Anywhere Commerce Granted New Patent for Conducting Secure Transactions

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- AnywhereCommerce, a leading eCommerce and mCommerce engineering and solutions provider, announced the issuance of US Patent No. 8,055,545, Apparatus and method for conducting secure financial transactions.

Specifically, the patented technology uses a "trusted platform module" which stores sensitive consumer payment information securely. A virtual appliance module exists to create a protected environment wherein two computers can share a secure connection to deliver secure information stored in the TPM (TPM is one of the backbones of PC/mobile data security). Financial information is passed between parties using the most secure integrated chip technology along with encryption standards to protect all data transmission. For example, a bank can transmit and embed a consumers payment credentials to a mobile handset and enable a variety of transactions including; NFC, credit and debit.

"The technology covered by this patent will help revolutionize mobile commerce" said Mitchell Cobrin, AnywhereCommerce CEO. "One of the major concerns to widespread adoption of mobile commerce has been the lack of a simple but secure methodology for transmitting sensitive data. The AnywhereCommerce technology resolves this issue by providing a highly innovative (and now patented) dual authentication methodology that can be easily implemented."

"This patent bolsters our patent portfolio and continues to establish AnywhereCommerce's important role in the hyper-growing mobile payments ecosystem". Cobrin added "In today's technology environment, patent portfolios are recognized as necessary assets and we believe our growing patent portfolio is vital to providing secure payment solutions to financial institutions, merchants and consumers. In addition to our intellectual property, we continue to develop state-of-the-art certified mobile solutions that will support tailored security for data stored on TPM chips for respective application needs."

About AnywhereCommerceAnywhereCommerce is a global eCommerce and mCommerce payments technology engineering and solutions provider with patented and proprietary suites of hardware and software services for secure online and mobile card present credit card, PIN debit Chip and PIN- EMV and NFC transactions. The universal "aCommerce" platform is ideal for eCommerce, mCommerce, P2P, retail line busting as well as traditional field services such as repairman, delivery or taxi services. PCI certified devices and bank grade secure end-to-end ecosystem provides greater security, reliability, convenience and return on investment for consumers, merchants, networks, issuers and acquirers.

NFC Forum Members to Demonstrate Innovative Solutions in Frankfurt, Feb. 8

January 31, 2012 04:00 AM Eastern Time 

WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, will host a Solutions Showcase at a reception in Frankfurt, Germany on February 8, where six member companies will demonstrate their NFC-enabled products and services.

“We are looking forward to the NFC Forum's inaugural Solutions Showcase as an energizing complement to our Members Meeting in Frankfurt”

Attendance at the reception is free of charge, but advance registration is required. The event will take place from 6 to 8 PM in the Lemons & Limes Bar at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel & Conference Center, and refreshments will be served.

"We are looking forward to the NFC Forum's inaugural Solutions Showcase as an energizing complement to our Members Meeting in Frankfurt," said Koichi Tagawa, NFC Forum Chairman. "We encourage everyone who's interested in innovation to join us at the reception and find out firsthand what's behind the current excitement about NFC technology, and to enjoy refreshments with us in a relaxed and informal setting."

The Frankfurt demonstrations will showcase a range of NFC use cases:

• AT4 wireless, an NFC Forum testing partner, will demonstrate its RIDER NFC Test tool for NFC Forum Digital Protocol and Analogue RF specifications; the product incorporates both test suites. The company is interested in meeting NFC ecosystem stakeholders, including device manufacturers, telecommunications operators, and test laboratories, at the Frankfurt event.
• HOTech demonstrations will include NFC FieldService, a data collection and processing solution supporting field service activities; NFC Patrol, for patrol guard and security services management; NFCampus, a management solution applicable to academic and similar environments; and NFC Art Pro, which supports cultural heritage activities and artifacts management.
• ITN International, Inc. will demonstrate the functionality and the business case for deploying and using NFC at events, via its Touch 'N Go Event Solutions. The company's demonstration will also show how cities, convention centers, transportation systems, hotels, restaurants, retailers and event producers can benefit from deploying citywide NFC credentials.
• NEXPERTS will showcase its NFC-enabled mobile wallets for payment instruments such as PayPass and payWave cards as well as membership cards, coupons, tickets, and access credentials. The Next-Generation Wallet combines an open-loop payment system with loyalty features in a single tap.
• Sony Corporation will show attendees a set of healthcare devices from different manufacturers that make use of its NFC Dynamic Tag chip to provide NFC support. Demonstrated devices will include step counters, blood pressure monitors, and weighing scales. The data measured by those devices can then be retrieved by a mobile phone via NFC. Sony will also present an Arduino-based NFC Dynamic Tag evaluation board and an Android library that simplifies the development of applications reading data from those NFC-enabled healthcare devices.
• TUOMI IT SA will demonstrate its NFC-based interactive presentation, information, and verification system for other firms' products, its NFC-based object and service management support system for quality control and external services, and its mobile data collection with NFC and GPS. The company will also show its NFC Smart Posters for children, such as posters with jungle animals, pictures from different countries, or musical instruments.

In addition, WIMA, the leading global conference and exhibition exclusively dedicated to NFC applications, products and services, held in Monaco and the U.S., will be on hand to present information about its upcoming Monaco event (11-13 April, 2012) and the NFC Forum and WIMA Tap Into Innovation: NFC Global Competition 2012.

About the NFC Forum

The NFC Forum (http://www.nfc-forum.org) was launched as a non-profit industry association in 2004 by leading mobile communications, semiconductor, and consumer electronics companies. The Forum’s mission is to advance the use of Near Field Communication technology by developing specifications, ensuring interoperability among devices and services, and educating the market about NFC technology. The Forum’s 160+ global member companies currently are developing specifications for a modular NFC device architecture, and protocols for interoperable data exchange and device-independent service delivery, device discovery, and device capability.

The NFC Forum’s Sponsor members, which hold seats on the Board of Directors, include leading players in key industries around the world. The Sponsor members are: Barclaycard, Broadcom Corporation, INSIDE Secure, Intel, MasterCard Worldwide, Microsoft Corp., NEC, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Inc., NXP Semiconductors, Renesas Electronics Corporation, Samsung, Sony Corporation, STMicroelectronics, and Visa Inc.

Canada's Payfirma Updates Its Mobile Payment App in a Big Way

The mobile payment app now has a sleeker design, real-time sales summary, location tagging, and supports multiple languages

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Payfirma, the leader of mobile payments for businesses in Canada, announces the availability of the next version of its mobile payment app. The updated app brings a host of new features that make accepting credit cards on iPhones and iPads faster and easier than ever before. The app also boasts a sleeker design that doubles the speed to make transactions.

Created in collaboration with merchants, the focus of this release is on user efficiency, location awareness, and real-time information. Businesses can now access real-time transaction reporting with daily, weekly, and month-to-date sales keeping merchants on top of their business. Each transaction is tagged with the location of the sale, so merchants and their customers can see their transactions on a map, right on their mobile device. This gives small businesses a new set of business intelligence to improve their sales and also increase security.

Payfirma also updated the app to support multiple languages, starting with French. If the operating language is set to French on an iPhone or iPad, Payfirma's app will be automatically rendered in French. This makes the app easier for the French Canadian market and also prepares the app for international expansion.

Research and development has already started for the next version to support the emerging NFC standards and the EMV payments standard, which is popular in Canada and European markets.

About Payfirma

We help businesses accept credit and debit cards in their stores, online and on their mobile devices. Our team designs and develops solutions that bring payments to a new personal and customizable level. We offer a full range of traditional point-of-sale solutions,eCommerce capabilities such as hosted checkout and recurring billing, and at the forefront, our mobile payment suite. Payfirma is a simple solution with top-notch service. To learn more about Payfirma, please visit http://www.payfirma.com, follow us on Twitter@Payfirma, or call us at 800-747-6883.

BillingViews Finds Five Flaws in NFC Mobile Payments Argument, Points to Bigger Opportunity in Machine-to-Machine

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NFC’s close association with mobile payments is “misguided”; communications industry needs to see the “bigger picture” in M2M

Here are our five problems – and one solution:

BillingViews (http://www.BillingViews.com), after examining the scale of investment in NFC, believes there must be a bigger goal than enabling mobile payments. It has identified five major problems that must be overcome in order for NFC to be a catalyst for mobile paymentadoption. The five problems relate to security, presence of terminals, handset availability, messaging and hygiene. BillingViews has also uncovered a greater opportunity for NFC, however, in the explosive growth of machine-to-machine communications.

“Connecting machines will be the next big transformation in how we live,” says Alex Leslie, Publisher of BillingViews. “The machine-to-machine opportunity is as big as the telecoms revolution that occupied the last century,” Leslie says.

Leslie adds that he finds the overwhelming association of NFC as a mobile payments enabler to be “misguided” because of its potential for success in enabling machine to machine communications. “The communications industry needs to see the bigger picture and associate NFC with M2M to understand the true scale of this opportunity. Almost every other industry is inventing and articulating solutions based on M2M technology and many of them will be enhanced by NFC capabilities. Add to those vertical opportunities the huge opportunities for NFC in proximity marketing and opt-in mobile advertising and it is more likely to be the catalyst for truly universal personalized communications and service provision than a payments tool.”

BillingViews has published its findings and perspectives online at http://www.billingviews.com in a new slideshow entitled Five Problems for Near Field Communications…and One Solution.

About BillingViews
BillingViews is the global home for billing, payment, and customer experience information in the communications and media industries. Its goal is to facilitate dialogue between executive level business and IT decision makers and the greater communications and media IT marketplace through focused, data-driven research and publications. BillingViews content is available free at : http://www.billingviews.com.

Related articles

• Seven barriers to the growth of NFC mobile payments? (nfcdata.com)

MasterCard Introduces U.S. Roadmap to Enable Next Generation of Electronic Payments

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Framework to Deliver Enhanced Consumer Experience In-Store, Online, at the ATM and with Mobile Phones

PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MasterCard today introduced a comprehensive roadmap focused on advancing the U.S. electronic payments system.

As payments continue to evolve to include new devices and new channels, such as mobile and eCommerce, the roadmap takes steps to address how consumers really shop, providing them greater security and control in their payment choices and the potential to seamlessly integrate loyalty programs and offers into the purchasing experience.The roadmap, which includes the path for migration from magnetic stripe to EMV technology currently available on “chip” cards, will serve as the foundation for the next generation of products and services developed to enhance the way consumers pay.

“We’re moving toward a world beyond plastic, where consumers will shop and pay in a way that best fits their needs and lifestyles with a simple tap, click or touch in-store, online or on a mobile device,” said Chris McWilton, President, U.S. Markets, MasterCard. “Our roadmap represents a transformational shift in the approach to payments and is not simply about EMV, chip and PIN. We’re focused on readying the ecosystem to drive future innovation and provide new consumer experiences to enhance the value of electronic payments. ”

Defining the Framework

Elements of the MasterCard roadmap include:

• EMV – Solidifying EMV as the foundation of the next generation of payments
• Immediate focus on acquirer infrastructure – Working with acquirers to ensure infrastructure readiness by April 2013
• Encouraging greater security and cardholder verification – Providing consumers with greater control and to reduce fraudulent transactions
• Provide benefits for merchant terminalization – Providing true financial benefits for merchants as they implement EMV-compatible terminals
• Cover all channels – Addressing all touch points where consumers will interact with MasterCard, including ATMs, the physical point-of-sale, online and mobile commerce
• Commitment to leadership and collaboration – Fostering industry collaboration to deliver the next generation of payments into the U.S. marketplace

In implementing the roadmap, MasterCard will maximize the technology advancements and investments the company has made over 45 years to benefit the payments ecosystem.

“Customers from across the payments ecosystem have been asking for a roadmap,” said McWilton. “We believe we’ve provided issuers and merchants with a vision to ‘future proof’ their businesses and the flexibility to manage their technology decisions to best meet their goals and priorities.”

Foundation for Growth and Enhanced Security

In the increasingly digital world, transactions will get smarter. At the heart of this is dynamic authentication, where each transaction incorporates unique information, making it virtually impossible to replicate and reducing the risk of fraudulent transactions.

As issuers evolve their offering and merchants upgrade their terminals, the payments system will become more secure as this dynamic data is introduced into the payment transaction. MasterCard’s roadmap strongly encourages the adoption of the most secure technologies available.

“Consumers deserve a great experience any time they use MasterCard products,” said Ed McLaughlin, Chief Emerging Payments Officer, MasterCard. “As the industry invests in the upgrade to EMV in the U.S., we now have the ability to enhance the consumer experience and the security of a payment, regardless of the device – contactless card, mobile, eCommerce and technologies still to come.”

Alignment, Collaboration and Leadership for the Road Forward

In its roadmap, MasterCard supports the need for the payments ecosystem to be aligned regarding the implementation of EMV standards in the U.S. The company has indicated it will support current industry timelines in an effort to minimize disruption and to maximize investments across the payments ecosystem.

MasterCard was part of the original group that created the EMV standard and has supported the successful migration to EMV-based payments in nearly every major market globally. The company’s continued investment in advancing these infrastructure standards has provided insights and expertise to guide the industry in advancing payments security and convenience.

“The shift to dynamic data in the transaction process will help ensure greater consistency, security and functionality between the U.S. region and the rest of the globe,” said George Peabody, director, Emerging Technologies Advisory Service, Mercator Advisory Group. “Merchants and issuers need a clear and consistent roadmap for payment card security and innovation. MasterCard’s approach, starting with EMV, will benefit consumers and the industry.”

Additional detail on the roadmap and implementation activities will be provided to MasterCard customers in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, initial resources can be obtained at www.mastercard.us/mchip-emv.html.

About MasterCard Worldwide

MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances - easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Learn more at www.mastercard.com, follow us on Twitter@mastercardnews or join the conversation on The Heart of Commerce Blog.

Contacts

MasterCard Worldwide
Seth Eisen, 914-249-3153
seth_eisen@mastercard.com

Javelin Says 5.6 Million Americans Switched Banks in Last 90 Days

‘Bank Transfer Day’, What Really Just Happened?

January 26, 2012 | Written by: James Van Dyke

Bank Transfer Day and the Occupy Movement have received tremendous attention, and for the first time we have market research data to measure the impact on the financial services industry. Javelin’s research estimates that 5.6 million U.S. adults with a banking relationship changed providers in the past 90 days. Of those switchers, 610,000 US adults (or 11% of the 5.6 million) cited Bank Transfer Day as their reason and actually moved their accounts from a large to a small institution. With a Google search of “bank transfer day” returning fully 22,000,000 responses we’re not surprised that these angry bank-switchers represent nearly a three-time increase over the amount of people who took their funds out of large banks for highly-similar reasons during the previous 90-day period in 2011.

This exodus was certainly not the massive departure banks might have feared. Javelin’s nine years of customer-transaction research insights has found that people are highly resistant to moving their money, and even Huffington Post’s similarly-positioned 2008 “MoveYourMoneyProject.org” failed to barely even register in previous Javelin surveys. Yet this time, Bank Transfer Day and the Occupy Movement did have a measurable impact.

In comparison to the 11% of actual bank-switchers who cited Bank Transfer Day, 26% of the switchers stated that they switched because the bank charged too many fees during the 90 day measurement period. Individuals frequently state dissatisfaction with banks over reasons that range from customer service to rates and fees, and other common reasons that motivate individuals to switch banks also includes a simple relocation of their primary residence. While financial institutions increasingly enable electronic methods for interacting with one’s money, the transition hasn’t been complete enough to eliminate the essential importance of a local branch or ATM. The transition to electronic money inches steadily forward, but the evolution is far from complete.

Javelin urges banks and credit unions alike to increasingly focus on sustainable mutual-prosperity for both provider and customer, and we believe that technology can increasingly make such a shared-value approach possible. Examples explored by our research range from fee-based services for online expedited payments (to reduce even larger late fees), security and identity protection products, and mobile-based methods for giving individuals more control over what happens to all their financial accounts. Javelin’s recent social media research of financial institutions examines how FIs are meeting consumers on Twitter and in other social media spaces. FIs will need to be agile through social media, smartphones, tablets and other new interaction methods to strengthen customer connections while enabling them with improved control over their personal financial affairs.

As always, Javelin subscribers are invited to inquire for further details on this or any other research study.

Methodology statement:

Using a questionnaire designed independently by Javelin Strategy & Research, the Bank Transfer Day findings are culled from an online survey of 5,878 consumers fielded in December 2011. The survey targeted respondents based on representative proportions of gender, age, income, and ethnicity, and data was weighted to U.S. census proportions. The survey is based on a set of questions that were first fielded in 2003, and are now deployed on a twice-annual basis.

MasterCard Announces Participation in the Goldman Sachs 2012 Technology & Internet Conference and KBW Cards, Payments & Financial Technology Symposium

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PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MasterCard (NYSE: MA) today announced its participation in the following investor conferences:

On Tuesday, February 14, Vicky Bindra, president of MasterCard’s APMEA region, will present at the Goldman Sachs 2012 Technology & Internet Conference in San Francisco. The discussion will begin at 9:40 a.m. Pacific Time (12:40 p.m. Eastern Time) and last for approximately 35 minutes.

On Thursday, February 16, Martina Hund-Mejean, chief financial officer, will present at the KBW Cards, Payments & Financial Technology Symposium in New York. The discussion will begin at 2:05 p.m. Eastern Time and last for approximately 45 minutes.

There will be listen-only live webcasts of each presentation, and replays will be archived for 30 days on the investor relations section of mastercard.com.

Sequent Launches NFC Technology it Claims is "Breakthrough"

Sequent Launches Breakthrough Technology to Bring NFC to All Apps

Diffuses the NFC Wallet War by Helping App Developers to Create More Trust, Loyalty and Richer Branded Experiences

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 26, 2012) - Sequent Software, a leading provider of mobile near field communication (NFC) software and services, today announced its breakthrough technology, Core Card Services (CCS). Sequent's CCS unlocks NFC innovation for app developers, making it possible for any mobile app to seamlessly integrate NFC payments, ticketing, coupons, ID badge access and more.

Sequent developed CCS with a consumer first mindset to help app developers create more trust, loyalty and richer branded experiences. According to app research firm, Flurry Analytics, during the holiday week of December 25-31, more than 1 billion apps were downloaded to Apple and Android devices, yet fewer than five mobile wallet applications included NFC payment capabilities.¹

"A killer NFC app should do more than simply replicate a physical wallet on a mobile phone," said Drew Weinstein, CEO at Sequent. "CCS enables app developers to build new apps with rich NFC experiences and also makes it easy to integrate NFC within apps that consumers already use and trust."

By using CCS:

• Banks can easily integrate NFC payments within their existing mobile banking app
• Merchants can incorporate NFC payment, loyalty programs and coupon redemption within their existing branded mobile apps
• Transit or theater apps can add NFC tickets and payment to their schedule-centric apps, making it easier to ride or enjoy a movie

Sequent never handles, stores or can view consumer card data or personal information. CCS protects the physical and digital security of a mobile device's secure element, where payments and other personal data are stored, by creating a trusted software layer between the secure element and mobile apps. CCS enables only authorized apps access to a consumer's protected data and makes sure a consumer's personal information remains private.

About SequentSequent provides breakthrough technology that enables app developers to integrate NFC payments and more into rich, branded consumer mobile apps. Its CCS technology consists of on-device middleware and support services that allow traditional trusted service managers, banks and other organizations to focus on their core business while providing value-added, mobile-centric capabilities that result in intuitive mobile consumer experiences. The company has the highest concentration of mobile and payment experts within a single firm dedicated to enabling mobile NFC. Team members have led the deployment of many of the world's most significant NFC trials and have worked on mobile and payment strategy for brands like AT&T, VISA, and ViVOtech. Sequent's investors include Opus Capital and SK Telecom Ventures. For more information, please visit http://sequent.com/.

¹ "Holiday 2011: Breaking the One Billion App Download Barrier." Flurry Analytics. N.p., 2 Jan. 2012. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://blog.flurry.com/bid/79928/Holiday-2011-Breaking-the-One-Billion-App-Download-Barrier>.

mFoundry Strengthens Strategic Relationship with FIS

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FIS Expands Relationship, Increases Stake in Mobile Financial Services Leader

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- mFoundry, the fastest-growing provider of mobile banking and payments solutions, today announced that it has strengthened its strategic relationship with FIS™, the world's largest provider of banking and payments technology.

With a recent investment, FIS increased its ownership holdings in mFoundry. The two companies have been working together on mobile banking solutions for the past several years, serving more than 200 financial institution clients. The enhanced relationship will continue to combine FIS' strong position in financial services technology with mFoundry's award-winning mobile banking products.

"For the past few years, we have worked very closely with FIS to create the best mobile banking experience in the industry," commented mFoundry CEO and Co-Founder Drew Sievers. "We continue to invest heavily in enhancing our mobile banking product, but also are very excited to help FIS support its customers with a robust mobile experience."

Recently, Javelin Strategy & Research announced that FIS received top scores in its Mobile Banking Vendor Scorecard. The same study also rated mFoundry as the winner of the "Path to Mobility" award, recognizing mFoundry's leadership in Mobile Payments. 

"With several years of combined success, we have an industry leading mobile platform," said Anthony Jabbour, executive vice president, FIS Financial Solutions Group. "We are excited to continue our work in developing solutions that advance mobile capabilities to the next level."

About mFoundry

mFoundry is the most popular mobile banking vendor in the U.S., currently the choice of nearly 600 banks and credit unions nationwide. mFoundry's mBanking product is the leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) based mobile financial services platform in the market today.

mFoundry is the only mobile banking vendor with proven market expertise in mobile payments, having developed and managed Starbucks Card Mobile, the first and most successful mobile payments program in the country. The company also recently announced a global strategic partnership with MasterCard to deliver NFC-enabled mobile payments solutions to its customers.

MasterCard adds to mFoundry's unmatched network of financial services technology companies that includes FIS, First Data, NCR, PayPal, Open Solutions, The CO-OP, PSCU Financial Services and COCC. mFoundry also has strategic alliances with mobile leaders Intel Capital and Motorola Mobility.

mFoundry was founded in 2004 by Drew Sievers and Rodney Aiglstorfer. The company is headquartered in Larkspur, California, and also has offices in downtown San Francisco. For more information on mFoundry, please visit http://www.mfoundry.com.

About FIS

FIS (NYSE: FIS) is the world's largest global provider dedicated to banking and payments technologies. With a long history deeply rooted in the financial services sector, FIS serves more than 14,000 institutions in over 100 countries. Headquartered inJacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 33,000 people worldwide and holds leadership positions in payment processing and banking solutions, providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology that drives financial institutions. First in financial technology, FIS tops the annual FinTech 100 list, is ranked third on the Barron's 500, 426 on the Fortune 500 and is a member of Standard & Poor's 500® Index. For more information about FIS, visit www.fisglobal.com.

SOURCE mFoundry

Tabbedout Names New CEO

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January 30, 2012 08:00 AM Eastern Time 

Tabbedout Names Paul Fiore as New CEO

Veteran technology and financial services executive brought on to manage rapid growth

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tabbedout, the mobile payment solution that enables customers to open, view and pay their bar or restaurant tab with their phone, today announced that Paul Fiore has been named Chief Executive Officer.

“We’re thrilled to have someone of Paul’s caliber and experience join our team”

Fiore brings more than twenty years of executive leadership experience in the technology and financial services industries to Tabbedout. His previous roles include general manager of bank products for prepaid financial services company Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT), vice president of strategy for XP Systems, and CFO for AT&T Employees Federal Credit Union. He was also co-founder and CEO of banking software provider Digital Insight, which was purchased by Intuit for $1.35 billion in 2007. Fiore’s primary goals for Tabbedout include expanding the merchant footprint and driving revenue growth in existing and new markets.

“We’re thrilled to have someone of Paul’s caliber and experience join our team,” said Rick Orr, Tabbedout co-founder and executive vice president. “The Board and I were determined to find a great and proven leader to really capitalize on what we’ve built. Paul brings both powerful market perspective and an amazing track record to our team and Board.”

“With his background in financial services and technology, Paul has a unique combination of skills that will help propel Tabbedout through its next stage of growth,” said Scott Sandell, NEA general partner and Tabbedout board member. “He has demonstrated a keen ability to identify the core strengths of a company and execute a long-term, strategic plan to seize new opportunities.”

With more than 400 locations nationwide using Tabbedout and integrations with key point-of-sale (POS) partners, Tabbedout has grown rapidly since its inception in 2009 and continues to add new merchants daily across the US. Available for free on both iPhone and Android smartphones, Tabbedout allows users to store credit or debit card information directly on their phone, encrypted and under passphrase protection, instead of on host servers or in “the cloud” where the most public data breaches have occurred. Consumers are safe from the threat of stolen identity due to lost or forgotten credit cards since they now can open and pay their tab directly from their phone, without handing their sensitive payment information to a server.

Tabbedout also allows customers to share their experiences with friends: the app is socially integrated, allowing users to “check-in” to venues via their Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare accounts directly through the application.

“I am excited to join Tabbedout at such a pivotal time in its history,” said Fiore. “The mobile payments industry is similar in many ways to the Internet software sector in the mid-1990s: vast opportunity, dramatic growth in technical capability and consumer adoption. The ultimate winners had the right product at the right time, a solid team, investors that added value, a sustainable business model and a well-thought out partnership strategy. I believe Tabbedout has all of these ingredients. “

About Tabbedout

Tabbedout is the mobile payment solution that enables consumers to open, view, split and pay a bar or restaurant tab with their phone. Tabbedout makes mobile payment a simple and secure process that is widely available, so bars and restaurants can spend more time with their customers. The free Tabbedout mobile app for iPhone and Android lets consumers open a tab with their phone, view their tab in real-time and pay the tab anytime, anywhere, giving them control over how and when they pay. For more information, visit tabbedout.comor contact sales@tabbedout.com to learn more about becoming a Tabbedout partner.

HID Global Completes NFC Mobile Access Control Pilot at Arizona State University

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January 30, 2012 09:03 AM Eastern Time 

Pilot Validated Benefits of Opening Doors Using HID Global’s Secure Identity Object (SIO™) Technology Embedded into NFC Smartphones

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HID Global, trusted leader in solutions for the delivery of secure identity, today announced it has successfully completed the world’s first university pilot of NFC smartphones carrying digital keys. The pilot was implemented using the company’s SIO technology, a key feature of its award-winning, next-generation iCLASS® SIO-Enabled (iCLASS SE™) credential and reader platform that transforms how secure identity is delivered and managed while enabling new levels of access control security, portability and performance.

“This pilot proved the viability of the NFC-based mobile access model using secure portable credentials and the next generation of advanced access control systems, and also confirmed the high value that staff and students place on using their phones for more and more applications, including opening doors throughout the campus.”

“The completion of this pilot is an important step toward global deployment of mobile access control technology beyond cashless payment applications,” said Debra Spitler, vice president of mobile access solutions with HID Global. “The pilot results have clearly demonstrated the benefits of opening doors using digital credentials that have been securely embedded into NFC smartphones. We are very pleased with the results, and appreciate all of the valuable help from ASU and pilot partners ASSA ABLOY Americas, Device Fidelity, Kratos/HBE, Research In Motion and Verizon Wireless.”

The mobile access control pilot at Arizona State University (ASU) was the first to validate the use of digital credentials on NFC smartphones for physical access control on a college campus. A group of ASU staff and students were given NFC smartphones containing HID Global’s iCLASS SE credential technology, which was recognized this year with awards at some of the industry’s most influential conferences in 2011 including ASIS International and CARTES & IDentification. The ASU pilot participants gained access to their residence hall and selected rooms by presenting the phones to their door readers, just like they do with their existing iCLASS-based physical campus ID cards. Participants used a variety of popular smartphones connected to all major mobile networks. For more information, view the Arizona State University case study video with a first-hand look into the pilot and commentary from many of the partner participants.

“The initial feedback we received mid-way through the pilot in September was confirmed through its completion, cementing our vision of a future where virtual identities can be created for each registering student and then delivered to them via a mobile application,” said Laura Ploughe, director of business applications and fiscal control, University Business Services, at Arizona State University. “This pilot proved the viability of the NFC-based mobile access model using secure portable credentials and the next generation of advanced access control systems, and also confirmed the high value that staff and students place on using their phones for more and more applications, including opening doors throughout the campus.”

SIO technology protects the integrity of identities, regardless of the card technology, while enabling the use of multiple form factors ranging from smartphones to microprocessor-based cards, contactless smart cards and other devices. SIOs on the credential side and the SIO Processor™ on the reader side work together to execute functions previously performed by traditional cards and readers, using a new standards-based, technology-independent and flexible identity data structure that significantly enhances security, portability and performance. SIOs are at the heart of HID Global’s iCLASS SE platform, which is an essential building block in the access control industry's first NFC-enabled mobile identity and access management solutions.

HID Global’s SIO processor and iCLASS® SIO-Enabled (iCLASS SE™) credential and reader platform are available now.

Mobile access using NFC has received broad support across the industry. Companies and partners across the ecosystem recognize that NFC is the future of physical access and are committed to its development, integration and deployment.

Quotes:

Thanasis Molokotos, President and CEO, ASSA ABLOY Americas Division

“With NFC and the other solutions that we offer as the ASSA ABLOY Group, we see a number of opportunities including the ability to deliver a variety of different solutions depending on the kind of door that you would like to secure. Now that NFC has been added to the solution spectrum, we can go a little deeper and offer access control solutions for different budgets, from $300 to $3000, depending on the kind of door.”

Chris Corum, Founder and Executive Editor, Avisian Publishing

“The physical access control side of this was great, and great to see. Because, to me, really the most crucial transactions are the identity and the security transactions. But I think when people talk about the mobile wallet, the first thing they think about in their wallet may be that series of credit and debit cards that they’re carrying. But equal importance -- or, as I argue, of more importance – in our wallets are those building ID cards, and those access credentials into your campus if you’re a students, or into your corporate center if you’re an employee, or into your buildings and corporate and government sites if you’re a government employee carrying a PIV card. I think that physical access and identity are going to prove to be equal to -- or more important than -- payments in the long run for NFC, and for that idea of the handset as the wallet or the handset as the credential.”

Andrew Bocking, Vice President of Handheld Software Product Management, RIM

“With the brand new BlackBerry Bold and the brand new BlackBerry Curve, we’ve now got NFC embedded right into the products. We’re very excited about the entire NFC ecosystem, and access control and logical access are very important parts of that. As we look forward to the future, mobile devices really become an extension of your identity, and this is just another example of how you can now use that identity to access things with your BlackBerry device.”

Humphrey Chen, Executive Director, New Technologies and New Market Development, Verizon Wireless

”From a pilot perspective, it was clear that the students loved it, and they want it. The pilot gave us a clear indication that people would use their smartphones to unlock their dorm room doors, and this technology can be used for office doors and home doors, too.”