Tuesday, February 7, 2012

2012 Credit Card Processing Trend Predictions Released by CardPaymentOptions.com

CardPaymentOptions.com has released its 2012 predictions for the payment industry and the focus for this upcoming year is mobile processing.

Santa Monica, CA (PRWEB) February 07, 2012

CardPaymentOptions.com has released its 2012 predictions for the payment industry and the focus for this upcoming year is mobile processing. With the boom of near field communication, mobile payment systems, as well as quick response (QR) codes, CardPaymentOptions.com is confident it will be a very technology-driven year for the processing industry.
Mobile Processing
Square and GoPayment have been on the forefront of mobile phone credit card processingtechnology for the last 12 months and CardPaymentOptions.com is expecting that to continue. With Square announcing it has reached over one million accounts, the growth so far has surpassed many analyst expectations. GoPayment has publicized their step into the international arena with services being offered in Canada later in 2012.
Near Field Communication
Major corporations like Google have jumped into the payment processing industry and started pushing NFC technology embedded in smartphones. Google has partnered with Citi and MasterCard and are betting heavily that the smartphone will soon be a replacement for a traditional wallet; holding payment methods, discount cards, even personal identification.
“The payment industry has been very consistent for the past 30 years, and the banks and processors have typically held the upper hand over merchants.” Said Phillip Parker, CEO of CardPaymentOptions.com, “With the advent of new technology and multiple competitors entering the payment landscape, the power is starting to shift and merchants are being presented with better processing options that fit their specific needs.”
The news for 2012 is not all good, however. CardPaymentOptions.com predicts that with the ever-adjusting regulations and the pressure on processors to compete with new technologies, merchants may start to see additional fees added to their existing accounts. Processors may also choose to hike rates, which according to most contracts they have the ability to do whenever they see fit.
For a complete list of predictions, visit Top Credit Card Processing Trends for 2012.
About CardPaymentOptions.com
CardPaymentOptions.com was founded for the purpose of educating business owners about the misinformation and unethical practices many processing companies are engaged in. They provide in-depth analysis on over 100 processing companies, including an A to F rating for each business. Based on the extensive reviews, CardPaymentOptions.com has compiled a list of recommended merchant account services that fit specific business needs.
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YESpay and YES-wallet.com Partner to Deliver Cloud Based NFC Contactless Payment Service for NFC Smartphones


Pouch wallet
Quote startPouch - World's first cloud service based NFC contactless card emulation service.Quote end

London, UK: YESpay International and YES-wallet.com Ltd, February 6, 2012 Two companies, YESpay International Limited and YES-wallet.com Limited have built a cloud based payment platform using Near Field Communication (NFC) global standard technology. YESpay and YES-wallet today announced the launch of cloud-based NFC contactless card emulation services conforming to PayWave and PayPass standards offering a more convenient and efficient payment solution for merchants and consumers.



Two companies, YESpay International Limited and YES-wallet.com Limited have built a cloud based payment platform using Near Field Communication (NFC) global standard technology. YESpay and YES-wallet today announced the launch of cloud-based NFC contactless card emulation services conforming to PayWave and PayPass standards offering a more convenient and efficient payment solution for merchants and consumers.
By integrating YES-wallet pouch digital wallet service with YESpay EMBOSS payment service, both companies will provide a cloud service based e-Money/pre-paid/gift-card payment platform that allows provision of convenient and efficient payment methods on NFC smartphones based on Visa PayWave and MasterCard PayPass standards.
Both companies have been focusing on development and provision of Near Field Communication products that comply with NFC global standard.
The partnership allows e-Money (pre-paid gift-card) related business, merchant, and mail order house to implement contactless card payment system without having to make heavy upfront investment by using the Pouch cloud service. YESpay will contribute by providing “payment terminals based on NFC reader/writers” and providing “EMBOSS payment processing services to cultivate and manage merchants” and YES-wallet will contribute by providing “PayWave or PayPass standard virtual payment cards cloud system via its Pouch digital wallet service.”
In the near term, both companies will focus on e-Money payment service based on PayWave/PayPass contactless smart card for closed-loop e-Money applications on behalf of Enterprises. In the future, the partnership expects to form partnerships with bank card issuers and enterprises issuing Visa and MasterCard.
YESpay regularly processes millions of cardholder payments for its merchants and predicts mobile payment will attract customers and merchants alike looking to experience the speed, ease and convenience of paying with their mobile phone.
EPOS solutions providers, Mobile App and web developers can contact YESpay International Limited via sales(at)yes-pay(dot)com or 0871 221 9510 to request integration guides and obtain more information about the YESpay mobile payments strategy.
About YESpay International Limited:
YESpay, 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 investment and low on-going services costs. EMBOSS is an on-line IP-based payment processing service that has been generically pre-accredited by major Card Acquirers in Europe and North America (including Chase Paymentech, First Data Merchant Service (FDMS), 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.

Visa Tops One Million Chip Cards in the U.S.

A credit card, the biggest beneficiary of the ...
Image via Wikipedia

Visa to support continued industry adoption with enhanced Visa Chip Services

SAN FRANCISCOFeb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced that U.S. financial institutions have reported issuing an estimated one million Visa-branded, EMV chip-enabled cards as of December 31, 2011, demonstrating the significant progress the industry is making toward implementing Visa's U.S. chip roadmap.(1),(2)  In August 2011, Visa announced plans to accelerate mobile innovation and the adoption of EMV contact and contactless chip technology in the U.S.
"Migrating the U.S. market to chip will help build an infrastructure for accepting NFC mobile payments, enhance international acceptance and reduce fraud," said Stephanie Ericksen, head of authentication product integration, Visa Inc. "Since announcing our roadmap last year, we have seen strong interest among U.S. issuers large and small to invest in chip technology, as today's milestone shows. The progress is all the more significant considering that just 18 months ago, there were no Visa-branded EMV contact chip cards issued in the U.S."
EMV chip technology refers to the microchip that is embedded in a credit or debit card, or even a mobile device. Sometimes misleadingly referred to as "chip and PIN," EMV chip is commonly deployed with a variety of cardholder verification methods including signature as well as PIN.  Under Visa's approach, both methods, as well as "no signature required," will continue to be available to issuers and merchants in the U.S. according to their preferences. The critical security advancement is the EMV chip, which protects the cardholder by generating a unique code every time it is used, effectively eliminating the problem of counterfeit cards. The same chip technology also enables mobile NFC payments.
Consumer EMV chip card programs are available from financial institutions such as Chase Card ServicesState Employees' Credit UnionUnited Nations Federal Credit UnionU.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. The growing adoption of chip technology in the U.S. has been facilitated by Visa's flexible approach to cardholder verification, which provides choices to issuers and merchants as they deploy chip cards and terminals that support signature or PIN or a combination of the two, based on the unique needs of their customers.
"In 2011, Wells Fargo led the way with an EMV smart card pilot to 15,000 customers who travel frequently to countries where chip-based payments is the standard," said Eric Schindewolf, vice president of product development for Wells Fargo Consumer Credit Card. "Based on the overwhelming success of the pilot, we are now considering making this program more widely available."
Visa Chip Services
To support continued issuer adoption of chip payment technology, Visa is introducing Visa Chip Services, a suite of new and existing solutions to help issuers implement programs using EMV chip technology, including NFC-based mobile payments. Built on Visa's extensive chip expertise, Visa Chip Services will help issuers adopt the latest payment technologies efficiently and with minimal infrastructure investment. Several U.S. issuers have already taken advantage of Visa's services to introduce chip card programs, primarily targeted to international travelers, which represents a first step in a more broad-based migration. More than a dozen programs have been introduced since 2010. As issuers become more familiar with chip technology and leverage the groundwork they have already created, interest in more broad-based card programs as well as mobile NFC-based payments is growing as well.
"State Employees' Credit Union was able to build on Visa's expertise and solutions to engage quickly and launch an EMV chip card program in a matter of months, not years," said Leanne Phelps, senior vice president, Card Services, State Employees' Credit Union. "The jump-start helped us to be a leader and provide our members the products and services they want and need."
In addition to consulting services, best practices and testing tools, Visa is able to provide chip data processing and authentication services for issuers who have not made the back-end host system upgrades to be able to recognize and process more complicated chip transaction data.
The services suite has four key components:
  • Visa Chip Authenticate is a service where Visa validates the EMV cryptogram on behalf of the issuer, minimizing the need for issuers to make authentication-related host system changes to verify chip transaction data. Issuers can choose to use this solution as a long term solution or on a interim basis while host system changes are in progress.
  • Visa iCVV Convert is a chip data conversion and verification service that reduces chip data-related issuer and processor host system changes by converting the chip-based ICC Card Verification Value (iCVV) to the magnetic stripe-based Card Verification Value (CVV) and removing the chip data prior to sending the transaction to the issuer for review and response.
  • Visa Streamlined Chip Setup accelerates issuers' time to market through a turnkey setup and testing service for issuers that require a streamlined online-only EMV compliant solution.
  • Visa Custom Chip Setup provides issuers requiring online and offline PIN capability with customized guidance on key implementation decisions to develop an optimal chip issuance program.
Visa Chip Services is consistent with a set of implementation recommendations Visa introduced last month in order to help financial institutions and merchants make informed decisions as they evaluate competitive vendor offerings. The recommendations focus on using online processing rather than offline functions that can increase cost and complexity for chip card programs.
About Visa Inc.: Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.
(1) The one million cards figure is based on Visa issuer estimates.
(2) EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) is a global standard for payment cards, terminals and transactions
based on chip technology.

SOURCE Visa Inc.

Smart Card Alliance White Paper Explores Possibilities for NFC in Transit Industry


SOURCE: The Smart Card Alliance
February 06, 2012 13:15 ET
PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ--(Marketwire - Feb 6, 2012) - With Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled handsets poised to exceed 100 million in 2012, the Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council today announced a new white paper examining how the transit industry can best make use of this popular new technology.
"One of the major challenges facing transit agencies today is how to capitalize on the ever-growing popularity of mobile phones with a solid mobile strategy," said Craig Roberts, Utah Transit Authority, and chair of the Transportation Council. "This white paper builds on the knowledge base developed in earlier white papers to foster a greater understanding of NFC technology, explain its role in the transit industry, and shed light on key issues facing the transit industry in developing a mobile strategy."
The white paper, "NFC and Transit," is available for free download by visitinghttp://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-near-field-communication-and-transit. It explores the use of NFC for payment, transit ticketing and non-payment transit information applications. Topics include:
  • Transit mobile applications overview
  • NFC applications that can benefit transit including payment, ticketing and information applications
  • The NFC ecosystem and stakeholder roles
  • Key considerations for developing a mobile strategy
  • Examples of NFC pilot projects in New Jersey, London, San Francisco and Germany
"In order to fully realize the benefits of NFC technology, transit agencies need to immerse themselves into the operational details of the NFC ecosystem and thoroughly understand the technology and business models," said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "This white paper is another piece of the puzzle in terms of fully educating the industry on the ins and outs of NFC."
Participants involved in the development of this white paper included: Accenture; ACS, A Xerox Company; American Express; Ashok Joshi; Collis; Connexem Consulting; Cubic Transportation Systems; Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART); Giesecke & Devrient; HP Enterprise Services; Identive Group; Infineon Technologies; INSIDE Secure; JPMorgan Chase; LTK Engineering Services; MasterCard Worldwide; MTA New York City Transit; NJ TRANSIT; NXP Semiconductors; OTI America; Quadagno & Associates; Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA); U.S. Department of Transportation/Volpe Center; VeriFone; Visa Inc.; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
For more resources, visit the Transportation Council's Open Payment Resources webpage. For more on transit and other news, join the LinkedIn group Smart.Transit, and follow the Smart Card Alliance on Twitter @SmartCardOrgUSA, and Facebook at Smart Card Alliance.
Transit and NFC topics are on the agenda this week at the Smart Card Alliance 2012 Payments Summit, February 8th -10th, 2012 at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Visit the 2012 Payments Summit event page for more information.
About the Smart Card Alliance Transportation CouncilThe Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council is focused on promoting the adoption of interoperable contactless smart card payment systems for transit and other transportation services. The Council is engaged in projects that support applications of smart card use. The overall goal of the Transportation Council is to help accelerate the deployment of standards-based smart card payment programs within the transportation industry.
About the Smart Card AllianceThe Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology.
Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S. and Latin America. For more information please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.

84.5% Have Privacy Concerns over Google Personalized Search




In January 2012, Google announced it would start integrating content from its social network, Google+, into users' search results. This has led to some concerns about privacy and whether the content from Google+, which is not as widely used as Facebook and Twitter, serves as an accurrate enough representation of the conversations taking place in social media. 




MasterCard Opens East African Regional Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya


Global Payments and Technology Company Announces Official Presence across the Region

NAIROBI, Kenya--()--MasterCard Worldwide, a global payments and technology company, today launched its official East African regional headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. This development brings the number of MasterCard offices across the African continent to five, with other offices operational in Cairo, Casablanca, Lagos, Johannesburg and now Nairobi.
“Nairobi’s reputation as an African commerce, trade and development hub made it a strategically sound location for MasterCard to establish its regional headquarters. We believe it is a natural recognition of Kenya’s role as the financial heart of the East Africa region,” says Daniel Monehin, Area Head, East & West Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, MasterCard Worldwide.The Right Honorable Raila Odinga, Prime Minister, Republic of Kenya welcomed MasterCard’s announcement. “We are pleased to welcome MasterCard to East Africa and in particular to Kenya, as we see the region’s growth path continue. MasterCard’s products will see the benefits of inclusion into the financial system extend to many more East Africans, giving them the opportunity to transact electronically with people and companies and so keep their precious money safe and secure, helping to build prosperity for their future.”
The Nairobi office will act as MasterCard’s liaison office for customer banks, business associates and consumers in its main markets of Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius, Ethiopia and Uganda, as well as across the rest of the East African region, bringing the organisation’s knowledge of electronic payments best practice to these markets.
This will include a significant emphasis in the areas of card knowledge and skills development, advising on development of card acceptance infrastructure, new products, and developing partnerships with 'technology enablers,' as well as retailer education and best acceptance practice.
“We are establishing the new Nairobi office as a gateway through which MasterCard will liaise with its existing customers across the East African region. It will also be a launch pad for further expansion across the region, by providing advice to support MasterCard’s ongoing quest to shift consumers from traditional cash payments to non-cash payment systems, so that they can avoid the costs, risks and inefficiencies associated with cash,” comments Monehin.
Bringing the benefits of electronic payments to people across the African continent is a primary focus for MasterCard. “East Africa, and indeed Africa as a whole, has always been heavily reliant on cash – both in the consumer and corporate sectors,” says Charlton Goredema, Vice President and Market Manager for East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands for MasterCard Worldwide. “This dependence is costly – the costs of printing notes and keeping them secure are significant – and cash payments restrict an individual or company’s economic activity to their immediate geographic area.”
MasterCard has already been active in the Kenyan market working with banks and other business organisations to advise on developing payment solutions that are best suited for Kenyans. Most recently, in collaboration with Airtel & Standard Chartered Bank, the world's first virtual card that operates off a mobile wallet was launched in Kenya.
“PayOnline is a unique virtual card payment solution, developed specifically to address the needs of consumers in Kenya. At the Mobile World Congress 2011 this product was awarded top honours as the Best Mobile Money Product or Solution. PayOnline makes it possible for Kenyan Airtel clients to shop online, even if they do not have a bank account,” says Goredema. “This is just one way that MasterCard products are working to extend financial inclusion to all through the development of solutions that take into account the unique attributes of each local market.”
“MasterCard products make it simple and safe to process electronic payments anywhere in the world,” Goredema points out. “Consumers using electronic payment systems don’t have to worry whether the cash they are carrying is sufficient for their intended purchase, and they do not have to fear for their security, as is common when carrying a large amount of cash on their person.”
In addition, the electronic payments solutions brought to market by MasterCard facilitate transparency in banking, through innovation and security that provide clear transaction records at every step, allowing protection from fraudulent activities. Goredema believes that these solutions are key to the continued success of East Africa’s rapid economic growth.
“MasterCard’s products include debit, prepaid, mobile and credit card payment solutions, which can be used to avoid the pitfalls of cash,” says Goredema. “We have already used these products in a variety of revolutionary applications on the African continent, including prepaid solutions for transport, and the secure disbursement of citizens’ social security payments.”
MasterCard’s global payments expertise will be very relevant across East Africa and particularly in Kenya, as the country evolves to implement the National Payments Systems Bill, passed by the country’s government during 2011.
“We believe that the Bill is a recognition that efficient payment mechanisms are essential to the development of the Kenyan economy, and we look forward to working with policymakers to bring electronic payment solutions to this market,” says Goredema. “We have worked on similar projects across the globe, where we have responded to local needs with products that offer the best of MasterCard’s global experience.”
MasterCard will also be offering the services of MasterCard Advisors into the East African region, helping to ensure that best-practice principles are implemented across the payments network. MasterCard Advisors is the professional services arm of MasterCard that provides payments consulting, information, analytics, and customised services to financial institutions, governments and retailers worldwide.
“We have invested significant resources into understanding East Africa, its business dynamics, how its consumers operate and the unique conditions that make this region one of the most exciting places to do business,” says Goredema. “We realise that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy and each market has its own unique challenges, opportunities and needs. MasterCard has invested extensively in research both on the African continent, and globally, and we are equipped to offer advice on payment industry best practice at every level.
“For MasterCard, the opportunities Africa brings forth will push the payments frontier faster and further than ever before and we continue our vision to realise a world beyond cash, bringing greater efficiencies to the payments system,” concludes Goredema. “We look forward to now working even more closely with our customer financial institutions, businesses and consumers across East Africa to leverage new technologies and innovative payment methods to enable safe, simple and convenient ways for consumers to pay.”
About MasterCard
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 mastercard.com or follow us on Twitter@mastercardnews or join the conversation on The Heart of Commerce Blog.

CoVantage Credit Union Deploys Tyfone Mobile Wallet Services to Its Members


Tyfone’s mobile banking solution brings next generation mobile banking features including mobile banking for non-online bankers and account aggregation to CVCU members
PORTLAND, Ore. & ANTIGO, Wisc.--()--CoVantage Credit Union (CVCU), serving 17 counties in Wisconsin and Michigan, today announced the availability of Tyfone mobile wallet services to its members. CVCU teamed with Tyfone to bring mobile wallet services which include Symitar Episys core integrated mobile banking, enhanced strong ID authentication mobile security and a path to NFC contactless payment technology to its more than 66,000 members.
“Our strategy has been to bring comprehensive and integrated mobile financial services to the market and we are happy to see innovative credit unions like CoVantage select Tyfone to power their mobile initiatives.”
Tyfone’s multimode mobile banking solution offers a complete range of features delivered to banking customers via mobile application, mobile websites or text messaging. In addition to standard mobile banking features such as checking balance, account history review, fund transfers, branch and ATM location lookup and customizable alerts, Tyfone’s next gen mobile banking offers:
  • Mobile banking for non-online bankers: Most mobile banking solutions are simply an extension of online banking. To ensure all CVCU members can take advantage of mobile banking, a key feature of Tyfone Mobile Banking is its ability to offer mobile banking to 100 percent of a bank or credit union’s customer base, and not limit mobile banking only to those customers subscribed to online banking services. Members can enroll and manage their banking direct from their mobile phone without needing to be an online banking member. CVCU will see additional value by creating a self-servicing member while avoiding the cost of another online banking account.
  • Account aggregation: Another key feature unique to Tyfone’s Episys core integrated mobile banking solution is the ability to aggregate accounts so a user can view and manage multiple accounts with just a single login. This account aggregation feature allows a customer to see multiple CVCU accounts (i.e., personal, business and jointly held accounts), in a single mobile banking session. While other mobile banking services require a unique login to manage each respective account, Tyfone Mobile Banking enables a more efficient and easier user experience.
  • ORCC Bill Pay: Tyfone’s integration with Online Resource’s (ORCC) bill payment services will give CVCU members the ability to create and manage payees, and schedule and edit bills as needed.
  • Mobile remote deposit capture: CVCU plans to add the mobile remote deposit capture (mRDC) feature to their mobile banking offering in Q2 of 2012. This will allow members to use a mobile phone’s onboard camera to photograph a check and remotely deposit the funds using the mobile banking service.
CoVantage, with 9 branches located throughout north central Wisconsin and upper Michigan, and over $944M in assets, has been ranked among the top credit unions in the nation for the value in services provided to their 64,000 members. CoVantage takes a proactive, yet methodical approach in utilizing technology to enhance the efficiency of its internal operations and member services, making it a leading credit union in the Wisconsin and northwest Michigan area.
“CoVantage chose Tyfone because of its unique and innovative vision of the mobile channel which is echoed in its current features as well as its future road map of features including enhanced security and NFC contactless payments. Tyfone’s vision coincides with CoVantage’s long term mobile strategy, making them the natural partner to bring mobile banking to our members,” said Robert Van Abel, CIO of CoVantage. “Tyfone’s Episys core integration gives CVCU the ability to offer unique features such as account aggregation and the ability for non-online bankers to participate in mobile banking, both providing significant value for CoVantage and its members, particularly as our member base ranges from suburban to rural. We strive to make banking easier and more convenient to our entire member base and our partnership with Tyfone helps us deliver on that promise.”
Tyfone Mobile Banking™ is built on top of the company’s u4ia® mobile financial services platform that also enables contactless payments using near field communications (NFC) and strong authentication ID management, providing banks with a multi-faceted roadmap for offering comprehensive digital wallet and payment services.
“By integrating mobile banking with layered security and NFC contactless payments within a single application, Tyfone is enhancing convenience and enabling more mobile money features for CoVantage members. In coming months we will be rolling out even more mobile wallet features including mRDC and NFC contactless payments,” said Mark Miyamoto, director of mobile banking at Tyfone. “Our strategy has been to bring comprehensive and integrated mobile financial services to the market and we are happy to see innovative credit unions like CoVantage select Tyfone to power their mobile initiatives.”
To learn more about Tyfone Mobile Banking visit http://www.tyfone.com.
About CoVantage Credit Union
CoVantage Credit Union is a $944 million financial institution headquartered in Antigo, Wisconsin. The member-owned financial cooperative serves more than 66,000 members through 10 offices located in central Wisconsin and upper Michigan.
About Tyfone
Founded in 2004, Tyfone’s corporate headquarters are in Portland, Oregon, and its Asia-Pacific headquarters are in Bangalore, India. Tyfone connects money and mobility via a highly secure, scalable and flexible mobile financial services solution tailored to meet the evolving needs of consumers, financial institutions, mobile network operators, transportation companies and retailers. Operating in any standard memory card slot, Tyfone’s u4ia® platform and its companion SideTap™ memory card comprise the world’s first patented, neutral, and comprehensive memory card-based payments solution for mobile contactless payments. Tyfone and its partners enable a suite of services including Mobile Banking, Mobile Identity Management, Mobile Remote Payments, Mobile Retail Services and Mobile Contactless Payments. For more information visit www.tyfone.com.

Samsung Cuts LTE Chip Cost in Half


ABI Research Teardown: Samsung Cuts LTE Cost in Half

NEW YORK--()--The Samsung Galaxy Nexus made a big impact on the market in December due to its sleek design, new Android operating system (Ice Cream Sandwich), and NFC capability. The Galaxy Nexus has another notable hidden feature, however: the Samsung Galaxy Nexus modem is constructed with the combination of a Via Telecom CDMA/EVDO Rev. A integrated circuit and a Samsung LTE baseband integrated circuit. This combination is now common for Samsung’s Verizon phones, but the Galaxy Nexus sports a new version of the LTE baseband chip. The new chip is estimated at nearly half the cost of the prior chip’s $23 price tag. This type of cost reduction is an important milestone in securing the rapid migration to LTE throughout the world.
The application processor found inside the Galaxy Nexus is a TI OMAP4460. This processor runs at 1.2GHz and has matched the performance of the prior handset performance leader (Samsung’s own Exynos running at 1.2GHz). The OMAP4460 matched the performance and power consumption for graphics and video test but consumed significantly more power in computational intensive tests.
Major Samsung Galaxy Nexus notables include:
  • New Samsung LTE baseband chip
  • NFC support, with NFC antenna embedded in the battery
  • CSR GPS single chip
  • Broadcom Wi-Fi/BT/FM single chip
  • Avago LTE PA and GPS frontend
  • 1.2GHz OMAP4460 application processor
ABI Research’s “Samsung Galaxy Nexus Teardown” (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1010492) provides detailed photos, process evaluation, and part descriptions for all of the major components such as power amplifier, power management, baseband processor, application processor, RF, Bluetooth, GPS, WiLAN, and many discretes. Tying all this information together are unique circuit board photos, performance measurements, benchmark data, cost information, and board area data.
It is one of thousands of devices and components – phones, baseband processors, power management, RF front end components, connectivity components, application processors, sensors, and power management discretes – that are torn down and analyzed in the firm’s Mobile Device Teardown Service (http://www.abiresearch.com/product/service/Mobile_Device_Teardown_Service).
ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 40+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.

Gemalto to Present at Smart Card Alliance 2012 Payments Summit


Topics and Gemalto participants include:
  • EMV Universe Workshop (pre-conference), Feb. 7, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. –
    • Winning and Losing Strategies of EMV Migration panel: Philippe Benitez, VP Marketing, Secure Transactions, Gemalto
    • Lessons Learned from the Canadian EMV Migration panel: Jeff Stroud, EMV Business Development Manager, Gemalto
  • Keynote Plenary Panel Session Industry vs Analysts Debate – Can Industry Stakeholders Find a Pathway for Mobile Payments Adoption When There are So Many Options?, Feb. 8, 11:00 a.m. – Moderator Jack Jania, VP Secure Transactions, Gemalto
  • EMV State of the Industry panel, Feb 9, 8:45 a.m. – Philippe Benitez, Moderator
  • EMV Card Issuance & Terminalization panel, Feb. 9, 10:45 a.m. – Jeff Stroud, panelist
  • NFC Applications and Services, Feb. 9, 10:45 a.m. – Amol Deshmukh, Director, Secure Transactions Solutions, Gemalto
Date, Times & Location
Who:  Gemalto, global digital security leader, panel and keynote participant and platinum sponsor
What:Smart Card Alliance 5th Annual Payments Summit
When:February 8-10, 2012 (pre-conference workshops on Feb. 7)
Where:Hilton Salt Lake City Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
For More Information
For more information on the SCA Payments Summit, please visit www.smartcardalliance.org.
For more information on Gemalto, visit www.gemalto.comwww.justaskgemalto.comblog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto_NA on Twitter.
About Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2010 annual revenues of €1.9 billion and over 10,000 employees operating out of 87 offices and 13 Research & Development centers in 45 countries.
Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure. Gemalto delivers on the growing demands for personal mobile services, identity protection, payment security, authenticated online services, cloud computing access, modern transportation, e-healthcare and e-government services. Gemalto does this by providing secure software, a wide range of secure personal devices, and managed services to wireless operators, banks, enterprises and government agencies.
Gemalto is a world leader for electronic passports and identity cards, two-factor authentication devices for online protection, smart credit/debit and contactless payment cards, as well as subscriber identification modules (SIM) and universal integrated circuit cards (UICC) in mobile phones. Also, in the emerging machine-to-machine applications Gemalto is a leading supplier of wireless modules and machine identification modules (MIM). To operate these solutions and remotely manage the software and confidential data contained in the secure devices Gemalto also provides server platforms, consulting, training, and managed services to help its customers achieve their goals.
As the use of Gemalto’s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the Company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

Datacard Group Announces an Equity Investment and Strategic Partnership with DeviceFidelity, Inc.


Equity Investment That Includes Dallas Venture Partners (DVP) and Datacard Group Solidifies a Continued Commitment to Innovation in Mobile Payments.
MINNETONKA, Minn.--()--Datacard Group, the world leader in secure ID and card personalization solutions, today announced an equity investment and strategic partnership with DeviceFidelity, Inc. – a company that develops Near Field Communications (NFC) based plug-and-play technologies, services and payment applications for mobile devices worldwide.
“DeviceFidelity continues to drive the development of NFC-enabled technology and Datacard Group has extensive expertise in card issuance and smart card personalization, which makes the strategic partnership an ideal fit”
This partnership enables Datacard Group to offer DeviceFidelity’s In2Pay® suite of solutions which use microSD technology to transform smartphones into interactive contactless mobile payment devices. Financial institutions and wireless carriers will now be able to easily issue consumers a credit, debit, prepaid or multi-account mobile wallet that can be used at contactless point-of-sale terminals.
“DeviceFidelity continues to drive the development of NFC-enabled technology and Datacard Group has extensive expertise in card issuance and smart card personalization, which makes the strategic partnership an ideal fit,” said Deepak Jain, president and CEO of DeviceFidelity. “Our combined capabilities and expertise now enable a high volume, flexible and integrated NFC microSD issuance and mobile personalization model for our customers.”
DeviceFidelity’s patented In2Pay solution includes microSD cards, as well as the iCaisse—which is a microSD-enabled protective case for iPhones—that enable issuers to offer a variety of mobile payment solutions, giving consumers the flexibility to use their existing smartphone without having to change mobile phone providers or upgrade the device. The technology also fits with advanced multi-partner wallet programs that have a trusted service manager (TSM) infrastructure, and can be deployed independently from handset makers and telecom operators. In addition, it is fully compliant with payment networks – making it market ready and easy to deploy.
“This partnership effectively expands on Datacard Group’s integrated Secure Issuance Anywhere™ platform, which provides our customers the freedom to manage programs exactly the way they want,” said Russell St. John, senior vice president of global marketing for Datacard Group. “And, as NFC technology continues to be adopted throughout the world, financial institutions will have a great opportunity to capitalize on this by easily complementing their card programs without having to make major infrastructure changes to their existing processes. This enables continuity and consistency between issuing traditional plastic cards and new NFC-enabled applications.”
Datacard Group is joined by Dallas Venture Partners (DVP) as an equity partner in DeviceFidelity. DVP is a Dallas-based firm whose mission is to become the financial partner of choice for technology companies seeking to build world-class businesses.
"Our goal is to invest in companies that can transform global markets and we feel that DeviceFidelity is strongly positioned to make a powerful contribution to the growth of mobile financial services throughout the world,” said Matt Himelfarb, managing partner of DVP. “We are excited about this investment and we look forward to working with Datacard Group to propel DeviceFidelity’s growth.”
About DeviceFidelity
DeviceFidelity, Inc. develops plug-and-play technologies that empower a variety of institutions to deploy their services and applications on millions of mobile phones worldwide. Its patent- pending In2Pay® microSD and In2Pay® iCaisse solution transforms popular mobile phones into an interactive contactless transaction device. Using this technology DeviceFidelity launched moneto, the world’s first commercially available mobile payment solution for iPhone and Android. Committed to bringing contactless innovation to the mobile phone, the company has numerous patents pending in both U.S. and international patent offices. DeviceFidelity is a private corporation with headquarters in Texas and offices in California and London. For more information about DeviceFidelity, visithttp://www.devicefidelity.com, follow us on Twitter @DeviceFidelity or at facebook.com/DeviceFidelity. For more information on moneto visit http://www.moneto.me, follow us on Twitter @moneto_me or at facebook.com/monetome
About Datacard Group
Datacard Group is building on a 40-year heritage of innovation and customer success. Our portfolio of solutions, backed by expert service and support, enable card and secure ID programs for financial, government and other markets worldwide. With an unmatched commitment to customer satisfaction, Datacard remains the industry’s leading brand of secure ID and card personalization solutions.www.datacard.com
About Dallas Venture Partners
DVP is a Dallas-based venture capital firm that invests in early and growth stage technology companies with strong management teams and transformative technologies. The firm actively pursues investment opportunities in both seed and early stage institutional rounds. DVP’s mission statement is to become the financial partner of choice for technology entrepreneurs seeking to build a world-class business, but the firm is open to partnering with other venture firms and investment groups depending on the opportunity.www.dallasventurepartners.com

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