Here's a first. I've never seen or cannot recall banks ever admitting they were worried about hackers. Maybe now that they are attacking SME's which constitute about 90% of all business, it is starting to wreak havoc on their confidence. It's one thing to file a class action suit against Heartland, but an entirely different animal when it comes to filing class action lawsuits against "the heartland."
Now the nation's "largest" financial institutions are at least on the record that they have "begun to worry." Must be worse than people think...
European Cyber-Gangs Target Small U.S. Firms, Group Says - washingtonpost.com
By Brian Krebs - Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Organized cyber-gangs in Eastern Europe are increasingly preying on small and mid-size companies in the United States, setting off a multimillion-dollar online crime wave that has begun to worry the nation's largest financial institutions.
A task force representing the financial industry sent out an alert Friday outlining the problem and urging its members to implement many of the precautions now used to detect consumer bank and credit card fraud.
"In the past six months, financial institutions, security companies, the media and law enforcement agencies are all reporting a significant increase in funds transfer fraud involving the exploitation of valid banking credentials belonging to small and medium sized businesses," the confidential alert says. The alert was sent to members of the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, an industry group created to share data about critical threats to the financial sector. The group is operated and funded by such financial heavyweights as American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, Fannie Mae and Morgan Stanley.
Because the targets tend to be smaller, the attacks have attracted little of the notoriety that has followed larger-scale breaches at big retailers and government agencies. But the industry group said some companies have suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in losses.
85% of U.S. organizations have been hit by one or more data breaches within the last twelve months - according to the latest Ponemon Institute research on Encryption Trends.
This year's study surveyed 997 IT and security practitioners and identifies the trends in enterprise encryption planning strategies, budgeting and spending, deployment methodologies and impact on data breach incidents. View the research study:
With high profile data breaches making the headlines, firms may fear they're next this summer as IT staff go on their holidays. But they needn't worry - the hackers are taking a break themselves, according to a survey from security vendor Tufin Technologies.
At the annual Defcon event in Las Vegas this month a poll of 79 hackers found 89% will not be working overtime as IT professionals take off for the summer vacation.
Hackers appear to prefer winter, with 56% citing Christmas as the best time to engage in corporate hacking and 25% naming New Years Eve.
Michael Hamelin, chief security architect, Tufin Technologies, says: "It's received knowledge in the security world that the Christmas and New Year season are popular with hackers targeting western countries. Hackers know this is when people relax and let their hair down, and many organizations run on a skeleton staff over the holiday period."
The survey also reveals IT staff should be on their guard during weekday evenings, with 52% of hackers stating that this is when they spend most of their time working. In comparison, just 32% hack during work hours and 15% on weekends.
This article by eWeek's Brian Prince talks about how hacking has become so prevalent that it is driving the price of credit/debit card data down. One thing for sure. If hackers get their hands on the Track2 Data AND the PIN they will have hit the jackpot. (see what the Secret Service project the value of those items to be compared with a simple Primary Account Number (PAN) and CVV2)
Looks like it's somewhere around 1000 times more valuable. This is why HomeATM has gone to such lengths to 3DES encrypt the Track2 data through Zones 1-4 and 3DES DUKPT end-to-end encrypt the PIN.
The PIN IS the Holy Grail for Hackers and the world wide web is the "information highway" that puts your PIN at risk. It doesn't matter to them if you type or if you click. If you do it in a web browser it is fair game for the hackers.
If you want to secure your PAN and your PIN then the eCommerce transaction MUST be done outside the web browser space. Want to "hand over" your account over to the hackers? Then keep on typing, clicking or otherwise entering your PIN into a web browsers.
The hackers are watching...
Internet security is busted, said researchers at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas today.
"Using Windows, it's too dangerous to do transactions on the same machine you do for Web surfing," he says. "You can't have any crossover between them."
Editor's Note: Which is why HomeATM doesn't use the Web browser. We encrypt the data and use the Internet as a conduit to transmit the encrypted data
Hacking large companies as Albert Gonzalez is alleged to have done can be profitable. But stolen credit cards and other data may not sell for as much on the black market as you expect.
The black market economy of the cyber-world is always busy, especially in an age of massive data breaches like the ones that occurred at Heartland Payment Systems and Hannaford Brothers.
According to research from Kaspersky Lab posted Aug. 17, U.S. credit cards are not worth as much as you might think. While analyzing malware, Kaspersky Lab virus analyst Dmitry Bestuzhev came across a Website with pricing information for the credit cards swiped by cyber-crooks. The highest prices belonged to German credit cards, which sold for $6 (USD) a piece. U.S. Visa cards sold for $2.
"It's certainly difficult to say how many sites like this there are now," Bestuzhev said. "I believe it's not very many because the bad guys don't need to largely market their business. Their customers know them already and if there is a new one, it is passed along by others. It's a kind of club where cyber-criminals 'know each other' in terms of online life."
No Website is Safe; Online Transactions aren't safe; Use the Internet for browsing, use another device for payments. Read more about those bulletpoints in the related articles section below. In the meantime, there's only one "another ...
Hackensack, N.J., Aug. 25 2009 – United Merchant Services, Inc., (UMSI), a fully integrated payment processing company, announced the launch of the Verifone Payment Module for the Electronic Cash Register (ECR) Program. This is the second module that UMSI has developed, after the initial launch of the Ingenico Module with its Free ECR Program.
“Everybody is excited about this launch”, says Bryan Daughtry, VP of Sales and Marketing. “With Verifone terminals in our line-up, our sales partners will have a choice to work with the terminals they are most comfortable with.” With the addition of the Verifone terminal line, UMSI’s ECR Program can be integrated with the VX 510 and VX570 (dial-up, IP, and Wireless), and the Ingenico I5100 (IP), respectively. UMSI is actively working with other major terminal providers to create other integration modules in an effort to provide additional options for our partners.
For more information about the program, or any other UMSI products, please contact Bryan Daughtry at dbryan@unitedmerchant.com .
Source: Company press release.
IRS Awards Multi-Year E-Payment Contract to RBSWorldPay
ATLANTA, GA UNITED STATES
The Internal Revenue Service Awards RBS WorldPay a Multi-Year Contract to Process Individual and Business Tax Payments Using a Credit Card or Debit Card Beginning in January 2010
ATLANTA, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- RBS WorldPay, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded a multi-year contract by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide electronic payment solutions for individual and business taxes. RBS WorldPay, in partnership with Value Payment Systems, LLC, will begin processing tax payments through www.payUSAtax.com and 888-9-PAY-TAX (888-972-9829) starting on January 1, 2010. Through the RBS WorldPay tax payment services, taxpayers will be able to make payments to the IRS securely with various credit cards, debit cards and emerging payment methods for less than any other federal tax electronic payment service provider.
Through the RBS WorldPay service, individual taxpayers may make secure tax payments for the following federal tax types beginning in January 2010:
Form 1040 Series (including Prior Year payments)
Estimated Taxes (Form 1040ES)
Installment Agreement Payments
Form 4868 (Tax Extension)
Trust Fund Recovery Penalty
Form 1040X (Amended Tax Returns)
Form 5329 - Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans and Other Tax-Favored Accounts (Return for Individual Retirement Arrangement Taxes)
Businesses can make secure credit card payments for their taxes, including:
Form 940 Series - Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Return
Form 941 Series - Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return
Form 943 Series - Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees
Form 944 Series - Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return
Form 945 Series - Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax
Form 1065 - U.S. Return of Partnership Income
Form 1041 - U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts
"Consumers and businesses alike are now able to pay their taxes and fees online via their credit or debit card," said Ian Stuttard, president and CEO of RBS WorldPay. "It's safe, secure and convenient. RBS WorldPay has been providing comprehensive, electronic payment processing for merchants for over twenty years. We currently process billions of dollars in payments annually, and government payment processing is a high-growth business where we anticipate making an impact. By partnering with Value Payment Systems, we were able to combine their management team's extensive experience in handling government payments, in particular with the IRS, with our secure processing platform. This is truly a winning combination."
Taxpayers using credit cards and debit cards through the RBS WorldPay service may be eligible to receive points or benefits in reward programs connected with the use of their card. Taxpayers should check with their card issuer for details regarding reward program eligibility. The IRS has determined that convenience fees incurred by qualifying individuals and business taxpayers may be deductible. To help taxpayers save time and avoid potential late fees, users of the internet payment site, www.payUSAtax.com, will be able to schedule automated payments and set future payment e-mail reminders.
About Value Payment Systems
Value Payment Systems provides electronic payment products and services to various industries including government and property management. Value Payment Systems' comprehensive e-payment services encompass a wide array of payment channels including the Internet as well as emerging payment methods such as Bill Me Later. For more information, visit www.valuepaymentsystems.com.
About RBS WorldPay, Inc.
RBS WorldPay is a leading, single-source provider of electronic payment processing services - including credit, debit, EBT, checks, gift cards, e-commerce, customer loyalty cards, fleet cards, ATM processing and cash management services.
RBS WorldPay is the US-based payment processing division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc. For more information, please visit www.RBSWorldPay.us.
About The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS)
The RBS Group is a financial services company providing a range of retail and corporate banking, financial markets, consumer finance, insurance, and wealth management services. The RBS Group operates in the Americas, Asia and the Middle East serving more than 40 million customers. For more information, please visit www.RBS.com.
MiraTel Selects Fusepoint to Develop and Manage PCI Compliant Online Payment Application for Lottery Ticket Sales
Growing need for compliance with stringent Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) in Canada driving new business for managed services provider
Toronto, Aug. 25, 2009--Fusepoint Managed Services, a leading provider of outsourced IT services and infrastructure, today announced it has been selected by MiraTel Solutions Inc., a payment processing application service provider, to fully manage and host the company's new online lottery ticket sales application.
MiraTel, which currently provides back office support for the Canadian lottery industry by supplying full service, help desk, credit card processing, and ticket sales, is now developing an online presence for the lottery industry to sell tickets. However, the site must adhere to stringent PCI compliance rules and regulations and be operational in less than a month.
The PCI compliance standard applies to any organization that holds onto, processes or stores credit card information, and MiraTel knew finding a PCI complaint provider was the key to making this opportunity a reality. After conducting a marketplace review, MiraTel chose Fusepoint Managed Services to manage their online payment application.
"This is an exciting opportunity for MiraTel as we migrate a traditional sales platform to an online transaction, where there is absolutely no room for error, and security is paramount," said Alex Moffat, Managing Director, MiraTel. "We required a Canadian managed services provider that could assist us in developing and managing an online website that could gather payment information and comply with Tier 1 PCI standards. Fusepoint easily met both of those requirements and provided us with the knowledge and expertise we needed to develop a nimble, safe and secure web site."
Based on PCI best practices, and taking a consultative approach, Fusepoint built the web site www.ordertickets.ca, which will go live in September, to collect payment information and ticket sales online. The core payment collection technology is currently live and processing payment information for another charitable lottery.
"If you process credit cards in any way, PCI DSS compliance is mandatory," said George Kerns, President and CEO Fusepoint. "As one of the only Tier 1 PCI compliant hosting providers in Canada we are seeing very strong demand in the marketplace as organizations outsource the critical components of their payment environment to ensure compliance with leading industry standards."
Throughout the process, Fusepoint's security and application development teams collaborated to ensure MiraTel would comply with PCI compliance standards including the online payment application itself, the hardware, bandwidth, data backup, firewall, antivirus, network intrusion detection and end to end monitoring and reporting.
About Fusepoint Managed Services
Founded in 1999, Fusepoint is a privately held company with offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. Through our proven record of success we have built a loyal base of over 400 customers and strong, strategic relationships with Canada's leading technology and communication companies. Fusepoint's managed IT solutions are SLA-guaranteed, scalable and designed to reduce cost structures while mitigating risk. Fusepoint is also SAS 70 Type II, CICA 5970, and Tier 1 PCI compliant, which means our processes are rigorously and continuously audited by accredited third parties and consistently operate at the highest levels within the industry. For more information, visit www.fusepoint.com .
Businesses Reluctant to Report Online Banking Fraud
A confidential alert sent on Friday by a banking industry association to its members warns that Eastern European cyber gangs are stealing millions of dollars from small to mid-sizes businesses through online banking fraud. Unfortunately, many victimized companies are reluctant to come forward out of fear of retribution by their bank.
According to the alert, sent by the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), the victims of this type of fraud tell different stories, but the basic elements are the same: Malicious software planted on a company's Microsoft Windows PC allows the crooks to gain access to the victim's corporate bank account online. The attackers wire chunks of money to unwitting and in some cases knowing accomplices in the United States who then wire the money to the fraudsters overseas.
As grave as that sounds, the actual losses from this increasingly common type of online crime almost certainly are far higher....
Commercial card activity in Southeast Asia continues to increase. In the most recent development, Citi Global Transaction Services, a division of the Institutional Clients Group, launched Citibank Commercial Cards for corporate clients in Thailand. It provides the benefit of an integrated cash-management solution that strengthens financial operations and control over expenses.
Corporate clients in Thailand will be provided with comprehensive, customized and online consolidated statements for expense analysis that is powered by Citibank Custom Reports System. Clients will be offered direct integration of card transaction data into expense management systems including CONCUR, SAP, Oracle or Citi's Global Card Management System.
MIAMI, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CL@B 2009 Congress (Stand # 301- 303) -- VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY - News), today announced PAYware CMS 8.0, a new version of its comprehensive card management enterprise software for banks, financial institutions, processors and retailers who wish to issue cards, accept electronic payments and merchant management.
PAYware CMS enables issuers to easily set up and manage feature-rich card programs for both physical and virtual card payments. For acquirers, PAYware CMS supports individual merchant needs such as acquiring services contracts to accept, authorize and settle card transactions; it also offers multi-merchant support at all levels.
"This update to PAYware CMS complies with the latest PCI DSS requirements and features improved performance and a new intuitive graphical interface which eases usability of every aspect of the system, enhancing productivity and efficiency," said Gustavo Jimenez, vice president and general manager for the Integrated Systems Group of VeriFone Latin America and the Caribbean.
PAYware CMS 8.0 supports all aspects of card and merchant management, payment authorization, clearing and settlement. It can also be used by telcos to issue pre-paid cards and by government agencies to issue and process electronic benefits.
New security features include encryption of sensitive data, PAN masking, and detailed audit tracking of user activity. The software supports all major card association schemes and full EMV compliance for both issuing and acquiring organizations.
The new graphical interface provides an intuitive look and feel with:
Improved graphical dashboards for more immediate monitoring of authorization processes
A highly configurable Web-based reporting module that increases access, automation, and flexibility of reporting
PAYware CMS provides the scalability, flexibility and configurability to manage any in-house merchant acquiring or card issuance program including branded card scheme, private label, stored value/loyalty, private label, fleet, and prepaid cards.
It is a flexible, modular and business-driven solution designed to address the main challenges facing the card industry today, which include the importance of innovation, differentiation and customer retention in an increasingly competitive environment.
VeriFone Holdings, Inc. ("VeriFone") (NYSE: PAY - News) is the global leader in secure electronic payment solutions. VeriFone provides expertise, solutions and services that add value to the point of sale with merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems for the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare vertical markets. VeriFone solutions are designed to meet the needs of merchants, processors and acquirers in developed and emerging economies worldwide.
Tier one banks in Europe have set aside as much as EUR20 million each to attain compliance with the EU's Payment Services Directive (PSD) by November, with about 30% of the budget earmarked for technology changes.
Working with Finextra, Accenture surveyed nearly thirty EU banks, including nearly 20% of the top 100, to assess industry-views, core challenges to implementation, and bank readiness for the PSD, which will harmonise the EU's legal payments infrastructure.
EU bank respondents express confidence in their ability to meet the 1 November compliance deadline, with a vast majority (90%) saying they will be legally compliant on time and nearly three-quarters (72%) saying they expect to be fully compliant by November. Legal compliance to PSD is achievable without full implementation.
In an article published by Reuters India, Ross Kerber is gettingall fired up over the blame game. ("They both need to fight fraud and they are fighting each other")
My two cents? It's the typing. You type, hackers swipe... Would you write the combination of your padlock on a post it note and attach it to the lock itself? Then why are we typing?
BOSTON (Reuters) - Fresh details of large-scale cyber attacks against data processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc and supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers show the challenges facing the efforts of the U.S. credit-card industry to upgrade security measures.
While both companies say their computer networks met the tough new standards meant to prevent data breaches, Visa Inc said Heartland at least may have let its guard down.
The positions reflect broader disagreements in the industry, as squabbling between merchants and financial firms over technology and the cost of systems upgrades continues to impede progress, said Robert Vamosi, an analyst for California consulting firm Javelin Strategy & Research. "They both need to fight fraud and they are fighting each other," he said.
The financial stakes are getting higher. Fraud involving credit and debit cards reached $22 billion last year, up from $19 billion in 2007, according to California consulting firm Javelin Strategy & Research.
The security of consumer information came under renewed scrutiny on August 17 when a 28-year-old Florida man, Albert Gonzalez, was indicted along with two other unnamed hackers for breaching the computer networks of Heartland and Hannaford, both of which said they were in compliance with security requirements.
Those standards were set by a council that includes the world's two largest credit card networks, Visa and MasterCard Inc; fast-food leader McDonald's Corp; oil major Exxon Mobil Corp; and big banks Bank of America Corp and Royal Bank of Scotland Plc.
All these companies face rising costs linked to fraud and its prevention. Of the 275,284 complaints received last year by the government's Internet Crime Complaint Center, 24,775 were tied to credit or debit card fraud, up from 13,033 in 2007 and 9,960 in 2006.
Until providers see "what hackers clearly see"... which is ANYTHING that is typed, whether it be credit/debit card numbers, usernames, passwords, (temporary, numeric, one-time, secret answers to secret questions etc. etc. etc.) our data will continue to be compromised. According to Help Net Security...
Now, word comes that Hackers have improved keylogging software by making it able to report your login credentials in "real time" via a Twitter-like stream of updates that makes it possible for malicious hackers to access your accounts even as you're using them.
The efficiency of this new variant of keyloggers is best seen during routine operations like usage of Internet banking services.
Systems like RSA's SecurID create temporary numeric passwords that get changed each minute. The problem is, the attacker now gets the same password immediately.
Editor's Note: It will get worse...it will NOT get better.
Think of Typing as sort of like a "Field of Dreams" for hackers.
CO-OP’s Annual THINK Conference to be Held April 18-21, 2010 in Scottsdale, Ariz
Registration will be free, online interest forms can be found at www.co-opthink.org
It's not your typical conference. At THINK 10, world-class visionaries from a range of backgrounds will share their insights - and sometimes shocking advice - on catapulting your credit union forward. THINK speakers will inspire, energize, and awaken you to a new way of seeing the credit union movement.
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (August 24, 2009) – The THINK Conference, which earlier this year attracted more than 350 credit union industry leaders and featured speakers representing some of the world’s best known brands like Nike, Target, Porsche, Travelocity and more, will return in April 2010.
“THINK is the only conference for credit union leaders that both generates new ideas and hones them into unique, business-changing plans and tactics,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO of CO-OP. “Think 2010 will once again bring you top level strategic advice from outstanding thought leaders from a variety of fields, so that you can aggressively move your credit union forward.”
THINK 2010 will be held from April 18-21, 2010 at the Scottsdale Fairmont Hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz. As in 2009, registration for the event will be free. Reservations will be accepted starting in September, but interested parties can go immediately to www.co-opthink.org to complete a brief online form enabling them to receive conference updates and registration notification.
“With the THINK Conference, we look very carefully at the issues facing the credit union industry and look for speakers with remarkable success stories to tell with lessons credit unions can make immediately actionable,” said Hollen. “We encourage you to save the dates, April 18-21, 2010, and plan on attending this unique forum for learning from the trials and achievements of other world class organizations.”
Past speakers at THINK Conferences include Steve Woznick of Apple, Scott Bedbury of Nike, Peter Schutz of Porsche and Ken Schmidt of Harley Davidson. CO-OP will be announcing its roster of speakers for THINK 2010 next month.
Established in 1981 and located in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., CO-OP Financial Services is the organization that provides the tools, counsel and leadership to help credit unions and their members prosper. Wholly owned by its credit union shareholders, CO-OP provides volume discounts on payments products and services that include ATM network access, debit processing, ATM processing, shared branching, check imaging and mobile payments.
With nearly 3,000 credit union members, 28,000 surcharge-free ATMs (including 9,000 deposit-taking), 3,700 shared branch locations (the largest number of branches of any network), 155 million-plus monthly transactions and 26 million cardholders, CO-OP Financial Services is the number No. 1 credit union electronic funds transfer (EFT) network and processor in the U.S. financial services industry. CO-OP Financial Services’ membership has access to 800,000 ATMs worldwide through links to NYCE, STAR, Cirrus, PULSE and Plus. For more information, go to: www.co-opfs.org.
Milwaukee, Aug. 24, 2009–-Metavante (NYSE:MV), a leading provider of banking and payments technology, today announced that Danversbank has deployed Metavante Corporation’s expanded rewards and loyalty product to offer its clients a blended rewards program that combines issuer- and merchant-funded rewards. Serving the greater Boston area, Danversbank was founded in 1850 and is the principal subsidiary of Danvers Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:DNBK).
By implementing Metavante’s Points2U Plus offering, Danversbank has expanded and enhanced upon the Metavante-powered rewards and loyalty program that’s been available to Danversbank customers since 2006. Through its deployment of Points2U Plus, Danversbank now awards cardholders with bonus points for debit card-based transactions made at participating retailers — this is in addition to the points a cardholder already earns by using their Dansverbank-issued debit card. The bank is also leveraging Points2U Plus to award double points for card use during seasonal promotions, as well as to reward cardholders with additional loyalty points for the use of other Danversbank services.
“Danversbank continuously looks for ways to provide exceptional service to our customers, and Metavante has been a trusted, collaborative partner who has helped us in that pursuit,” said John Carroll, senior vice president of Operations at Danversbank. “When we are looking to deploy integrated, best-of-breed payments solutions that support our goals and deepen customer relationships, we turn to Metavante. Points2U Plus provides the capacity to tailor Danversbank’s rewards offering to effectively create the customer loyalty that rewards programs are meant to deliver, and most importantly, allows our customers to realize additional value from their everyday purchasing behavior.”
Cardholders can login through the Points2U Web site to view and redeem their points from a Danversbank-branded redemption page, or contact the Points2U call center. The bank’s cardholders have several redemption options, including gift cards, merchandise, travel and downloadable items. Retail recruitment, analytics and customer experience is powered by Affinity Solutions, a leader in merchant-funded rewards programs. Affinity Solutions continually recruits relevant national, regional and local retailers with in-store and online offers across a variety of categories, specifically for participation in the Metavante program.
“Financial institutions increasingly look to payments revenue to maintain market leadership. As rising card activation rates and transaction volumes grow in importance, so too does the ability of a rewards program to attract, retain and improve the loyalty of cardholders,” said Frank D’Angelo, group president, Metavante Payment Solutions. “Points2U Plus makes this competitive tactic available to financial institutions of all sizes, including those without an existing Metavante relationship.”
Available through a wide range of account access channel deployment and customization options, Points2U Plus can support an overarching “relationship rewards” program across multiple product lines, and features a branded points redemption Web site that’s easily identified with the financial institution offering the rewards.
In addition to Points2U, the bank uses a number of products and services powered by Metavante technology, including: risk and compliance, exclusive participation in the NYCE Network for ATM and POS, and a variety of electronic funds transfer solutions including ATM driving, card processing and card personalization.
About Danversbank The bank was founded in 1850 and is a $1.8 billion financial institution operating out of its Main Office at One Conant Street in Danvers, along with 15 other locations in Andover, Beverly, Cambridge, Chelsea, Danvers, Malden, Middleton, Peabody, Reading, Revere, Salem (2), Saugus, Wilmington and Woburn. The bank also has a full service Commercial Banking office at One Post Office Square in Boston. In the fall, Danversbank will open two more full-service branches, the first on Mass Ave. in Boston, and the second on Main Street in Waltham. More information can be found on their web site at www.danversbank.com .
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 (EFT), 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.
Houston, Aug. 24, 2009--PreCash, its processor Galileo and Green Dot are partnering to give PreCash's prepaid debit card-holders the ability to add cash to their cards at nearly 50,000 additional U.S. retail locations by using a Green Dot MoneyPak. In addition to Direct Deposit, PreCash cardholders can now load cash onto their cards at more locations nationwide, including Walgreens, CVS/pharmacy, Rite Aid, Kmart and Kroger.
To promote this new reloading option, Green Dot and PreCash will be offering PreCash's Vision Premier Prepaid Visa Card with Direct Deposit cardholders a "First Load Free" reward through the holiday season. For Vision Premier Prepaid Visa Card cardholders who load their cards with a Green Dot MoneyPak between August 5, 2009 and December 31, 2009, PreCash will rebate the load fee within four weeks of the transaction with a statement credit. Details about the promotion are available at www.visionprepaid.com .
"We've seen exponential growth with our Vision Premier Card over the last four years as consumers look for credit card alternatives that offer the same convenience, management and protection of plastic, without hidden fees," says John Chaney, Chairman and CEO for PreCash. "With the Green Dot MoneyPak, our cardholders have another safe, convenient and affordable way to add cash to any of their accounts."
Mark Troughton, President of Green Dot Financial Network states, "Green Dot is very pleased to partner with PreCash and provide their cardholders the ease and convenience of loading cash to their Card, at the point-of-sale, at the nation's largest retailers."
"We are excited about the continued growth and success of the PreCash prepaid programs. Providing more convenient options to reload cards through the Green Dot Reload Network will be a great added benefit for PreCash customers," said Todd Brockman, President of Galileo Processing, Inc.
About PreCash, Inc.
PreCash provides convenient, real-time payment solutions that convert cash into electronic payments for consumers who do not use traditional payment methods such as credit cards or bank accounts. PreCash offers the Vision Premier(SM) Prepaid Visa card and other prepaid Visa and MasterCard products, prepaid debit card program management services, real-time cash bill payments, prepaid wireless refills, payroll card products and more. The company places more than 30,000 prepaid debit cards in the market monthly and services more than 30,000 national retail, wireless dealers and independent retail locations nationwide. Founded in 1998, PreCash is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with additional offices in Portland, Oregon. For more information, visit www.precash.com, or www.visionprepaid.com .
Visa and Mastercard Debit cards Taking Charge in AU
24 August 2009
Strong Leap Over Same Period Last Year
Consumers put a little more on their credit cards in June but the long term trend continues to be for shoppers to cut back on their use of credit. The latest credit card data from the Reserve Bank, published yesterday, shows that the average card balance rose from $3,094 in May to $3,127 in June but that June figure is down 0.2 per cent on a year ago.
The big news is the growth in debit, particularly Visa and Mastercard debit cards.
The value of purchases made on debit cards in June was 40 per cent higher than in the same period last year.
Debit now makes up 35.8 per cent of card payments in Australia. According to MWE Consulting, debit accounts are increasing at more than twice the rate of credit and charge accounts.
“Scheme debit has increased from a 21.3 per cent share of the value of debit purchases in March 2008, when data commenced, to 26.7 in June this year. Share rose 24 per cent over the past 12 months and the trend shows no signs of abating.”
The world’s savviest hackers are on to the “real-time Web” and using it to devilish effect. The real-time Web is the fire hose of information coming from services like Twitter. The latest generation of Trojans — nasty little programs that hacking gangs use to burrow onto your computer — sends a Twitter-like stream of updates about everything you do back to their controllers, many of whom, researchers say, are in Eastern Europe.
Trojans once just accumulated secret diaries of your Web surfing and periodically sent the results to the hacker.
By going real time, hackers can get around some of the roadblocks that companies have put in their way. Most significant, they are now undeterred by systems that create temporary passwords, such as RSA’s SecurID system, which involves a small gadget that displays a six-digit number that changes every minute based on a complex formula.
If your computer is infected, the Trojan zaps your temporary password back to the waiting hacker, who immediately uses it to log onto your account. Sometimes the hacker logs on from his own computer, probably using tricks to hide its location. Other times, the Trojan allows the hacker to control your computer, opening a browser session that you can’t see.
“What everybody thought was a very secure identification method, these guys found a low-tech means to get around it,” said Joe Stewart, the director of malware research for SecureWorks, a software company. “They don’t break the encryption; they just log in at the same time you do.”
About 3 months ago in a post entitled: Wolfram Alpha...Better than Segway! there was speculation that Google and Wolfram Alpha might work together...but 3 months later, it's Microsoft's Bing who enters the fray.
Microsoft's Bing search engine and Wolfram Alpha have reached a licensing deal that allows Bing to present some of the specialized scientific and computational content that Wolfram Alpha generates, according to a source familiar with the deal.
Representatives from Microsoft and Wolfram Research declined to comment on the deal.
Wolfram Alpha's unique blend of computational input and curated output has not taken the world by storm, but it is considered an interesting enough take on the business of internet search to attract high-profile attention within the industry.
Wolfram Alpha does not return the usual list of links to pages with search keywords, instead providing answers to questions such as stock prices and complex mathematical formulas — with mixed results.
Bing, on the other hand, is enjoying a solid start in the three months since it made its debut as it gains users, and it will at some point be the default search experience on Yahoo's highly trafficked pages following a long-awaited deal.
It is not clear whether Bing results will carry Wolfram's branding (that is, results 'Powered By Wolfram Alpha'), but there will be some sort of presence.
It is unlikely that Bing is going to turn over the bulk of its results to Alpha, however. In a blog post on Friday, Wolfram founder Stephen Wolfram admitted that linguistic problems are to blame for half of the occasions when Wolfram Alpha does not return a result. That percentage is changing as Wolfram refines the science behind Wolfram Alpha, but it will take some time.
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