Visa’s Payments Volume in Latin America and the Caribbean Grew 23.2%1 in 2010 to US$270 billion

March 14, 2011 01:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time 

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced its Latin America and Caribbean performance results for the year ended December 31, 2010. Regional payments volume growth reached 23.2 percent in 2010, with Brazil recording 24.6 percent, Mexico 16.8 percent, and the rest of Latin America and Caribbean as a group reporting a 22.8 percent yearly growth. Strong performance was fueled by continued growth in payments volume and processed transactions regionally – Visa’s core business.

“The Visa network is the foundation for the payment services and solutions that differentiate our brand. It allows Visa to provide clients, consumers, businesses and governments with fast, trustworthy and secure transaction processing while, at the same time, fueling the Latin American and Caribbean economy.”

“This performance is the outcome of a sound global strategy: to migrate cash transactions to our global processing network,” stated Eduardo Eraña, President of Visa, Latin America and the Caribbean Region. “The Visa network is the foundation for the payment services and solutions that differentiate our brand. It allows Visa to provide clients, consumers, businesses and governments with fast, trustworthy and secure transaction processing while, at the same time, fueling the Latin American and Caribbean economy.”

For the quarter ending on December 31, 2010, the busiest season of the year, Visa’s payments volume for Latin America and the Caribbean grew by 26.7 percent to US$82 billion. The number of transactions processed by the Visa network in Latin America and the Caribbean reached 916 million during the same quarter, which represents 226 million more transactions than the same period in 2009.

In 2010, Visa core debit and credit products saw considerable growth. The high level of efficiency and transparency offered by Visa debit products paved the way for the introduction of financial services in developing markets, incorporating previously unbanked consumers into the financial system. Payments volume for Visa debit products in 2010 reached a 28.2 percent growth in Brazil, 19.1 percent in Mexico and 29.0 percent in the rest of Latin American and Caribbean countries as a group.

Likewise, increased access to credit in emerging economies boosted Visa’s credit payments volume for a yearly growth of 22.6 percent in Brazil, 14.8 percent in Mexico and 20.4 percent in all other Latin American and Caribbean countries. In 2010 Visa aggressively promoted Visa Gold, Visa Signature, Visa Platinum, and Visa Infinite cards, its credit products for affluent consumers, which were the main drivers of growth for the credit segment.

Key alliances such as the recently announced partnership with money transfer services company MoneyGram, have allowed Visa to penetrate new market segments by offering greater speed, security, trustworthiness, and cost-effective payment tools to more consumers in more places. By easing the flow of remittances, Visa opens the spectrum of options available to consumers in sending money to others who now have convenient access to funds through Visa’s global network, via millions of businesses.

The company’s regional financial results also confirm a focus on expanding emerging channels such as e-commerce and mobile payments, which represent the biggest opportunities in the regional payments industry.

About Visa

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, visitwww.corporate.visa.com.

¹ All growth data quoted in this release is in Constant US$ terms.

Contacts

Visa Inc.
Camilo Pino, + 1-305-328-1493
Latin America and Caribbean Region
cpino@visa.com
or
Burson–Marsteller
Valerie Jaimes, + 1-305-347-4359
valerie.jaimes@bm.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110314006566/en/Visa%E2%80%99s-Payments-Volume-Latin-America-Caribbean-Grew

Visa Inc. to Present at the Barclays Capital Emerging Payments Forum

SAN FRANCISCO, March 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) announced today that Michael Walsh, President and Chief Executive Officer at CyberSource Corporation, will present at the Barclays Capital Emerging Payments Forum in New York onTuesday, March 29, 2011. The presentation will begin at 9:20 a.m. Eastern Time and last for approximately 40 minutes.

A listen-only audio webcast and replay will be accessible for 30 days on the Investor Relations web site at http://investor.visa.com.

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, visitwww.corporate.visa.com.

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• Visa Responds to Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (prnewswire.com)

Small Business Owners, Rep. Welch Brave Storms to Protect Swipe Fee Reform!

Reforms passed by Congress last year must be properly implemented in light of Wall Street push to weaken reform

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 100 small business owners from across the country descended upon Washington, D.C. today where they braved severe weather conditions to participate in a rally outside the U.S. Capitol to urge Congress and the Federal Reserve to protect commonsense swipe fee reform – then marched to Capitol Hill to conduct face-to-face meetings. Last year, Congress passed and the president signed into law important bipartisan reforms to rein in excessive swipe fees. Now, as the Federal Reserve (the Fed) works to establish rules guiding implementation, the big banks and credit card companies are lobbying to weaken reform in a last ditch effort to retain their perks and profits – but Main Street continues to fight the good fight.

"Last year Congress passed common sense legislation to protect small businesses and consumers from the fees charged by big banks and credit card companies on debit card purchases," Senator Durbin (D-IL) said. "I'll continue to stand with small business owners as we fight Wall Street's desperate attempts to block reforms from going into effect."

"After the epic overreach by the big banks and credit card companies, Congress enacted legislation that put a cop on the beat," Congressman Welch said. "We made sure that no longer would big banks be able to charge the highest fees in the world and rack up billions of dollars in profits on the backs of small businesses and consumers. I am confident that the same movement that brought reform will beat back the efforts of big banks and credit card companies to hold on to their profits and weaken the law."

For small business owners across the country, properly implementing these reforms means an opportunity to grow their businesses, offer better pay to employees, and pass savings on to their customers. As the Fed works to establish rules to determine how the reforms will be implemented, these small business owners hope the original intent of the law prevails. For big banks and credit card companies, however, implementing these reasonable reforms as passed by Congress means no longer enjoying the sky-high profits and sensational perks that they have enjoyed throughout years of out of control fees.

"The rain isn't stopping today, and either are we... we've come too far in this fight to let a little rain stop us," said National spokesman for Reform Swipe Fees NOW! and 7-Eleven franchise owner, Dennis Lane. Year after year I have seen these fees continue to rise and prevent guys like me from lowering prices, expanding business or strengthening a local economy. Well enough is enough! We have got to protect the reforms that Congress passed."

"The original intent of the reforms as passed was to enable a system in which debit swipe fees are reasonable and proportional to the processing costs incurred," said NACS president and CEO Hank Armour. "We cannot allow Visa, MasterCard and the world's biggest banks to spend millions of lobbying dollars to weaken reform and protect their multi-billion-dollar cash cow that delivers no commensurate benefits to retailers or consumers.

Today's rally came just a week after lobbyists with the Credit Union National Association traveled to D.C. to urge the Fed to weaken reform and a week before the American Bankers Association is scheduled to deploy their high-paid lobbyists to encourage the same.

About Reform Swipe Fees NOW!: Reform Swipe Fees NOW! is a project by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA). The project unites U.S. business owners, small and large, in a campaign for fair debit and credit card swipe fees.

SOURCE Reform Swipe Fees NOW!

Leading Bank and Credit Union Trade Associations File Amicus Brief in Interchange Suit

Support TCF National Bank's Request for Preliminary Injunction

NEW YORK, March 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- An unprecedented, unified coalition of every major nationwide bank and credit union trade association joined together today to file a friend-of-the-court brief in strong support of TCF National Bank's legal challenge to confiscatory, below-cost caps on debit card interchange fees.

The associations' brief submits that the Federal Reserve Board's proposed rule erroneously interprets the debit card interchange fee provisions of the Durbin Amendment.  The statute requires the Board to establish standards for determining whether an interchange fee is "reasonable and proportional" to a debit card issuer's costs.  But the Board acted contrary to that directive, instead proposing a harsh, one-size-fits-all price cap of 12 cents per transaction—an amount the Board itself acknowledges is far below debit card issuers' actual costs and does not allow for any return on the issuers' substantial investments in their debit card businesses.

The associations' brief explains that the consequences of this below-cost price cap would be severe for banks, credit unions and consumers.  Even the Acting Comptroller of the Currency—who is a defendant in TCF's case—has told the Board that its rule has long-term consequences for the safety and soundness of banks and credit unions of all sizes. Moreover, the Department of Justice has acknowledged, in this very case, that the Board's approach is not required by the statute.

If the Board's rule were to take effect, it would reduce interchange fee revenues by as much as 80 percent, cutting the revenues of banks and credit unions by approximately $12 billion per year.  It would also result in increased banking fees and costs for consumers; deprive significant numbers of Americans (particularly low-income Americans) of access to the reliable, convenient, secure, and efficient debit card method of payment; and have a detrimental effect on the electronic payments system for transactions that amount to literally trillions of dollars of economic activity every year.  

The associations joining the brief are The Clearing House Association, American Bankers Association, Consumer Bankers Association, Credit Union National Association, Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America, The Financial Services Roundtable, Independent Community Bankers of America and National Association of Federal Credit Unions.

TCF's lawsuit is currently pending in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota.  

A copy of the associations' brief is available here:

• TCF National Bank v. Bernanke
  No. 4:10-cv-04149(LLP)(DSD filed March 11, 2011)
  3/11/11  http://www.theclearinghouse.org/reference/amicus_curiae/index.php

Contact:
Steve Frankel / James Golden
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
(212) 355-4449

SOURCE The Clearing House Association

www.ePINDebit.com www.e-PINDebit.com www.iPINDebit.com www.PINDebit.mobi

Discover Financial Services Announces First Quarter 2011 Earnings Release and Conference Call

March 08, 2011 04:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time 

RIVERWOODS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) plans to report its first quarter 2011 results after the market closes on Tuesday, March 22, 2011. The earnings release will be available on Discover's corporate website at www.investorrelations.discoverfinancial.com.

A conference call to discuss the firm's results, outlook and related matters will be held at 5 p.m. Eastern time. The general public is invited to listen to the call by dialing 800-446-2782 (U.S. domestic) or 847-413-3235 (international), passcode 29259887, or via a live audio webcast through the Investor Relations section of the website. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available on our website or by dialing 888-843-7419 (U.S. domestic) or 630-652-3042 (international), passcode 29259887#, beginning approximately two hours after the event. The replay of the conference call will be available through April 23, 2011.

About Discover

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company operates the Discover card, America's cash rewards pioneer, and offers personal and student loans, online savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts through its Discover Bank subsidiary. Its payment businesses consist of Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in more than 185 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.discoverfinancial.com.

Contacts

Discover Financial Services
Investor Contact:
Craig Streem
Investor Relations
224-405-3575
craigstreem@discover.com
or
Media Contact:
Jon Drummond
Public Relations
224-405-1888
jondrummond@discover.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110308006991/en/Discover-Financial-Services-Announces-Quarter-2011-Earnings

DRF Survey Reveals Merchant Concerns Regarding Durbin Effects

BROOKFIELD, Wis., March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Q1 survey by the Direct Response Forum revealed that leading CNP merchants share a variety of concerns regarding how the Durbin interchange law could affect their operations.  A full 47% expressed concern with the need to update recurring payment processes due to the expected decrease in debit card approvals and an increased use of pre-paid cards.

With corporate IT funding scarce, it is difficult to say if merchants can implement system changes to keep pace with the anticipated changes in bank strategies if the Durbin law is implemented as drafted. Only 8% indicate that fees saved from debit card interchange would be diverted to pay for the needed payment systems development.  An additional 11% said they will not accept pre-paid cards for recurring/installment programs which will force them to find another solution for these payments.

The survey also reported that 58% of the respondents currently do not accept mobile payments and have no plans for mobile payments in 2011.

"While mobile payments continue to garner a lot of press only 30% of the merchants we surveyed indicated they would be implementing a mobile strategy in 2011.  This compares to over 60% that have a social networking strategy that will impact payments," says Chantal Gaspie, DRF Executive Chair.

Every year the Direct Response Forum attracts the top card not present payment professionals from around the world to the annual DRF.  The merchant members of the DRF represent billions of dollars of credit and debit transactions every year. This Q1 survey garnered 98 responses.  For more information on the survey results sign up for the DRF Quarterly at www.directresponseforum.orgor contact us at information@directresponseforum.org.

About Direct Response Forum, Inc.

The Direct Response Forum (www.directresponseforum.org) brings together leading direct merchants, acquirers, card companies and service providers for two days of interactive panels, breakout sessions, and roundtable discussions focused on key topics affecting the customer/card not present (CNP) merchant community.  The Direct Response Forum is a not-for-profit educational organization that is managed by a Board of Directors that are executives at leading companies including  Affinion Group, Ancestry.com, Digital River Inc., Expedia Inc., L.L. Bean Inc., ShopNBC, Transamerica Life and Protection, and Western Union.

SOURCE Direct Response Forum, Inc.

First Data Releases February 2011 SpendTrend™

March 09, 2011 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

Despite Increasing Gas Prices, Card Spending Growth Up in February

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today released its First Data SpendTrend™ analysis for the full month of February 2011 compared to February 2010. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

“February was another good month for overall card spending, despite significant increases in gas prices”

Overall dollar volume growth increased 8.5% in February, up from January’s 7.4% growth, as many retailers reported sales that beat expectations. Consumers demonstrated a renewed faith in the economic recovery and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.9% in February.

Average ticket growth increased 0.1% in February, the second year-over-year increase in the past nine months. This increase, however, is exclusively due to rising gasoline prices, which were up 28% from last year. Excluding gasoline stations, average ticket values declined -0.2%.

In the travel industry, dollar volume growth was up 13.6% in February, the highest since May 2010. Average tickets spiked 6.3% compared to a modest 1.9% in January. The increased growth in both dollar volume and average ticket growth is due in part to rising fuel costs. Transaction growth at travel merchants was 6.9%, only a slight increase over January.

For the first time in over two years, credit dollar volume growth was higher than signature or PIN debit. Credit dollar volume growth was 9.9% in February and credit transaction growth was 6.7%, both 24-month highs.

“February was another good month for overall card spending, despite significant increases in gas prices,” said Silvio Tavares, senior vice president and division manager of First Data Information and Analytics Solutions. “Credit card sales grew substantially as consumers increasingly used their credit cards to pay instead of debit cards and checks.”

Feb. Transaction Growth

CHANGE

Feb. Dollar Volume Growth

CHANGE

Credit

+6.7%

Credit

+9.9%

Signature Debit

+10.4%

Signature Debit

+8.7%

PIN Debit

+6.7%

PIN Debit

+6.1%

Check

-14.9%

Check

-10.9%

Note: All transactions are same-store growth.

For more information on First Data SpendTrend, visit www.firstdata.com/infoanalytics or call SpendTrend Customer Care at 800-430-0169. A supplementary podcast including further analysis of the SpendTrend February 2011 report is at http://www.firstdata.com/demos/spendtrend/SpendTrend_Feb2011.wmv.

To participate in the SpendTrend conversation, please follow First Data at http://twitter.com/FirstData and join us at http://www.facebook.com/FirstData.

Around the world, every second of every day, First Data makes payment transactions secure, fast and easy for merchants, financial institutions and their customers. First Data leverages its vast product portfolio and expertise to drive customer revenue and profitability. Whether the choice of payment is by debit or credit card, gift card, check or mobile phone, online or at the checkout counter, First Data takes every opportunity to go beyond the transaction.

First Data SpendTrend, a macro-economic indicator, is based on aggregate same-store sales activity in the First Data Point of Sale Network. First Data SpendTrend does not represent First Data’s financial performance.

Contacts

First Data Corporation
Elizabeth Grice, 303-967-8526
elizabeth.grice@firstdata.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110309005421/en/Data-Releases-February-2011-SpendTrend%E2%84%A2

MasterCard Worldwide Provides Advanced Global Fraud Prediction for Account Data Compromise Fraud

Image via Wikipedia

March 08, 2011 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

MasterCard Helps Issuing Banks Neutralize Fraud Risk and Reduce Re-Issuance Expense on Accounts Exposed to Account Data Compromise Events

PURCHASE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MasterCard Worldwide is introducing the Expert Monitoring Compromised Account Service to issuing banks in every market throughout the world. This service represents the latest addition to MasterCard’s suite of Expert Monitoring Solutions which provide turnkey, next-generation fraud detection and prevention capabilities that help issuers reduce their fraud-related costs.

“We believe the Compromised Account Service represents the next generation in precise fraud prediction for issuing banks”

Account Data Compromise (ADC) events threaten issuing banks with potentially sizable fraud losses, substantial re-issuance expense and cardholder attrition. MasterCard research shows that accounts exposed to an Account Data Compromise event are nearly three times more prone to fraud than non-exposed accounts. According to a 2010 Javelin Strategy and Research study, cardholders who receive a new card account as a result of an Account Data Compromise event often abandon the card or use it much less frequently. As a result, accounts exposed to Account Data Compromise events represent a significant yet unpredictable source of loss for issuing banks.

MasterCard developed the Expert Monitoring Compromised Account Service to provide issuing banks with a comprehensive, real-time view of Account Data Compromise fraud risk during authorization with an ADC Threat Score that predicts the likelihood that fraud will occur on accounts exposed to Account Data Compromise events. Using state-of-the-art data modeling techniques and leading-edge computing technology, the ADC Threat Score is calculated by evaluating the:

• transaction information for the exposed accounts,
• merchants at which the cards transacted,
• confirmed fraud on exposed accounts, and
• behavior of similar accounts with common Account Data Compromise exposures.

Using this information, the ADC Threat Score predicts the probability of fraud over the coming 7 to 14 days—helping issuers to determine when, or if, to close the exposed account and re-issue a new account number to the cardholder.

“We believe the Compromised Account Service represents the next generation in precise fraud prediction for issuing banks,” said Wendy Murdock, Chief Payment System Integrity Officer, MasterCard Worldwide. “This is the first and only solution that provides a past, present and future view of Account Data Compromise fraud—leveraging intelligence from past Account Data Compromise events to prevent fraud on exposed accounts in the present during authorization and deliver a highly predictive future indication of fraud as a result of ADC exposure.”

The Compromised Account Service helps issuers more effectively assess the threat of fraud on accounts exposed to Account Data Compromise events to reduce their fraud losses, lower their re-issuance costs and minimize cardholder dissatisfaction. MasterCard analyzed a major U.S. issuing bank’s exposure to prior Account Data Compromise events as well as its transaction and fraud activity from April to September 2010. MasterCard identified significant fraud losses and re-issuance costs the bank would have avoided using the Compromised Account Service. The analysis revealed that by taking action on accounts with the highest ADC Threat Scores, the issuer would have prevented over 25 percent of the compromised account fraud by closing just 5 percent of the exposed accounts.

About MasterCard Expert Monitoring Solutions

With MasterCard’s full suite of fraud prevention and detection products and services, issuing banks benefit from:

• A global and comprehensive view of fraud patterns and transaction trends
• Precise network fraud models, as well as custom models based on the unique characteristics of specific portfolios, that deliver superior fraud transaction detection rates
• Highly predictive fraud scores delivered in real-time on every transaction authorization request that traverses the MasterCard network
• Scalability to score larger volumes of transactions in a highly targeted manner based on multiple account attributes
• Low rate of fraud transaction false positives which helps issuers ensure cardholder satisfaction
• Timely, predictive compromised account management with an aggregated threat score across multiple compromise events for each account
• A hosted solution that complements issuer fraud detection systems to reduce the total cost of ownership for predictive fraud modeling capabilities

For more information on MasterCard’s Expert Monitoring Solutions, please visit www.mastercardworldwide.com.

About MasterCard Worldwide

As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2010, $2.7 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network – the fastest payment processing network in the world – MasterCard processes over 23 billion transactions each year and has the capacity to handle 140 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 140 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl™. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.

Contacts

MasterCard Worldwide
Erica Harvill, 914-249-6848
Erica_harvill@mastercard.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110308005470/en/MasterCard-Worldwide-Advanced-Global-Fraud-Prediction-Account

CARTES Trade Show for Smart Cards Going to the U.S.A. in March 2012

March 08, 2011 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

CARTES in Asia 2011

CARTES & IDentification 2011

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The team of CARTES & IDentification and CARTES in ASIA is delighted to announce the launch of a new event: CARTES in North America, which will take place from March 5 to 7, 2012, in Las Vegas. Based on the international success and development of the existing CARTES events, CARTES in North America has been designed to aid companies and organizations in the smart card, digital security and smart technologies sector develop their business in the large and dynamic North American market.

The U.S. market is the largest market worldwide for payment cards: 576 million credit cards were in circulation in 2009 and 507 million debit cards (representing 37.9 billion transactions). The average consumer has 2.7 cards each (cardholders and non-cardholders combined), and the average number of credit cards per cardholder is 3.5, which is one of the highest in the world. However the annual card fraud loss is rising and represents 8.6 billion USD (0.8% of annual card volume). The U.S. payment industry is considering EMV¹ implementation and deployment to improve payment security and offer services to cardholders. In December 2010, Travelex launched a reloadable prepaid EMV debit card for Americans traveling in Europe.

Contactless payment cards are increasingly popular in retail, campus and transportation (contactless smart card-based fare collection systems are either operational or currently being delivered in many cities transit systems). About 21% of consumers currently have a contactless debit card, while 26% have a contactless credit card.

The arrival of NFC² phones should accelerate the mobile payment development in 2011. While mobile phones are an integral part of American daily life, their use is still primarily for person-to-person communication.

E-government and security applications are also booming, with the usage of the Federal PIV³ card for logical and physical security or the electronic health record (EHR) exchange.

(Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Smart Card Alliance, Card World US Report 2010)

International companies in the payment, mobility and digital security industries are invited to participate in CARTES in North America to discover new market opportunities. An extended conferences program, elaborated by an international experts committee, will provide high-level content on Mobile Financial Services, Cards and Security and Smart ID, and other innovative sessions.

CARTES in North America is an event encompassing a professional trade show and conferences at the forefront of digital security and smart technologies for the North American market. For its first edition in March 2012, CARTES in North America will bring together international exhibitors to present innovative technologies in card manufacturing, payment solutions, identification and authentication solutions, mobility and digital security.

Highly qualified decision makers from bank and payment, telecoms, retail, government and transport sectors are expected over the three days of the exhibition, mostly from the United States and Canada. A three-day conferences program featuring international experts will provide a worldwide state of the art in the smart technologies.

(1) EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and VISA, a global standard for credit and debit payment cards based on chip card technology.

(2) NFC: Near Field Communication

(3) PIV: Personal Identity Verification

25 years of experience in effective and international card business events

The CARTES team organizes the sector’s leading international event CARTES & IDentification in Paris, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010 with 432 exhibitors and 18,768 international visitors. CARTES has promoted smart technologies and presented the main market trends and innovations through the most appropriate forms including conferences program, SESAMES Awards, activity areas, specific exhibition and demonstration areas. CARTES events are organized by COMEXPOSIUM, the leading French professional trade show organizer, offering a high-level of services and premium quality standards for exhibitors and visitors.

About CARTES in North America

Date:		5 - 7 March 2012
Opening times:		Conferences
		5 & 6 March – 9am to 5pm (opening conference 9am to 10:30am)
		7 March – 9:30am to 12:30pm
		Exhibition
		5 & 6 March – 10:30am to 5pm
		7 March – 9:30am to 2pm
Place:		Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, USA
Organizer:		Comexposium
Website:		www.cartes-northamerica.com
		For trade visitors only

Contacts

Bérengère Bonnet
Marketing & Communications Director
E-mail: berengere.bonnet@comexposium.com
or
Julie Cochet
Communications Manager
E-mail: julie.cochet@comexposium.com
Web: www.cartes-northamerica.com

Permalink: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110308006133/en/CARTES-Trade-Show-Smart-Cards-U.S.A.-March

Low Cost Payment Alternative to NFC Phones

NFC Data offers bridge solution with contactless key fob

From NFC News:  Chicago-based start-up NFC Data Inc. has developed a new contactless key fob as a low-cost payment alternative to NFC phones, according to American Banker. Designed to be toted around on a key chain, Sqwizz houses a mobile decoupled debit card that users can link to any checking account of their choosing to make contactless payments at the point of sale. The device can also perform other NFC functions, such as reading tags and smart posters, sharing data with other NFC phones, and storing loyalty points and coupons. The Sqwizz is set up kind of like an MP3 player, with a scrollable menu screen that lets users choose which function to perform. The back of the device contains a small PIN pad used to verify the holder’s identity before an action is performed. According to American Banker, NFC Data has already made an agreement with a Silicon Valley company to launch 100,000 Sqwizz devices in August. The company is currently looking for a bank to co-brand the device’s contactless payment function. NFC Data is also working on creating an app that would bring Sqwizz capabilities to NFC-enabled smart phones, says American Banker.Read more here.  

www.ePINDebit.com www.e-PINDebit.com www.iPINDebit.com www.PINDebit.mobi

Related articles

• McDonald's to start accepting contactless Visa payments in all UK restaurants by this summer (engadget.com)
• Worldwide deployment of contactless mobile payments set for 2012 (stiel.wordpress.com)
• NFC Is The New GPS, Was The New Camera. (rubbishcorp.com)

Start-Up Says Fob Is Key to Contactless Payments

American Banker  |  Wednesday, March 2, 2011

By Will Hernandez

NFC Data Inc. is reintroducing the key fob form to contactless payments with its Sqwizz mobile decoupled debit card.

Sqwizz looks similar to popular small MP3 music players. A contactless decoupled debit card would sit at the front of the device. Users would link the card to any checking account via the automated clearing house system.

Though many companies are working to build contactless into mobile phones, NFC Data argues that this development path for the technology does not eliminate the audience for other forms.

"There are a lot of compelling reasons why NFC [phones] can be complemented by a device that fits on your key chain and not cannibalized by the phone and vice versa," said Ken Mages, NFC Data's co-founder and co-chief executive.

NFC Data, of Chicago, has an agreement with a Silicon Valley-area company to distribute 100,000 Sqwizz devices in August, Mages said.

NFC Data is positioning Sqwizz as more than just a payment device. It also is intended to mimic functions an NFC-enabled smartphone might perform, but at a lower cost.

For example, Sqwizz can communicate with near-field communication tags in smart posters, exchange data with NFC-enabled smartphones, store multiple loyalty cards and redeem coupons.

The front of the device features a light-emitting diode screen and scroll buttons to navigate a menu. The back has a secure PIN pad consumers would use as a security measure to access and use the device's multiple functions.

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