with Asian companies including announcements today with DBS, Singapore’s largest bank, and China UnionPay, China’s bankcard association.



“While PayPal’s growth in Asia Pacific to date has largely been driven by our cross border business, we fully expect the domestic business in many of our Asian markets to explode in the coming years,” said Farhad Irani, vice president of PayPal Asia Pacific. “Our success in the region will continue to rely on partnering with merchants, financial services companies and local governments to deliver the right services for our customers.”



Today’s announcement was made at PayPal’s new international headquarters in Suntec City, Singapore’s technology hub in the middle of the nation’s central business district. PayPal’s international headquarters (PPPL) represent all of PayPal’s business outside of the USA. Singapore serves as an excellent operational hub for PayPal’s international operations due to its economically strategic location, its friendly business environment, political stability and world-class infrastructure.



Mr. Leo Yip, chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), said, “We are excited that PayPal has chosen Singapore as the center from which to double its business in Asia. This is another example of how Singapore plans to stay at the forefront of technology and innovation.”  

Opportunity for Developers in APAC

As part of PayPal’s plans to help grow the e-commerce ecosystem across Asia Pacific, the company also announced that the PayPal mobile payment software development kit (SDK) will be made available to developers in the region.

With just a few lines of code, developers can add a checkout button to accept mobile payments without the need to collect financial information from customers. The mobile SDK, which will initially support iPhone app development, will be available in the second quarter of 2010 to developers in the region.

As part of the launch of the SDK, PayPal president Scott Thompson will be meeting several of Singapore’s top Web developers at a roundtable tomorrow at PayPal’s offices.



* Total Payment Volume numbers at spot rate



Note to Editor: This is part of several announcements PayPal made today on its growth in Asia. Other announcements include a partnership agreement with China UnionPay and DBS Bank. For more information, please refer to the press releases titled ”PayPal and DBS Partner to Make Online Shopping Easier” and “PayPal and China UnionPay Open the Global Marketplace to Chinese Consumers.”



About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With more than 81 million active accounts in 190 markets and 24 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. PayPal is an eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) company and is made up of three leading online payment services: the PayPal global payment service, the Payflow Gateway and Bill Me Later. The company's open payment platform, PayPal X, allows developers to build innovative payment applications on multiple platforms and devices. More information about the company can be found at https://www.paypal.com.

PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, California and its international headquarters is located in Singapore.

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Business Wire, Cartes in Asia partner for smart tech expo



Paris, March 16, 2010 -- Business Wire, the global leader in news distribution, and CARTES in Asia, the digital security and smart technologies exhibition and congress to be held in Hong Kong March 16-18, 2010 at the AsiaWorld Expo, have announced that they have signed a partnership agreement.



“The partnership with Business Wire will strengthen our media presence in the region thanks to Business Wire’s networks and experience.”



“For the past three years, Business Wire has been the official wire of CARTES & IDentification Paris. The launch of CARTES in Asia is a strong testimony to the increasing importance of Asia in the smart technologies industry and it also reflects the high-quality of the European conference to be replicated in Asia », explains Olivier Corneloup, Regional Manager, Business Wire France. “It came as a continuity that Business Wire be associated with the event in Asia to provide the show and the exhibiting companies and organizations with opportunities for even greater media exposure.”



Smart technologies industry leaders, key players in innovations and decision-makers from all over the Asia Pacific region will gather in Hong Kong for 3 days of conferences and 2 days of exhibition on smart cards, identification technology, contactless payments, etc.



“We’ve been witnessing an increasing interest – especially for payment technologies – coming from this region at CARTES Paris during the last few years. Hong Kong being a major international financial center, hosting 69 of the World’s Top 100 banks, it was the right place for a pan APAC smart technologies event. All major industry players from the banking, telecommunications, E-government and transit markets will be there” explains Slobodan PETROVIC, CARTES Exhibitions Director. “The partnership with Business Wire will strengthen our media presence in the region thanks to Business Wire’s networks and experience.”



The market in this industry is growing faster than in any other region in the world due to the dynamism of the telecommunications, the deployment of the EMV standard and governments promoting smart card and high technology adoption.



For its first edition, CARTES in Asia is expecting over 100 exhibitors, 300 congress attendees and 2,500 visitors.



About Business Wire



Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is utilized by tens of thousands of member companies and organizations worldwide to functionally enhance and communicate investor relations and public relations content to target audiences. As a recognized disclosure vehicle in the United States, Canada, the UK, France, Germany and other EU markets, Business Wire facilitates the simultaneous flow of market-moving press releases from corporations to financial markets and their audiences, including regulatory authorities, media, investors, financial information systems and consumer news services. Business Wire also handles XBRL tagging, document formatting and regulatory filing into the EDGAR and SEDAR systems.



Communications professionals turn to Business Wire to optimize and issue press releases, photos and multimedia to news organizations, journalists, trade publications, search engines, and individuals, with full-text posting to web sites, online services and databases. A range of distribution options enables members to target by geography, industry, news theme and audience demographics.



Founded in 1961, Business Wire has dual headquarters in San Francisco and New York, with 30 bureaus in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Miami, Paris, Frankfurt, London, Brussels, Tokyo, Toronto and Sydney and reciprocal offices throughout the world. Business Wire's patented NX data platform supports XML, XHTML and XBRL code that enhances news release interactivity, social media sharing and search engine optimization. More information about Business Wire and its services is located on its website at www.BusinessWire.com.



About CARTES in Asia



24 years of experience in high level and international card business events



Since 1986, CARTES has promoted card technologies and presented the main market trends and innovations through the most appropriate forms including conferences programme, SESAMES Awards, animation areas, specific exhibitions and demonstration areas. By analysing its exhibitors and visitors’ requirements, the CARTES team has developed the event year after year to become a leading brand and the industry worldwide reference. Leveraging the organisational experience and smart technology industry knowledge, the CARTES in Asia team is committed to replicate the success at this regional event.



Strong partnerships with main regional media and associations



CARTES in Asia will benefit from the strong support of major regional associations, authorities and local development agencies to gather all the components of the smart technology value chain in the Asia Pacific region.



Date:- Opening conference and Asian SESAMES Award ceremony: 16 March 2010

- Exhibition and conferences: 17 & 18 March 2010

Place: Hong Kong - AsiaWorld-Expo

Organiser: Comexposium

Website: www.cartes-asia.com

Source: Company press release.