Thursday, April 28, 2011

Bell ID Joins U.S. Smart Card Alliance

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28 April 2011 (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) – Bell ID, a global leader in smart token management solutions, has announced that it has become the latest organisation to join the Smart Card Alliance, a non-profit organisation that stimulates the adoption of smart card technology in North America.

Bell ID’s decision to further focus on the U.S. follows the release of its white paper ‘Six Myths Preventing EMV Migration in the U.S.’ late last year, which highlights the inevitability of the U.S. transiting to EMV-based payments technology. This paper concludes that migration to EMV may come sooner than expected.

Joining the Smart Card Alliance enables Bell ID to increase its visibility and further develop relationships with industry players. This will be achieved through active involvement within meetings, events and outreach activities such as the upcoming Smart Card Alliance Annual Conference, where Bell ID will be exhibiting.

David Orme, CEO, Bell ID comments: “With the U.S. magnetic stripe payment model over fifty years old, the migration to a new infrastructure will be costly and complex. The rewards and opportunities, however, will make the transition commercially profitable and rewarding. As we witness the debate transition from ‘if’ the U.S. will migrate to EMV, to many industry professionals asking ‘when’ and ‘how’, we are delighted to contribute our expertise to the debate through organisations such as the Smart Card Alliance. It has, and will continue to play a crucially important role in educating the marketplace and encouraging best practice in the coming years.”

Randy Vanderhoof, Executive Director at Smart Card Alliance, adds: “We’re delighted to welcome Bell ID to the Smart Card Alliance. As a new member and exhibitor at the upcoming Annual Conference, we look forward to its contribution to our activities as the U.S debate on EMV migration continues to intensify.”

Bell ID will be showcasing its newly launched Bell ID® EMV Token Manager software at this year’s Smart Card Alliance Annual Conference, held on 3 – 5 May 2011 in Illinois, Chicago, U.S.

Exhibiting at booth 313, Bell ID experts will be available to discuss issues relating to the deployment and lifecycle management of smart tokens and associated applications.

Bell ID is a worldwide technology leader in the field of smart card and token management solutions and its technology is responsible for the day-to-day management of over 125 million tokens globally, across the finance, identity and mobile sectors.

For further information on Bell ID, or to arrange a briefing regarding EMV migration in the U.S. please contact Sarah Jones or Nicole Mountain at iseepr: sarah@iseepr.co.uk /nicole@iseepr.co.uk, +44 (0) 1943 468 007.

About Bell ID

Bell ID is a worldwide technology leader in the field of smart card/ token management solutions, with the largest team in the industry dedicated exclusively to developing software that manages life-cycles, applications and cryptographic keys. Having operated in this highly specialised field for 20 years, Bell ID is a true card and token management expert providing unparalleled knowledge, experience and products to an unrivalled portfolio of customers. Bell ID’s software is used in finance, identity and mobile solutions worldwide.www.bellid.com

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TransFirst Launches Mobile Payment Application "PayFox"

Hauppauge, New York, April 28, 2011 -- TransFirst®, a leading provider of transaction processing services and payment enabling technologies, is pleased to announce the launch of PayFoxTM, a mobile payment processing application that allows merchants to accept credit and signature debit card payments using an iPhone.

The application is available as a free download from Apple’s App Store. PayFox can process Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express credit and signature debit cards. Merchants that have the iPhone 3G/3GS or iPhone 4 can use a cardreader that allows them to swipe customers’ cards rather than key the card information manually. The application is incorporated into TransFirst’s TransAction Central payment gateway.

“TransFirst is excited about the launch of PayFox, as it opens up a new sales market for our clients and a new way for our merchants to accept payments,” says Craig Tieken, director of product for TransFirst. “PayFox users will get the same flexible payment processing service and industry-leading support that all TransFirst merchants have come to expect. PayFox is just the first of many mobile products and services that we will be introducing; we are committed to building out a suite of best-in-class solutions serving the mobile payments arena.”

About TransFirst (www.transfirst.com )

A leading provider of secure transaction processing services and payment enabling technologies, TransFirst offers innovative products and services designed with financial institution, independent sales organization, healthcare, e-commerce, government and merchant customers’ unique needs in mind. By collaborating with our customers and utilizing strong industry knowledge, we help them grow their businesses. Founded in 1995, TransFirst continues to attain significant market share and world-class expertise in growing and profitable industry segments. Built on a platform of personal service, customer commitment and flexible pricing, TransFirst is headquartered in Hauppauge, N.Y., and has operations facilities in Aurora, Colo., Broomfield, Colo., Omaha, Neb., Overland Park, Kan., and executive headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Company-wide, TransFirst currently processes approximately $30 billion in annual sales volume for more than 175,000 merchant locations and more than 1,000 financial institutions. For additional information, please call 800.745.2659 or visit www.TransFirst.com .

Source: Company press release.

Mercator Report: Authentication at the Edge: NFC, Smartphones, and a New Model for Payments Confidence

Security is an integral part of NFC Data's, Sqwizz
Boston, MA -- With NFC on the near-term horizon, the number of smartphones in the U.S. with this new security capability will number in the tens of millions within a year. This flood of highly capable devices will provide new security and fraud mitigation possibilities for payment accountholders, financial institutions, merchants, government, and other enterprises.

Growing in popularity with consumers, these devices offer the critical convenience features necessary for consumers to participate in security steps such as PIN entry to specific apps, fingerprint reading, etc.

Mercator Advisory Group's new report Authentication At the Edge: NFC, Smartphones, and a New Model for Payments Confidence examines the potential of the smartphone in security applications as it evolves to include hardware-based security via NFC, NFC's Secure Element card number storage, as well as potential biometric applications.

Findings of this report include:

  • Projections for the installed base of NFC-equipped smartphones in the North American Market by Q1/2012.
  • Context-specific, layered identity authentication provides a solid approach that does not break existing relationships among transaction participants.
  • As e-commerce merchandising and payment methodologies move into the physical point of sale environment, these clicks-at-bricks transactions will require strong payment credential authentication.
  • The availability of NFC facilities improves authentication services for m-banking, e-commerce, m-commerce, and POS payments.
  • Biometrics managed at the edge of the network by the device owner offer new layers for authentication surety without imposing the challenge of biometrics management on participants.
"Authentication is the heart of payments and online security. Smartphones with hardware-based security capability, especially via NFC and fingerprint readers, will give consumers, enterprise users, and the government unprecedented control over their payment and security interactions," statedGeorge Peabody, Director of Mercator Advisory Group's Emerging Technologies Advisory Service. "The payments network has done an excellent job with network-based intelligence, but it is time to put intelligence into the devices accessing those networks from the very edge. Smartphones with hardware security features bring contextually appropriate authentication power to the problem of risk-based assessments.

One of seven exhibits in this report:





This report is 29 pages long, with seven exhibits and three tables.

Companies mentioned in this report include: Broadcom, Apple, Isis, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Discover, Barclaycard, Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, AisleBuyer, Facebook, Amazon, Google, SK Telecom, First Data, CASSIS International, TSYS, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Microsoft, Prime Sense, Omnicom, Barbarian Group, Cheil Worldwide), and Razorfish, Publicis, ID-U Biometrics, Disney, Blue Planet Apps, Bank of America, and INSIDE Secur.

Members of Mercator Advisory Group have access to this report as well as the upcoming research for the year ahead, presentations, analyst access and other membership benefits.

Please visit us online at www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com.

For more information and media inquiries, please call Mercator Advisory Group's main line: (781) 419-1700, send E-mail to info@mercatoradvisorygroup.com.

Follow us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/MercatorAdvisor.



About Mercator Advisory Group
Mercator Advisory Group is the leading, independent research and advisory services firm exclusively focused on the payments and banking industries. We deliver pragmatic and timely research and advice designed to help our clients uncover the most lucrative opportunities to maximize revenue growth and contain costs. Our clients range from the world's largest payment issuers, acquirers, processors, merchants and associations to leading technology providers and investors.

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85% of Consumers Believe Online Fraud is a Growing Concern: ThreatMatrix


Research Study: 

Information Consumers Will Allow a Trusted Online Business to Check
Only 12% of Consumers Stated They Think Companies are Getting Better at Protecting Their Personal Information Online
LOS ALTOS, CA – April 26, 2011 – ThreatMetrix™, the fastest growing provider of cloud-based fraud prevention solutions that do not require personally identifiable information (PII), today announced some results of a joint study with the Ponemon Institute that reveals consumers’ growing concern over online fraud. The research, which surveyed consumers on their awareness and confidence in online fraud prevention, was compiled in a report, “Consumers’ Reaction to Online Fraud.”
Results showed that 85% of survey respondents reported being worried and dissatisfied with the level of protection online businesses are providing to stop fraudsters today, which is up 5% from a 2009 Ponemon study that asked the same question. Forty-two percent of respondents, in fact, said they have been the victim of online fraud. Of those, 80% said they did not report the crime, however, and only 19% said they reported it only to the online business directly.
“A lot of fraudulent activity goes unreported today, making it difficult for online businesses to fully understand the prominence and seriousness of the problem,” said Reed Taussig, president and CEO, ThreatMetrix. “With a rise in online transactions and activities across devices, more needs to be done to educate online merchants, banks, social outlets and other businesses on how to decrease fraudulent activity.”
What Online Businesses Can Do to Combat Fraud
The survey respondents who expressed concern over online fraud said they felt online merchants, banks and social networks need to take additional steps to prevent fraudsters from stealing consumer information.
Nearly three in four respondents would allow a trusted online business to place an invisible cookie on their computer to automatically authenticate them, and 82% indicated that they would expect an online business to offer alternative authentication methods if they were unable to match the consumer’s digital fingerprint to their security system.
“Our survey results help validate the need and consumer preference for technology, such as device identification, to authenticate identity as opposed to using personally identifiable information,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. “Consumers expressed much more willingness to share data like ISP, computer serial number, type and make, rather than information like date of birth and telephone number.”
Information Consumers are Willing to Allow a Trusted Online Business to Check to Verify Their Identity, or Digitally Fingerprint Their Computer:
1. Serial number of computer 88%
2. Type and make of your computer 83%
3. Internet service provider 76%
4. Browser settings 71%
5. Type of browser 65%
6. IP address 59%
7. Types of software applications residing on your device 54%
8. Email address 46%
9. Purchase history 39%
10. Planned future purchases 35%
11. Date of birth 34%
12. Telephone number 17%
13. Home address 16%
14. Name 14%
15. Zip code 9%
16. Social Security number 4%
17. Driver’s license number 2%
Consumer Sentiment Around Promotion of Fraud Detection Technology
Based on survey findings, consumers have a positive perception about companies that use authentication and fraud detection tools to prevent online fraud. Fifty-six percent of consumers even indicated they are ‘more willing’ to shop or browse an online business if they know that company is taking specific measures toward combating fraud. However, the majority of respondents stated a preference for companies to share information about their device for authentication purposes — as opposed to sharing personal information to verify their identity.
“Some e-tailers today are promoting ‘anti-virus’ or ‘secure transaction’ messaging online, when they should also be touting ‘anti-fraud’ messages as well,” said Taussig.
The research also looked at consumer sentiment about fraud prevention across the banking, social media and Web 2.0 industries and mobile channel. For more information about the findings, download a copy of the report at http://info.threatmetrix.com/ConsumerSurveyOnlineFraud2011.html.
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. For more information, visit www.ponemon.org.
ThreatMetrix helps companies stop web fraud and accelerate e-commerce in real-time so they can significantly reduce online fraud, acquire more customers faster, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction. The ThreatMetrix Cloud-Based Fraud Prevention Platform, incorporating ThreatMetrix SmartID cookieless device identification, provides online businesses with the ability to protect themselves and their customers by verifying new accountsauthorizing payments and transactions and authenticating user logins in real-time. Online businesses can deploy the ThreatMetrix Cloud-based Fraud Prevention Platform, which does not rely on personally identifiable information (PII), for traditional online activity via a personal computer as well as for mobile and tablet devices. The company serves a rapidly growing customer base around the world across a variety of industries including social networks (dating, gaming)financial servicese-commerce, affiliate marketing and payments. For more information, visit www.threatmetrix.com or call 1-650-625-1451.
© 2011 ThreatMetrix. All rights reserved. ThreatMetrix, the ThreatMetrix Cloud-Based Fraud Prevention Platform, ThreatMetrix SmartID, ThreatMetrix ExactID, and the ThreatMetrix logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of ThreatMetrix in the United States and other countries. All other brand, service or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or owners.
Media Contacts:
Dan Rampe
ThreatMetrix
Tel: 650-417-6122
Email: drampe@threatmetrix.com
Lauren Eichmann
Walker Sands Communications
Tel: 312-265-3089

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The Impact of Mobile Banking: A Case for Mobile Marketing

A New Report from Aite Group

Going Forward, The Mobile Banking Behaviors Of Today’s Consumers Should Influence Financial Institutions’ Mobile Marketing Efforts.

Boston, April 26, 2011 – A new report from Aite Group provides insight into the behaviors of mobile banking users. Based on a December 2010 Aite Group survey of 1,011 U.S. consumers, the report explains why specific consumer behaviors are important to financial institutions’ mobile banking and mobile marketing strategies.
 
Based on Aite Group’s analysis of mobile-banking-consumer behaviors, it is clear that banks will have to make significant investments to improve or develop their mobile marketing capabilities. The lack of a retention benefit from the mobile banking channel, potential loss of overdraft fees from balance monitoring, and shift in consumer attention toward the mobile channel means that financial institutions’ rationale for investing in mobile-banking capabilities will come from successful mobile marketing.

“Financial institutions that currently provide mobile-banking services offer basic functionalities like balance-checking and funds transfers,” says Ron Shevlin, senior analyst with Aite Group and co-author of this report. “The internal struggle has been how to justify investments in this channel and what types of services to deploy next. Based on consumer behavior, mobile marketing functionality can provide the justification for and the answer behind what to deploy.”

This 20-page Impact Note contains 19 figures and three tables. Clients of Aite Group's Retail Banking service can download the report by clicking on the icon to the right. 
Related Aite Group Research:
To purchase this report or
for additional information,
please contact:
Aite Group SalesTel: +1.617.338.6050sales@aitegroup.com

Pacific Amber And YESpay's Partnership Takes Another Dimension As Large Numbers Of Merchants Go Live In North America!

April 28, 2011
A growing number of merchants in Canada and USA are now Live and EMV Chip & PIN enabled thanks to the trio: Pacific Amber Technologies, YESpay International and Chase Paymentech! Since 2010, merchants using AmberPOS are able to process EMV Chip & PIN transactions via YESpay's fully EMV and PCI-DSS certified payment solution, EMBOSS. Adoption is now exploding because of this successful partnership and the increasing need to adopt Chip and PIN in Canada as a result of the EMV liability shift.
With live merchants all across North America, Pacific Amber Technologies constitutes a reliable and valuable partner to both YESpay and Chase Paymentech resulting in the successful national rollout of merchants of all sizes. All three parties are working closely together to be at the front of emerging cutting-edge technologies and to offer the fastest time to market and low-cost EMV payment solution possible to merchants.
Validated for EasyV-Retail, YESpay's EMV card-present payment solution, Pacific Amber Technologies is offering a unique proposition for EMV Chip and PIN and magnetic stripe credit and debit card acceptance in North America with Chase Paymentech as the processor. Live merchants like House of Knives and John Fluevog have been EMV enabled this year and are currently using this joint solution.
With the need to offer multi-channel payment services, Pacific Amber is also integrating EasyV-Internet (YESpay's e-commerce payment solution) to expand its payment service proposition to provide its customers with an e-commerce payment platform.
Both EasyV-Internet and EasyV-Retail support credit and debit card tokenization for free. These unique ‘Tokens' or card reference numbers which are linked to individual cardholder details stored in PCI DSS certified EMBOSS data centres, enables merchants to perform marketing functions or make recurring / subscription payments without access to full cardholder details.
By utilizing YESpay's EMV pre-accredited and PCI-DSS certifiedpayment solution, Canadian and US merchantsrunning AmberPOS software are taking advantage of the most cost effective payment service, that securely processes and settles transactions with Chase Paymentech via YESpay's dual data centres. All major EMV credit and debit cards are supported with the EasyV-Retail solution including Visa, MasterCard, Interac, Maestro, Amex, Diners and more. EasyV-Retail also supports on-line PIN validation for both Canadian Interac debit card transactions as well as US magnetic debit transactions.
As Harry Morge, National Sales Manager at YESpay explains, "This strong partnership with Pacific Amber and Chase Paymentech is really fruitful, and is now taking another dimension. Indeed, the merchant base is growing every month, and we jointly assist merchants in both USA and Canada. Pacific Amber will leverage another channel supported by YESpay, namely e-commerce, thus offering a multi-channel solution to its merchants. I am looking forward to continuing developing this relationship!"
For over 15 years,Pacific Amber Technologieshas established a proven track record of successfully helping hundreds of retailers across North America. Pacific Amber Technologies chose to integrate with YESpay in order to offer to its customers a managed and multi-channel, pre-accredited payment service at a low monthly cost.
Mike Piotrowski, President of Pacific Amber Technologies comments "The uniqueness of YESpay's payment solution which is fully managed, multi-channel, cross-border and EMV certified, was the answer to our payment needs. We can now enable our numerous merchants to accept integrated payments, as part of our comprehensive point-of-sale solution which is gaining more and more traction in the market. AmberPOS has been a successful software for years and we are always looking for new ways to provide our customers with more features, including new payment processing options."
About Pacific Amber Technologies:
Pacific Amber Technologiesprovides customizable Point of Sale Software Solutions to retailers in Canada and the United States. AmberPOS offers retailers fast and easy sales processing with fully integrated payment processing options, complete inventory management, customer and vendor management, full comprehensive reporting with over 500 specialized and customizable reports, single and multi-location capabilities with real-time synchronization, innovative purchase ordering, advanced biometric security and integrated import/export to various e-commerce and accounting solution providers.
AmberPOSserves the needs of hundreds of retailers across North America across many retail sectors including men's and women's clothing, athletic and sporting goods, jewellery stores, housing goods, swimwear, shoes, wine and liquor stores, book, hobby stores and dozens of others.
The AmberPOS software solution can be deployed in retail operations ranging from a single location to hundreds of locations, with the ability to manage and streamline operations, reporting and management through a single Headquarters administrative module, or with specific levels of control distributed to different locations. All levels of security and control within the software is fully customizable as is the feature set and custom programming is available for retailers with very specialized needs. For more information, visit www.amberpos.com.
About YESpay International Limited:
YESpay International Ltd., a global card payments service company, provides highly secure Internet, EMV Chip & PIN, contactless and gift card payment processing services to independent and multi-chain merchants. Through EMBOSS, the YESpay Managed Payment Service, merchants can quickly accept integrated card payments within EPOS, kiosks, hospitality and e-commerce systems with minimal capital invesent and low on-going services costs. EMBOSSis an on-line IP-based payment processing service that has been generically pre-accredited by major Card Acquirers in Europe and North America (including First Data Merchant Service (FDMS), Chase Paymentech, Barclaycard Business, HSBC, HBOS, Lloyds Cardnet, Streamline, Ulster Bank, Elavon, PBS, Amex and Diners). In addition, the YESpay EMBOSS service is fully end-to-end certified to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) Level 1 as mandated by Visa and MasterCard. The YESpay EasyV-Suite of card payment products is innovative and cost-effective for EPOS, Kiosk, Hospitality, Mobile and Internet environments. With the YESpay EMBOSS card payment service, merchants can perform card payments in both card-present and card-not-present environments. For more information, visit www.yes-pay.com
SOURCE: Pacific Amber Technologies & YESpay International Ltd.

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USA Technologies Teams with ViVOtech to Demo NFC Mobile Payment for Vending

Image representing Vivotech as depicted in Cru...Image via CrunchBase


USA Technologies Teams Up with ViVOtech to Demonstrate NFC Mobile Payment Capability for Vending at NAMA Expo

CHICAGO & SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--USA Technologies (NASDAQ:USAT) and ViVOtech announced today that they were demonstrating NFC mobile payment technology for vending and wireless point of sale at the NAMA Vending Expo in Chicago, April 27 through 29, 2011.

USA Technologies, a leader in wireless cashless payments systems, teamed with ViVOtech, the NFC software and systems company, to demonstrate how USAT’s ePort terminal accepts mobile payment as well as traditional magnetic stripe cards, contactless cards, and other cashless forms of payment.
“With major players such as the mobile carriers, banks, card associations and others jockeying for position in the rapidly emerging mobile payments space, USA Technologies wanted to demonstrate to its customers that its ePort solutions are capable of handling mobile payments,” said Michael Lawlor, Sr. VP of Sales and Business Development, USA Technologies. “In fact, the Company already has approximately 50,000 mobile NFC payment-enabled ePort connections on its network.”
Added Mohammed Khan, ViVOtech founder and president: “USA Technologies’ mobile payment initiative is exactly the kind of real-world NFC application that consumers have been waiting for. Our efforts together are forever changing the shopping experience for the better.”
“We believe that the opportunity that mobile payment offers is vast and valuable, and USA Technologies intends to lead in this rapidly emerging space,” said Lawlor. “As mobile payments continue to accelerate, USA Technologies is well positioned to capitalize on the opportunity and bring even greater value to its customers through increased consumer convenience.”
USA Technologies announced earlier this week an agreement with Verizon that the companies believe will accelerate the adoption of small-ticket, wireless, cashless payment services and machine-to-machine applications via USA Technologies’ ePort Connect Service. Among other things, the agreement provides for USA Technologies ePort solution including the Verizon Wireless network for connectivity, as well as Verizon including the ePort solution for wireless, cashless point of sale and machine to machine applications in the Verizon sales toolkit.
USA Technologies is exhibiting in NAMA Expo booth number 222.
About USA Technologies:
USA Technologies is a leader in wireless, small ticket cashless transactions, associated financial/network services and energy management. USA Technologies provides networked credit card and other non-cash systems in the vending, commercial laundry, hospitality and digital imaging industries. The Company has been granted 79 patents and has agreements with Verizon, Visa, Compass and others. Visit our website at www.usatech.com.
About ViVOtech:
ViVOtech, the near field communication (NFC) software and systems company, enables rich mobile commerce solutions for in-store payment, loyalty, marketing, and merchandising. Merchant, payment, mobile, web and advertising companies use ViVOtech solutions to enhance customer experience and grow their business. VIVOtech’s NFC software and systems are the broadest, most tested and deployed worldwide. Founded in 2001, Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech provides the key building blocks of the NFC ecosystem: smart applications, wallet and provisioning software, and point of sale systems. ViVOtech’s investors include Alloy Ventures, Citigroup, Draper Fisher Jurveston, First Data Corporation, Miven Ventures, Motorola Ventures, Nokia Growth Partners, NCR, and Sprint. Join the NFC revolution at http://www.ViVOtech.com.

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Fiserve Reports Q1 2011 Results

  • 3 percent adjusted internal revenue growth,
  • Payments segment growth of 5 percent;
  • Adjusted earnings per share increases 7 percent to $1.02;
  • Company affirms 2011 revenue and earnings guidance

BROOKFIELD, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2011.
“Given our results in the quarter and visibility into the remainder of the year, we are on-track to achieve our 2011 guidance”
GAAP revenue in the first quarter of 2011 was $1.05 billion compared with $1.01 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Adjusted revenue increased 3 percent to $982 million in the first quarter compared with $954 million in 2010.
GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2011 was $0.77, which includes severance expenses of $0.08 per share, compared with $0.80 in 2010. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2011 increased 7 percent to $1.02 compared with $0.95 in 2010.
“Our first quarter revenue growth is kicking off a good start to the year led by strong performance in our Payments segment,” said Jeffery Yabuki, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fiserv. “We are enhancing our sustainable revenue growth profile through a strong business model, market leading technologies and solid sales execution.”
First Quarter 2011
  • Adjusted internal revenue growth was 3 percent in the quarter, including 5 percent growth in the Payments segment and 2 percent growth in the Financial segment.
  • Adjusted operating margin decreased 60 basis points to 28.3 percent in the quarter compared with the prior year period.
  • Free cash flow increased 8 percent to $244 million in the quarter compared with $225 million in the first quarter of 2010.
  • The company repurchased 4.3 million shares of common stock in the quarter for $261 million. As of March 31, 2011, the company had approximately 1.8 million shares remaining under its share repurchase authorization.
  • Fiserv completed three acquisitions in the quarter:
  • Credit Union On-Line, Inc. (CUOL), a provider of outsourced processing solutions for credit unions, will provide the company’s clients with an outsourced delivery option for the XP2® account processing solution from Fiserv. The acquisition also enables existing CUOL clients to receive direct support and access to a comprehensive portfolio of value-added solutions from Fiserv.
  • Maverick Network Solutions Inc., a provider of prepaid and reward incentive card programs, will expand the company’s payments solutions portfolio and fulfill the increasing demand from large financial institutions and corporations for prepaid processing, turn-key program management and general purpose reloadable and payroll cards.
  • Mobile Commerce Ltd. (M-Com), an international mobile banking and payments provider and a strategic partner of Fiserv in the creation of Mobile Money, will accelerate the delivery of the company’s innovative mobile capabilities which are key elements of the company’s digital channels strategy.
  • The company expanded its payments footprint in the quarter by signing 100 electronic bill payment clients and 53 debit clients.
  • During the quarter, 123 clients committed to offer ZashPay®, the person-to-person payments service launched by Fiserv in mid-2010. As of March 31, 2011, more than 730 financial institutions have agreed to offer the service.
  • Fiserv teamed with Visa to enable users of ZashPay to send money to, and receive money from, eligible Visa accounts. This agreement significantly expands the ZashPay network, with the potential to reach more than 1 billion Visa account holders worldwide and to increase the speed of person-to-person payments.
  • The company was named “Best Electronic Commerce Provider” by Global Finance magazine in the “mobile banking” category.
  • A number of new and expanded client relationships were signed in the quarter including:
  • Bridgewater Bank, a $350 million institution located in Bloomington, Minn., selected the Premier® account processing platform with consumer and business online banking, telephone banking, CheckFree® RXP® for bill payment, Branch and Merchant Source Capture and solutions for card services including debit processing and the ACCEL/Exchange® PIN debit network. This integrated banking solution from Fiserv also includes solutions for item processing and electronic content management.
  • Columbia State Bank, with $4.9 billion in assets and more than 80 banking offices in Washington and Oregon, expanded its relationship with Fiserv by agreeing to deploy the InformEnt® Enterprise Data Warehouse from Fiserv. Columbia State Bank already uses the Precision bank platform for outsourced account processing, CheckFree RXP, the ACCEL/Exchange PIN debit network, AML Manager, Internet Banking, Integrated Teller, Director, Business Process Manager and EasyLender®.
  • Connects Federal Credit Union of Richmond, Va. signed an agreement to implement Portico® from Fiserv. Connects FCU, which has $75.8 million in assets and serves 15,000 members, also chose Fiserv solutions AccountCreateSM for online account opening, CheckFree RXP, Loancierge for loan origination, Virtual Branch® for online banking, Wisdom for accounting and ZashPay. Connects FCU is the 18th credit union to select Portico for account processing in the last 12 months.
  • First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, a $5.8 billion financial holding company headquartered in Indiana, Pa. that operates more than 100 retail branch offices in 15 counties in western and central Pennsylvania through First Commonwealth Bank, has selected Corillian Online® to enable the delivery of integrated banking, payments and personal financial management tools to its retail banking customers. The bank also selected Mobile Money from Fiserv for mobile financial services.
  • Foster Bank of Rolling Meadows, Ill., with more than $500 million in assets, selected the Premier account processing platform with consumer and business online banking, Checkfree RXP, WireXchange® for automated wire transfers and the ACCEL/Exchange PIN debit network from Fiserv.
  • Georgia’s Own Credit Union of Atlanta, the third-largest credit union in Georgia with $1.6 billion in assets, agreed to implement Acumen from Fiserv. Georgia’s Own, which serves nearly 170,000 members, will implement additional Fiserv solutions including Corillian Online for online banking, CheckFree RXP, Mobile Money, ZashPay and modules from the Prologue Financial Accounting Solutions suite from Fiserv.
  • Grupo Aval, the largest financial group in Colombia, signed a master agreement for all of its banking and ATM units with Fiserv for a suite of Cash & Logistics ASP modules including Integrated Currency Manager, Match Point®, Performance View and CorPoint. The first two Grupo Aval affiliates to acquire the solution are ATH, the largest ATM and non-banking correspondents network in Colombia with more than 5,500 access points, and BAC, the second largest bank in Central America with $8.4 billion in assets and operations in Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States.
  • Hudson Valley Bank, headquartered in Yonkers, N.Y. with more than $2.6 billion in assets, selected the Signature bank platform from Fiserv. Focused on the financial needs of local businesses and professional services firms, Hudson Valley Bank has experienced significant growth over the past few years and sought a technology upgrade to help increase overall efficiency, develop sustainable process improvements and manage growth. The bank will also implement additional Fiserv solutions integrated into the account processing platform.
  • Laclede Gas, the largest natural gas distribution utility in Missouri, selected an on-demand biller solution from Fiserv to enable its nearly 630,000 customers to pay their bills online or by phone through an automated system that is available at any time. The company also renewed its agreement for print services through Output Solutions at Fiserv.
  • Rabobank, N.A., the North American arm of Netherlands-based Rabobank Group, expanded its relationship with Fiserv with its selection of ZashPay to enable person-to-person payments for U.S. retail banking clients. The bank -- an existing online banking, bill payment and mobile banking client -- joins a growing network of financial institutions offering the service.
  • U.S. Bancorp, the parent company of U.S. Bank, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States, expanded its existing relationship with Fiserv. The bank has selected Mobile Money from Fiserv as its enterprise mobile financial services platform.
Outlook for 2011
Fiserv continues to expect 2011 adjusted internal revenue growth to be in a range of 2 to 4 percent. The company also expects 2011 adjusted earnings per share to be in a range of $4.42 to $4.54, which represents growth of 9 to 12 percent compared with $4.05 in 2010.
“Given our results in the quarter and visibility into the remainder of the year, we are on-track to achieve our 2011 guidance,” said Yabuki.
Earnings Conference Call
The company will discuss its first quarter 2011 results on a conference call and webcast at 4 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. To register for the event, go to www.fiserv.com and click on the Q1 Earnings Webcast icon. Supplemental materials will be available in the “Investor Relations” section of the website.
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. Fiserv is ranked No. 1 on the FinTech 100 survey of top technology partners to the financial services industry. For more information, visit www.fiserv.com.

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