VeriFone Announces Pan-European Payment Gateway After Gemalto Partnership

November 01, 2010 11:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

Strategic Partnership with Gemalto Completes PAYware Merchant Managed Service Footprint

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VeriFone Systems, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) today announced its PAYware Merchant managed service is now available across Europe. The recently announced strategic partnership with Gemalto completes VeriFone’s pan-European sales and distribution network and makes a continental payment gateway service feasible.

“The Gemalto partnership fills out our pan-European distribution network”

PAYware Merchant is a bank-certified, hosted payment solution for large retailers, fuel organisations and hospitality companies. The world-class, PCI DSS-compliant payments platform integrates with virtually any front-end POS system and provides a cost-effective outsourced payments service that relieves merchants from associated capital expenditures, on-going maintenance, investment and resourcing.

“The Gemalto partnership fills out our pan-European distribution network,” said Shaun Burger, VeriFone vice president and general manager for Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa. “We are now well positioned to execute our European expansion strategy regardless of whether our offer to acquire Hypercom is completed.”

VeriFone on September 29 disclosed that it had made a proposal to the board of directors of Hypercom to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hypercom for $5.25 per share in cash. Subsequently, on October 20, it announced a comprehensive strategic partnership with Gemalto including exclusive discussions for VeriFone to acquire Gemalto’s POS solutions business.

The PAYware Merchant managed service provides companies with a new way to manage the entire payments process more effectively. In particular, it minimizes the cost and effort they are currently required to expend on PCI compliance.

“Rather than retrofit legacy POS systems to ever-changing PCI compliance, companies can now leverage VeriFone’s expertise and ongoing investment in payments security and through PAYware Merchant gain a flexible platform that provides comprehensive reporting and monitoring tools,” Burger said.

Additional Resources: http://www.verifone.com/pmms

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for VeriFone Systems, Inc. This press release includes certain forward-looking statements related to VeriFone Systems, Inc. within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on VeriFone management’s current expectations or beliefs and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements herein due to changes in economic, business, competitive, technological and/or regulatory factors, and other risks and uncertainties affecting the operation of the business of VeriFone Systems, Inc. These risks and uncertainties include: the successful rollout of the VeriFone pan European gateway services, the successful completion of the acquisition of the Gemalto POS business, customers’ acceptance and adoption of VeriFone’s new security solutions and other new product and service offerings, our ability to protect against fraud, the status of our relationship with and condition of third parties upon whom we rely in the conduct of our business, our dependence on a limited number of customers, uncertainties related to the conduct of our business internationally, our dependence on a limited number of key employees, short product cycles, rapidly changing technologies and maintaining competitive leadership position with respect to our payment solution offerings. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriFone is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

About VeriFone Systems, Inc. (www.verifone.com)

VeriFone Systems, Inc. (“VeriFone”) (NYSE: PAY) is the global leader in secure electronic payment solutions. VeriFone provides expertise, solutions and services that add value to the point of sale with merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems for the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare vertical markets. VeriFone solutions are designed to meet the needs of merchants, processors and acquirers in developed and emerging economies worldwide.

Contacts

VeriFone Media Relations
Pete Bartolik, +1-508-283-4112
pete_bartolik@verifone.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101101006553/en/VeriFone-Announces-Pan-European-Payment-Gateway

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• VeriFone Announces Pan-European Payment Gateway (eon.businesswire.com)

European Payments Council Marks Further Progress Towards the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) And Calls On EU Lawmakers To Set End Dates For Migration To The SEPA Schemes Through Regulation

November 01, 2010 11:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The European Payments Council (EPC), the coordination and decision-making body of the European banking industry in relation to payments, today released updated and enhanced versions of the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) Scheme Rulebook and the SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) Scheme Rulebooks. 1 November 2010 marks another important target date on the route to SEPA as from today all banks in the euro area are reachable for cross-border SEPA direct debits as mandated by European Union (EU) law.

“The scene is set to bring SEPA to its successful conclusion. It is now up to EU lawmakers to provide planning security to all market participants by setting a clear deadline for migration to the SEPA Schemes.”

The single element now required to achieve an integrated euro payments market is a clear deadline for the transition to the SEPA payment schemes. The EPC calls on EU lawmakers to set an end date for migration to SCT and SDD through EU Regulation. The EPC believes that a possible forthcoming regulatory intervention relating to SEPA, as outlined by the European Commission earlier this year, would derail the entire SEPA project. As such it would eliminate the extensive benefits SEPA would offer bank customers.

The SCT and SDD Schemes evolve based on a transparent change management process providing all stakeholders with the opportunity to introduce suggestions for changes to the SEPA Schemes. Proposed changes to the schemes are subject to a three-month public consultation. As a result of this annual change cycle, the SCT and SDD Schemes incorporate numerous features introduced by end users. The limited number of requests for new elements to be introduced into the newly released Rulebooks demonstrates the maturity of the SCT and SDD Schemes and highlights that they are fit for purpose. In accordance with best industry practice, banks and their service providers have sufficient time to address the Rulebook updates ahead of November 2011, when these revised Rulebooks will come into effect.

1 November 2010 is also an important target date for the roll-out of SDD services by banks. EU Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 establishes mandatory reachability of all banks in the euro area for cross-border direct debits. In practice, this means that any consumer who holds an account in the euro area, which provides the option to make euro direct debit payments at a national level, can now make cross-border payments by SEPA Direct Debit as well. As a result, paying bills becomes significantly easier for mobile European citizens. At the same time, companies are now able to collect payments by SDD across the euro area resulting in enhanced business opportunities.

EPC Chair Gerard Hartsink comments: “The scene is set to bring SEPA to its successful conclusion. It is now up to EU lawmakers to provide planning security to all market participants by setting a clear deadline for migration to the SEPA Schemes.”

Earlier this year, the European Commission indicated that it may introduce a formal proposal for a Regulation establishing end dates for euro credit transfer schemes and euro direct debit schemes to comply with ‘essential requirements’. The EPC welcomes the European Commission’s willingness to legislate on end dates for migration to SEPA. Based on statements of the European Commission in March and June 2010, however, the EPC has several significant concerns regarding the possible forthcoming Regulation:

• The Regulation might fail to establish definite end dates for the phasing out of existing national euro payment schemes. This would prevent the realisation of potential financial benefits which could be reaped from migration to a set of harmonised SEPA Schemes. Existing national euro payment schemes could become compliant with the ‘essential requirements’. As a result, domestic transactions would still be handled by national schemes whilst the SEPA Schemes would be used exclusively for cross-border transactions. This scenario is called a ‘Mini-SEPA’.
• The Regulation might allow for multiple competing and ‘interoperable’ euro credit transfer and direct debit schemes. This concept would do little to overcome the fragmentation of the euro payments market and disregards that an optimally efficient payment environment would require that all payment service providers of all payment service users adhere to the exact same scheme rules and standards (which does not prevent competition on SEPA payment products and services). The EPC does not understand why the European Commission contemplates now a scenario so radically different from the approach it has promoted over the past decade.
• The Regulation could render obsolete substantial investments made by early movers both on the demand and supply sides who – in response to previous calls by regulators including the European Commission – have already renewed their payment architecture to comply with the SEPA Schemes developed by the EPC. Banks and other stakeholders shouldered these investments based on the shared expectation and understanding that national euro payment schemes would be phased out. The change of emphasis to ‘essential requirements’ and multiple competing schemes, however, fundamentally contradicts this original assumption upon which these investments were made.

Gerard Hartsink concludes: “In line with expectations expressed by the EU Finance Ministers, the European Parliament and the European Central Bank, the forthcoming Regulation must set end dates for the phasing out of existing national euro credit transfer and euro direct debit schemes to ensure that the high costs of running multiple payment schemes in parallel can be eliminated. A regulatory intervention based on the European Commission’s considerations published in March and June 2010, would effectively derail the entire SEPA project and eliminate the extensive benefits SEPA offers bank customers. The EPC welcomes the recent announcement by the Commission that a public hearing will be held in November 2010 to ensure that all market participants are consulted on the most appropriate approach to a regulatory intervention related to SEPA.” – ENDS –

Notes to editors:

• Journalists are invited to attend a media webinar on Wednesday 3 November at 15:00 CET. This will offer exclusive access to EPC spokespeople who will provide a comprehensive update on EPC activity and an outline of its response to the possible forthcoming regulatory intervention relating to SEPA. To register your attendance and receive further details, please contact Kirsty Pearson on +44 (0)1943 468007 / kirsty@iseepr.co.uk. The full webinar recording will be posted on the EPC website on Thursday 4 November 2010.
• This press release is available in the following euro area languages: full text: French and German; summary text: Italian and Spanish. These translations and other supporting information can be found in the EPC Media Kit accompanying this press release, available here.
• For a detailed analysis of the new mandatory and optional elements introduced into the updated versions of the SCT and SDD Rulebooks see the article ‘SEPA Schemes: Next Generation’ in issue 8 of the EPC Newsletter. Main elements introduced into the new Rulebooks are: the updated version of the SCT Rulebook references a standard developed by the European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT), which allows companies to agree on a structure for remittance information facilitating reconciliation of incoming payments with outstanding invoices. Also in response to user requests, the SDD Rulebooks now include an optional element called ‘Advance Mandate Information (AMI)’ enabling the payer’s bank to widen its mandate management options; i.e. to validate whether a payer authorised a direct debit collection. This feature will further increase consumers’ confidence in the SDD Schemes.Click here to learn more about SDD.
• For a detailed analysis of the possible forthcoming Regulation, which may establish end dates for compliance of euro credit transfer and euro direct debit schemes with ’essential requirements’ see the article ‘On Payments and Light Bulbs’ in issue 7 of the EPC Newsletter. This analysis is based on the European Commission’s Discussion Paper ‘SEPA Migration End-Date’ of March 2010 and the Commission Services’ Working Paper ‘SEPA Migration End-Date’ of June 2010.

About the European Payments Council:

The European Payments Council (EPC) is the coordination and decision-making body of the European banking industry in relation to payments. The purpose of the EPC is to support and promote the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The EPC consists of 74 members representing banks, banking communities and payment institutions. SEPA is an EU integration initiative in the area of payments. SEPA is the area where citizens, companies and other economic actors can make and receive payments in euro, whether within or across national boundaries, under the same basic conditions, rights and obligations, regardless of their location. SEPA is currently defined as consisting of the EU 27 Member States plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Monaco. For further information visit www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu.

Source: European Payments Council

Av de Tervueren 12 B – 1040 Brussels – Tel.: + 32 2 733 35 33 – Fax: + 32 2 736 49 88
www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu – secretariat@europeanpaymentscouncil.eu
The EPC Newsletter. Your Key to SEPA. Get your free Subscription here.

Contacts

Media Contact at the EPC:
Meral Ruesing at the EPC Secretariat
Phone +32 2 733 35 33
e-mail meral.ruesing@europeanpaymentscouncil.eu

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101101006451/en/European-Payments-Council-Marks-Progress-Single-Euro

MasterCard and Amazon.com Present the 2010 Holiday Toy List

November 01, 2010 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

Holiday toy shopping just got easier – customers get FREE Two-Day Shipping when they use their MasterCard

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today unveiled the annual 2010 Holiday Toy List (www.amazon.com/holidaytoylist), where customers can find this season’s hottest toys, video games, sporting goods, electronics, music, movies and books for kids. New this year, customers can get FREE Two-Day Shipping, or a $10 credit towards a future purchase for Amazon Prime members, when they use a MasterCard to purchase $75 or more in eligible items from the Holiday Toy List. Visit www.amazon.com/htl-promo for details.

“At Amazon we are focused on making holiday shopping simple and cost effective for parents, friends and family members”

“At Amazon we are focused on making holiday shopping simple and cost effective for parents, friends and family members,” said Sarah Wood, director of the Toy & Games Store for Amazon.com. “We know saving money is very important to our customers, and now when they use their MasterCard to purchase select items from the Holiday Toy List they can get faster shipping at no additional cost.”

The Holiday Toy List features unique navigation tools that allow customers to quickly narrow and expand search results. Simply sort by “bestselling,” “price” or “average customer review,” then simultaneously filter by age, category, gender, price range, discount and brand.

Customers will find products that are sure to top kids’ wish lists from leading brands like Barbie, Disney, Fisher-Price, Leapfrog, LEGO , Nintendo, Melissa & Doug and Razor. With most products in the Holiday Toy List eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping and Amazon Prime, customers will find great value and convenience in shopping at Amazon.com this holiday.

Products Amazon.com expects to be among customer favorites include:

1. Fisher-Price Imaginext BIGFOOT the Monster $86.99 (Frustration-Free Packaging)
2. Scrabble Flash Cubes $22.22
3. Barbie Video Girl Doll $44.99
4. FurReal GoGo My Walkin' Pup $49.99
5. Hasbro Family Game Night 3 $37.99
6. Fisher-Price Sing-A-Ma-Jigs $18.99
7. Hyper Dash Extreme $19.73
8. LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Learning Game System $52.66
9. Fisher-Price iXL 6-in-1 Learning System $67.91
10. Razor Rip-Rider 360 Drifting Ride-On $85.05
11. Beyblade Metal Fusion Super Vortex Battle Set $21.49
12. Tonka Interactive Rumblin Chuck $27.99
13. Celestron 21024 FirstScope Telescope $34.99
14. Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book: Based on the Film Phenomenon $23.07 (available Nov. 16, 2010)
15. Radio Flyer Tailspin Trike, Red $89.99
16. Toy Story 3 (Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) $24.99 (available Nov. 2, 2010)
17. Zoobles ZBL Zoobles Gift Pack (Version 2) $24.99
18. Loopz Game $25.99
19. LEGO Hogwarts $29.46
20. Kidz Bop 18 $10.99
21. Skip Hop Treetop Friends Hug and Hide Owl Activity Toy $16.88 (available Nov. 21, 2010)
22. PlayStation Move Starter Bundle $99.99
23. Huffy Green Machine $99.99
24. Starcaster by Fender Mini Strat Electric Guitar Starter Pack, Black $129.99
25. Nintendo DSi XL Red Bundle with Mario Kart $179.99 (available Nov. 7, 2010)

Please note that product prices and availability are subject to change. Prices and availability were accurate at the time this release was sent; however, they may differ from those you see when you visit Amazon.com or the Amazon.com Holiday Toy List at www.amazon.com/holidaytoylist.

Total Number of Debit Cards Issued - 2008

PaymentsSource:

Source(s): Surveys and PaymentsSource

Currently viewing: 2008

Rank	Company	Value	% of Overall Sample
1.	Bank of America Corp.	36,482,881	22.3%
2.	Wells Fargo & Co.	28,700,000	17.6%
3.	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	28,235,316	17.3%
4.	U.S. Bancorp	7,176,633	4.4%
5.	Citigroup Inc.	5,970,000	3.7%
6.	Suntrust Banks Inc.	4,352,724	2.7%
7.	Regions Financial Corp.	3,524,435	2.2%
8.	Fifth Third Bancorp	3,463,055	2.1%
9.	Citizens Financial Group	3,445,776	2.1%
10.	PNC Financial Services Group Inc.	2,915,297	1.8%
11.	BB&T Corp.	2,877,844	1.8%
12.	Sovereign Bank	2,820,866	1.7%
13.	Navy Federal Credit Union	2,763,943	1.7%
14.	USAA	2,758,234	1.7%
15.	TD Banknorth Inc.	2,753,096	1.7%
16.	Capital One Financial Corp.	2,429,119	1.5%
17.	Synovus Financial Corp.	2,150,951	1.3%
18.	Popular, Inc.	2,048,723	1.3%
19.	TCF Financial Corporation	1,449,501	0.9%
20.	State Employees Credit Union (NC)	1,373,579	0.8%
21.	M&T Bank Corp.	1,319,070	0.8%
22.	Comerica Inc.	1,267,211	0.8%
23.	UnionBanCal Corporation	1,120,800	0.7%
24.	KeyCorp	988,181	0.6%
25.	Huntington Bancshares Inc.	951,120	0.6%
26.	Zions Bancorp	791,029	0.5%
27.	BBVA USA Bancshares Inc.	751,768	0.5%
28.	Peoples United Bank	698,033	0.4%
29.	Pentagon Federal Credit Union	664,257	0.4%
30.	Marshall & Ilsley Corp.	645,945	0.4%
31.	Commerce Bancshares Inc.	617,011	0.4%
32.	UMB Financial Corp.	538,904	0.3%
33.	Arvest Bank Group Inc.	499,999	0.3%
34.	Golden 1 Credit Union, The	485,430	0.3%
35.	Wilmington Trust Corp.	472,717	0.3%
36.	Security Service Federal Credit Union	464,770	0.3%
37.	BECU (Boeing Employees' Credit Union)	442,382	0.3%
38.	Bank of Hawaii Corporation	353,218	0.2%
39.	SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union	348,276	0.2%
40.	Citizens Equity First Credit Union	327,592	0.2%
41.	TrustMark Corporation	286,735	0.2%
42.	Northwest Savings Bank	249,864	0.2%
43.	RBC Bancorporation (USA)	227,897	0.1%
44.	Webster Financial Corporation	158,210	0.1%
45.	National Penn Bancshares, Inc.	151,960	0.1%
46.	South Financial Group, The	126,432	0.1%
47.	Citizens Republic Bancorp, Inc.	123,217	0.1%
48.	Ent Federal Credit Union	108,403	0.1%
49.	Texas Dow Employees Credit Union	98,023	0.1%
50.	First Banks Inc	89,687	0.1%
51.	Coastal Federal Credit Union	89,370	0.1%
52.	Associated Credit Union	87,181	0.1%
53.	Bethpage Federal Credit Union	82,400	0.1%
54.	Unitus Community Credit Union	29,838	0.0%
55.	Clear Mountain Bank	0	0.0%
56.	Commercial Bank Of Texas, National Association	0	0.0%
57.	East Dubuque Savings Bank	0	0.0%
58.	Rushford State Bank Inc.	0	0.0%
59.	Pacific Western Bank	0	0.0%
60.	Franklin Bank & Trust Company	0	0.0%
61.	Bac Florida Bank	0	0.0%
62.	Solvay Bank	0	0.0%
63.	National Exchange Bank And Trust	0	0.0%
64.	Farmers State Bank (SD)	0	0.0%
65.	Midsouth Bank-Texas, National Association	0	0.0%
66.	Elderton State Bank	0	0.0%
67.	First Southern Bank	0	0.0%
68.	Palmetto State Bank	0	0.0%
69.	American State Bank (Osceola,IA)	0	0.0%
70.	The Bank Of Tampa	0	0.0%
71.	State Bank Of Alcester	0	0.0%
72.	Caprock Santa Fe Credit Union	0	0.0%
73.	Community South Credit Union	0	0.0%
74.	First Credit Union Of Gainesville	0	0.0%
75.	Calhoun-Liberty Employees Credit Union	0	0.0%
76.	Public Employees Credit Union (TX)	0	0.0%
77.	Centex Citizens Credit Union	0	0.0%
78.	Federal Employees Credit Union	0	0.0%
79.	People's Credit Union of Abilene	0	0.0%
80.	University Credit Union	0	0.0%
81.	Florida Transportation Credit Union	0	0.0%
82.	Athens Area Credit Union	0	0.0%
83.	Northwoods Community Credit Union	0	0.0%
84.	Credit Union Of The Rockies	0	0.0%
85.	Ladish Community Credit Union	0	0.0%
86.	First Community Credit Union Of Beloit	0	0.0%
87.	Jack Daniels Employees Credit Union	0	0.0%
88.	First Credit Union (WI)	0	0.0%
89.	National J. A. C. L. Credit Union	0	0.0%
90.	Brokaw Credit Union	0	0.0%
91.	P W C Employees Credit Union	0	0.0%
92.	Piedmont Credit Union	0	0.0%
93.	Newport News Mun. Emp Credit Union	0	0.0%
94.	Loudoun Credit Union	0	0.0%
95.	Hampton City Emp Credit Union Inc.	0	0.0%
96.	The Richmond Postal Credit Union In	0	0.0%
97.	Martinsville Dupont Emp Credit Union	0	0.0%
98.	Dial Credit Union	0	0.0%
99.	Peoples Community Credit Union	0	0.0%
100.	Lennox Employees Credit Union	0	0.0%
	Total Market Value =	163,348,903