Why Interchange Fees Should Come Down

Felix Salmon writes that he believes Interchange Fees Should Come Down in an article he wrote for Seeking Alpha:  Here's an excerpt:

Juan Lagorio is right. The various proposed bills regulating interchange fees — the fees that merchants pay whenever a customer uses a credit card to pay for something — could definitely hurt Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA), despite the fact that Visa and Mastercard don’t actually charge those fees and claim that they would not be impacted by the legislation.

How do we know that Visa and Mastercard are worried? Well, for one thing, Shawn Miles, the head of global public policy at Mastercard, has written an essay arguing against them:

No matter how loudly the big box merchants claim the mantle of “Protector of Consumer Interests,” granting big box merchants a collusionary antitrust exemption will have the opposite effect: less credit availability, higher prices, and reduced choice for consumers.

Miles points to the precedent of Australia, which saw credit-card fees rise after the government mandated lower interchange fees. But the post hoc ergo propter hoc argument is weak: For-profit card companies will naturally raise fees as much as they can no matter how much or how little money they make on interchange. It’s the same mechanism driving penalty rates of interest. And indeed the base case in the US is for a slow yet inexorable rise in interchange fees: One purpose of this legislation is to try and put an end to interchange-fee inflation (up 14% last year to about $48 billion, averaging an eye-popping 1.75% of total purchases).

Continue Reading at Seeking Alpha

Sheets to Offer First Data GO-Tag at 250 Locations

Sheetz Offers Latest Payment Technology from First Data
Submitted by PIN Payments Blog on June 25, 2009

The GO-Tag Contactless Payment Sticker to Be Introduced at All 350 Convenience Store Locations

DENVER--(AllPayNews.com)--First Data, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing services, today announced Sheetz, Inc. as a new customer of the First Data® GO-TagTM payment technology solution. The GO-Tag solution is First Data’s latest innovation that allows consumers to make purchases simply by tapping their sticker on a contactless reader. Sheetz will begin to sell the First Data GO-Tag solution at all of its 350 locations across the U.S. by the end of July.

The First Data GO-Tag solution allows consumers to use contactless payment technology to make purchases easier and faster. The GO-Tag solution deployed by Sheetz is configured as an open-loop, reloadable prepaid payment sticker and can be used wherever Visa payWave is accepted. For those merchant locations that do not accept contactless payments, the GO-Tag solution includes a separate magnetic-stripe Visa prepaid card.

“We are pleased to partner with Sheetz on providing consumers a more innovative way to pay for their purchases,” said Barry McCarthy, general manager of Mobile Commerce and Point of Sale Solutions at First Data. “With First Data’s GO-Tag solution, Sheetz customers no longer have to carry cash or go through the hassles of storing loose change. By simply tapping their GO-Tag on a contactless reader, the transaction is completed instantly – no waiting or signature required.”

Sheetz convenience stores operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina. As one of America’s fastest growing convenience store chains, Sheetz is committed to using technology to enhance the customer experience whether it is their award-winning menu items ordered through unique touch-screen order points, Wi-Fi access in most locations, or contactless payment options at the pump.

“We are always looking for ways to improve the in-store experience for our customers by making purchases faster and more convenient,” said Louie Sheetz, executive vice president, Sheetz marketing. “This new GO-Tag technology will make things easier for customers, as well as for our store employees. We are excited to be among the first retailers to implement this system.”

Innovations in contactless technology are creating new payment form factors for consumers and furthering the migration of payments from paper to electronic. The GO-Tag solution can virtually eliminate the need to carry cash for purchases. Consumers have the flexibility to place the contactless payment sticker on anything that they routinely carry, such as an employee badge, student ID or other personal item. To learn more about the First Data GO-Tag solution, go to www.gotag.com.

About Sheetz

Established in 1952 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Sheetz, Inc. is one of America’s fastest growing family-owned and operated convenience store chains, with more than $4.9 billion revenue for 2008 and more than 12,000 employees. The company operates more than 350 convenience locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina. Sheetz provides an award-winning menu of MTO® subs, sandwiches and salads, which are ordered through unique touch-screen order point terminals. Sheetz currently ranks 82nd on the Forbes list of largest private companies and has ranked for seven consecutive years on the list of Best Places to work in Pennsylvania. All Sheetz convenience stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For more information, visit www.sheetz.com.

About First Data

First Data powers the global economy by making it easy, fast and secure for people and businesses to buy goods and services using virtually any form of electronic payment. Whether the choice of payment is a gift card, a credit or debit card or a check, First Data securely processes the transaction and harnesses the power of the data to deliver intelligence and insight for millions of merchant locations and thousands of card issuers in 36 countries. For more information, visit www.firstdata.com.

Contacts

Media Contacts:
First Data
Elizabeth Grice, 303-967-8526
elizabeth.grice@firstdata.com

GO Tag, First Data, Sheetz

From The Street

: Mad About Options: The Master of Cards

The Mad About Options crew discusses FastMoney's take on Mastercard and offers options strategies for traders and investors.

HSBC Bringing Biz Banking to iPhone

Summary:

Global bank HSBC is now offering its business internet banking services to UK customers using the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

HSBC claims to be the first financial institution to offer this type of service on these mobile devices in the UK. The bank launched the service for BlackBerry devices in October last year.

Thanks to the new service, the bank's 325,000 business internet banking customers with an iPhone or iPod Touch can securely monitor their financial transactions, make payments of up to £100,000 per day, apply for overdrafts and set up and manage pensions.

Continue Reading at Silicon.com

HSBC, iPhone, Business Banking

RFID Allows V/MC to Track Users - That's LBS

RFID-Enabled Phones Could Let Credit Card Companies Track Users | Threat Level | Wired.com

RFID-Enabled Phones Could Let Credit Card Companies Track Users | by Kim Zetter | Wired.com

An Ericsson executive says all new mobile phones sold in 2010 will include an RFID chip that will allow owners to open their car or house door with their phone. A handy feature, no doubt, for some people. But the executive says the chip might also be used by credit card companies to track the location of cardholders to cut down on fraud.

Håkan Djuphammar, vice president of systems architecture for Ericsson, speaking at a conference in Stockholm this week, said credit card companies could make use of mobile user location data and IP mapping to determine if the owner of a card is in the same location where a card transaction is taking place.

Continue Reading

RFID, LBS, Location Based Services, Visa, MasterCard, Ericsson, mobile phones, mpay

Social Networking Can Cost You

Users of social network sites may be far more vulnerable to financial loss, identity theft and malware infection than they realize, according to new research from Internet security firm Webroot.

The research consulted over 1,100 users of the most popular social network sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter.  Here's the Press Release:

Webroot® Survey Reveals Social Networkers’ Risky Behaviors

Two-thirds share personal information with strangers – knowingly or unknowingly

Members of online social networks may be more vulnerable to financial loss, identity theft and malware infection than they realize, according to a new survey from Webroot, a leading provider of Internet security software for the consumer, enterprise and SMB markets.

Surveying over 1,100 members of Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter and other popular social networks, Webroot uncovered numerous behaviors that put social networkers’ identities and wallets at risk. Among the highlights:

• Two-thirds of respondents don’t restrict any details of their personal profile from being visible through a public search engine like Google;
• Over half aren’t sure who can see their profile;
• About one third include at least three pieces of personally identifiable information;
• Over one third use the same password across multiple sites; and
• One quarter accept “friend requests” from strangers

“The growth of social networks presents hackers with a huge target. The amount of time spent on communities like Facebook last year grew at three times the rate of overall Internet growth,” said Mike Kronenberg, chief technology officer of Webroot’s Consumer business. “Three in ten people Webroot polled experienced a security attack through a social network in the past year, including identity theft, malware infection, spam, unauthorized password changes and “friend in distress” money-stealing scams. The first step to staying protected is being aware of what the threats are and knowing how to help prevent them.”

Social Networks Present New Opportunities for Cybercriminals
Cybercriminals employ various types of trickery and malware to capitalize on risky behaviors. One common tactic is phishing, which hackers use to entice victims into downloading an infected file, visiting a disreputable site outside the social network, or wiring money to a “friend in distress.”

In recent months, Webroot has seen an increase in these types of attacks on social networks, including “Trojan-MyBlot,” which targeted users of MyYearbook.com, and others targeting Facebook users including “Koobface” and several spread through the domains “mygener.im,” “ponbon.im” and “hunro.im.”

“Hackers lure users into taking actions they shouldn’t by making it appear as if a friend within their social network has sent them a message – only the message is from a hacker who’s hijacked the friend’s account,” continued Kronenberg. “We’ve seen instances where a salacious yet poorly worded message like, ‘This video of u is evrywhere’ includes a link that, when clicked, prompts the user to download a seemingly legitimate file which, once on your PC, can do a number of things -- spam your friends, monitor your online activity or record your personal information.”

Hackers can also use less sophisticated means to execute attacks on social networks: The Webroot survey respondents who reported experiencing identity theft, a hijacked account and unauthorized username or password changes may have been victimized by hackers who were able to access their profiles and guess their passwords based on the personal information they included.

Results indicate a general lack of awareness of the security risks on social networks and the tools available to protect personal information, as well as higher rates of risky behaviors exhibited by younger social networkers.

Social networkers make private information public:

• 80 percent allow at least part of their profiles to be searchable through Google or other public search engines; 66 percent don’t restrict any profile information from being visible through public search
• Over half (59 percent) of respondents aren’t sure who can see their profile
• Over one quarter (28 percent) accept friend requests from strangers; of those, one third (36 percent) do not cloak any of their profile information
• About one third (32 percent) include at least three pieces of identifiable information

Privacy concerns outweigh protective actions:

• 78 percent expressed some concern over the privacy of the information they share in their profiles
• However, 36 percent use the same password across multiple sites
• And 30 percent do not have adequate protection against viruses and spyware

Younger users take more risks – 18-29 year olds are more likely to:

• Use the same password across multiple sites (51 percent, versus 36 percent overall)
• Accept a friend request from a stranger (40 percent, versus 28 percent overall)
• Share more personal information that may compromise online privacy (67 percent share birth date, versus 52 percent overall; 62 percent share home town, versus 50 percent overall; 45 percent share employer, versus 35 percent overall)
• Experience a security attack (nearly 40 percent, versus 30 percent overall)

Tips for Safe Social Networking
Webroot recommends the following actions to protect privacy and prevent threats on social networks.

• Guard your personal information – Use privacy settings to restrict who can see your sensitive information, or consider omitting all personal information from your profile
• Be skeptical -- E-mails, friend requests, Web site links and other items from sources you do not know could be laced with malware
• Choose passwords wisely -- Use different passwords for each of your sites; select a randomized combination of numbers and letters
• Have antivirus and antispyware protection – Even if you think you’re not infected, scan your machine for dormant viruses with a free scan; and protect your PC with an Internet security suite that includes antivirus, antispyware, and firewall technologies
• Always install updates – If you’re already using antimalware software, be sure to install updates which include the latest malware definitions; do the same with updates to your operating system
• Even with security in place, remain vigilant – Malware authors are continually writing new programs to avoid detection, so pay close attention to suspicious behavior

Webroot offers several comprehensive Internet security solutions for consumers including Webroot® AntiVirus with AntiSpyware, and Webroot Internet Security Essentials. For more information about these and other products, please visit http://www.webroot.com/En_US/consumer.html.

ABOUT WEBROOT
Webroot, a Boulder, Colorado-based company provides industry-leading security solutions to consumers, enterprises and small to medium-sized businesses worldwide. For more information visit http://www.webroot.com/ or call 800.772.9383.

©2009 Webroot Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Webroot is a registered trademark of Webroot Software, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Social Networking, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Webroot Software, Webroot Survey, ID Theft, Financial Data, social networks, Social Networking Can Cost You

PrePaid Card Regulation Next?

Should Prepaid Cards Be Regulated? - WSJ.com

By KRISTINA PETERSON

Credit cards, debit cards and gift cards are due to face tighter regulations in the coming months thanks to a new credit-card law signed by President Barack Obama, but one piece of plastic is flying under the regulatory radar.

Prepaid reloadable cards, payment cards that aren’t tethered to a traditional bank account, won’t get the same regulatory scrutiny under the recently enacted Credit Card Act of 2009.

Between 2003 and 2007, prepaid transactions jumped from less than $5 billion a year to somewhere between $39 billion and $113 billion, according to industry estimates

Consumer advocates want to change that. They are urging the Federal Reserve to strengthen guidelines affecting prepaid cards from companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Green Dot Corp., NetSpend Corp. and H&R Block Inc. while the Obama administration’s focus remains concentrated on regulating the credit-card and banking industries.

Unlike credit cards, prepaid reloadable cards aren’t covered by the federal statutes that protect credit-card holders from fraud or limit their losses when cards are lost or stolen. Though many prepaid card companies do offer some consumer protections, they do so voluntarily.

Though the new credit-card laws don’t oblige the Fed to weigh in on prepaid cards, it could choose to issue regulations. The Fed added consumer protections to payroll cards in July 2007, for example.

Continue Reading at the Wall Street Journal

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Prepaid Cards, Green Dot, NetSpend, Regulation, Payroll Cards

Coupons.com eClips's '08 Numbers in First 5 Months of '09

Michelle Megna, from InternetNews.com writes that the sour economy has resulted in a boom for eCoupons which have eClipsed last years numbers already...

E-Coupon Use Growing at Rapid Clip

A whole new demographic is digging digital coupons, spurring huge growth in the online coupon category.
By Michelle Megna:

Online coupon sites saw strong growth for the month of May, signaling a trend being spurred on both by the recession as well as by the "modern" digital coupon demographic.

The coupon category posted a particularly strong month, surging 19 percent to 34.7 million visitors to lead as the top-gaining category in May, according to a comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR) study released today researching traffic at the top 50 Web properties.

Coupons Inc., which includes Coupons.com, captured the top position in the category with more than 15 million visitors, a gain of 85 percent from the previous month. Eversave.com ranked second with 3.8 million visitors, followed by RetailMeNot.com with 3.5 million visitors.

The news comes at a time when online coupon use is experiencing unprecedented growth, as a new generation of bargain hunters -- those who do not subscribe to newspapers or clip physical coupons -- turn to the Internet for the convenience and vast selection realized by the digital format.

Coupons.com just announced that in five months, the savings printed on its digital coupon network in 2009 surpassed the $313 million in value printed for all of 2008. In 2009, the value of savings printed increased 212 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the company...

Continue Reading

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Vitacost.com Latest to Accept eBillMe

Vitacost.com Expands Payment Option Offerings with eBillme

Online retailer is the latest to join the eBillme family of merchants, offering secure cash checkout.

eBillme(TM), the payment option that enables consumers and small businesses to use online banking to pay now and pay securely with available funds from their checking or savings accounts, welcomes Vitacost.com as the latest online retailer to offer shoppers the debt-free checkout option on their site. Now Vitacost customers have access to a new way to pay without credit, fees, or interest.


Vitacost.com is the Internet's leading retailer of vitamins, nutritional supplements, herbs, natural health, beauty, and organic products, offering shoppers wholesale prices on over 22,000 products from over 900 premium brands. Consumers of natural health products can save up to 80 percent off suggested retail price.

"Our customers value the quality of our products, our service, and our everyday low prices," says Ira Kerker, CEO of Vitacost. "eBillme helps us reach more consumers by offering our shoppers a secure way to pay for their purchases without credit. We are excited to be able to bring this new method of payment to our customers, and look forward to working with eBillme to meet our customers' needs for a cash checkout option."

"Vitacost helps consumers Live Longer and Save Money," says Marwan Forzley, President and CEO of eBillme. "We are thrilled to be a part of their site and to offer our debt-free payment option that helps consumers better manage their spending habits during this recession. eBillme meets the consumer need for a debt-free checkout option without any fees or interest, and with more security and protection. We continue to help online retailers attract customers and sales with secure cash checkout."

eBillme is easy to use. When shoppers choose the option at checkout, their order is confirmed with an eBill sent to their e-mail address. Consumers simply pay the eBill through their online checking or savings account--the same way they pay utilities, loans, and other bills. The transaction occurs securely, bank to bank, with no personal or financial information required or transmitted over the Internet.

Because shoppers pay directly from their online bank account, they don't release any financial information online. This helps consumers manage their spending and debt, while better safeguarding themselves from identity theft and fraud risks. eBillme's buyer protection program takes security a step further. Provided at no cost to shoppers and retailers, the buyer protection features have the same or better level of buyer protection than premium credit cards. Protection features include a return guarantee, price guarantee, in-transit protection, and fraud protection. Consumers can shop with confidence knowing their eBillme transaction is guaranteed and protected.

About eBillme
eBillme™ is the only online payment solution that extends the convenience of online banking to the merchant's checkout, reduces the security risks of shopping online, and enables merchants to increase sales while reducing transaction costs. No financial data is exposed and the payment transaction is securely transferred from the customer's bank to the retailer's bank. Consumers can shop online, by catalog or through call centers, and pay for their purchases at their bank, credit union, or bill pay portal using the security and convenience of online banking. eBillme gives retailers access to the over 110 million Americans who use online banking. For more information, please visit www.eBillme.com or eBillme's Online Debt-Free Shopping Mall, http://shopdebtfree.ebillme.com

About Vitacost:
Vitacost.com is a leading online retailer of nutraceutical, health & wellness products offering over 22,000 products from over 900 top brands at everyday discounts of up to 80 percent off MSRP. Vitacost.com provides 24 X 7 X 365 toll free customer service at 800-793-2601 and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Greater than 95% of orders ship the same day for the low flat rate price of $4.99. Vitacost.com is a proud member of the prestigious INC 500 Hall of Fame, recognized as a Top 500 Retailer by Internet Retailer, and consistently ranked by Nielsen as a top converting online retailer.

Source: Company Press Release

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Visa, NeuStar Team on Mobile Payments

Visa, NeuStar Team on Mobile Payments and Financial Services - PC World

Visa and NeuStar have joined forces and formed an alliance that it hopes will help accelerate the adoption of mobile financial services globally, they said on Tuesday.

Those services may include mobile remote payments for services such as bill payment and top-up for wireless airtime minutes, mobile transaction alerts and mobile money transfers, according to a statement.

Credit-card giant Visa comes to the table with its global payment network. NeuStar, a Virginia-based provider of services to telecom carriers, will serve as a neutral intermediary between mobile operators and other involved companies, and simplify the transfer of data between them.

Visa also announced what it calls the first mobile payment service in Latin America. Pago Móvil con Visa allows Peruvian holders of cards issued by Banco de Crédito, Interbank, BBVA Continental or Scotiabank to pay for products and services over the wireless network.

Both announcements were made at the Mobile Money Summit, which takes place in Barcelona this week and is organized by the GSM Association.

Currently, Visa and MasterCard are pushing a variety of mobile payments and financial services. Tests are now being turned into commercial services.

Last week MasterCard's MoneySend service went live in the U.S. It allows users to send and receive funds using text messages, the mobile browser, mobile apps, or over the Internet from a PC, a spokeswoman at MasterCard said via e-mail.

NeuStar, Visa, Mobile Payments

Future Bright for Online Retail, but No Need for Shades

According to eMarketer.com, the future of online retail looks "not too bad." 

But my last post, a survey conducted by PayPal in the UK says that online sales growth is set to "double" within two years. That would certainly sound bright enough to wear shades.

So...that's the good news.   The bad news is that the PayPal UK study also predicts that sales in physical stores will plummet by up to £8.3bn by the end of 2011. (See: Amazon Thanksgiving Day Parade?)

Editor's Note: "Surprise, Surprise".  (search this blog for the term Paradigm Shift to learn why that's not surprising) 

The PayPal UK Study goes on to say that online sales are expected to rise from just under £9bn to £21.3bn, resulting in modest growth for overall sales.

Here's the eMarketer story. BTW, if you don't subscribe to the eMarketer Newsletter you should. Go to their site to sign up for it.  

The Future of Online Retail Doesn’t Look…Too Bad
JUNE 24, 2009 - eMarketer.com



Cautious optimism. Everyone knows the economy—online and off—is bad. What no one knows for sure is when the situation will improve. But things will get better.eMarketer forecasts that US retail e-commerce sales (excluding travel) will total nearly $132 billion in 2009, down 0.4% from 2008.


But, assuming the recession ends this year, as many economists predict, the forecast indicates that online sales will begin to rebound in 2010 and hit full stride in 2011.  Declining sales growth rates do not tell the whole story.

“Everyone focuses on the downturn in the overall economy, but the recession has only accentuated the gradual decline in online sales growth over the past few years—the decline would likely have occurred even in normal economic times,” says Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Retail E-Commerce Forecast: Cautious Optimism. “It’s just simple math: The bigger online sales become, the harder it is to maintain high levels of growth.”




Greater spending by incumbent online buyers is the key to continued e-commerce growth. Some 152 million individuals ages 14 and above will shop online in 2009.“That means almost nine out of 10 Internet users will browse, research or compare products online this year,” says Mr. Grau. “This rate will grow slightly by 2013, since most Internet users predisposed to online shopping will already be doing it.”

Yet measuring e-commerce’s potential solely in terms of online sales ignores the impact of cross-channel shopping.

“The recession has made online product research an imperative,” says Mr. Grau.



According to PriceGrabber.com, the tough economy is driving consumers online to compare prices, look for retailers that do not charge sales tax or shipping fees, seek discounts and avoid impulse buying.

“Cross-channel shopping tends to fall under the radar because it is harder to measure than e-commerce sales,” says Mr. Grau.

Forrester Research estimated that store sales influenced by online research are higher than retail e-commerce sales. For 2009, Forrester projected cross-channel sales of $758.8 billion—about three times higher than online sales of $235.4 billion.

“Retailers still have plenty of work ahead to weave their channels into a single, unified presence,” says Mr. Grau. “If enough succeed, it could contribute to building greater consumer confidence in e-commerce.”

Look into the future, check out the new eMarketer report, Retail E-Commerce Forecast: Cautious Optimism.

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24% of UK Believes Brick and Mortar Dead, Online Shopping the Future

Here's a story from the Telegraph regarding the PayPal UK Study I talked about a post or two back.  One of the more interesting aspects of this story from the Telegraph is that nearly 1 in 4 people (24%) in the UK believe that online shopping will become the "norm" and that brick and mortar retail is a dead horse.  Interesting...out of curiosity I wonder what percentage of people felt that way last year at this time?

Online sales set to double within two years - Telegraph

Online sales are expected to more than double to £21.3bn by the end of 2011, making up for the expected decline in trade in high street stores.
By James Hall, Retail Editor | Published: 7:09AM BST 24 Jun 2009

A major new survey by PayPal, the online payment system, predicts that sales in physical stores will plummet by up to £8.3bn by the end of 2011. However, online sales are expected to rise from just under £9bn to £21.3bn, resulting in modest growth for overall sales.

Carl Scheible, managing director of PayPal UK, argued that the report shows that the value of online retail "can no longer be dismissed as a sideshow". Mr Scheible said that the growth of internet shopping will prop up a declining general retail sector.

"Online's phenomenal growth is not only forecast to deliver sales of as much as £21.3bn by 2011, but a £12.3bn increase will also ensure that the entire UK retail sector is growing again by the end of 2011," he said.

"The recession has been tough for many UK retailers as they deal with the slowdown and its knock-on impact on consumer spending. Of course, many of the major high-street brands have actually enjoyed the online boom, despite facing challenges in their own stores. The improvements in online shopping will continue to drive consumers until they are spending £1 in every £14 online," said Mr Scheible.

The report, which was carried out by Experian, forecasts that from 2008 to 2011 high street sales will fall by up to 1.4pc.

Nearly 9m adults shop online at least once a week, the report shows.

Mr Scheible said: "In our experience the retail winners from this recession will be those that work hard to meet expectations. If customers have come to expect fantastic service on the high street, retailers must make sure they aren't disappointed if they head online. Customers want good value, simplicity and security when they decide where to spend their money online."

According to the report, which was based on interviews with 1,000 adults, 24% of UK adults now believe that online shopping will become the norm and that the high street will eventually die out. Over half of consumers polled believe that high-street retailers could significantly improve their websites and sales processes to "enhance the customer experience".

PayPal, Experian,

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TJX to Pay Almost $10m More to Settle Data Theft Case

TJX to pay millions to settle data theft

T.J. Maxx, Marshall's parent reaches $9.75 million settlement

From Tribune staff - June 24, 2009

Discount retailer TJX Cos. reached a settlement with dozens of states, including Illinois, related to a massive data theft that occurred at the parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshall's more than two years ago.

The Framingham, Mass.-based off-price retailer agreed to pay the states $9.75 million, of which Illinois will receive more than $440,000, for programs to enforce consumer protection laws, protect consumer data and provide consumer education.

An estimated $2.5 million of the overall settlement is earmarked to create a data security trust fund to be used by states' attorneys general to enforce and develop policy in the field of data security and personal information protection.

TJX admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The company believes it did not violate any consumer protection or data security laws.

Continue Reading at the Chicago Tribune

TJX, Marshall's, T.J.Maxx, Hackers 11, Breach, Hack, War Driving, WiFi

Metavante and FNBO Renew Prepaid Relationship

PRESS RELEASE: http://metavante.mediaroom.com/

Metavante and First National Bank of Omaha Renew Prepaid Relationship
June 24, 2009

MILWAUKEE--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Metavante (NYSE:MV), a leading provider of banking and payments technology, today announced that the smartOne Prepaid Solutions division of First National Bank of Omaha renewed its prepaid card processing agreement with Metavante Corporation.

“Metavante and First National Bank of Omaha align well with each other because both entities share broad payments industry expertise and vision”

Extending a relationship that began in 2005, First National Bank of Omaha will continue offering its smartOne Prepaid Solutions products and services with account processing and real-time account validation services from Metavante. First National Bank of Omaha’s smartOne Prepaid Solutions portfolio includes payroll, reward/incentive and corporate disbursement (travel expenses and relocation funds) prepaid cards.

“Metavante delivers the processing stability and scale we need to facilitate the growth of our smartOne Prepaid Solutions offerings, as well as the flexibility to quickly offer new functionality,” said Scott McCormack, vice president, First National Bank of Omaha. “Shared core values between our two companies are at the heart of our relationship, and those shared values allow us to quickly enhance our offerings to meet the needs of the prepaid marketplace.”

“Metavante and First National Bank of Omaha align well with each other because both entities share broad payments industry expertise and vision,” said Frank D’Angelo, president, Metavante Payment Solutions Group. “As a ‘full suite’ provider of payments solutions, Metavante focuses on the entire payments landscape, including emerging account access channels. Enabling financial institutions to grow their prepaid card relationships and help corporate clients benefit from the value-added cost and workflow efficiencies of electronic payments is one of our core competencies and part of Metavante’s dedicated client support.”

Metavante Payment Solutions drive the marketplace transition from paper to electronic payments with an integrated suite of payments solutions featuring enterprise-wide fraud prevention/monitoring and risk management. Metavante offers an ATM/PIN-debit network in NYCE, mobile financial services, online bill pay, government payments, credit and debit payment cards, merchant-issued and network-branded prepaid cards, as well as automated clearing house (ACH) and check image processing. Metavante also offers consumer healthcare payment solutions for patients, providers, plan administrators and financial institutions. Metavante offers clients the efficient and integrated resources necessary to offer their customers a broad range of payment options and touch points.

About smartOne Prepaid Solutions

smartOne Prepaid Solutions from First National Bank of Omaha offer secure, creative and innovative prepaid programs to businesses and organizations throughout the United States. Built on a half century of card issuing expertise, smartOne uses a flexible and nimble methodology to provide custom prepaid card design, branding, and program management while offering superior customer service and value. For more information, visit www.smartonesolutions.com.

About First National Bank of Omaha

First National Bank of Omaha is a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska, Inc. First National of Nebraska has grown into the largest privately owned banking company in the United States. First National Bank of Omaha and its affiliates have $21 billion in managed assets and more than 8,000 employee associates located in 35 states. Primary banking offices are located in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas.

About Metavante

Metavante Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:MV) is the parent company of Metavante Corporation. Metavante Corporation delivers banking and payments technologies to approximately 8,000 financial services firms and businesses worldwide. Metavante products and services drive account processing for deposit, loan and trust systems, image-based and conventional check processing, electronic funds transfer, consumer healthcare payments, electronic presentment and payment, outsourcing, and payment network solutions including the NYCE Network, a leading ATM/PIN debit network. Metavante (www.metavante.com) is headquartered in Milwaukee.

Metavante and NYCE are registered trademarks of Metavante Corporation, which is the principal subsidiary of Metavante Technologies, Inc.

Metavante, FNBO, Prepaid, First National Bank of Omaha, FIS, Smartone, NYCE, ACH, SafeTPIN

CashEdge Launches POPmoney

CashEdge Inc. (www.cashedge.com), the leader in Intelligent Money Movement™ products for financial institutions, serving 600 financial institutions including seven of the nation's top ten banks, announced today the launch of POPmoney™ (www.popmoney.com), the first person-to-person payments (P2P) service for banks, enabling banks to provide simple and secure P2P payments from their online or mobile banking applications.

POPmoney allows bank customers to "Pay Other People" (POP) anywhere, at any time, directly from within a bank's online or mobile application. With POPmoney, bank customers can send an electronic payment by simply using the email address or mobile phone number of the recipient. POPmoney includes an SMS text messaging application, as well as downloadable mobile applications, enabling banks to extend their P2P functionality to mobile phones.

Editor's Note:  HomeATM launched their money transfer application at FinovateStartup09 back on April 29th.  See live demo in left sidebar)

"POPmoney is a breakthrough service and represents the first real opportunity for banks to compete in the lucrative person-to-person payments space. This untapped market offers financial institutions major opportunities for new revenue and increased customer engagement," said Sanjeev Dheer, CEO and President, CashEdge Inc. "With our deep expertise in money movement, our bank-centric model and our strong risk management capabilities, this is a natural next step for CashEdge to take with its bank partners."

Spurred by the growing use of online banking, including online account opening, bill pay and online funds transfers, consumers are demanding additional online money movement services.

A 2009 CashEdge survey of nearly 1,000 consumers identified several important findings related to P2P payments including:

* 81 percent of respondents would use a P2P service if offered by their financial institution
* 77 percent of respondents would prefer to use a P2P service offered by their own financial institution over an independent online P2P service (such as PayPal or a similar service)
* 73 percent of respondents felt that a P2P service offered through their bank would be more secure than an independent P2P service
* 69 percent of respondents felt that a P2P service offered through their bank would be more convenient than an independent P2P service

POPmoney leverages the proven reliability, security and robustness of CashEdge's money movement platform, which in 2008 processed nearly $50 billion in online funds transfers for bank customers. For current CashEdge clients, POPmoney is an easily integrated extension of TransferNow™.
About CashEdge

CashEdge is the leader in Intelligent Money Movement™ services that enable financial institutions to engage customers in new ways. CashEdge's Intelligent Money Movement services provide a single point of access, through an online banking or mobile application, for multiple easy-to-use consumer and small business transfer routes. CashEdge's industry-leading products include OpenNow®/FundNow® for new account opening; TransferNow® for Consumers, which includes Me-to-Me Transfers and Third Party Transfers; POPmoney™ for person-to-person payments; and TransferNow for Small Businesses, which includes Invoicing and Payments, Me-to-Me Transfers, Employee Payments and Vendor Payments. These products are supported by industry-leading risk management capabilities that leverage comprehensive, proprietary technology, helping institutions mitigate risk and decrease fraud exposure.

CashEdge currently serves hundreds of leading financial institutions, including seven out of the top ten largest banks in the country. The Company has offices in New York, Silicon Valley and India. For more information, visit www.cashedge.com.

CashEdge, POPmoney, money transfer, HomeATM

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Digital River Debuts Limited Edition E-Commerce Solution

Digital River Debuts Limited Edition E-Commerce Solution

Introduces e-stores designed exclusively to optimize sales of limited-edition, refurbished or clearance products

* Press Release
* Source: Digital River, Inc.
* On Wednesday June 24, 2009, 7:00 am EDT

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRIV - News), a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, introduced a new Limited Edition e-commerce solution that is designed to optimize the online sales of limited quantity, limited edition, refurbished and clearance merchandise. The solution, best suited for hard goods, features specially designed e-storefronts, marketing capabilities that tap social networks and built-in controls for managing inventory.

“In today’s increasingly competitive market, companies are seeking new and more effective ways to diversify their revenue streams and generate as much revenue as possible at every stage of a product’s lifecycle,” said Joel Ronning, Digital River’s CEO. “With our new Limited Edition e-commerce solution, we are giving online merchants access to a complementary revenue source that is designed specifically for marketing and selling end-of-life products. Because Limited Edition is built on our world-class global e-commerce platform, we offer merchants all of the benefits of our full-service, proven e-commerce solution.”

Digital River’s Limited Edition solution is designed for companies that want to extend the market for their merchandise, create urgency around online sales of their limited quantity products, and help strengthen end-consumer relationships. Limited Edition allows merchants to:

• Easily manage and maintain e-storefronts designed exclusively to promote limited-edition or end-of-life products. The e-storefronts can link from existing e-commerce sites or function independently;
• Create buzz and excitement around online product sales by using major social networking tools and viral marketing to engage users in reading and posting reviews.
• Use sophisticated, built-in controls to display available limited edition inventory levels to not only generate urgency among brand-loyal and price-sensitive consumers, but also ensure proper sourcing of limited supply products.

Commenting further on the benefits of the Limited Edition solution, Ronning added, “By using Limited Edition, our clients have optimized product sales at the end of the product selling lifecycle more cost-effectively than they’ve been able to in the past.”

About Digital River, Inc.

Digital River, Inc., a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, builds and manages online businesses for software and game publishers, consumer electronics manufacturers, distributors, online retailers and affiliates. Its multi-channel e-commerce solution, which supports both direct and indirect sales, is designed to help companies of all sizes maximize online revenues as well as reduce the costs and risks of running an e-commerce operation. The company’s comprehensive platform offers site development and hosting, order management, fraud management, export controls, tax management, physical and digital product fulfillment, multi-lingual customer service, advanced reporting and strategic marketing services.

Founded in 1994, Digital River is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices across the U.S., Asia, Europe and South America. For more details about Digital River, visit the corporate Web site at www.digitalriver.com

Digital River, E-Commerce, eCommerce, Limited Edition, Joel Ronning, Digital River Limited Edition

Facebook Security Flaw Exposed

Published:23-June-2009 | By Steve Evans

Sensitive user info revealed

Social networking site Facebook has been struck by another security flaw that could have exposed personal user information such as date of birth and home town.

The flaw was exposed by the creators of the blog FBHive.com, who discovered a hack that would show everything listed in a Facebook member's "Basic Information" panel, whether the user had hidden this information or not.

Security vendor Sophos claimed this data could include date of birth, home town, gender, family members, relationship status and political and religious views, and could be used to commit ID fraud.

Continue Reading at CBR Online

For more on the Facebook Flaw, read a story from TechCrunch, you'll find he link located below in the Related Articles Section:

Facebook Security Flaw, Facebook, ID Fraud, FBHive.com, Sophos

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Gemalto Launches Online Banking Authentication Device

June 24, 2009

Gemalto Launches Unique Optical Reader for German Online Banking

With 30 million users, Germany has the largest number of online banking customers in Europe

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, today announced commercial launch of Ezio Optical TAN, a unique optical authentication reader for online banking specially designed for the German market. The size of a credit card, the Gemalto reader fits in a wallet along with the banking card, to offer unmatched convenience and portability. Ezio Optical TAN is compliant with the latest German HHD* standard and leverages the security of the widely deployed SECCOS** banking cards. With 30 million users, Germany has the largest number of online banking customers in Europe.

With Ezio Optical TAN, online customers can enjoy anytime, anywhere e-banking with utmost simplicity. Users just present the device in front of their computer screen and optical sensors capture the data they would normally enter from the reader keypad to carry out and sign online transactions. No software needs to be installed to use the device.

“Reinforcing e-banking services security has always been a priority for German banks and they were among the first in Europe to implement strong authentication solutions,” commented Jacques Seneca, executive vice president of the Security Business Unit for Gemalto. “Gemalto’s strong historical presence in Germany, particularly in the banking sector, has provided us with an in-depth understanding of local banks’ specific needs. This resulted in the development of an authentication solution that is perfectly tailored for this very advanced market.”

The Gemalto product is part of an extended family of authentication and digital signature solutions that includes notably readers, tokens, software and services. Gemalto has already successfully delivered Ezio authentication solutions to leading banks in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

HHD*: HandHeld Device
SECCOS**: Secure Chip Card Operating System

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2008 annual revenues of €1.68 billion, and 10,000 employees operating out of 75 offices, research and service centers in 40 countries.

Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere—has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.

Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. We do this by supplying to governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises a wide range of secure personal devices, such as subscriber identification modules (SIM) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, smart card access badges, electronic passports, and USB tokens for online identity protection. To complete the solution we also provide software, systems and services to help our customers achieve their goals.

As the use of Gemalto’s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

For more information please visit www.gemalto.com.

Two Factor Authentication, SafeTPIN, HomeATM, Gemalto, Ezio Optical TAN, SECCOS

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Preview of HomeATM's Newly Redesigned Website

Here is a preview of the first two pages of HomeATM's Newly Redesigned Website. Look for it to be up shortly! In the meantime, if anyone has any suggestions, comments, criticisms, feel free to leave them in the comment box below! Thanks!

HomeATM, Alternative Payments, PIN Debit, Visa, MasterCard, PCI 2.0,

40% of ATM Card Users Hacked in Nigeria - InterSwitch, Banks Helpless!

Nigerians call for scrapping of ATM System

The current upsurge and nefarious activities of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) fraudsters is threatening electronic payment system in the nation's banking sector with users threatening massive dumping of the cards if the unwholesome act is not checked.

An investigation carried out revealed that two of every five ATM card users lately, have become victims of one form of fraud or the other and ironically the sector's regulator, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), service provider, Interswitch, law enforcement agents and banks are helpless as they have not been able to proffer any solution.

Only recently, the CBN admitted that hundreds of millions of naira was lost to ATM-related theft last year alone. Every week, hundreds of bank customers across major cities are finding their deposits or a substantial part of it stolen by faceless crooks. The Special Fraud Unit (SFU) also confirmed recently that ATM fraud is on the increase in Nigeria.

It was also revealed that the activities of the fraudsters cut across all the banks having ATM facilities. Consequently, a some of the users have said the technology should be scrapped if the activities of the scammers cannot be curtailed.

In most of the banks visited, security men that were supposed to watch out for criminals coming into the banking halls now take affected ATM victims through complaints procedures. The queues seen in banks nowadays are that of ATM complainants and in most cases, the issues are never resolved.

The list of affected victims is endless. Mr. Christian Obed, a media practitioner was cash trapped in midst of an assignment and had to rushed to a nearby branch of the bank where his account is domiciled to make withdrawal via the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). To his consternation, his account read zero balance. Further enquiries from the counter did not prove otherwise. He was faced with reality that his hard earned life savings of N154, 000 had gone with the wind courtesy yet to be identified fraudsters.

On her part, a woman who simply gave her name as Mrs Ngozi was caught weeping profusely in front of a bank on Allen Avenue, Ikeja. She had come to make withdrawal at the ATM to send to her daughter in the university who had sent a distress call, but to her surprise, her account had been emptied. Efforts to get the bank officials to answer her had proved abortive.

It is not all about duping, the issues ranged from cards trapped inside the machine to PIN rejection.

It is all tales of woes from duped Nigerians. Many had lost their entire savings to hackers. These fraudulent activities which started like a play has assumed a dangerous dimension, threatening the entire e-payment system in the banking industry and the attendant benefits to the economy.

The ATM technology which was introduced barely three years ago has been beneficial to users until the latest developments. Customers now have access to their accounts at all times. It was indeed one of the key benefits of consolidation in the banking sector.

Continue Reading

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