Tuesday, February 28, 2012

NFC Breaking News

English: iPhone 4 with a pingping NFC sticker
Image via Wikipedia



By:Dan Balaban

BARCELONA – Isis, as expected, has named the first three banks planning to issue payment applications for its Isis Mobile Wallet, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard US.
Related stories, automatically selected:




Feb 27 2012 (All day)

By: Dan Balaban



BARCELONA – Yet another chip maker is planning to incorporate NFC into its portfolio, with an announcement today by U.S.-based Marvell Technology Group that it would combine NFC with super-fast Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies in...





Summaries of short news items relating to the mobile networks. Click here for more.







BARCELONA, Spain–Silicon vendor Intel said it inked a “multi-year mobile device collaboration across smartphones and tablets” with the world’s fifth largest handset maker, ZTE. The agreement represents another major step in Intel’s push into the mobile market.







BARCELONA, Spain–If you think your daily commute to work is already fraught with traffic, consider this: Today there are approximately 1 billion cars and 7 billion people in the world. By mid-century those numbers will grow to 9 billion people with 4 billion cars on the road–often at...





BARCELONA, Spain–Samsung expects to achieve the No. 3 LTE infrastructure vendor position by the end of 2012 and crack the top three infrastructure vendor rankings overall by the end of 2015 through organic growth, a senior executive said.
In a roundtable with reporters here at Mobile world...






Isis has announced that Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard have entered into agreements to enable their credit, debit and prepaid cards to be placed into the Isis Mobile Wallet.
“Today’s announcement is testament to the vision and commitment of Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard to make mobile...






Visa has made a series of announcement over the last several days at the Mobile World Congress 2012 to shore up its position in the ever changing mobile payments industry.






Voltage Security has announced Voltage Security Mobile Plus, a multi-faceted initiative to extend its existing security solutions into the world of mobile devices, applications and data.
“The Voltage Security Mobile Plus initiative builds on our leadership in delivering data-centric encryption to...






ROAM Data has announced that Ingenico has invested in the company to further fuel its growth and to jointly offer its mCommerce solutions to payment service providers worldwide.
“We are thrilled to have the trust and support of Ingenico’s team. Their recognized expertise in payments and global...






While vague on specifics, Visa has announced to investors that it is changing its acquiring side fee structure in April.
First, Visa will lower variable acquirer processing fees for all Visa-branded products and across all merchant segments, including small merchants. Second, we are expanding...






VeriFone has announced the PAYMEDIA Universal Acceptance Platform (UAP), a complete suite of services and software that enables Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to manage mobile wallet acceptance at merchant systems.
“The missing element in MNO’s mobile wallet plans has been the lack of focus on...






Intel, Visa Partner on NFC Payments
By Agam Shah, IDG News Feb 27, 2012 5:21 pm
Visa and Intel have announced a partnership that should make it easier for consumers to make mobile payments via phones and tablets powered by Intel chips.
Users will be able to wave an...





More than a third of mobile product owners are using their devices for mobile commerce, according to a new study from the CEA. The report study also found that, on average, each consumer plans to spend $575 on mobile purchases in the next 12 months. Click here for more.







China’s cellular connection revenue, which constitutes more than one-third of the Asia-Pacific’s (APAC) M2M market, is expected to grow from $642 million in 2011 to $2.76 billion in 2016. Click here for more.








On the web:

On the wires:





The US activist investor, Carl Icahn has sold US$1.2 billion worth of Motorola Solutions shares to the company itself. Click here for more.







Sprint Nextel is reported to have walked away from an US$8 billion takeover bid for rival US network, MetroPCS Communications. Click here for more.







The Italian mobile network operator is to work with French technology cluster Pole SCS on the development of a range of innovative NFC services which will be introduced first in the city of Milan from later this year.
Related...





Visa (NYSE:V) and Intel Corporation today announced a strategic agreement to develop mobile commerce solutions tailored to consumers in developed and …






International (NYSE:MGI), a leading global money transfer company, announced today the addition of Near East Bank to its network in North Cyprus.






FairPoint (Nasdaq: FRP) and rival Comcast’s (Nasdaq: CMCSA) dream of having a less restrictive regulatory structure in New Hampshire is nearing reality, as Senate Bill 48 (SB 48) passed the state Senate. However, it now has pass muster with the state’s House of Representatives.
If SB 48...





Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), according to an article in FierceCable, has filed a patent for a new fiber deployment method and device that would enable to it rapidly connect homes to its 1 Gbps Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) network in Kansas and Missouri without having to dig trenches in the yards of...





Panasonic has announced a second Eluga smartphone with support for NFC. The Eluga Power features a 5″ screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor and superfast charging, allowing the device to reach 50% charge capacity…





Paragon Application Systems, a leading global ePayment simulation, configuration and testing software provider, announces the appointment of Deborah …






The affirmation follows the agency considering the likely impact on the French market of the entry of a fourth mobile operator, Iliad. Click here for more.







Fueled by service providers’ ongoing migration to 40G and 100G transport, DWDM equipment market revenues rose 19 percent to $7.3 billion in 2011. And while the DWDM market saw growth within all of the world’s regions, Dell’Oro said in its Optical Transport report that North...





Visa Inc. announced a service that provides financial institutions and mobile network operators with a one-stop solution to securely download payment account information to smart phones enabled with Near Field Communication technology.
The new service was developed in collaboration with Oberthur...






By Bob Fontana, President and CTO, Codebench

Physical security professionals are hearing about public key infrastructure, or PKI, more frequently than ever before. This is because the federal government, through the National Institutes of Standards and Technology and the Interagency Advisory Board...





Nokia has announced the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone, a Symbian Belle device that features advanced imaging technology and support for secure NFC services as well as for pairing and tag reading applications. The handset includes Carl…





The announcement earlier today of a deal between Chase and carrier-led NFC joint venture Isis is just the start of the US banking giant’s NFC plans, the company has revealed. The bank has signed a…
Related news





Mobile network operator Orange has announced it will be the first operator in Europe to offer subscribers an Intel-powered smartphone. The new Android handset is based on Intel’s smartphone reference design and will be Orange…





Afghanistan based mobile network, Roshan says that it is to launch the Western Union Mobile Money Transfer service. Click here for more.







A team of researchers in Germany has created a new way to overcome many of the issues associated with bringing high-speed digital communications across challenging terrain and into remote areas, commonly referred to as the “last mile” problem. Click here for more.







Chase announced that it has selected Gemalto’s mobile payments platform to provide its Trusted Service Management solution for its enterprise-wide mobile payments platform.
Gemalto’s Trusted Service Management solution will provision and manage the credit and debit card data of Chase...





Isis announced that Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard have entered into agreements with Isis enabling their credit, debit and prepaid cards to be placed into the Isis Mobile Wallet.
Starting in mid-2012, consumers will be able to load their eligible Chase, Capital One and Barclaycard cards into...





Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced findings from the latest Fiserv Consumer …






Rule Financial, an independent provider of business consultancy, IT consultancy and IT services to the global investment banking community, today …






Chase (NYSE: JPM) announced today that it has selected Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), a leader in digital security, to provide its Trusted …






The latest releases of SunGard’s AvantGard Integrity and AvantGard Quantum treasury solutions provide enhanced usability and functionality to help …






Today at Mobile World Congress 2012, Orange announced that it is working with Facebook and others on initiatives to create new mobile web applications for customers. Click here for more.







Huawei has shown off the world’s first 10-inch quad-core tablet. The Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD includes a Huawei 1.5GHz quad-core processor, Google Android 4.0 operating system and a 10-inch IPS high definition display screen. Click here for more.







BARCELONA, Spain–Nokia here at the Mobile World Congress trade show launched a low-end Lumia phone, the 610, which will help the company expand its addressable market for Windows Phone gadgets. The 610 uses a new version of Windows Phone software, dubbed by blogs as “Tango,” which...






BARCELONA, Spain–Everyone knows that mobile broadband usage is expected to soar in the coming years, but will it grow 10 times today’s usage or 100 times today’s usage? That is a question nearly every company on the show floor at Mobile World Congress this week is trying to...





Gemalto launched the UpTeq NFC SIM vault to offer mobile operators higher security and bigger return on investment from NFC rollouts. The new SIM has attained security certifications from independent authorities to the highest levels. This enables mobile operators to install and manage new NFC...





Quick news from around the Web.
@FierceWireless: “@gigaom: Do we need another mobile OS? Mozilla thinks so. Article” | Follow@FierceWireless
> Motorola Solutions purchased $1.17 billion of its stock from Carl Icahn. Article
> HTC launched the One X for AT&T Mobility and the One S for...





Western Union (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment services, and Roshan, Afghanistan’s leading total communications provider, today announced that …






BARCELONA, Spain–Telefónica is the first operator to officially pledge support for open-source software initiative Mozilla’s fledgling Boot to Gecko open web mobile operating system, the two companies announced here at Mobile World Congress 2012.
Telefónica and Mozilla...





Orange, mobile network operator and internet service provider, is launching a UK mobile contactless retail reward scheme in partnership with the EAT café chain, according to Mobile Magazine.
Customers using supported, NFC-enabled handsets are able scan specially-designed posters that activates a...






BARCELONA, Spain–Everyone knows that mobile broadband usage is expected to soar in the coming years, but will it grow 10 times today’s usage or 100 times today’s usage? That is a question nearly every company on the show floor at Mobile World Congress this week is trying to...





Interactive Data Corporation, a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related solutions, today announced that it has significantly …






BARCELONA, Spain–Half of all U.S. consumers access the web at some point during the shopping experience, with mobile devices playing an increasingly significant role in how customers shop both online and off, said eBay president and CEO John Donahoe during his keynote speech here at Mobile...





A new version of Shazam, the media discovery app used by 180m people around the world, will allow Android phone users to share music, TV ads, tour dates, coupons and more via NFC.
Related news





TradeKing, a North Carolina- and Florida-based online broker dealer, has gone live with SunGard’s Protegent Social Media Surveillance for regulatory …






While awareness of machine-to-machine services is high, however, so too is concern over security, with 86% of respondents to a survey commissioned by AdaptiveMobile stating that they see risks associated with M2M technology. Click here for more.







Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) has made yet another move to bolster its optical capabilities by acquiring Lightwire, a provider of (CMOS) photonics technology vendor.

Cisco headquarters in San Jose, Calif.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will acquire the Allentown, Pa.-based vendor, which...





Telstra (ASX: TLS.AX) has ironed out a commercial agreement to sell services via the Australian government’s National Broadband Network (NBN).
The incumbent service provider is the last large service provider to establish a 12-month wholesale broadband agreement (WBA).
While a Telstra...





As Consolidated Communications (Nasdaq: CNSL) moves ahead with its acquisition of SureWest (Nasdaq: SURW), the two service providers have appointed their CFOs–Dan Bessey, SureWest’s chief financial officer, and Steve Childers, Consolidated’s CFO–to lead the transition...





BARCELONA, Spain–Calling the explosion in smartphone adoption “the most important technology trend since the advent of the Internet,” Facebook CTO Bret Taylor announced the social networking giant is partnering with mobile operators across the globe to introduce streamlined...





Ericsson has announced that it has won a contract to upgrade China Telecom’s packet data serving node (PDSN), expand its CDMA packet core network and provide related services for a period of two years. Click here for more.







The Angolan mobile network operator, Movicel has signed a contract with Huawei for the supply of a LTE network. Click here for more.







BARCELONA, Spain–Citing company research that predicts network traffic could increase 10 times by 2016–due to 5 times more smartphone users and 5 billion more mobile broadband users–Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) today said that it has a number of initiatives and products planned to help...





The new UpTeq NFC SIM meets a flight of top level security requirements and, says the digital security firm, can be used to generate legally binding digital signatures as well as deliver both e-health and e-government services.





BARCELONA, Spain–ZTE made no pretense in its ambitions to become one of the top smartphone makers in the world with a new high-end Android smartphone called the Era, a new phone running Android version 4.0, dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich. The company also announced a new Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)...





“Financial institutions, mobile network operators, and even transit operators now have a simple, secure process to activate payment applications at scale and make mobile payments part of everyday life for consumers around the world,” says Visa’s head of mobile products.
Read the rest of...





Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), a global security technology leader, has been selected by Intel to deliver lifecycle management of the embedded Secure …






Social mobile games developer Glu Mobile has released an NFC-enabled version of its popular Gun Bros game. Gun Bros Multiplayer includes support for Google’s Android Beam NFC peer-to-peer technology, enabling players to start a multiplayer game…
Read the rest of Glu adds Android Beam...





Easdaq N.V., owner of the pan European retail trading platform Equiduct, today announced the addition of four new members to its board.






Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, has launched a new market information and trading app. for iPhone® & Android.






Western Union (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, and WIND, one of the largest mobile operators in Italy and the EU, have joined forces …






Orange today unveiled ‘Quick Tap Treats’ – the UK’s first mobile contactless retail reward scheme, in partnership with the EAT. restaurant chain.






Visitors to the BlackBerry stand at this week’s Mobile World Congress can use their NFC phone, or an RFID card provided by RIM, to share information collected at ‘Like Stations’ on Twitter and Facebook. RIM…





Fidessa group plc (LSE: FDSA), provider of high-performance trading, investment management and information solutions for the world’s financial …






Chip maker NXP has announced a new secure element platform which is form factor agnostic and incorporates the company’s next-generation SmartMX2 technology. The new platform “brings passport level security, smart card performance and multi-applications capability to the…
Read...





Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, launches the new UpTeq NFC SIM vault to offer mobile operators higher …






Facing one of the most significant business challenges since the advent of the Internet, CIOs in emerging markets seeking to mobile-enable their enterprises are making mobility a higher priority and spending more money on achieving that goal than are their mature-market counterparts, Click here for...





Nokia Siemens Network says that earlier this month, it achieved world record data speeds exceeding 1.4 Gbps using an LTE-Advanced system on 100 MHz of aggregated spectrum. Click here for more.







Swedish start-up iZettle, which provides technology that turns mobile phones into card payment terminals, is preparing to move into the UK market, …






Qualcomm today announced that its next generation Gobi modem chipsets, the MDM8225, MDM9225 and MDM9625 chipsets, will begin sampling in Q4 2012 and will be the first to support both HSPA+ Release 10 and the next-generation of the LTE mobile broadband standard, LTE Advanced. Click here for more.





ZTE has announced a range of mid-range smartphones that company said will be aimed at users in the high volume/high value markets of Europe, Japan, the USA and China. Click here for more.







Philippines based Smart Communications has signed a marketing partnership with Vodafone. Click here for more.







The new PN547 offers twice the read/write range of its existing PN544 controller chip, is half the size, uses half the power and communicates at five times the speed.








Isis, the mobile commerce joint venture created by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, has snagged deals with Chase, Capital One and …






BARCELONA, Spain–Nokia (NYSE:NOK) took the next step to build momentum around its partnership with Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone operating system, announcing that it will sell the Lumia 900 in more markets as well as the new low-end Lumia 610.
At its first Mobile World...





According to new research published by Acision, SMS still dominates the mobile messaging market when compared to other messaging services such as ‘Over the Top’ (OTT) Instant Messaging (IM) services. Click here for more.







Controversial handset monitoring company, Carrier IQ is planning to make its service more appealing to customers, by letting them access the same reports that the mobile networks had been offered. Click here for more.







Bloomberg today takes the wraps off a two-year development effort designed to simplify its desktop data service and pile the pressure on dealing …






Mobile network operator Vodafone has formed a global partnership with Visa to bring contactless mobile payments to customers in more than 30 …






Qualcomm announced today that it will offer a Pro version of the Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor to enable even more capable mobile computing devices. Click here for more.







South Africa based MTN Group is to deploy an Ericsson supplied m-wallet service across its networks in Africa and the Middle East. Click here for more.







The telecoms giant, which has 400m customers in more than thirty countries, is working with Visa to introduce a global Vodafone Mobile Wallet. Subscribers in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and the UK will be the first to get the new service, beginning this financial year.
Read the rest of...





Apple’s purchase of Chomp, an application that helps users find relevant mobile apps based on their interests, is proof that as apps continue to be popular marketing components, developers need to think critically about ways to get them noticed.






TMX Atrium, provider of smarter infrastructure solutions for the financial community, today announced that it has added MJT Software Development, the …






KVH Co. Ltd., Asia’s leading information delivery platform, and Koscom, a leading financial IT solutions provider, announced today that they will …






Maple Group Acquisition Corporation (“Maple”), a corporation whose investors comprise 13 of Canada’s leading financial institutions and pension …






Indata, a leading industry provider of software and services for buy-side firms including trade order management (OMS), compliance, portfolio …






Tradition-Icap, the world’s leading voice broker and electronic platform for the trading of interdealer currency options, today announced the launch …






The three card issuers’ 100 million customers will be able to store a full range of credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as loyalty cards and special offer coupons, on their NFC mobile phones.





Register for this free, hour-long webinar March 29 discussing the five keys to building app loyalty and long-term usage from brands that know best. Panelists from Staples, JetBlue Airways, ESPN and sponsor Fiksu.



Monday, February 27, 2012

Visa and Intel Announce NFC Payment Partnership


Intel, Visa Partner on NFC Payments

Visa and Intel have announced a partnership that should make it easier for consumers to make mobile payments via phones and tablets powered by Intel chips.
Users will be able to wave an Intel-powered smartphone equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to make a payment quickly at retail points of sale, the companies said in a statement.
Visa has certified Intel's smartphone reference design to work with Visa's PayWave mobile payment application, and the mobile payment system will be extended to licensees building smartphones with Intel chips.
Intel-based smartphones aren't on the market yet but Lenovo, Motorola, Orange and Lava, an Indian-based smartphone vendor, are expected to release models in the future. Visa's payment system will be implemented initially in smartphone reference designs that use Intel's Atom Z2460 chip.
The multiyear agreement will extend to several different types of devices, the companies said. The Atom Z2460 is also headed for tablets from companies such as Vizio.

Monday, February 20, 2012

MasterCard Selects Dublin (not Durbin) as Base for Global Technology Office


MasterCard Selects Dublin, Ireland as Location for Global Technologies Office

As electronic payments continue to replace the use of cash, MasterCard’s Dublin office will develop innovative ways to drive this trend
DUBLIN--()--MasterCard Worldwide today announces a new global office for the company’s technology operations, to be headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The expansion, supported by IDA Ireland, will create an additional 130 highly skilled jobs during the next four years, bringing the total number of people employed in Ireland to approximately 200.
“We are pleased to make this investment in Ireland, which builds on our existing presence. The calibre of highly qualified, talented people and the Government’s commitment to science, technology and innovation, gave us confidence that this was the ideal setting for our new Global Technologies office.”
“At our core, MasterCard is a technology company that happens to be in the payments space,” saysRob Reeg, president, MasterCard Technologies. “Our focus as a company is on offering innovative, game-changing technologies that offer mass appeal for our global customers and cardholders. We’re confident that this larger office in Dublin, as well as the new technology team members that we plan to hire, will help further our technology agenda and innovation vision.”
MasterCard is currently recruiting for technology roles for the Dublin office via the company’s web site (www.mastercard.ie).
Having a presence in Ireland is not new for MasterCard – the company has had an office in the city since it acquired technology company Orbiscom in 2008. However, this expansion means an increase in both staff, as well as the areas of focus for Dublin technology team members, including:
  • MasterCard Labs - Dublin is already one of the four key locations for MasterCard Labs, the company’s research and development function tasked with fast-tracking innovative products and services to bring them to market quickly. MasterCard Labs is headed up globally by Garry Lyons, the former CEO of Orbiscom and MasterCard’s Chief Innovation Officer, who is based in the Dublin office.
  • Center of Excellence for Java Development. The Dublin office has been designated as MasterCard’s Center of Excellence for Java Development, one of the predominant programming languages for ecommerce, mobile and other emerging payment technologies.
  • inControl. MasterCard’s inControl platform team will be based in the Dublin office. MasterCard inControl is a key product that MasterCard offers to help customers and cardholders set custom controls on usage of their credit, debit and prepaid cards, offering improved insights on how and where their cards are used.
The Dublin team will work collaboratively with other MasterCard office locations, particularly the MasterCard Technologies headquarters office in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
“MasterCard chose Ireland as a place to expand our presence because, from our vantage point, we see consumers moving toward a world beyond cash, shopping and paying for the things that matter to them in ways that best fit their needs and lifestyles with a simple tap, click or touch in-store, online or on a mobile device,” says Reeg. “We are pleased to make this investment in Ireland, which builds on our existing presence. The calibre of highly qualified, talented people and the Government’s commitment to science, technology and innovation, gave us confidence that this was the ideal setting for our new Global Technologies office.”
Welcoming the announcement, Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland says, ‘’MasterCard’s decision to locate a global office in Dublin, with the creation of approximately 130 new jobs, is most welcome news. The global technologies office will meet the requirements of the rapidly growing area of payments. This announcement is in keeping with IDA’s focus on targeting technological investments in the financial services sector which is a key growth area. I wish MasterCard every success with their investment and offer the continued support of IDA Ireland into the future.’’
About MasterCard
MasterCard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @mastercardnews, join the conversation on The Heart of Commerce Blog and subscribe for the latest news.

Visa Introduces Suite of Mobile Services for U.S. Financial Institutions

English: Visa logo
Image via Wikipedia

Visa DPS, the largest issuer processor of Visa transactions in the U.S., and Monitise, a leading provider of mobile banking services, have launched a one-stop solution for mobile services

SAN FRANCISCO--()--Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced the launch of mobile services that allow financial institutions to offer their account holders the ability to monitor account history and balances, transfer funds between accounts, and receive near real time transaction alerts on their mobile devices.
“The services offered by Visa DPS are a one-stop solution for Visa clients who want to serve their customers through the mobile channel without making significant investments in hardware, software or mobile expertise”
Working in collaboration with Monitise (LSE: MONI), Visa made a significant enhancement to its issuer processing platform, Visa DPS, to offer mobile services that are fully managed by Visa and can be accessed with any mobile device, any mobile channel, and with any eligible debit, credit or prepaid account. Additional services are currently in development including mobile check deposit, mobile (NFC) payments, mobile offers, and support for V.me by Visa, Visa’s digital wallet service.
Enabling mobile services through the Visa DPS platform directly aligns with Visa’s global innovation strategy to accelerate the global shift to electronic payments, to make payments more secure, more convenient and to bring electronic payments to more consumers in more places.
“The services offered by Visa DPS are a one-stop solution for Visa clients who want to serve their customers through the mobile channel without making significant investments in hardware, software or mobile expertise,” said John Partridge, President, Visa Inc. “Through our ongoing investments in Visa DPS, our clients can not only take advantage of Visa’s scale and expertise in payments processing, but also have the opportunity to easily implement Visa’s extensive roadmap of mobile innovations – from mobile banking, to NFC payments, and to our digital wallet, V.me.”
In developed countries like the U.S., with an established electronic payments infrastructure, expansive Internet usage and broad mobile network penetration, Visa’s strategy is to enhance the consumer purchase experience by making mobile payments and services broadly available.
Lisa Stanton, General Manager for Monitise North America commented: “Mobile money innovation is transforming how consumers manage accounts, providing them with real-time account access and information on the go, while also enhancing the overall experience with their account. The launch of mobile services offered by Visa DPS is a great win for financial institutions in North America eager to utilize the mobile channel to serve their customers.”
About Visa Inc.
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world’s most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank, and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.
About Visa DPS
Offering Visa quality security, reliability, scale and interoperability, DPS is a large-scale, multi-product, multi-network issuer processor and payment solution provider that delivers a comprehensive and innovative set of capabilities including card, account, and transaction processing, settlement, mobile services, ATM driving, extensive fraud prevention and risk mitigation solutions, back-office tools and services, data analytics, and cardholder and program support services. DPS is the largest issuer processor of Visa transactions in the U.S.
About Monitise
Monitise plc (LSE: MONI.L) is a technology and services company delivering mobile banking, payments and commerce networks worldwide with the proven technology and expertise to enable financial institutions and other service providers to offer a wide range of services to their customers in developed and emerging markets. Monitise has a global alliance agreement with Visa Inc. and a strategic partnership with Visa Europe. With live services in the UK, the US, India and Africa, the company is working with international partners to extend trusted and secure mobile banking, payment and commerce services in territories worldwide, including Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.

AsiaPay Launches ePayAlert to Provide Advanced Online Fraud Detection


AsiaPay launches ePayAlert, a real-time comprehensive fraud monitoring and control management system that can help detect and prevent online fraud. The new solution and service enables banks, payment service providers, airlines, hotels, and merchants optimize their fraud management operations effectively and efficiently to help minimize financial losses. 

February 20, 2012, Hong Kong – AsiaPay today announced the launch of ePayAlert, a comprehensive online fraud prevention service and solution suite for protecting banks, payment service providers, airlines, hotels, and merchants from the risks associated with card-not-present transactions. This advanced, highly customizable solution and service fully processes and checks online payment transactions with extensive use of dynamic rules with real-time fraud reporting and alert support.

Fraudulent credit card transactions have become a significant source of income loss to online businesses and with online spending on the rise, fraudulent activity is likely to continue to increase. Fraud losses not only affect the bottom line but also affect the future revenue of online businesses. This threat puts added pressure on companies to leverage a fraud review process that is fast, precise and keeps operating expenses in check.

“In today’s online retail environment, it’s imperative that businesses put into place user-friendly tools to effectively identify and mitigate online fraud to help protect both consumers and the organization’s reputation, and such protection can also be extended to the mobile payment environment,” said Joseph Chan, CEO of AsiaPay. “To address this need, we’re introducing a comprehensive online fraud solution and service which provides risk managers and analysts the ability to customize their own risk parameters, extend risk alerts via email or SMS, and download detailed reports and statistics with additional in-depth analysis thereby, allowing them to focus their attention on fraudulent transactions while fast-tracking valid orders through fulfillment.”

ePayAlert is being offered either as an online service, white-labelled hosted service, or as a total solution license model. The key features are:

§   Data Format Checking – assesses customer information gathered against pre-determined rules
§   Blacklist Control – verifies payment information against a comprehensive blacklist database and maintains these blacklisted data items
§   Geographical Checking – cross-examines different geographical data identified in the transaction
§   Velocity Checking – cross-examines velocity of the related data item in the transaction
§   Transaction Limit Checking – validates limit control at bank/merchant level across different time periods
§   Historical Negative Record Checking – validates payment transaction against historical payment and negative records
§   Risk Scoring – applies real-time scoring of payment transaction with customizable rules and weights
§   Real-time Alert – prompts merchants on suspicious payment transactions
§   Real-time Reporting Console – enables merchants to access real-time fraud reports anytime
Moreover, it can be tailored to meet the specific fraud prevention needs of businesses of any size.

For more information on ePayAlert, visit www.epayalert.com.
About AsiaPay
Founded in 2000, AsiaPay, a premier electronic payment solution and technology vendor and payment service provider, strives to bring advanced, secured, integrated, and cost-effective electronic payment processing solutions and services to banks and e-businesses in the worldwide market, covering international credit card, debit card and other prepaid card payments. AsiaPay is an accredited payment processor and payment gateway solution vendor for banks, certified IPSP for merchants, certified international 3-D Secure vendor for Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and JCB. AsiaPay offers its variety of award-winning payment solutions that are multi-currency, multi-lingual, multi-card, and multi-channel together with its advanced fraud detection and management solutions. Headquartered in Hong Kong, AsiaPay offers its professional e-payment solution consultancy and quality local service support across its other 9 offices in Asia including: Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Mainland China (3), Vietnam, and India. For more information, please visit www.asiapay.com.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

MasterCard Establishes Relationship with Silver Tail Systems to Combat Online Fraud

Image representing Silver Tail Systems as depi...
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Alliance will enable online merchants to more effectively differentiate fraudsters from legitimate consumers
PURCHASE, N.Y.--()--MasterCard Worldwide and Silver Tail Systems, a leading provider of web session intelligence, announced today a new exclusive relationship that will focus on leveraging and creating innovative solutions to help combat online fraud.
“Web-based navigation-centric solutions view the HTTP stream of a website and analyze in real time the traffic and Web sessions by user and IP addresses”
The companies’ collective expertise will enable merchants to differentiate fraudsters from legitimate consumers in real-time during the online shopping experience.
With eCommerce transactions reaching record levels*, both merchants and consumers benefit from identifying the safest and smartest ways to conduct online transactions.
By combining Silver Tail Systems’ technology with MasterCard’s extensive payments experience and insights, merchants will be better equipped to spot malware or robotic (“bots”) activity originating from personal computers or smart phones attacking their online payments systems.
“Online fraud resulting from malware, viruses and criminal-controlled bots is a serious concern for both merchants and consumers,” says Johan Gerber, Group Head, Global Network Products for MasterCard Worldwide. “With the increased sophistication of these fraud attacks, merchants are finding it more difficult to distinguish between good customers and criminals. Our relationship with Silver Tail Systems allows us to extend beyond the traditional fraud detection methods and provide merchants with a strong defense against fraud, while improving the consumers’ online experience.”
"We are excited to join forces with MasterCard to help reduce fraud for online merchants," says Tim Eades, CEO of Silver Tail Systems. "eCommerce merchants have broadened their focus to embrace the notion of customer interactions, not simply customer transactions. Smart phones, social networks, and app stores represent new catalysts that are forcing merchants to rethink customer interaction with their web presence. Cybercriminals are also exploiting these trends and traditional security tools may not be capable of keeping pace. We provide that granular level of visibility and security throughout consumers' entire online shopping experience, without requiring modification to the end user's device or the back-end website infrastructure."
“Web-based navigation-centric solutions view the HTTP stream of a website and analyze in real time the traffic and Web sessions by user and IP addresses,” says Avivah Litan, Vice President and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner Research. “This method has been successfully used by Gartner clients to spot malware-based activity that shows up as abnormally quick navigation or navigation that doesn't follow normal human patterns and behavior. It has also been used successfully to identify fraud rings and to gain visibility into attacker patterns and behavior.”
Through the new alliance, which is exclusive within the payments industry, MasterCard and Silver Tail Systems will immediately work together to bring innovative fraud solutions to online merchants in the U.S., while exploring future opportunities to expand the scope and reach of the relationship.
* In 2011, U.S. retail e-commerce spending reached a record $161.5 billion, a 13-percent increase from 2010, according to comScore, which measures digital data.
About MasterCard
MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Learn more at http://www.mastercard.com/, follow us on Twitter @mastercardnews or join the conversation on The Heart of Commerce Blog.
About Silver Tail Systems
Silver Tail Systems is a leading provider of web session intelligence and protects the world’s leading websites against fraud and cyberattacks at the navigation layer. Silver Tail Systems' award-winning solutions are made possible by the unmatched expertise of its management and technology teams, who bring deep experience, know-how and personal commitment to protect their customers' businesses against online fraud. For more information, visit Silver Tail Systems at www.silvertailsystems.com.

Discover U.S. Spending MonitorSM Consumer Confidence Jumps in January


Consumers’ Views About the Economy and Their Finances Are Improving
RIVERWOODS, Ill.--()--Consumer confidence jumped in January, with more consumers saying the general economy and their personal finances are improving. The Discover U.S. Spending Monitor, a 4-year-old daily poll tracking economic confidence and spending intentions of nearly 8,200 consumers throughout the month, recorded a 5.5-point jump from the previous month to 90.5. This is the first time since May 2010 that the index has topped 90.
Nearly 30 percent of consumers felt the overall economy is getting better, a jump of more than 6 percentage points from December and the highest figure in the last year. At the same time, those who reported their personal finances were improving rose nearly 5 percentage points to 23 percent – also the highest figure since February 2011.
The percentage of people who rated the U.S. economy as poor also declined from the previous month, down 2 percentage points to 56 percent. At the same time, the percentage of people who rated the economy as good or excellent exceeded 11 percent, an increase of more than 2 percentage points from the month before and the highest percentage for the Monitor since September 2008.
Views of Personal Finances Improve; More Money Left Over
Consumer sentiment toward their personal finances showed a marked improvement, while more consumers also reported more money left over at the end of the month:
  • Consumers from households of all incomes reported a brightening attitude toward their personal finances, with those from households earning between $40,000 and $75,000 annually seeing the biggest jump in sentiment. Of that group, nearly 27 percent said their personal finances were improving, up more than 7 points from the month before. In comparison, of consumers from households with less than $40,000 in annual income, nearly 15 percent reported they feel more positive about their personal finances, up nearly 4 points from the month before.
  • 47 percent of consumers reported they had money in their pockets after paying bills last month, an increase of 2 points from the month before.
  • Of those who reported having money left over, more than 16 percent said that amount was greater than they had the previous month, a jump of nearly 6 points from December.
Spending Intentions Remain Steady
Consumers reported they spent markedly less in January compared to the previous month, which is typical spending behavior after the holidays. Despite the increase in the number of consumers having money left over after paying bills, consumers say they will hold the line on spending next month.
  • 54 percent said they would spend about the same next month, compared to just 43 percent who said that last month. In addition, the percentage of people who said they would spend more did not change.
  • The percentage of people who said they would spend less also declined: 21 percent reported they would spend less, a decrease of 10 percentage points from the month before.
Consumers Stay Conservative with Discretionary Spending Plans
Consistent with last month’s data, consumers reported this month that they intend to be conservative with their discretionary spending.
  • Just 7 percent said they would spend more next month on discretionary personal items like going out to dinner or the movies, which is the lowest percentage since January 2011. In addition, 49 percent said they would spend less next month on discretionary personal items, an increase of 1 percent, while 41 percent said they would spend about the same as the prior month, an increase of 3 points.
  • In addition, 45 percent reported they would spend less next month on major personal purchases like a vacation, which is down 2 percentage points from the month before, while 40 percent said they plan to spend the same, up 3 points from December.
  • Household expenditures are expected to remain largely the same in February: 37 percent planned on spending more in the next 30 days, the same as last month, while 9 percent said they would spend less, an increase of 1 percentage point from the month before. Fifty-two percent said they would spend the same amount as the month before, a decrease of 1 percentage point from the month before.
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, visithttp://www.discoverfinancial.com.

Virtual Piggy Announces New Mobile E-Commerce Application for Apple iOS Devices and NFC Plans

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Innovative Solution For Online Purchasing For Kids Now Available On iPhone and iPad
PHILADELPHIA--()--Virtual Piggy, Inc. (OTCBB: VPIG), the innovator in safe-online youth purchasing, today announced the release of its mobile iOS application, which allows parents and kids to manage their Virtual Piggy accounts on their Apple phones and tablets. Virtual Piggy offers a secure, COPPA compliant, e-commerce solution to enable kids under 18 to make online purchases.
“The Virtual Piggy app brings our secure online payment method to the platforms where kids spend the majority of their time.”
Kids between the ages of 8 and 18 have more than $50 billion in annual spending power and yet when it comes to online purchases they either have no ability to spend or they have their parent’s credit card. Virtual Piggy provides technology that gives kids the ability to shop online in a controlled environment that parents can feel comfortable about.
“Kids are very comfortable with e-commerce and over a third of kids 8-11 now have their own mobile device and that number is rising,” said Virtual Piggy Executive, Catherine Williams. “The Virtual Piggy app brings our secure online payment method to the platforms where kids spend the majority of their time.”
The introduction of the Virtual Piggy mobile application is an integral part of the company’s plans to bring their family approved e-commerce solution to the global U18 market, whether they are shopping online using mobile devices or PC’s, or in-store with the integration of NFC technology.
The application is available for download at VirtualPiggy.com and in the iTunes store for no charge.
About Virtual Piggy, Inc.
Virtual Piggy, Inc. delivers a technology platform designed for the management of the under 18 age group in the global online market. Virtual Piggy’s technology enables online businesses to function in a manner consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and similar international children’s privacy laws. Virtual Piggy’s technology enables the under 18 audience to play, transact and socialize in a secure online environment guided by parental permission, oversight and control. For more information about Virtual Piggy, please visit the Company’s website at: www.virtualpiggy.com

Cashplus: New Cheaper and Easier Alternative to 'Free' Banking


Cashplus’ new Direct Debit service has a number of unique benefits, including:
  • Low balance alerts – If it looks like a Direct Debit is going to bounce, Cashplus® will alert you by SMS and email before the payment is due
  • Instant loans for just 50p a day – If you don’t have the money, Cashplus® offer a loan up to £1,000 to guarantee your bill is paid on time
  • No penalty fees (Debit Protect) – If a Direct Debit can’t go through Cashplus® won’t hurt your pockets further by imposing a penalty
Already trialled with over 100,000 existing customers, Cashplus® is likely to appeal to a wide range of people. It is particularly attractive to those without bank accounts who, until now, have not been able to access the discounts that many companies offer to customers paying by Direct Debit.
To mark the launch, between 8th February and 31st March, Cashplus® customers who set up and pay a Direct Debit via their Cashplus® account will be entered into a prize draw, the lucky winner having their rent or mortgage paid for a year (up to £10,000).
Richard Wagner, Cashplus® CEO said; “A common reason for people getting into debt is that a Direct Debit bounces, sometimes simply because another payment hasn’t gone through. The bank then imposes a penalty, as high as £24, which puts the customer further into the red and into a spiral of debt as more payments then can’t be met, just at a time when money is tightest.
“We have built this product by talking to customers and trying to address the complaints they have about banks and financial institutions. We believe this new service is truly unique. One of our key drivers has been to make all our costs completely transparent, so although the account is not ‘free’ the actual cost, taking account of typical penalties paid by bank customers, is small.”
To out more and enter the prizedraw go to: www.facebook.com/cashplus.

USA Technologies Inks New Three-Year Relationship with Elavon, Inc.

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MALVERN, Pa.--()--USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: USAT), a leader of wireless, cashless payment and M2M telemetry solutions for self-serve, small-ticket retailing industries, announced that effective November 2011, the company has extended a ten-year relationship for an additional three-years with Elavon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), and a leading global payments provider. Through the delivery of world-class service and competitive pricing, the agreement provides USA Technologies with Elavon’s support to continue with its growth plans.

“This agreement with Elavon is not only important from a business standpoint—helping us towards our goal of profitability and ensuring our services remain positioned for continued growth—but it’s important because it further underlines our commitment to our customers and the consumers who utilize our service”
“We’re very pleased to formalize this new agreement with Elavon, and enter our second decade of doing business together,” said David M. DeMedio, Chief Financial Officer of USA Technologies, Inc. “Our work with Elavon and their commitment to our growth strategy puts us in a position to meet both our long and short-term objectives. We believe that it is also further validation of USA Technologies’ position as a leader in wireless, cashless payments for the self-serve, small-ticket industries.”
“Continuing our relationship with USA Technologies provides Elavon with an opportunity to drive commerce and growth for the small ticket market that USA Technologies represents,” said Tom Boyer, President of Elavon North America. “We are enthusiastic to align with such a well-respected market leader.”
With this new agreement, USA Technologies has reached another milestone along the anticipated path towards profitability consistent with the new priorities the Company recently articulated in a letter to its shareholders. With a safe, secure card-processing provider, USA Technologies has a solid foundation that will support both improvements in functionality as well as a continued increase in customers, connections and resulting transactions processed on the Company’s ePort Connectservices.
“This agreement with Elavon is not only important from a business standpoint—helping us towards our goal of profitability and ensuring our services remain positioned for continued growth—but it’s important because it further underlines our commitment to our customers and the consumers who utilize our service,” concluded DeMedio. “By working with a world-class business partner like Elavon, we increase our value to our customers by providing them the best possible service at competitive rates, and ensuring that their customers have a seamless, enjoyable payment transaction at the point of sale.”
About USA Technologies:
USA Technologies is a leader in the networking of wireless non-cash transactions, associated financial/network services and energy management. USA Technologies provides networked credit card and other non-cash systems in the vending, commercial laundry, hospitality and digital imaging industries. The Company has been granted 79 patents and has agreements with Verizon, Visa, Compass, Crane and others. Visit our website at www.usatech.com.
About Elavon (www.elavon.com):
Elavon’s Global Acquiring Solutions organization is a part of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB). Elavon provides end-to-end payment processing services to more than 1.2 million merchants in the United States, Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Canada and Puerto Rico. Solutions include credit and debit card processing, electronic check services, gift cards, multi-currency support, and cross-border acquiring. Elavon’s industry leading solutions meet the needs of merchants in specialized markets including small business, retail, hospitality/T&E, health care, education and the public sector and are marketed through multiple alliance partner channels including financial institutions, trade associations and ISOs.

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