AmEx to pay $113 mln for ‘illegal’ practices: U.S.

Oct. 1, 2012, 11:32 a.m. EDT

Regulators: AmEx deceived customers with ‘Blue Sky” credit cards

By Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — American Express Co. and three of its units agreed to pay a fine of $27.5 million and refund roughly $85 million to about 250,000 customers for allegedly illegal card practices, according to a settlement announced Monday by bank regulators and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“Several American Express companies violated consumer protection laws and those laws were violated at all stages of the game – from the moment a consumer shopped for a card to the moment the consumer got a phone call about long overdue debt,” said Richard Cordray, director of the consumer bureau, in a statement.  read more

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Walgreens CIO Banks on NFC For Mobile Payments - The CIO ..

Web results for NFC Mobile Payment

Walgreens CIO Banks on NFC For Mobile Payments - The CIO ...A lack of merchant support and smartphones with undeveloped mobile payment capabilities have rendered the promise of tapping and paying for products ... Walgreens (Photo credit: Wikipedia) mobile.blogs.wsj.com/.../will-mobile-payments-spur-gold-rush...

EZ-Link taps Wirecard for Singapore NFC payments service The top-up service supported by Wirecard makes mobile payment secure, fast and ... With the NFC mobile application and a smartphone with NFC SIM-card ... www.finextra.com/news/announcement.aspx?pressreleaseid...

Boot up: why Apple stalled on NFC, untracked Chrome, get your ... Holding back in mobile payments was a deliberate strategy, the result of deep ... The blockage: effect on NFC on battery life, and retailers' slow takeup in the US. www.guardian.co.uk/.../blog/.../technology-links-newsbucket

Apple snubs emerging mobile payment standard - BlackBerry Forums ... NFC technology, which has uses beyond mobile payments, is backed by Isis, a mobile wallet joint venture between Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc and T-Mobile ... forum.n4bb.com/.../apple-snubs-emerging-mobile-payment-st...

NFC Payments: History as Our Guide - MA, PAY, V - Foolish ... There has been a lot of hype about the future of this technology as a contactless system for mobile payments. NFC prognosticators talk about the benefits for ... beta.fool.com/whichstockswork/2012/09/20/nfc.../11986/

Bank of America Tests Mobile Payments Via QR Codes ... Google Wallet and Isis Mobile Wallet are examples of mobile-payment systems that require NFC technology — on the consumer's mobile device and merchants' ... www.mybanktracker.com/.../bank-of-america-tests-mobile-pa...

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QR codes to be central to new mobile payment service

ePaymentNews 4 new results for NFC Mobile Payment

QR codes to be central to new mobile payment serviceQR Code PressThis strategy is quite different from some of the other movers in the mobile payments industry. For example, Google wallet and ISIS both use near field communication (NFC) technology for short range contactless transactions. Though greatly hyped, the ...See all stories on this topic » QR Code Press

Making the daily commute mobile Finextra As mentioned in my last blog, the recent decision by Apple to not include NFC on its iPhone 5 is proof that the adoption of mobile payments is not yet mainstream and probably won't be for another two to three years. However with more and more handset ... See all stories on this topic »

AT&T Debuts Exclusive Xperia™ TL, Sony's Best in Mobile Camera Technology ... Equities.com AT&T Debuts Exclusive Xperia™ TL, Sony's Best in Mobile Camera Technology, HD Viewing and NFC Connectivity. Xperia TL Will be Featured in the Upcoming James Bond Cinema Release Skyfall PR Newswire. DALLAS, Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ ... See all stories on this topic »

MOO unveils NFC-enhanced business cards ITProPortal Sure, you can hand someone a business card with your name, company and position, email address, mobile number, and maybe even your Twitter handle, but the networking usually stops there. Not with MOO.com's new NFC-enhanced cards. The creative ... See all stories on this topic »

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Visa Inc. to Promote Merchant and Consumer Education for Cyber Security Awareness Month

October 01, 2012 06:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

MEDIA ALERT: Visa Inc. to Promote Merchant and Consumer Education for Cyber Security Awareness Month

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visa (NYSE: V):

WHO/WHAT:					As we mark National Cyber Security Awareness Month this October, Visa (NYSE: V) is reminding consumers and small business owners how to stay safe and protect their payment information online. Visa will participate alongside the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) in several events throughout the month to engage public and private sector partners to raise awareness and educate consumers and businesses about cyber security.
WHY:					The Internet is a shared resource and securing it is our collective responsibility. National Cyber Security Awareness Month is about educating consumers and businesses about the role we all play in digital protection. If each of us does our part – implementing stronger security practices, raising awareness, educating young people, training employees – we will be a more resilient and safer digital society.
WHEN/WHERE:					October 1-31, 2012
					All events are open to the media
October 1					NCSA/DHS Kickoff Event: Visa to present on merchant data security best practices (Omaha, NE)
October 9					Cyber Security Workforce Development Event, including participation by Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom: Visa to speak on cyber security workforce issues (Cal Poly Pomona)
October 10					Law Enforcement Event Co-sponsored with DHS and U.S. Secret Service: Visa to discuss cyber crime and other trends affecting financial services and mitigation strategies (Miami, FL)
October 11					Twitter Chat: Cyber Crime with NCSA, the ID Theft Resource Center and the Washington State Patrol (#ChatSTC)
October 15					Business Cyber Security Forum: Visa’s Chief Enterprise Risk Officer Ellen Richey will join DHS senior leadership, NCSA and Symantec, among others, to draw attention to the need for businesses to protect themselves against cyber threats (NASDAQ, New York, NY)
October 22					Cyber Security Workforce Development Event (Press Club, Washington, D.C.)

Learn more about Visa’s efforts to help educate businesses and consumers about protecting payment information from online and other threats atwww.visasecuritysense.com. For more information or to attend any of the above events, please contact Sofia Mata-Leclerc at: 650-432-2990 orglobalmedia@visa.com.

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Heartland Payment Systems Credits Merchants with More than Quarter Billion Dollars in Durbin Debit Reform Savings

October 01, 2012 09:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

Business Owners and Consumers Reap Financial Benefits One Year After Reform’s Implementation

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Since the implementation of the Durbin Amendment debit swipe fee reform one year ago, Heartland Payment Systems^®(NYSE: HPY), one of the nation’s largest payments processors, has delivered more than $262,000,000 in signature debit savings to its merchant customers throughout the United States. Of these savings, restaurant merchants received more than $75,000,000, lodging merchants received nearly $10,000,000, retail merchants received almost $30,000,000 and petroleum/c-store merchants received more than $55,000,000.

“Both business owners and consumers are feeling the relief of lower debit card swipe fees”

Designed to reduce the cost of accepting debit cards for business owners, the Durbin Amendment, part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, caps debit card interchange rates for issuing banks with more than $10 billion in assets at 21 cents per transaction, plus one cent for issuers with an effective fraud prevention system, and 0.05 percent of the volume of transaction – a significant reduction from the average of 44 cents that merchants paid per debit card purchase before the Durbin Amendment.

“Both business owners and consumers are feeling the relief of lower debit card swipe fees,” said Bob Carr, Heartland’s chairman and CEO. “Our merchant customers are putting their ‘Durbin Dollars’ to work in a variety of ways, such as opening new locations, purchasing new equipment, fixtures and delivery cars, offsetting rising fuel and food costs and more. Consumers are also benefitting from our merchants not raising prices, and from non-Heartland merchants such asHome Depot, which lowered prices as a result of overall lower operating costs thanks in part to the regulation.”

John Bertram, owner of Stuft Pizza Bar & Grill in La Quinta, Calif., added, “The cost of everything, especially food, has gone up but our processing expenses have gone down. Thanks to Heartland passing through the Durbin savings, which have totaled more than $10,000 since last October, we’ve been able to keep our menu pricing the same for consumers and are exploring options for opening a second location.”

While actual figures are determined by the volume and dollar amount of debit transactions, among other factors, on average, Heartland’s merchants are saving approximately $1,000 annually per location. In aggregate, these funds represent a significant capital infusion for state and local economies, as evidenced by the data below:

	Total Estimated Visa/MasterCard				Total Estimated Visa/MasterCard
State	Signature Debit Savings From			State	Signature Debit Savings From
	October 1, 2011 to October 1, 2012				October 1, 2011 to October 1, 2012
Alabama	$3,128,008.81			Nebraska	$1,792,116.33
Alaska	$436,918.03			Nevada	$2,432,318.72
Arizona	$4,085,964.61			New Hampshire	$2,211,263.97
Arkansas	$2,597,690.14			New Jersey	$9,235,381.32
California	$35,869,653.50			New Mexico	$2,029,720.89
Colorado	$9,696,452.99			New York	$12,851,067.58
Connecticut	$3,815,857.53			North Carolina	$9,686,732.55
Delaware	$1,100,635.87			North Dakota	$1,013,882.45
Florida	$16,226,788.58			Ohio	$13,224,699.82
Georgia	$6,216,842.88			Oklahoma	$4,935,040.37
Hawaii	$2,889,527.93			Oregon	$2,656,695.82
Idaho	$1,402,889.57			Pennsylvania	$7,673,562.51
Illinois	$7,910,343.27			Rhode Island	$718,408.62
Indiana	$5,019,086.03			South Carolina	$3,568,525.18
Iowa	$1,903,029.03			South Dakota	$466,120.48
Kansas	$2,440,317.42			Tennessee	$3,603,861.04
Kentucky	$2,998,260.14			Texas	$16,001,736.30
Louisiana	$3,681,775.35			Utah	$2,092,468.38
Maine	$957,519.18			Vermont	$498,679.25
Maryland	$5,326,935.57			Virginia	$8,678,594.53
Massachusetts	$6,110,649.15			Washington	$6,096,824.00
Michigan	$6,449,646.17			Washington, D.C.	$541,439.16
Minnesota	$6,240,136.93			West Virginia	$420,287.21
Mississippi	$1,614,612.92			Wisconsin	$2,706,400.88
Missouri	$8,011,641.55			Wyoming	$379,443.63
Montana	$1,127,904.22

Heartland also found:

• 60 percent of its signature debit sales volume qualified as regulated
• 64 percent of its PIN debit volume qualified as regulated
• On average, there is a savings of $0.19 per transaction for regulated (vs. non-regulated)
  • The average signature debit non-regulated interchange fee per transaction is $0.42
  • The average signature debit regulated interchange fee per transaction is $0.23
• On average, there is a savings of 68 basis points for regulated (vs. non-regulated)
  • The average signature debit non-regulated effective rate is 1.48 percent
  • The average signature debit regulated effective rate is 0.80 percent

For more information on the Durbin Amendment and its benefits, visit www.GetYourDurbinDollars.com.

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FIS Continues Focus on Payments Innovation with Launch of PayNet Real-time Payments Network

October 01, 2012 08:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

Key Facts

• Industry’s first global real-time payments network, enables instant authorization of payment transactions
• Simplifies payments within E-commerce, P2P, bill pay, mobile and emerging digital payments
• Supports FIS’ strategy to remain at the forefront of real-time and global movement of money

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FIS™ (NYSE:FIS), the world’s largest provider of banking and payments technology, today announced the launch of PayNet™, the industry’s first global real-time payments network for domestic and international money movement for both retail and commercial trade.

“There has been a distinct global market shift toward real-time authorization and settlement as the key to driving emerging digital payment opportunities”

FIS’ PayNet addresses the growing demand for real-time global money movement. Designed to provide real-time access to deposit accounts enabling instant authorization of transactions, PayNet is a non-card-based solution for E-commerce, person-to-person (P2P), bill pay, mobile and international money movement. The solution leverages FIS’ network assets for real-time account access, settlement between parties, interchange processing, multi-currency conversion and exception processing. Built using open architecture, PayNet is easily integrated using standard XML to support financial institutions as well as emerging digital payment models.

The solution will revolutionize global money movement. With PayNet, a consumer can send money to another consumer – even across the globe – and have it arrive in real time, or pay a bill through bill pay and have the money arrive in real time. Through traditional ACH methods, consumer payments can take days to process depending upon payment destination. Digital payments and mobile are simplified with real-time verification of funds availability benefitting both the consumer and the financial institution which will experience lower fees and less risk. PayNet connects directly to deposit accounts within a financial institution to enable real-time transaction verification as an alternative to ACH or wires. PayNet will also ease financial institutions’ ability to comply with Dodd-Frank requirements for international money transfer.

Designed with Dodd-Frank in mind, PayNet includes items such as the right to cancel a transaction up to 30 minutes after transmission and full fee disclosure at the point and time of origination. Currently in its initial rollout stage with 200 financial institutions, PayNet is expected to be available industry-wide in early 2013.

PayNet leverages the global processing capability, secure infrastructure and more than 25-year transaction processing experience of FIS’ branded payments network (NYCE^®) to maximize real-time, multi-currency authorization and settlement. PayNet, as a new FIS payments network, will be available to all financial institutions worldwide.

FIS is committed to delivering innovative payment solutions to the markets it serves. The launch of PayNet underscores FIS’ strategic focus to be on the forefront of real-time global money movement and the leading provider of real-time banking and payment solutions. FIS delivers global connectivity and empowers financial and non-financial institutions to drive new sources of revenue and profit from emerging payment opportunities. The launch of PayNet follows announcements of two other innovative payments offerings earlier this year, FIS Mobile Wallet and FIS Prepaid Travel EMV^® Cards.

“There has been a distinct global market shift toward real-time authorization and settlement as the key to driving emerging digital payment opportunities,” saidAnthony Jabbour, executive vice president, FIS North American Financial Institutions. “PayNet addresses this shift – empowering organizations to drive significant efficiencies, revenues and profit within such categories as E-commerce, retail, commercial and mobile P2P, bill pay and mobile payments. We are extremely pleased with the added value PayNet will bring to FIS and our clients, as well as how it will revolutionize the payments industry.”

A true global payments leader, in 2011 alone FIS processed more than 316 million bill payments for more than 6 million bill pay accounts. The company also managed approximately 680 million prepaid card transactions – representing over $35 billion in value.

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 in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 32,000 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 425 on the Fortune 500 and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500^® Index. For more information about FIS, visit www.fisglobal.com.

Advertisement from IMI, the Publisher of ePayment News:

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Our platform will send our "trained"  "NewsBots" to scour the web (once an hour 24/7/365) for specific keywords.  Once our NewsBots find a breaking news story containing the keyword(s), they send it back to our servers which then reformat the story into a Drudge Report styled (but better) post.   We not only include the Title, Photo, and a direct link to the original content provider.  We include: Credit to Author, a 25 word blurb/preview, and other stories surrounding said keyword.  Because our platform does this every hour, 24/7/365, it gets noticed (Big Time) by the major search engines quickly driving traffic to your news site in droves.   

We can provide "targeted traffic" to any vertical, any niche, any subject.  Visit Near Field Communication News or take a look at the "Breaking News Site" we built for the NBA's Miami Heat at NBANewsHeat.com  Other examples include: NFLNewsBears.com & NFLNewsPackers.com.  In 3 short months, we've seen traffic grow from 900 in Month One to over 10,000 by Month 3.  So, in a very competitive marketplace (Profesional Sports) in the Big 4 (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) featuring the most popular vertical (Miami Heat) here's how we perform after only 4 months: