Wednesday, July 8, 2009

It Might Pay Again to Discover

Discover Financial Services Announces Pricing of Public Offering of Common Stock

Press Release
Source: Discover Financial Services

RIVERWOODS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - News) today announced the pricing of a public offering of 54,054,055 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $9.25 per share. The company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 8,108,108 shares to cover over-allotments, if any.

Discover will receive estimated net proceeds from the offering of approximately $480.3 million, or approximately $552.4 million if the underwriters choose to exercise the over-allotment option in full. The offering is expected to close on July 13, 2009. The net proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include capital contributions to the company’s subsidiary, Discover Bank, possible investments in the company’s businesses, or possible repurchase of fixed rate cumulative perpetual preferred stock issued by Discover to the U.S. Treasury under its Capital Purchase Program (subject to regulatory approval).

J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. is acting as the sole book-running manager for the common stock offering. A copy of the prospectus supplement and prospectus relating to these securities may be obtained, when available, by contacting J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Attn: Prospectus Department, 4 Chase Metrotech Center, CS Level, Brooklyn, NY 11245 or by calling

1-718-242-8002

Meanwhile, here's "Barron's Take" on the offering: It Will Pay Again to Discover

United Airlines on the Brink - Need Help from Processors

Cash squeeze may put United Airlines in a bind -- chicagotribune.com

The global recession has caused airline ticket sales to plunge deeper than anyone -- carriers or analysts -- anticipated.

Rather than banking cash from peak-season flying this summer as they normally do, United and its peers are paying a king's ransom to borrow money to get them through the winter months, when demand for air travel usually chills.

But after leveraging everything from frequent-flier miles to spare jet engines, United is running low on assets that it can use as collateral for debt or sell to raise cash. That limits the Chicago carrier's options as it faces requirements by its credit card processors to keep unrestricted cash near the present level of $2.5 billion, analysts said.

The prospect of another lean winter for U.S. carriers could spur more consolidation, analysts said, with United and Houston-based Continental Airlines as the likeliest carriers to head back into merger negotiations.

Cash is tight across the airline industry, and Ft. Worth-based American Airlines and Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways could also face liquidity crises if conditions deteriorate, analysts warned. American faces steep debt payments over the next year and pressure from a credit card processor. US Airways has little debt but thin cash reserves.

"The whole industry is looking at an erosion of liquidity and cash flow," said Bill Warlick, senior director and lead airline analyst with Fitch Ratings. "It's a very grim revenue picture."

The need for action is especially pressing for United. If its cash holdings decline, two major credit card processors, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and American Express, could require it to set aside hundreds of millions of dollars to safeguard advance bookings in case the company folds.

Under an agreement that took effect March 1, American Express requires United to pony up money on a sliding scale if its unrestricted cash falls below $2.4 billion. The lower United's cash, the greater the amount it must set aside. United may also pledge aircraft, real estate and other assets as collateral.

As of January 2010, Chase will require United to hold at least $2.5 billion, a provision that would have cost United $134 million had it been effective in May. If United's cash falls to $1 billion, Chase would require it to set aside half of its monthly credit card charges, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

While credit card firms pushed Frontier Airlines into bankruptcy last year, (See: Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! ) analysts think it very unlikely that they'd pursue similar drastic measures with United unless operations deteriorate to the point where the airline isn't viable.

Chase, in particular, has a deep partnership with United that gives it a vested interest in keeping the carrier aloft. Chase's Mileage Plus affinity card is one of its most popular credit cards, while the bank last year gave United $600 million for the advance purchase of frequent-flier miles. A Chase spokesman declined to comment.

"When you have big boys at the table like credit card companies, and a big airline like United, nobody is going to throw anybody into bankruptcy," King said. "They're going to find a way around it, unless there's no way around it."

Continue Reading at the Chicago Tribune

United Airlines, Bankruptcy, Merger, Chase, American Express, Credit Card Reserves, Unrestricted Cash,

MoneyGram Signs Money Transfer Deal for ATM's with Saudi Bank

Forbes: MoneyGram International Inc. has signed a deal with National Commercial Bank, the largest bank in the Middle East, to offer a money transfer service at the bank's 1,400 ATM locations in Saudi Arabia. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Click to continue

UATP Announces VP Global Sales; Focus on Growing UATP Programs

UATP Announces Vice President, Global Sales; Focus on New Issuers and Growing UATP Programs | SYS-CON INDIA

WASHINGTON, July /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Air Travel Plan, Inc. (UATP) has a new Vice President, Global Sales, K. David Holmes III who has been promoted from Regional Commercial Director, The Americas, UATP, effective immediately. Holmes will focus on the recruitment of new airline Issuers and Merchants, growing existing UATP Issuer programs and expanding UATP's partner program with non-traditional forms of payment companies.

"Dave has extensive knowledge of travel payment as it interfaces with the airline industry and a successful sales record finding solutions for carriers," said Ralph Kaiser, president and CEO, UATP. "With over eight years at UATP, Dave is well positioned to continue his success as Vice President and grow UATP's global market share. His knowledge will continue to drive UATP into new channels and capitalize on expanding UATP's successful partner program, connecting airlines to non-traditional forms of payment."

UATP currently has eight payment partners including: Bill Me Later, HomeATM, Moneta, PayPal, Paysafecard, Stored Value Solutions, Acculynk and Ukash. For more information contact, sales@uatp.com

Contact K. David Holmes, III, Vice President, Global Sales at dholmes@uatp.com

About UATP

UATP accounts are accepted as a form of payment for corporate business travel by Amtrak, airlines and travel agencies worldwide. UATP accounts are issued by: Air New Zealand (ANZFF.PK), American Airlines (NYSE: AMR), Austrian Airlines (AUALF.PK), Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL), Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), Japan Airlines (JALSY.PK), Northwest Airlines, Qantas Airways, Ltd. (QUBSF.PK), United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA), and US Airways (NYSE: LCC). AirPlus International issues the UATP-based Company Account for: British Airways (LSE: BAY.L), Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL), and Lufthansa German Airlines.

UATP, HomeATM, Airline Payments

Unpredicatable Gas Prices Push Shoppers Online

Chart of the Week: Unpredictable Gas Prices Push Shoppers Online

July 07, 2009 · by Practical eCommerce Staff

Consumers are comparing products online and doingmore shopping at online retailers in an apparent concern about risingand unpredictable gasoline prices.

Internet marketing trend and research analysis firm eMarketerreported that some 14 percent of U.S. consumers were doing moreshopping online and that 32 percent of U.S. consumers had done or woulddo more online price comparison as a result of fluctuating gas prices.The eMarketer analysis was based on a June 2009 survey that theNational Retail Federation had commissioned to measure consumerattitudes ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.

Respondents to that survey generally planned to take fewer shoppingtrips (42.9 percent), shop sales more often (42.6 percent), and shopcloser to home (40.4 percent) when the made purchases from traditionalbrick-and-mortar retailers.

CashStar Partners with Coupons.com Offers eGift Cards

CashStar Throws Its Gift Cards on the E-tail Table

It seemed like a logical leap: If you already provide shoppers withcoupons online, what's to stop you from offering them an online sourcefor e-gift cards? So the founders of online gift card company CashStarpooled resources with online shopping coupon mogul Coupons Inc. tocreate an outlet for merchants to offer more services than areavailable from plastic gift cards hanging on pegs in stores. ThoughCashStar's founders quickly were met with lots of encouragement, theyhad few takers in their efforts to sign up merchants to try out thee-gift card experience.

» Read full article on[E-Commerce Times]

ID90 Technologies Partners with Moneta to Expand Payment Options

ID90T Partners with Moneta to Expand Payment Options – 50,000 Airline Employees May Choose Moneta for Online Travel Payments

ID90T, part of the ID90 Group, has partnered with Moneta Corporation to offer Moneta online payments to its fast-growing base of 50,000 airline employee users. Moneta, a growing alternative payment choice for online transactions, offers consumers and merchants a convenient, safe and affordable method for Internet ACH debit transactions directly from a consumer’s bank deposit account. ID90T provides online and Interline e-ticketing solutions for airline employee travel via its advanced web based Interline Fare Calculator® (IFC), the end-user interface to its Interline Ticketing Platform. ID90T facilitates immediate cost savings and unprecedented conveniences for airlines and their employees, while protecting and enhancing the travel privileges currently enjoyed by each airline employee.

“By partnering with Moneta, we realize significant savings on interchange while offering airline employees a safe, convenient way to pay for discounted travel,” said Tristan Schukraft, Managing Director of ID90T. “We are able to pass some of this cost savings along to airline employees as discounts for Moneta-based payments during the initial rollout period. During beta testing, we discovered that customers paying with Moneta had a higher average ticket spend, suggesting that this payment method was preferred over credit card transactions. We are very excited about the impact of the Moneta partnership to our bottom line.”

The ID90T partnership will rapidly expand Moneta’s existing user base of 70,000 enrolled members as the two companies pursue joint marketing programs to the 50,000 airline employees ID90T currently serves.

“The ID90T partnership demonstrates the opportunity for Moneta as a preferred alternative payment method for online retailers,” said Guido Sacchi, CEO of Moneta. “Travel providers and leading merchants like ID90T face many challenges in keeping costs low. We are committed to working with online retailers and travel providers to provide the lowest cost payment methods available.”

About Moneta Corporation

Moneta Corporation is a leading payments company offering secure, convenient methods for consumers to pay online merchants directly from their checking or money market accounts. Moneta partners with online merchants to accept and process payments, while providing financial institutions branding opportunities during the transaction process. Moneta’s rapidly growing partner network enables online retailers and travel providers to attract valuable customers with a preference for paying directly from their well-established bank accounts. Moneta is a privately-held company headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. For more information visit www.monetacorp.com

About ID90T

ID90 TECHNOLOGIES, LLC (ID90T), provides innovative online and Interline e-ticketing and NIET solutions for airline employee travel via its advanced web based Interline Fare Calculator ® (IFC). ID90T facilitates immediate cost savings and unprecedented conveniences for airlines and their employees, helping airlines become compliant with IATA’s 100% e-ticketing mandate. Visit www.ID90T.com.

Author Information

Carol Kleywegt
Moneta Corporation

Microsoft Death Blow Plot: Google Operating System

Google Plans to Launch Operating System for PCs
- WSJ.com

Google Inc. is preparing to launch an operating system for personal computers, a direct assault on the turf of software giant Microsoft Corp., which has long dominated the market for software that runs PC applications.

The Silicon Valley Internet giant announced the new move in a blog post late Tuesday night. It said the software, which will initially target low-end portable PCs called netbooks, would be based on its Chrome Web browser and available to consumers in the second-half of 2010.

The post--by Google's Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, its engineering director -- said the ...

Continue Reading at Wall Street Journal (subscription required) or here's a link to 1130 Related Articles

Here's one of the better ones from the Baltimore Sun:

And now, faithful readers, we receive news that Google is planning its own operating system, in a direct challenge to Microsoft and its Windows hegemony. The New York Times and tech-news site Ars Technica, broke the news on their respective websites. Inquiries from the press forced Google to disclose the news a day earlier, last night, on their official blog, which gives a light rundown on why they're doing what they're doing. In a nutshell, Google is looking to expand its Chrome web browser as an operating system for the cheap netbooks that have proliferated in the marketplace. Some initially believed we'd see a version of Android, Google's mobile computing platform, transmogrified into some type of operating system. But Google went with the Chrome platform instead. In the company's own words:
Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.
So what does this all really mean? From a competitive standpoint, some folks, like the guys at TechCrunch, see it as Google dropping "a nuclear bomb" on Microsoft, which dominates the personal computer OS market.

Continue Reading at Baltimore Sun

microsoft, google, operating system,

US Bankcard Losses Increase 66.8% Y2Y

Standard and Poor says that losses on US bankcards reached a record 10% for the month and will continue to see losses that average between 10.5 and 12.5 over the next 12-18 months...

S&P said the losses among bankcard trusts in its U.S. Credit Card Quality Index reached a record 10 percent for the month, as unemployment continued to rise, making it difficult for consumers to pay down credit card debt. That was a 66.8 percent increase from May 2008. Bankcards generally carry the logos of MasterCard, Visa or American Express.

The year-over-year increase in May was slightly below the 70.9 percent jump in unemployment during the period. But the expansion of losses among the trusts over the past six months outpaced unemployment growth by 49.3 percent to 38.2 percent, S&P said.

Losses on U.S. retail cards, which include gas and department store cards, jumped to 12.2 percent, the highest point since S&P began tracking the statistic in January 2000.

S&P expects card losses to average between 10.5 and 12.5 percent for the next 12 to 18 months.

bankcard losses, Visa, MasterCard, American Express

In eCommerce We (Don't) Trust - The Fickle Pickle

Oracle Report: Consumers Fickle About Ecommerce Security Controls

Nearly one-third of U.K.'s online shoppers don't trust online securitymeasures, but most don't want additional controls if it affects easeand speed of transactions

Editor's Note: I don't blamethem as I feel exactly same way. In fact, that's a major reason why HomeATM "replicated the "brick and mortar" experience. It's not slower, it's faster. It's not frustrating, it's enamoring. By swiping your card, "you are the power" behind the buying experience, wheras when you type, you don't know if you're "giving your power away" to fraudsters.

Let's look at this through the eyes of pure common sense:

First, wouldn't you agree that it is undeniably EASIER to "swipe" your card than "type" 14-16 digit cardnumbers, 8 digit expiration dates and 3 digit CVV numbers! That doesn't sound "convenient." And to those who say you've got all that stored on your PC, well, shame on you. Can you say malware?

Second: It is undeniable that it's faster too. One swipe vs. pick and peck and pick and peck and pick and peck and oops, gotta start over, must've dyslexiated one number somewhere.

Third: When it comes to familiarity, swiping their card is something that consumers do everyday at brick and mortar locations, so in terms of making the user experience strong, convenient, with ease of use AND security, I would argue that at the end of the day, swiping will replace typing. Whether it's Mag and PIN or Chip and PIN, it doesn't matter as HomeATM is EMV ready.

Fourth: Swiping is obviously more secure when the consumers cardholder data is encrypted outside the browser space instead of "typed" into it.

So what's the problem? The naysayers cry, "Oh, you have to get the terminal into the hands of the consumers! So? I never heard the argument to stay with paper and carbon because it would be too difficult to get Point of Sale Terminals out to all the retailers. (Even though they cost about $2500 each) So it is nonsensical to argue it is too much of a hassle to get them out to consumers...especially at $15.00 bucks each...

Online consumers don't have much patience for security controls that slow or complicate their purchases -- even though they say they don't trust existing online security to keep them safe, according to a new report.

Two-thirds wanted more online security, but many still said that if this meant slower transaction processing, then they would find it frustrating.

Some 72 percent of consumers had experienced problems with online transactions, including slow processing speed or too many steps to go through.

This created a “dilemma” for online retailers, the report said, asthey weighed up improving security against making user experiencestrong. Editor's Note: Weighed up? It's NOT "one or the other." Hopefully I've made the point that it is possible to conduct a secure transaction and at the same time make the user experience strong. There's NO dilemma here, I promise.

Most of those interviewed said they did not want two-factorsecurity authentication outside the banking sector. Editor's Note: What? Hold on, I was taking a sip of coffee when I read that and now it's coming out of my nose...

Okay...I'm back. With all due respect to Oracle, I would humbly suggest they didn't ask the "online retailers" the "right" question...

Here's why: Brick and mortar retailers have their customers "swipe" their card and "enter" their PIN each and every minute of each and every day. That's "two-factor security authentication" folks. What you have (your card) and what you know (your PIN) equals "two-factors". So why on earth would "most" of those interviewed say they did not want 2FA?

Here's the question I'd like to ask online retailers: "If you could offer your customers a truly secure way to pay, one with which they are already familiar, and, at the same time, create a card-present environment, which reduced your Interchange Fees by up to 100 basis points, Would you consider that a dilemma? Didn't think so.
Here's the Oracle Study: But first an important quote:

"Low consumer confidence impacts revenue generation...
but the inverse isalso true: good security that increases confidence without creatingfurther hassle, drives sales.

Our research shows that smart retailersand their technology partners have an opportunity to build securityinto their value proposition, and in doing so, foster customer loyaltyand increase revenue,” said Marty Carroll, Director, Foviance.

“Consumer says no” – Oracle Study Suggests Current Security Technologies Impede Online Commerce
Significant opportunities for retailers with a more sophisticated security strategy to strengthen customer loyalty

Findings reveal a complex picture of consumer activity online with emotions and attitudes influencing behaviors

“Online Security: A Human Perspective”

Thames Valley Park, Reading, UK – July 06, 2009: OracleCorporation UK Ltd today launched “Online Security: A HumanPerspective” a report based on research by Foviance, the userexperience consultancy
Foviance spoke to UK consumers, whoregularly use the Internet about their experiences of online securityand its impact on their behaviour. The study gathered quantative datathat was assessed in more detail through a diary study and focusgroups. This approach offered both baseline statistics and a deeperunderstanding of consumer attitudes and behaviours
Thequantative survey covered 550 respondents and the diary study assessedthe responses and habits of sub-group of 24 people, asking them abouttheir experiences of real-life online security situations. The focusgroups brought this smaller panel together to qualify trends andextract greater detail about the initial findings
The research revealed three key areas of interest:
Current consumer attitudes to online security: mixed messages

Consumersappeared to have contradictory attitudes towards online security, withperceptions very much ‘press-led’ and fuelled by assumptions of thepotential threats and expectations about their rights.
Consumerscontinued to list predictable threats, such as malware, spyware,identity theft and 30% said they do not trust central or localGovernment with their personal data.
Yet when questioned moreclosely respondents revealed a distinct contradiction between theirattitudes and their understanding of the issues. For example, almost athird of survey respondents (30%) do not trust online securitymeasures. When some members of the focus groups raised WiFi as asecurity threat, others agreed, but detailed questioning revealed aclear lack of understanding
Indeed the majority of surveyrespondents (70%) blamed themselves as the primary cause their ITsecurity problems, which suggests they accept their ‘culpability.’ Thatsaid a nearly a quarter (24.9%) blamed the website, brand or technologyif they experienced login problems
The focus groups alsorevealed consumers showed no desire to understand the mechanics of ITsecurity in more detail and had high expectations about their rights ifaffected by a security threat
However, consumers go on tosuggest they would not respond favourably to stricter security. Despitetwo thirds (66%) stating they would be more confident online ifwebsites imposed additional security measures, they were unlikely toaccept these measures if it meant the transaction process increased ineither time or complexity. In fact, 26% reported that such measureswould drive them onto competitors’ sites.
This creates adilemma for less recognised brands to reassure prospective customersand for larger brands that have been hit by a security issue. How doesa company engender trust, which can lead to customer loyalty andpotential revenue growth if consumers offer such mixed messages aboutcurrent security technology?
Cracking the code: balancing security and convenience to avoid bad habits

Theanswer seems to be that both online retailers and other organisationswith an online presence need to demonstrate a greater understanding ofinstinctive human responses to security. Customers want reassurance,demonstrating this with their buying preference for trusted brands, butthey do not want it at the expense of convenience
Respondentsto the research and focus group participants cited a number offrustrations that have led to them abandon online transactions,including being perplexed by username and password selection rules,being forced to wait for an email password reminder and being flummoxedby password reminder questions
The survey also produced some worrying statistics:
-72% of respondents have had at least one problem in the past three months alone
- The number one reason for discontinuing a transaction was the process taking too long (48%)
- 38.9% said that a purchase process with too many steps is a barrier to online shopping
- For survey participants that had abandoned a purchase in the last 12 months 16% did so because the transaction took them to another website, such as 3D Secure Way
Stricter security policies also lead to less secure consumer practices
- 25% of those questionned in the survey admitted to keeping written lists of their online usernames and passwords

- In one focus group a participant admitted to writing passwords on every account statement

Thedangers to online vendors are obvious as consumers are quite preparedto complain to others about their frustrations to others. 8 exampleswere raised over the course of the focus groups with participants veryquick to name the brand. 31% of people surveyed were likely to use asite less frequently if they encountered login problems.
Thismakes it extremely difficult for online retailers (and for that matterany organisation wishing to interact with its stakeholders via theInternet) to balance security needs against providing a fast andefficient service. For example, there was a point blank refusal toaccept the extension of 2-factor security beyond the banking sector onthe grounds transactions, which involved smaller sums should notrequire this technology.
The report offers some guidance withrespondents and focus group participants suggesting that they look for‘trust signals’ from an online brand, which could include:
3rd party certification logos
Security and privacy policies
Customer reviews / ratings
Confirmation page / confirmation email
Terms & conditions

A security enabled online world: using security to tip the scales

Theresearch provides clear insights beyond the usual assessment ofconsumer concerns about IT security to suggest that there are clearbenefits for online vendors, whose security approach can help to tipthe scales in their favour
For instance if consumers have tomake a risk assessment of two online sites, weighing up the merits of aprice-based one against those of a recognised brand, unsurprisinglyattitudes to online security tend to drive the consumer to the latter.Furthermore focus group respondents suggested they would be willing topay a premium for such products and services.
Hence theobvious calculation is that a good approach to security breeds trust,which in turn engenders loyalty that can help to drive revenues
ConsequentlyOracle recommends a number of steps that businesses can take to improvethe customer experience and foster brand loyalty without compromisingsecurity:

Take the onus away from the customer and reassure them: customers are anxious about security and do want online transactions to be protected. As a result, companies should publish highly visible third-party security certification logos, so that customers immediately recognise that each click, transaction or purchase is secure. Businesses should also make their own security and privacy policies highly visible, with customer reviews and ratings on show for visitors to see. In addition, businesses should also confirm all purchases with a confirmation page, followed by a confirmation email

Build a better user experience by recognising there are shades of grey: Organisations need to appreciate that the one-size-fits-all approach for assessing the risk of fraudulent activity no longer works. Instead, businesses should assess the varying degrees of risk presented by particular transactions. If we consider that the most likely reason for abandoned transactions is because it is taking too long, then businesses should consider the level of threat versus disruption to the customer. For instance, a £5,000 online transaction calls for more security controls, such as two-factor authentication, than for a purchase of just £10.

Stop thinking in terms of a moat and castle – introduce a multi-layered approach: Organisations need to shift the onus of responsibility away from the consumer to encourage online sales. This can be achieved by taking a layered approach, with technology that drives confidence at each level of an online purchase. From the website to the back-end processes and where sensitive customer information is stored, companies can install a mechanism that manages customer information throughout its lifecycle, wherever it resides. Technology is now available that automates and simplifies the setting and management of IT security policies, which minimises users’ need to clear a confusing variety of security checks. By taking the concern away from consumers, organisations can take positive steps towards building a trusting, long-term relationship with customers. By analysing the origin and nature of incoming transactions, behavioural intelligence and profile information can be gathered to generate a risk score for each transaction, allowing continual assessment of threat levels and the ability to dynamically update policies and respond to new threats.

Supporting Quotes

“It’s time to stop viewing IT security as a castle and moat, companies need to take a more sophisticated approach and that requires a shift in mindset,” explains Des Powley, Director Security, Oracle UK and Ireland. “Done well security can be an enabler of online activity, whether that is retail eCommerce or engagement with public services. Organisations must remember that security is an emotive subject that understandably triggers very primitive instincts for consumers and citizens. It’s time to be more strategic, which includes using technologies such as adaptive authentication and single-sign-on all delivered seamlessly with the service.”

“Low consumer confidence impacts revenue generation, but the inverse is also true: good security that increases confidence without creating further hassle, driving sales. Our research shows that smart retailers and their technology partners have an opportunity to build security into their value proposition, and in doing so, foster customer loyalty and increase revenue,” said Marty Carroll, Director, Foviance.

About Oracle
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world’s largest business software company. For more information about Oracle, please visit our Web site at http://www.oracle.com.

About Foviance
Foviance is a leading customer experience consultancy with a focus on delivering measurable benefits that works globally with some of the world’s best known brands.

Founded in 2000 and with a heritage in website usability and data analytics, Foviance delivers consultancy to its clients about the effectiveness of their individual channels, such as mobile, web and call centre and how they combine in a cross-channel environment. For many clients, insight is provided not only in their home market, but also internationally through Foviance extensive alliance network.

Foviance engages with its customers wherever they are in their product lifecycle, and provides insight so they understand how to improve, create and deliver excellent customer experiences.

Foviance boasts 43 of the UK FTSE 100 companies among its client roster, including Barclays, BSkyB, and Sainsbury’s. In addition Foviance works with International brands such as Astra Zeneca, Dell and Nokia. For further information please visit: http://www.foviance.com

Trademark
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

# # #

Visa and Monitise in Strategic Alliance

Mobile money specialist Monitise has entered into a strategic global alliance with Visa International, a subsidiary of Visa Inc., the world's largest retail electronic payments network. The five-year agreement, worth $13 million in addition to ongoing license, service and development fees, combines Visa's reach, payments expertise and trusted brand with the Monitise Mobile Money platform and toolkit.

Monitise will be a strategic development partner for Visa's suite of mobile services, including payments, mobile money transfer, mobile transaction alerts and mobile marketing offers to support Visa's mobile strategy to extend the reach of its global network to the more than 4 billion mobile devices around the world. “Visa is the world's most trusted, inclusive and innovative payments network,” says

Monitise CEO, Alastair Lukies. “This alliance validates our unwavering commitment to building truly accessible, inclusive and reliable services over the past seven years. It is a landmark announcement in the mobile payment space and we are excited to collaborate with the world's foremost payments company to accelerate the convergence of payments services and mobile devices.”

Monitise creates mobile banking networks that enable customers of multiple banks and mobile operators to perform banking and payment transactions directly from their mobile handset.

The company has live services in the UK and the US, where it has delivered the MONILINK and Monitise networks in partnership with VocaLink and Metavante Corporation respectively, and is currently working with international partners to deliver similar safe, secure mobile banking and payment services in territories worldwide. Current key partners include VocaLink, Metavante, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, first direct, Alliance & Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Vodafone, Orange, O2,

Monitise, Visa, mobile banking

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

IBA Website Hacked/Cloned This Morning

As we have pointed out a few times on this blog, these types of problems plaguing banks could be severely reduced, if not completely eliminated in three simple steps...two of which have already been done.

Authenticating an online banking customer with "username | password" (or "any form of log-in" which a consumers must type/enter) is the fundamental basis of the problem.

Banks issued a card, Banks issued a PIN, the last issue they must contend with is for them to issue the card/PIN reader. True two-factor authentication. What you have (card) and what you know. (PIN)

Prior to HomeATM breaking the price barrier, a low-cost secure card reader/with integrated PIN Pad did not exist. Therefore, the only other choices banks had for authenticating their customers (besides username |passwords) were to upgrade their log-in capabilities with OTP's (one-time passwords) and Dongles. OTP"s can and have been intercepted, and Dongles can ONLY be used as authenticators. Not anymore. With HomeATM's "low cost" terminals, banks are in a position whereby they could give these things away faster than toasters and prevent themselves and their customers from getting burnt by fraudsters.

The added benefits of HomeATM's device is that it is NOT LIMITED to authentication. Our device also provides Zone 1-4 End-to-End-Encryption (for Track 2 data) and full Zone 1-5 E2EE for the PIN during an "online" financial transaction. (Thereby protecting the cardholder data as well as any $500+ point of sale terminal and $150 PIN Pad) Our device also utilizes existing bank rails, which enables the cardholder to instantly transfer money from any bankcard to any other bankcard. That feature also inherently provides a unique way to pay bills/utilities online.

Apparently, in spite of events like the one reported below becoming more commonplace, (see Commonwealth Bank stories over the past week) some banks think they are immune. Unless they utilize an inoculator, (such as our SafeTPIN) I can assure them they're not.

The Hindu Business Line : IBA website hacked

IBA website hacked

MUMBAI: Indian Banks Associations (IBA) website was hacked this morning, leading to panic among bank customers across the country. The IBA warned the public not to share bank account details to the website as demanded by the hackers.

The IBA website has been compromised and there is a bogus message doing rounds asking people to give their ATM Card details online at the bogus link.

The webpage is a copy of IBA's web home page, a top IBA official said. Translation: A "Cloned" Bank Website.
(Never heard of such a thing? Enter "Cloned Website" in the HomeATM Search Bar on the top left sidebar...or check out "Related Articles below)

IBA is the national body of Indian banks and has members from public, private and foreign segments. IBA has deployed a special team to examine the matter and will resolve the issue at the earliest, the official said. - PTI

IBA Hacked, ATM, Card Details, PIN, Cloned Website,

According to Mercartor ACH = Bedrock of AltPay

The ACH Network: The Bedrock of Alternative Payments; New Research Report by Mercator Advisory Group

The ACH Network began as a low volume network transmitting large recurring transactions between well-established entities; however changes in rules and business models have brought about significant changes in the nature and volume of ACH activity.

More than 18 billion ACH payments were made in 2007, representing a 12.6% increase from the total number of transactions generated in 2006. Much of the growth in ACH volume can be attributed to fundamental changes in payment methods used by consumers and businesses with the network transforming into a high volume platform of relatively low-value, non-recurring transactions. These transactions are originated from a rapidly expanding number of merchants, aggregators, corporations, and financial institutions.

Alternative payment providers such as Google Checkout, Bill Me Later and of course PayPal leverage the ACH to provide consumers and merchants with a secure and efficient means of payment and in doing so are experiencing phenomenal growth.

Non-financial institutions have been beating the banking industry to the punch of developing unique and cost efficient payment solutions, especially in the e-commerce space. Ironically, alternative payment providers have succeeded using the banking industry’s own infrastructure to capture interchange-like revenues.

However, a new solution has emerged from the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) that could level the playing field for banks to compete against alternative payment providers and push the ACH network in a new direction. NACHA’s recently released Secure Vault Payments (SVP), an e-commerce payment solution not only enables customers to move payments from their direct deposit accounts to merchants and service providers, but transactions occur with real-time authentication and authorization from the consumer’s bank Web site. The push method ensures merchants and service providers that payments are being made with “good funds” thus reducing concerns about fraud, chargebacks, and non-sufficient funds.

Although signature debit and credit card usage online has yet to be hugely impacted by alternative payment solutions, in many cases, non-traditional payment providers offer significantly enhanced value propositions including discounts, sales and loyalty tools, and the ability for merchants to cross sell on non-competitive merchant Web sites. These value added services create significant competitive pressures for traditional payment types and are giving alternative payment methods solid traction.

Brent Watters, Senior Analyst of Mercator Advisory Group’s Prepaid Advisory Service and principal analyst on the report, comments, “As alternative payment methods continue to evolve and more players step into the space, the use of traditional payment cards for online transactions will continue to decrease. It is foreseeable that merchants will increasingly promote alternative payments and consumers will become more accepting of new payment types. Mercator believes that in the next five years (2014) 35% of payments made online will be in the form of alternative payments, including prepaid cards, new forms of credit and programs leveraging the ACH.”

Highlights from this report include:

The ACH continues to show solid growth and transaction volume will continue to escalate as more alternative payment schemes leverage the network.
The ACH is moving to push versus pull method of payment thus creating direct competition for EFT networks that have been eager to develop a PIN-less debit solution for online transactions.
The ACH’s eCheck services continue to fuel the networks’ transaction volume and penetrate markets currently targeted by debit and credit cards.
NACHA’s Secure Vault Payment (SVP) creates an opportunity for banks to compete in online alternative payments.
Within the next five years (2014), 35% of payments made online will come in the form of alternative payments, including prepaid cards, new forms of credit and programs leveraging the ACH.
Members of Mercator Advisory Group have access to this report as well as the upcoming research for the year ahead, presentations, analyst access and other membership benefits. Please visit us online at http://www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com/.

For more information send email to info @ mercatoradvisorygroup.com. Author Information: ROBERT MISASI Mercator Advisory Group

Alternative Payments, ACH Network

7-Eleven Takes Lead Role in Credit Card Fee Fight

7-Eleven leads fight against what it calls excessive credit card fees | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Dallas Business News

By MARIA HALKIAS / The Dallas Morning News
mhalkias@dallasnews.com

7-Eleven Inc. is using its 6,300 U.S. stores to send a message to Washington and the credit card industry.

Starting this week, the Dallas-based convenience store operator hopes to solicit 1 million signatures on petitions calling for Congress to change what the chain says are unfair and excessive credit card transaction fees.

Credit card companies charge retailers a fee for every transaction. The size of the purchase doesn't matter. And retailers have no power to negotiate the fees, they say.

For convenience stores alone, the fees totaled $8.4 billion last year, up 10.5 percent from 2007. That's more than the $5.2 billion the industry made in profit, the National Association of Convenience Stores says.

7-Eleven, which alone paid $160 million to credit card companies last year, is leading the lobbying effort, working with the association, which represents 146,000 stores nationwide. The efforts come as the sweeping credit card rules that Congress passed go into effect in February prohibiting certain fees on consumers.

Petitions are prominently displayed at 7-Eleven checkout counters.

Continue Reading at The Dallas Morning Herald

7-Eleven, NACS, 7-11, Credit Card Industry, Excessive Fees

PayPal Opens Platform to 3rd Party Developers

From Finextra:

PayPal woos third party developers with Adaptive Payments

PayPal is set to open up its platform to third party developers in a move the firm says will make it easier for them to make money from their ideas.

The new application programming interface (API), called Adaptive Payments, will give developers more flexibility in building apps that move money between PayPal accounts.

The API allows straight payments from customers to the PayPal accounts of receivers such as owners of Web sites or widgets on social networking sites.

It also means developers can build applications for "parallel payments", enabling a sender to make a payment to multiple receivers.

PayPal says this means users can set up a shopping cart that enables buyers to pay for items from several merchants with one payment. The cart would allocate the payment to merchants who actually provided the items.

In addition, "chained payments" will enable a sender to make a single payment to a "primary receiver", who can then keep a part of it and send the rest to "secondary receivers".

The firm says this could be used by companies such as online travel agencies which handle bookings for airfares, hotel reservations and car rentals. The primary receiver allocates their commission with the secondary receivers then getting their share of the payment.

The new API is similar to Amazon's Flexible Payments Service, which was launched in beta in 2007 as part of the e-commerce giant's attempt to muscle in on PayPal's territory.

However, in a blog post responding to TechCrunch, which broke the story, Osama Bedier, VP, platform and emerging technology, PayPal, insists Adaptive Payments is "not an effort to 'crush Amazon's fledgling payment service'".

Security in a Post-Heartland World

Understanding How PCI- Compliant Companies Can Be Breached: Security in a Post-Heartland World

Dublin - Research and Markets has announced the addition of Javelin Strategy & Research's new report "Understanding How PCI-Compliant Companies Can Be Breached: Security in a Post-Heartland World" to their offering.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) raises the high water mark for data security. But there's a persistent myth that PCI compliance equals security. The reality is that PCI is only a baseline, and one that needs to be monitored constantly as the threat landscape changes. In the months following what may be the largest the data breach in U.S. history at Heartland Payment Systems, many people are wondering if PCI is effective. In response, the PCI Security Standards Council has released new guidance around risk-based compliance and Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) reviews and remediation. But will these be enough to calm the concerns that merchants have with PCI? This report includes an update of PCI, an overview of emerging technologies, and lessons learned from the Heartland breach. Hashing, tokenization, end-to-end encryption, and Chip and PIN are covered in depth.

Primary Questions - Does PCI compliance equal security? - Which are the most common requirements not met by previously PCI-certified firms? - What has been learned about the Heartland breach? - How can merchants store PAN data without violating PCI? - What are the emerging technologies that can help merchants take PAN data out of scope for PCI compliance? Methodology This report is based on data collected online from a random-sample panel of 2,339 respondents in September 2008. The survey targeted respondents based on representative proportions of gender, age and income compared to the overall U.S. online population. Overall margin of sampling error is 2.03% at the 95% confidence level, for 2008.The report was also based on interviews with executives from the PCI Council, Heartland, and eight security vendors Companies Mentioned: - Merchant Bank - PCI Security Standards Council - Trustware - Merrick Bank - Princeton Payments Solutions - U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - Micheals - Qualys - Veracode - National Retail Association - RBS WorldPay - VeriSign - NT Objectives - Securosis - Verizon - nuBridges - Shift4 - Visa - Ounce Labs - T-Mobile - WhiteHat Security - Payments Software Company - The Cadence Group - Paymetrics - TJX For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3113c7/understanding_how

PCI, Heartland, Breach, Hack,

Microsoft Video-ActiveX Trojan Discovered

Hackers using Active X flaw for remote code execution - Computer Business Review : News

Hackers using Active X flaw for remote code execution
Published:07-July-2009

By Kevin White

Security researchers warn on Video ActiveX Control vulnerability

Potential cybercriminals have been found to be inserting a data-stealing Trojan onto PCs left vulnerable by a flaw in the Microsoft Video ActiveX Control, security experts have warned today.

The discovery, which was made yesterday by researchers in China and since confirmed by several authoritative security software vendors, enables remote code execution on targeted machines.

Finjan CTO Yuval Ben-Itzhak told us, “It stands as a zero-day attack until a patch is issued or a workaround is made, and it basically means that a hacker could take control of a remote PC by someone visiting a compromised web site.”

Some popular European music download and gaming sites are among those he said had already been be comprised. “It is low volume at present, but we expect to see it increase in the coming weeks,” he said.

(Editor's Note: Low in volume? Was that a pun considering it's music downloads that put users at risk?)

Continue Reading at CBR

Trojan, Video ActiveX, Zero-Day Attack, hacker, music download

Indian E-Commerce Changes Card Verification Norms

Indian E-Commerce Braces For Changes In Credit Card Verification Norms | MediaNama

Indian E-Commerce Braces For Changes In Credit Card Verification Norms
By Nikhil Pahwa ⋅ July 6, 2009 Post a Comment ⋅ Email This Post Email This Post ⋅ Print This Post Print This Post ⋅

The e-commerce industry in India needs to brace for the coming of a lull in transactions, which owes its origin to a notification from the Reserve Bank of India.

According to the notification, it order to enhance the security of online card transactions, it will become mandatory from August 1st 2009 onwards, to provide:

1. A system of providing for additional authentication/validation based on information not visible on the cards for all on-line card not present transactions except IVR transactions. (Editor's Note: How about making the "card present" by swiping the magnetic stripe and encrypting it through Zones 1-4?, then entering the PIN and encrypting it through Zones 1-5?

2. A system of “Online Alerts” to the cardholder for all “card not present” transactions of the value of Rs. 5,000/ and above.

Implications

Travel Portal Cleartrip recently set up a page to help its users register at various bank sites for Verified by Visa and Mastercard Secure verification norms which banks in India are adopting in order to comply with point 1 mentioned above.

Hrush Bhatt, co-founder, Cleartrip, told MediaNama that for completing transactions, merchants will have to re-direct consumers to bank sites, which will require the additional password for verification of payment. For methods that involve redirection, payment failures are around 10 times more.

Bhatt said that though the RBI circular is correct in spirit, but the manner in which this is being implemented, is going to cause disruption for customers and merchants. Cleartrip is gearing up for at least a 2-3 week disruption, “when people won’t know what this stuff is. Hopefully, after that people will enroll.” ICICI Bank is planning to mandate usage of these additional passwords on July 20th, while the rest are expected to switch between July 20th and August 1st, except American Express. “AmEx already has billing address verification in their API,” he said.

Bhatt added that this also puts Indian online companies at a disadvantage to international ones, because “International companies do not have this extra hoop to jump through. Any (Indian) company that wants to serve an international audience is also at a disadvantage.” This is because international customers will not be able to use sites from Indian merchants unless they have the additional password.

Alternatives & Why Banks Went For Additional Passwords

“Last date we heard, less than 8% of the world is enrolled in any of these programs,” Bhatt said, referring to Verified by Visa and Mastercard Secure. “In the US, merchants are provided with a variety of fraud control measures like billing address verification, date of birth verification; obviously, the banks have this information.” Bhatt said that the biggest processors of transactions online - Amazon and iTunes - do not support the additional password.

“There could be other ways, but the banks have chosen to go with the method that involved the least amount of work for them.

The existing gateways and the APIs don’t process these fields right now, so they will have to reverse integrate with wherever that information sits in their system to ensure that that an additional field is provided to the gateways.”

Editor's Note: Why mess with all that when it doesn't solve the problem anyway? Additional passwords are not needed. Encrypted True 2FA is needed. If anyone can tell me a better way to authenticate the user than swiping their own card in the safety of their own home, followed by entering their PIN, (besides using EMV and entering PIN) and transmitting the encrypted data safely with a derived unique key per transaction (DUKPT) I'd love to hear about it. In my opinion, redirecting will only create another link in the chain and another way for fraudsters to find the Gap in that system.

Impact On WAP?

Bhatt wonders how this will work on WAP, because with this additional layer of security involves a redirection to the bank sites: Do mobile browsers support those redirects?

Continue Reading

DUKPT, online banking

Chip and PIN for ATM's

Fraud, like water finds the path of least resistance. As more and more countries migrate to Chip and PIN, more and more criminals migrate to the web, where security is somewhere between lax and non-existant. This article talks about the fact that countries that have initiated Chip and PIN must do so across the board...including ATM's. For the record, HomeATM's PCI 2.0 Certified PIN Entry Device is EMV (Chip and PIN) ready...

Chip and PIN cards wasted by Australian banks

Bank delays exposing Aussies to credit card fraud
Marissa Calligeros
July 7, 2009 - 2:05PM

New security-enhanced credit cards fitted with anti-skimming microchips are useless in the fight against credit card fraud because Australia's banks have been too slow to introduce ATMs and EFTPOS machines capable of reading them, experts say.

Former cybercrime consultant to Britain's MI5 security intelligence service Fraser Smith said banks were lulling consumers into a false sense of security with the introduction of chip and PIN enabled credit cards because the technology to make them fully effective - while available - had not been fully rolled out.

Chip and PIN cards are designed to reduce the risk of card skimming and require a "PIN pad" terminal, or a modified swipe-card reader, which accesses the security chip on the card. While several thousand of the new machines are believed to be in circulation already, the Australian Banking Association says it could be up to two years before the majority of ATMs and EFTPOS machines in Australia are upgraded to include the chip readers.

Queensland fraud investigators fear the lag is exposing already vulnerable bank customers even further. "It is a mistake," Mr Smith said of the delay, at a meeting of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering in Brisbane today. "If you're going to go (with chip and PIN) go the whole way."

Chip and PIN technology was introduced across-the-board in the UK in 2006, but Australia, like Canada and the United States, still relies on magnetic strip technology, whereby credit cards are swiped through ATM and EFTPOS machines.

Queensland Detective Superintendent Brian Hay of the Fraud and Corporate Crime Group said Australians were becoming increasingly vulnerable to international banking scams as a result.

"Whilst we still rely upon magnetic strip data and the rest of the world migrates to chip and PIN, it's going to become a bigger problem here," he said.

"It's like fish in a pond... as that pond dries up those fish are going to become more concentrated. "In Australia we are going to have a higher concentration of cyber-based criminals around the world migrating to Australia to exploit our vulnerabilities. "We will not be fully secure until all our point of sale terminals are chip compliant."

Continue Reading at the Brisbane Times

Chip and PIN, magnetic strip, ATMs, EFTPOS, MI5, SAFETPIN

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Discover Financial Services Announces Pricing of Public Offering of Common Stock

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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

From Finextra:PayPal woos third party developers with Adaptive Payments

Disqus for ePayment News

From Finextra:

PayPal woos third party developers with Adaptive Payments