Startup Sequent Software Secures VC Funding to Make NFC Mobile Payments Easy

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sequent Software (www.sequentsw.com), a leading provider of NFC (near field communication) software and systems, announced today that it has closed a series A financing.  Opus Capital and SK Telecom Ventures led the financing, which will fuel Sequent's growth as it drives commercial NFC mobile payment deployments of large customers and partners and allows consumers to make payments and other transactions with their mobile devices.

NFC-enabled mobile devices from manufacturers such as RIM and Google will give consumers the opportunity to download payment cards and other credentials to their phones, using them for payments, offers, and product information in retail stores with the wave of a hand.  The difficulty of connecting the legacy payments infrastructure with the rapidly moving mobile ecosystem has confounded each industry for years.  Unleashing the power of a consumer's secure payment credentials onto a smart device such as a mobile phone will unite the richness of the Internet, the power of mobility and the reach of electronic payment.  

"Sequent's solution is innovative and unique in that we do not require significant changes to the existing, highly secure and complex payments infrastructure," said Sequent CEO Drew Weinstein.  "We are the only company whose sole focus is being a neutral, pervasive administrator of individuals' personal identification and credentials between the payments world, retailers, smartphone providers and mobile network operators."

Bob Borchers from Opus Capital and Rob Trice from SK Telecom Ventures will join the board with this fundraising.  "Drew and the Sequent team have created an amazing platform for making NFC implementations and transactions easy and compelling," said Bob Borchers, General Partner at Opus Capital.  "We are excited to help Sequent grow into the global leader in NFC systems and services."

Over the next year, payments and retail interactions will connect the richness of the Internet with the pervasive presence of mobile phones.  Sequent's comprehensive NFC platform and on-device software is offered as a hosted solution to help companies get to market quickly, or can be licensed and locally deployed.  Additionally, Sequent provides end-to-end services, such as customer diagnostics and care, business intelligence analytics, and hardware and software deployment.  Over the course of 2011, Sequent's customer base will be providing live NFC transactions at the tens of thousands of NFC-enabled point-of-sale (POS) already being used in retail with "contactless credit cards" such as Visa payWave and MasterCard PayPass.

About Sequent

Sequent provides the simplest solution for payment networks, retailers and the mobile ecosystem to offer NFC (near field communication) services to consumers.  As the only company built as a dedicated Root TSM (Trusted Service Manager), Sequent's comprehensive, turnkey suite of innovative software and services enables companies to quickly and easily enable payment cards from financial institutions, merchants, and transit agencies on NFC-enabled mobile devices.  Sequent applies a highly secure yet nimble architecture to unleash the next generation of personal interactions on mobile devices in the physical world.  For more information, please go to www.sequentsw.com. 

Sequent is located in Redwood City, CA, and previously operated as Sparq Mobile Solutions.

SOURCE Sequent Software

Related articles

• NFC - FourSquare and Google and other examples (nickburcher.com)
• Foregoing The Bump, Hashable Adds NFC Contact Swaps On Android (techcrunch.com)

Pivotal Payments Expands into the United Kingdom

One of the fastest growing payment processors in North America targets the UK market

LONDON, U.K., May 10 /PRNewswire/ - Pivotal Payments, a leading provider of merchant services forms Pivotal Payments Limited and today announces they have officially entered the United Kingdom and Irish acquiring markets as a payment processing provider. This expansion marks the company's first foray outside of North America and this growth is an integral part of the strategy to enhance its global presence as a trusted, innovative and dynamic merchant services provider.

Pivotal Payments has already added hundreds of UK merchants to its portfolio since March and is confident of achieving rapid growth in 2011 by providing a comprehensive suite of business solutions such as merchant accounts, debit and credit card processing, point-of-sale hardware and e-commerce services. Pivotal Payments continues to be one of the fastest growing payment processors in North America.

"Pivotal is proud to have entered the United Kingdom marketplace and we are excited to share our innovative services and exceptional products with our new and valued clients." said Philip Fayer, president and CEO, Pivotal Payments.

About Pivotal Payments

Pivotal Payments is a leading provider and processor of merchant services such as credit and debit card processing, electronic check conversion, merchant cash-advance programs, loyalty/gift card programs and terminal management solutions. The company provides these services to small and mid-sized retail businesses, mail order/telephone order merchants, e-commerce, chain stores, franchises, restaurants and dealerships. With offices across North America and the United Kingdom, Pivotal Payments has grown to over 350 employees and over 1,000 agents and serves more than 60,000 customers. The company processes over US$8 billion in annual transaction volume.

Company and product information are available at www.pivotalpayments.co.uk and www.pivotalpayments.com

SOURCE PIVOTAL PAYMENTS

Rhomobile Delivers First Smartphone Framework to Support Windows Phone 7 and Near Field Communications

May 10, 2011 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

New RhoStudio IDE with Debugger Provides Fastest Development Cycle Time in Mobile

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rhomobile, the leader in tools for enterprise smartphone applications, today announced the release of Rhodes 3.0, the leading and first native smartphone app framework. Rhodes now includes support for near field communications (NFC) chips as well as Windows Phone 7 and Windows CE support. Additionally, Rhodes 3.0 now includes RhoStudio, its own Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which provides integrated app generation, editing building, device emulation and debugging.

“The RhoStudio IDE is on par with what corporate customers have come to expect when developing enterprise applications. With its integrated debugging and no SDK install required run-time emulator, RhoStudio will make turnaround time for developing mobile apps much faster”

Rhodes is now the first framework to provide support for Windows Phone 7 development. It provides a modern HTML5-based approach to creating native device-optimized WP7 apps, while still allowing instant portability to other phones. It is a great alternative to using Silverlight and XAML for WP7.

As the first framework that provides support for rapidly emerging near field communications (NFC) chips in smartphones, with Rhodes 3.0, developers can learn one API to develop and create apps that fully takes advantage of NFC’s capabilities across all smartphones. NFC chips will be included in array of upcoming mobile devices such as, Google’s Nexus S 4G, RIM’s Bold 9900 and 9930, and Nokia's upcoming W7 Windows Phone 7 device.

Finally as part of the 3.0 release, Rhodes now includes RhoStudio, an Eclipse-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which provides app generation, editing, build and an integrated debugger and device emulator. Now developers can generate Rhodes applications, edit the Ruby and HTML code for the controllers and views, and build for any smartphone operating system. Most excitingly, Rhodes now provides a unique and industry-first integrated device emulators, which don’t require installation of any smartphone SDK something no other framework has done to date. The RhoStudio integrated debugger is something none of the imitator frameworks or even underlying smartphone SDK (e.g. iOS, Android) have. It actually lets you change code on the fly and see the effects immediately in the running app. This has never before been possible in mobile development, providing faster turnaround on mobile app development and testing than is possible with any other mobile development tool.

“The RhoStudio IDE is on par with what corporate customers have come to expect when developing enterprise applications. With its integrated debugging and no SDK install required run-time emulator, RhoStudio will make turnaround time for developing mobile apps much faster,” said Stephen Pillow, Development Director, Pariveda Solutions. “RhoStudio will help us get traditional enterprise IT engaged around the modern smartphone that had previously been intimidated by the difficulties and delays associated with mobile programming.”

Rhodes open-source Ruby-based framework enables developers to rapidly build native apps for all major smartphone operating systems (iPhone, Windows Mobile, RIM, Symbian and Android). These are true native device applications which work with synchronized local data and take advantage of device capabilities such as GPS, PIM contacts and calendar, camera, native mapping, push, barcode, signature capture, and Bluetooth.

“The smartphone revolution is here and Rhodes 3.0 provides developers with the essential app developer framework for keeping ahead of the market trends,” said Adam Blum, founder & CEO, Rhomobile. “We are the first solution to support Windows Phone 7 and NFC ensuring developers can support the next generation of smart devices today."

About Rhodes

Rhodes is an open source Ruby-based framework to rapidly build native apps for all major smartphone operating systems (iPhone, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7, RIM, Symbian and Android). These are true native device applications (NOT mobile web apps) which work with synchronized local data and take advantage of device capabilities such as GPS, PIM contacts and calendar, camera, native mapping, push, barcode, signature capture, and Bluetooth.

About Rhomobile

Rhomobile Inc. offers the most modern and powerful enterprise mobility suite on the market today. At the foundation of their complete mobility solution is Rhodes, the world’s leading open source framework for enterprise mobility. Founded in 2008, the company’s award winning software has thousands of active developers and is ideal for independent software vendors, system integrators and enterprises of all sizes. Rhomobile offers a comprehensive, modern, highly adaptable, and low cost solution for today's smartphone app developer. Rhomobile, headquartered in San Jose, CA, is a privately held company with backing from vSpring Capital. For more information, please visit www.Rhomobile.com.

Rhomobile and Rhodes are registered trademarks of Rhomobile, Inc. All other registered or unregistered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.

Contacts

for Rhomobile Inc.
Woody Mosqueda, 408-738-9140 x18
woody@lmgpr.com

Related articles

• Rhomobile's Rhodes 3.0 development framework gets NFC and Windows Phone 7 support (venturebeat.com)
• Windows Phone 7 Update Fills in (Some) Missing Features (pcworld.com)

Gilbarco's Williams to Speak About Payment Security at NACStech

May 09, 2011 09:06 ET

GREENSBORO, NC--(Marketwire - May 9, 2011) - Mark Williams, marketing manager, fuel dispenser applications at Gilbarco Veeder-Root, will speak at NACStech at the Mirage Las Vegas, May 16-18.

Williams will be part of the expert panel discussion titled "How to Protect Your Automated Fuel Dispenser" on Monday, May 16 at 1:30 p.m. The workshop will outline specific tactics fuel retailers can use to prevent credit and debit card skimming at the forecourt card readers, protecting their customers and their business. Attendees will learn how to identify the signs of tampering at the card readers and how to employ best practices to prevent data theft.

Williams manages the team at Gilbarco responsible for a number of industry leading payment security products, including the FlexPay™ Encrypting PIN Pad (EPP) and Secure Card Reader for the U.S. market, and the FlexPay EMV CRIND® (chip & PIN) for the Canadian market, all of which were industry firsts-to-market for fuel dispenser manufacturers, and continue to provide the most secure forecourt payment points in the industry.

NACStech is hosted by the National Association of Convenience Stores, an international trade association representing more than 2,100 retail and 1,500 supplier company members that do business in nearly 50 countries. Gilbarco Veeder-Root is a Hunter Club member of NACS.

Gilbarco Veeder-Root is the global leader of integrated technology solutions in the retail petroleum industry and fleet fueling market. The company provides Gilbarco® fuel dispensers, payment systems, point of sale systems and other equipment and services.

Gilbarco Veeder-Root is also an exhibitor at the NACStech Show, Booth 403 that runs concurrently with the workshops May 16-18.

About Gilbarco Veeder-Root
Gilbarco Veeder-Root is the worldwide technology leader for retail and commercial fueling operations. We offer the broadest range of integrated solutions from the forecourt to the convenience store and head office. For almost 150 years, Gilbarco has earned the trust of its customers by providing long-term partnership, uncompromising support and proven reliability. In fact, we help manage the business and maximize the bottom lines for 19 of the top 20 convenience store operators in the U.S. Gilbarco Veeder-Root. Technology with a human touch

Michaels Reveals Debit Card Data Breach

From: NACS Online:  CHICAGO – Arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels Stores Inc. announced last week that some customer debit and credit card information had been compromised by PIN pad tampering at Chicago-area stores. The Chicago Tribune reported that authorities confirmed that thieves plundered some victims bank accounts, often for hundreds of dollars each. Michaels, a Texas-based company, operates 1,049 stores in the U.S. and Canada. "It appears Michaels stores in the Chicagoland area have been targeted," said Bloomingdale Police Chief Frank Giammarese. "I can confidently say all 16 of our victims have visited a Michaels store." The U.S. Secret Service began an investigation last Wednesday. "At this point right now, it's a brand new case for us," said Derrick Golden, spokesman for the Chicago field office. One of the most common methods for thieves to steal PIN pad information is by using a “skimmer,” which captures a customer’s card and personal ID information. Golden told the newspaper that it’s “too early to say” as to whether a skimmer was used in Michaels’ data breach.

Related articles

• Michael's stores report credit, debit card breach (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

MICROS Partners with Tabbedout for Consumer Mobile Payment Processing

Image via Wikipedia

Seamless integration enables MICROS restaurant and bar customers to deploy Tabbedout for faster and more convenient tab payments, social media integration, and direct marketing to consumer devices

COLUMBIA, Md., May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- MICROS Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCRS), a leading provider of information technology solutions for the hospitality and retail industries, is pleased to announce its seamless integration, sales and marketing partnership with ATX Innovations, Inc. using Tabbedout - the secure and innovative way to open, review and pay restaurant or bar tabs with a smart phone, representing a consumer cultural revolution in payment technology.

The partnership allows restaurant and bar merchants to deploy Tabbedout's software quickly and easily through their existing MICROS POS software without any additional hardware requirements. MICROS and its authorized resellers will sell, install and maintain the Tabbedout application, making the process of adding consumer mobile payment processing easy and fast, without any downtime to the merchant's system.

"In this recession, particularly in larger cities where there are many restaurant options, being the first to offer mobile payments integrated with social media provides a 'cool factor' that is priceless," stated Bob Amick, owner of Atlanta-based Concentrics Restaurants.  "Since deploying Tabbedout, which is fully integrated to our MICROS point-of-sale system, we have noticed that it not only attracts more patrons, it has increased table turns which is key as sometimes the hardest thing for a restaurant to do during peak serving time is to check someone out to increase speed of the table turn."

"Tabbedout's powerful payment and marketing engine has enabled thousands of mobile payments at a network of restaurants and bars across 13 states in 49 cities," stated Rick Orr, Tabbedout Co-Founder and CEO. "Combining MICROS's technology and large network of key customer venues with our innovative mobile payment application, is a win-win for everyone involved."

"Tabbedout, as a fully integrated extension of our current POS products, allows convenient customer payment and popular social media forums through mobile devices," stated Michael L. Russo, MICROS Chief Technology Officer. "MICROS is an innovative company committed to supporting the very best in advanced technologies -- as with Tabbedout -- that bring our merchant customers more revenue and improve the patrons' experience at their venues."

About Tabbedout

Tabbedout® is the cure for forgotten credit cards and missing out on a good time. Tabbedout makes mobile payment a simple and secure process that is widely available, so that bars and restaurants can spend more time with their customers. The free Tabbedout mobile app for iPhone and Android lets consumers open a tab with their mobile phone, view their tab in real-time and pay the tab anytime, anywhere, putting them in control over how and when they pay. For more information, visit: http://www.tabbedout.com/ or contact sales@tabbedout.com to learn more about becoming a Tabbedout partner.

About MICROS Systems, Inc.

MICROS Systems, Inc. provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries worldwide. Over 330,000 MICROS systems are currently installed in table and quick service restaurants, hotels, motels, casinos, leisure and entertainment, and retail operations in more than 130 countries, and on all seven continents. In addition, MICROS provides property management systems, central reservation and customer information solutions under the brand MICROS-Fidelio for more than 26,000 hotels worldwide, as well as point-of-sale, loss prevention, and cross-channel functionality through its MICROS-Retail division for more than 90,000 retail stores worldwide. MICROS stock is traded through NASDAQ under the symbol MCRS.

For more information on MICROS and its advanced information technology solutions for the hospitality industry, please contactLouise Casamento, Vice President of Marketing at (443) 285-8144 or (866) 287-4736. You can also visit the MICROS website atwww.micros.com or send an email to info@micros.com.

The MICROS logo is a registered trademark of MICROS Systems, Inc.

All other product and brand names are the property of their respective owners.

Contact:	Louise Casamento
	443-285-8144
	lcasamento@micros.com

SOURCE MICROS Systems, Inc.

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Visa and MasterCard

CHICAGO, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), MasterCard Inc.(NYSE: MA), Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO), The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) and Kraft Foods Inc.(NYSE: KFT).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:

Visa Gains Big Year Over Year

Visa Inc.'s (NYSE: V) fiscal second quarter 2011 (ended March 31, 2011) operating earnings of $1.23 per Class A common share were three pennies ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.20 per share, but substantially exceeded 96 cents reported in the year-ago quarter on lower share count.

Visa's GAAP net income for the quarter came in at $881 million, increasing 23.6% from $713 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating income climbed 23.3% year over year to $1.38 billion. Meanwhile, total GAAP operating expenses jumped 3.0% year over year to $862 million, in the reported quarter.

Total operating revenues for the reported quarter were $2.25 billion, up 14.6% from $1.96 billion in the year-ago quarter and slightly higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.23 billion. While growth was driven by strong performance across segments, currency fluctuations contributed a positive 2% to the top line.

Service revenues increased dramatically by 23.5% year over year to $1.09 billion and are recognized based on payments volume in the prior quarter. All other revenue categories are recognized based on current quarter activity.

Data processing revenues grew 13.0% over the prior-year period to $823 million. International transaction revenues, which are driven by cross-border payments volume, climbed 14.5% over the prior-year quarter to $624 million. Other revenues, earned through Visa Europe's licensing fee, were $156 million, declining 9.8% over the year-ago quarter. Client incentives, which are a contra-revenue item, were $451 million, representing 20% of gross revenues.

On a constant dollar basis, payments volume increased 13% year over year to $861 billion. Total processed transactions carrying the Visa brand increased 13% year over year to 12.0 billion. Cross border volume, on a constant dollar basis, grew 13% year over year.

As of March 31, 2011, cash and equivalents, restricted cash and available-for-sale investment securities were $6.6 billion, up from$5.9 billion as of September 30, 2010, including $3.0 billion of restricted cash for litigation escrow.

Long-term debt reduced to $25 billion from $32 billion at the end of September 2010. Total shareholders' equity was recorded at$26.2 billion, up from $25.0 billion as of September 30, 2010.

Visa's operating cash flow improved dramatically to $1.61 billion from $580 million as of March 31, 2010.

Guidance

Visa reiterated its projections for fiscal 2011, anticipating annual net revenue growth in the range of 11%-15%; annual operating margin of about 60%; GAAP tax rate of 36.5%-37.0% and capital expenditures of $250-$275 million.

Further, the company re-affirmed its client incentives within the range of 16.0%-16.5% of gross revenue; advertising, marketing and promotional expenses to be less than $900 million; annual earnings per share growth to surpass 20% and annual free cash flow to exceed $3 billion in fiscal 2011.

Our Take

Visa continues to drive growth through increased payment volumes along with consistent growth in processed transactions. The company benefits from strong secular demand growth, meaningful international exposure, high barriers to entry, excellent pricing power and impressive operating leverage.

Although regulatory compliances as a result of the ongoing financial overhaul in the U.S. and litigation are expected to weigh on the financials of the company in fiscal 2011 and ahead, Visa aims to retain its strength by exploring newer growth avenues that include mobile, eCommerce and money transfer services. The company is also generating strong cash flow and maintains a healthy capital position.

Meanwhile, Visa's prime peer, MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) reported its first quarter earnings on Tuesday, with operating earnings per share of $4.29 that  were significantly ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.10 and $3.46 in the year-ago quarter.

Related articles

• Visa Inc. Posts 24% Jump on Strong Fiscal Second Quarter 2011 Earnings Results and Authorizes New $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Pulse Releases 2011 Debit Issuer Study and Durbin Amendment Looks Like Signature Debit Killer (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Everything You Need or Wanted to Know About NFC (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Regulatory Brawl over Debit Cards Sidesteps the Real Fee-Setters: Card Companies (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)

Tabbedout Completes $5.75 Million Series A Funding Round for Restaurant Mobile Payments Platform

May 09, 2011 09:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

NEA Funding Fuels National Expansion of Mobile Payment Solution

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tabbedout, the secure and convenient way to open, view and pay your tab with a smartphone, has secured $3.7 million in additional funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA) to complete the company’s Series A round of venture funding, totaling $5.75 million.

“Now that we’re increasing our availability in market and making life easier for merchants and their patrons, it’s time to turn our attention to consumer awareness and adoption in key markets. This round of funding from NEA will be instrumental in accomplishing that goal.”

The completion of this round brings the company’s financing to $6.5 million in total from investors including NEA, Trellis Partners and angel investors. The funds will be used to further accelerate the company’s rapid growth – Tabbedout has doubled both the size of its staff and its national footprint since the first tranche of the Series A round was announced in October 2010.

“We’re seeing extensive demand for our mobile payment solution, particularly from POS vendors who are integrating the solution into their offerings for restaurants and bars across the country,” said Rick Orr, CEO, Tabbedout. “Now that we’re increasing our availability in market and making life easier for merchants and their patrons, it’s time to turn our attention to consumer awareness and adoption in key markets. This round of funding from NEA will be instrumental in accomplishing that goal.”

To that end, the company recently named Arturo Coto, founder of technology, business consulting and marketing services companies, to the position of vice president of marketing. Coto will lead the charge to grow consumer adoption of the Tabbedout mobile payment solution, creating strategy and programs that transform the way people pay for their tabs.

Available for free on both iPhone and Android smartphones, the Tabbedout application was built by security experts with ease of use and marketing capabilities in mind. Unlike other mobile payment platforms, Tabbedout allows users to store credit card information directly on their phone, encrypted and under passphrase protection, instead of on host servers. Consumers are safe from the threat of lost or stolen credit cards and can open, view and pay their tab at their own pace, and share their social experiences with friends via Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, all within the application.

"With their rapid growth in venue deployment through solid partnerships with industry leaders like MICROS, Tabbedout is emerging as the clear leader in the mobile payments space," said Scott Sandell, NEA general partner and Tabbedout board member. "We are pleased to participate in this final tranche of funding to fuel their growth and market leadership, helping to make mobile payments a reality today."

Currently, Tabbedout’s powerful payment solution has enabled thousands of mobile payments at a network of bars and restaurants across 20 states in 90 cities. Also announced today, the company announced that leading POS vendor MICROS will now embed Tabbedout into its POS offering, significantly impacting the number of merchants offering the Tabbedout service.

About New Enterprise Associates

New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is a leading venture capital and growth equity firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors, and geographies. With approximately $11 billion in committed capital, NEA invests in information technology, healthcare, and energy technology companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm’s long track record of successful investing includes more than 165 portfolio company IPOs and more than 265 acquisitions. In the U.S., NEA has two offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and one in Menlo Park, California. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has offices in Bangalore and Mumbai, India, and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing), Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China.

For additional information, visit www.nea.com.

About Tabbedout

Tabbedout®is the cure for forgotten credit cards and missing out on a good time. Tabbedout makes mobile payment a simple and secure process that is widely available, so that bars and restaurants can spend more time with their customers. The free Tabbedout mobile app for iPhone and Android lets consumers open a tab with their mobile phone, view their tab in real-time and pay the tab anytime, anywhere, putting them in control over how and when they pay. For more information, visit: http://www.tabbedout.com/ or contact sales@tabbedout.com to learn more about becoming a Tabbedout partner.

Check us out on Facebook; follow us on Twitter.

Contacts

INK Public Relations
Allison Glass, 512-382-8987
allison@ink-pr.com

Related articles

• Tabbedout Finalizes $5.7M Round For Restaurant Bill Pay (fakeiitian.com)
• TabbedOut: Mobile payments for your night out (thenextweb.com)
• Visa Inc. Posts 24% Jump on Strong Fiscal Second Quarter 2011 Earnings Results and Authorizes New $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Pulse Releases 2011 Debit Issuer Study and Durbin Amendment Looks Like Signature Debit Killer (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Everything You Need or Wanted to Know About NFC (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)

Tabbedout Partners with MICROS for Smart Phone Payments at Restaurants

May 09, 2011 09:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

Tabbedout and MICROS Launch Mobile Payment Offering in U.S.

Integration with MICROS Broadens Mobile Payment Reality

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tabbedout, the secure and convenient way to open, view and pay your tab with a smartphone, is now fully integrated with the POS technology of industry leader MICROS Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCRS). This offering means a larger segment of the hospitality industry across the country can now promote a mobile payment option – and the more than 69M U.S. consumers with smartphones in their pockets have an instant, secure and free way to experience mobile payment today.

“We partnered with Tabbedout as the integrated solution to provide our merchants with the peace of mind of security encryption on the back end, coupled with the marketing capabilities and social media integration on the front end.”

“Tabbedout’s approach marks a radical shift in the mobile payment landscape,” said Michael L. Russo, Chief Technology Officer, MICROS. “We partnered with Tabbedout as the integrated solution to provide our merchants with the peace of mind of security encryption on the back end, coupled with the marketing capabilities and social media integration on the front end.”

Available for free on both iPhone and Android smartphones, the Tabbedout application was built by security experts with ease of use and marketing capabilities in mind. Unlike other mobile payment solutions, Tabbedout allows users to store credit card information directly on their phone, under passphrase protection, instead of on host servers. Consumers are safe from the threat of lost or stolen credit cards and can open, view and pay their tab at their own pace, and share their social experiences with friends via Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, all within the application.

Currently, Tabbedout’s powerful payment solution has enabled thousands of mobile payments at a network of restaurants and bars across 20 states in 90 cities. Today’s news will have an immediate and direct impact on the number of merchants offering the Tabbedout service to patrons.

Commented Rick Orr, CEO, Tabbedout, “Partnering with MICROS enables us to offer unparalleled integration and expand our network of venues, which means more consumers will be able to experience the security and ease of paying with their phone. Mobile payments are a hot topic, but research shows that mobile payment is a reality at only .1% of the overall U.S. retail sales landscape. We are excited to accelerate our growth while helping merchants generate more profit and offering consumers the unique capability to maximize their time with friends rather than anxiously awaiting their check.”

How it Works

Once Tabbedout has been downloaded for free from the iPhone App Store or Android Market, consumers can quickly and easily find locations and open, view and pay tabs. Credit and debit card information is encrypted securely on the user’s phone, not on Tabbedout’s servers. A random secret code is displayed on the screen each time a consumer opens a tab – that’s the only information the consumer needs to provide the server or bartender. Customers can leverage Tabbedout’s integration with top social networks to check-in and let their friends know where they are or to check-out and let them know where they are going next. Receipts can be emailed automatically and customers can even call a local cab using Cabbedout, all from within the app.

Merchants experience increased sales, payment security and operations efficiency with the Tabbedout solution embedded in their MICROS POS system. Customers are able to pay on their own time, so restaurants and bars can serve more people, especially during peak hours. Additionally, merchants reduce fraud exposure for their patrons by removing the exchange of a physical credit card. Payment information is validated upfront and the POS clearly notifies the staff when a tab is paid.

About MICROS Systems, Inc.

MICROS Systems, Inc. provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries worldwide. Over 330,000 MICROS systems are currently installed in table and quick service restaurants, hotels, motels, casinos, leisure and entertainment, and retail operations in more than 130 countries, and on all seven continents. In addition, MICROS provides property management systems, central reservation and customer information solutions under the brand MICROS-Fidelio for more than 26,000 hotels worldwide, as well as point-of-sale, loss prevention, and cross-channel functionality through its MICROS-Retail division for more than 90,000 retail stores worldwide. MICROS stock is traded through NASQAQ under the symbol MCRS.

For more information on MICROS and its advanced information technology solutions for the hospitality industry, please contact Louise Casamento, Vice President of Marketing at (443) 285-8144 or (866) 287-4736. You can also visit the MICROS website at www.micros.com or send an email to info@micros.com.

About Tabbedout

Tabbedout®is the cure for forgotten credit cards and missing out on a good time. Tabbedout makes mobile payment a simple and secure process that is widely available, so that bars and restaurants can spend more time with their customers. The free Tabbedout mobile app for iPhone and Android lets consumers open a tab with their mobile phone, view their tab in real-time and pay the tab anytime, anywhere, putting them in control over how and when they pay. For more information, visit: http://www.tabbedout.com/ or contact sales@tabbedout.com to learn more about becoming a Tabbedout partner.

Check us out on Facebook; follow us on Twitter.

Contacts

INK Public Relations
Allison Glass, 512-382-8987
allison@ink-pr.com

Related articles

• American Express and Payfone Announce Strategic Alliance to Power Global Mobile Checkout (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Regulatory Brawl over Debit Cards Sidesteps the Real Fee-Setters: Card Companies (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Visa Inc. Posts 24% Jump on Strong Fiscal Second Quarter 2011 Earnings Results and Authorizes New $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Pulse Releases 2011 Debit Issuer Study and Durbin Amendment Looks Like Signature Debit Killer (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Everything You Need or Wanted to Know About NFC (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)
• Tabbedout Finalizes $5.7M Round For Restaurant Bill Pay (fakeiitian.com)
• TabbedOut: Mobile payments for your night out (thenextweb.com)
• Payments News Roundup April 1-15th (epaymentnews.blogspot.com)