The promise of Ripple; REUTERS

This is a chart of the value of bitcoin yesterday, Wednesday. It’s hardly a secret that bitcoins are a highly volatile asset class, so relatively few eyebrows were raised when the price soared from an opening level of $230 all the way to a high of $266. An intraday swing of more than 15% is pretty much par for the bitcoin course, these days. But then came the crash: within a few hours, bitcoins the world over had lost well over half their value, and were trading as low as $107 apiece. That’s not normal undefined and it just goes to underline how bad bitcoin is at doing everything it’s meant to do. (Read More)

The real cause of the Bitcoin bubble and burst; Financial Services Club

All the media has finally woken up to the Bitcoin phenomena when the value of Bitcoins rose from a steady $20 per coin to $266 last week … only to crash to $100 by the end of the week. (Read More)

The Antisocial Network; The New York Times

Bitcoin’s wild ride may not have been the biggest business story of the past few weeks, but it was surely the most entertaining. Over the course of less than two weeks the price of the “digital currency” more than tripled. Then it fell more than 50 percent in a few hours. Suddenly, it felt as if we were back in the dot-com era. (Read More)

Credit Cards, Prepaid Cards and Smart Phones Emerge as the Stars of POS Payments Growth; Digital Transactions

Aided by an improving economy, credit cards staged a comeback in 2012, edging out debit cards as the key payment option at the retail point of sale, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. (Read More)

Javelin Strategy & Research Releases Point of Sale (POS) Payment Forecast Report; Press Release

At 93% of total U.S. retail dollar volume, the point of sale (POS) retail market towers above the online market and will continue to do so for years to come. But the growing popularity of the digital realm has fundamentally altered the nature of the POS, as brick-and-mortar retailers have had to embrace elements of mobile and online channels in order to remain competitive. Today, Javelin Strategy & Research releases the firm’s annual POS 2013-2018 Forecast, which evaluates the actual and forecast changes in the retail POS market, tracking payments mix data and identifying key drivers of market change. (Read More)

Local Currency Payments Preview for Game Developers; facebook blog

As we announced in June 2012, we are moving from Facebook Credits to local currency pricing. Local currency payments simplifies the purchase experience for users, improves the performance of the payments flow, and makes it easier for developers to price virtual goods for a global audience. (Read More)

What U.S. Regulations Will Mean for the Bitcoin Economy; PaymentsSource

Many Bitcoin enthusiasts expect the U.S. government will take steps towards regulating the digital currency. Whether this regulation will threaten or legitimize the currency is still an open question. (Read More)

Booming Swedish IT startup eyes PayPal's home turf; REUTERS

Swedish online payments firm Klarna, one of Europe's hottest tech start-ups, will focus its firepower on Germany this year while keeping its eye on the United States, home to EBay's big money-maker PayPal. (Read More)

Federal reserve announces expansion of FedACH SameDay service; Press Release

The Federal Reserve has announced that, effective April 1, 2013, it will offer an expanded FedACH SameDay service for same day clearing of ACH transactions. (Read More) 

PayOne files lawsuit against Home Depot; Bloomberg

PayOne Corp. has filed a lawsuit against Home Depot that claims the biggest U.S. home improvement company use of PayPal's in-store checkout infringes on some of its patents. (Read More)

PayPal Shoots Back over The Home Depot Lawsuit: eCommerce Bytes

Fiserv Multiplies Consumer Mobile Payment Options by Combining Person-to-Person Payments and Mobile Banking; Press Release

Intuit’s New Payments Directions In NFC, Passbook And Facebook Revealed In 20+ New Products; TechCrunch

Intuit took a step into social commerce with the acquisition of the team, technology and patents of social payments startup Payvment. (Read More)

It's 'Crazy Out There' for ISOs as Tech Impairs Their Relevance; PaymentsSource

Intuit Acquires Facebook Ecommerce Platform Payvment’s Team, Tech, And Patents While Ecwid Takes Its 200K Merchants; TechCrunch

Facebook ecommerce platform Payvment announced it was shutting down and transitioning its 200,000 merchants to competitor Ecwid, but we’ve just discovered that’s because Intuit is acquiring Payvment’s team, technology, and patents. Update: Intuit has confirmed its purchase of Payvment to TechCrunch, saying “Intuit has acquired a team of highly skilled developers who will be of great value to the social teams at Intuit.” (Read More)

Square: COO's Resignation Tied to Sexual Harassment Claim; PaymentsSource

The Thursday resignation of Square chief operating officer Keith Rabois stems from a sexual harassment allegation, according to the company. (Read More)

Ingenico to Buy Ogone for $484 Million in Payment Push; PaymentsSourse

Ingenico SA, a French provider of payment terminals and services, agreed to buy online-payment company Ogone for 360 million euros ($484 million) as part of a push to expand outside Europe. (Read More)

PayPal-Backed BillFloat Lands $21M From IGC, Venrock, First Round & Others To Help You Pay Bills On Time; TechCrunch

BillFloat, a San Francisco-based startup that helps consumers pay their monthly service bills and avoid those pesky late fees and overdraft charges, announced today that it raised $21 million in new funding from Investor Growth Capital (IGC), with participation from Bronze Investments and previous investors Venrock, FirstRound Capital and Baseline Ventures. (Read More)

Acquirers Are Embracing Potential Competitors, Study Shows; ISO & AGENT

The acquiring industry’s established players are concerned about tech companies entering the business, but they’re doing something about it – often by joining forces with the new kids. (Read More)

Zavers by Google Digital offers coupon solutions; PAYMENTEYE

Zavers by Google is launching after the web giant acquired Zave Networks - a company that specialized in digitizing coupons and loyalty rewards programs. Zavers, Google writes, is “a digital coupon solution that enables retailers and manufacturers to reward loyal customers with coupons that are relevant to them undefined increasing basket size and redemption rates.” (Read More)

PayLane Brings Its Startup-Friendly Online Payments To Germany, Following UK, Ireland And Poland; TechCrunch

PayLane, the European online payments company, is expanding to Germany undefined it already operates in Poland, UK, and Ireland undefined accepting payments in 160 currencies from over 50 countries. But where the Polish company tries to stand out from the crowd is with its focus on the idiosyncratic nature of each local European market by supporting a number of alternative payment methods. (Read More)

Apple Lets Buyers on China Web Pay in 2-Year Installments; Bloomberg

Apple Inc. (AAPL) introduced installment payment plans for buyers of iPhones and MacBook laptops in China as it struggles to compete with low-cost devices in the world’s largest computer and mobile-phone market. (Read More)

Federal Reserve Banks Announce New Study to Examine Nation’s Payments Usage; Press Release

First Data Releases November 2012 SpendTrend Analysis; PAYMENTEYE

First Data Corporation today released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of November 2012 compared to November 2011. It highlights November Card Spending Growth as solid despite tough year-over-year comparables. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations. (Read More)

Wonga launches PayPal rival; The Telegraph

Wonga, the payday loan company, has entered the online payment industry by offering shoppers the option of borrowing cash to fund their web purchases. (Read More)

Why is Yahoo Obsessed with PayPal Executives? Forbes

Yahoo will reportedly add Max Levchin, the co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer of PayPal, to its board. This begs one simple question: why? (Read More)

Square COO predicts monster 2013, says Starbucks is just the beginning; CNET

The mobile payments startup has tripled in size in just a year, and expects new retail partners next year, as well as a slate of new features for its signature product, Square Wallet. (Read More)

Payment Alliance International and Planet Payment Announce Strategic Partnership; Press Release

Payment Alliance International (PAI), a leader in electronic payment processing solutions and the nation’s largest Independent ATM Deployer (IAD), and Planet Payment, Inc. (UK: LSE: AIM: PPT and PPTR; USA: OTCQX: PLPM), a leading multi-currency payment and data processor, today jointly announce an agreement to roll out Bank in Your Currency™, Planet Payment’s real-time dynamic currency conversion (DCC) solution for ATMs. This innovative program will be integrated into PAI’s nationwide ATM network, improving the experience for international cardholders and facilitating the progression toward EMV or smart card transaction processing at the ATM, in line with the industry’s move in this direction. (Read More)

Federal Reserve Reports Consumer Credit for September 2012; FED

The US Federal Reserve has reported its latest G.19 Consumer Credit statistics - finding that consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.0% in the third quarter. Revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 1.5%, while nonrevolving credit increased 6.5%. In September, consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 5.0%. (Read More)

First international ATM transaction made in Myanmar; PAYMENTEYE

The first international payments card transaction was made at the first ATM installed in Myanmar using a MasterCard, as announced by Co-operative Bank LTD (CB Bank) and MasterCard Worldwide. (Read More)

Square Wallet, the Apple Store, and Uber: Software Above the Level of a Single Device; O'Rielly Radar

Back in 2003, Dave Stutz, in his parting letter to Microsoft, wrote a prescient line about the future of technology: “Useful software written above the level of the single device will command high margins for a long time to come. Stop looking over your shoulder and invent something!” Software above the level of a single device! That line stuck with me, and has been a foundation of my thinking and writing ever since, helping to shape both The Open Source Paradigm Shift and What is Web 2.0? (Read More)

First Data Releases October 2012 SpendTrend® Analysis; Press Release

First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, released its First Data SpendTrend® analysis for the full month of October 2012 compared to October 2011. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations. (Read More)

Western Union Partnership with ChinaPay Will Enable Direct RMB Payments for Universities around the World; Press Release

Western Union Business Solutions, a unit of The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), announced its plans for expanding Western Union’s partnership with ChinaPay, the online and mobile payments subsidiary of UnionPay, the bankcard association in China. (Read More)

Apple Inc. (AAPL) to Use Passbook at POS in Apple Stores; Insider Monkey

Apple Inc. has been on the cutting edge of point-of-sale technology for a little while, using its own EasyPay software to allow Apple Store customers to easily scan their cards for purchases. Now with Apple Inc. developing its Passbook mobile app, the company is now looking to  integrate Pass book with its current EasyPay system to basically allow Apple Store patrons to use their iDevices to make purchases – perhaps even the new one the customer just bought? (Read More)

Visa Estimates $109.1 Trillion in Global Commercial Spend in 2011; Press Release

Visa Inc. released the annual global Commercial Consumption Expenditure (CCE) index, which estimates that global commercial spending reached $109.1 trillion in 2011. This represents 12 percent growth from the $97.4 trillion spent in 2010 and marks the first time since Visa created the CCE in 2004 that this spending surpassed $100 trillion. (Read More)

PayPal Opens Up 'Bill Me Later' To Small-to-Medium Online Businesses; GiGaom

PayPal is enabling small and medium-sized merchants to offer Bill Me Later as a financing option for online transactions. Consumers can get no-interest financing for six months on purchases of $99 or more. The move should help small businesses by increasing order sizes and conversions. (Read More) 

Payments Platform Braintree Raises $35M From NEA, Accel To Take On PayPal And Square; TechCrunch

WAY4 Platform Powers the National Payment Switch of Bangladesh

WAY4 software from OpenWay Group is chosen as a solid technical foundation for the National Payment Switch of Bangladesh. Early in 2012 Infotech Global Pte ltd., OpenWay’s partner in Asia, signed the contract with Bangladesh Bank to carry out the implementation of the new infrastructure. The project has received funding and support from the World Bank. (Read More)

How Rakuten’s Global Expansion Began With Baby Steps in Taiwan; TECHINASIA

We’ve written a lot about Rakuten’s overseas adventures over the past year or so. The Japanese e-commerce giant now has partnerships, investments, and acquisitions peppered across the map. But of course it wasn’t always this way. (Read More)

Groupon's earnings less than expected, stock plummets; MercuryNews.com

The weak European economy contributed to lower sales growth than expected at Groupon, particularly for discretionary items such as laser hair removal and luxury hotel stays. (Read More)

EBay Not Spinning Off PayPal; CNBC

Analyst Thinks Apple Wants AuthenTec for Mobile Payments; The Mac Observer

Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um believes that Apple’s US$350 million acquisition of AuthenTec could relate to Apple’s strategy for the mobile payments market. Mr. Um told clients on Friday that he believes fingerprint sensor technology owned by authenTec could make its way to Apple’s iOS devices. (Read More)

Whoops – Square rival iZettle forced to stop accepting Visa card payments in some Nordic countries, ‘working to fix it’; TNW

European Square competitor iZettle this morning sent out an email informing users that it was forced to withdraw support for Visa card payments in Denmark, Finland and Norway, where it has a strong presence already. (Read More)

Why I Just Hired Scott Thompson, The Yahoo CEO Caught Lying On His Resume; SFGate

During the course of a proxy war with one of Yahoo's biggest shareholders, it was revealed that Thompson had, at some point in his career, lied about his educational background. He said he had a computer science degree that he did not have. He allowed this fact to remain on his official bio for years – through a tenure at PayPal and into his time with Yahoo. It was the kind of setback that you might think would be a death-blow to a once-promising career. But today, Thompson already has a job. He's the CEO of ShopRunner, an independent competitor to Amazon Prime. (Read More)

This man wants to destroy Amazon; CNN Money

Hiroshi Mikitani is not a typical Japanese CEO. He's at the head of Japan's largest -- and the world's third largest -- e-commerce company. Now he is starting a colossal offensive on Amazon's turf. (Read More)

Pinterest on Wish List of Rakuten, Japan’s Amazon; Deal Book

Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani, the chief executive of Rakuten, would buy the rest of Pinterest undefined if he could. Earlier this year, Rakuten, often dubbed the Amazon of Japan, led a $100 million investment in the social bookmarking site, at a reported $1.5 billion valuation. It was an eye-popping sum for a Web site that had no revenue and one that had also just raised money at a $200 million valuation just months before. (Read More)

Bill Me Later, eBay's credit version of PayPal, helps company's profits but exposes it to risk

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be" is a well-known warning from Shakespeare's "Hamlet." PayPal, eBay's online payment service, heeded that advice for much of its existence, charging fees for processing transactions rather than lending money that may not be repaid. But Bill Me Later, one of eBay's fastest-growing businesses, is changing that. (Read More)

Sexy Payments Startup Stripe Swipes $20M From General Catalyst, Sequoia, Thiel And More; TechCrunch

White-hot payments startup Stripe has closed a $20 million Series B round of financing, led by General Catalyst with existing A-list investors Sequoia, Peter Thiel (personally) and Elad Gil also following on. Redpoint will be coming on as a new investor along with angels Chris Dixon and Aaron Levie. (Read More)

Facebook wants to be your online bank; Fortune

Facebook Rolls Out Currency Conversion API For App Developers; AllFacebook

Facebook continues to aid application developers with its phasing out of Facebook Credits in favor of local currency, following up its introduction of revised payment terms last week with Thursday’s rollout of an application-programming interface that allows developers to convert Facebook Credits into the user’s preferred currency. (Read More)

Virtual Piggy Integrates Subscriptions into Payments System for Kids; The Street

Digital Payments: Pursuit of the Holy Grail; techcircle.in

VeriFone Systems Inc. Loses Patent Case, Has Price Target Cut By Deutsche Bank; Potential Traders

VeriFone Systems Inc. shares opened lower yesterday and stayed under the breakeven line after the maker of credit card swipe machines said that a U.S. district court gave a verdict against the company in a patent violation court case. (Read More) 

Banks Beating ISOs In Rush To Technology; ISO&Agent

Acquiring banks react more quickly than ISOs when innovation arises in the industry, a new study indicates. In fact, ISOs “are not really grasping the shift” in a marketplace becoming crowded with players ranging from Google Inc. to Square Inc., says one of the analysts who conducted the research. (Read More) 

Equens Hits 11 Million Transactions per Day on WAY4

Equens SE, the pan-European payment processor, is using the WAY4 card and merchant management platform to process 11.8 million POS and ATM clearing transactions per day, a speed milestone as compared with the 2 million transactions per day the company used to achieve in 2010. The next peak expected is 25 million transactions per day. (Read More)

Modular Payment Solutions for Parking Applications

Phoenix Arizona, June 10-13, booth #949:  Shown for the first time at the International Parking Industry Expo will be the new KSD6000 series payment terminal from Key Innovations. This PCI and EMV approved device is the latest addition to Ki’s range of secure, toughened and weather resistant terminals. Press Release

GoCardless opens up for dead simple, low-cost payments; GIGAOM

Disruptive U.K. payments startup GoCardless is rolling out its latest service to let anybody pay out or collect money in seconds undefined without paying hefty transaction fees. (Read More)

London Oyster Card Chief: NFC Not Ready for Fast-Paced Fare Payment;NFC Times

The head of London’s large Oyster card program expressed frustration with the pace of development of NFC, complaining the technology isn’t ready for London transit riders to use to pay fares. (Read More)

Groupon acquires Breadcrumb to connect with local restaurants; VB

Restaurant and hospitality point of sale startup Breadcrumb has joined the Groupon family. The Chicago-based online couponing firm has acquired the New York-based startup, Groupon reported Tuesday in a blog post. (Read More)

i2c, Inc. and KargoCard Announce Partnership to Power Prepaid, Mobile Payments and Loyalty Solutions in China; Press Release

i2c, Inc., a payment processing technology company, and KargoCard, a Shanghai-based prepaid service provider, have partnered to deliver prepaid, mobile payment and loyalty solutions to merchants in China. i2c will provide payment processing services to enable KargoCard to offer a robust suite of products within China. (Read More)

Visa and Obopay Collaborate for Near Real-Time Electronic Disbursements to Visa Prepaid Cards; Press Release

Visa Inc. and Obopay, a leading provider of mobile and instant payment solutions for market-leading brands, today announced a collaboration to enable near real-time payment solutions for disbursing electronic funds to a prepaid card. As a result of the agreement, Obopay will offer its partners the ability to disburse funds from their corporate account directly onto a Visa prepaid card which they can provide to a payee. (Read More)

Former PayPal president Thompson falls on his own CV at Yahoo!; finextra

Yahoo! chief executive Scott Thompson, hired from PayPal to turn around the fortunes of the once-giant dotcom company, has been shown the door after misrepresenting his academic qualifications on his CV. (Read More)

Yahoo May Get Out Of Paying A Huge Severance To Former CEO Scott Thompson; Business Insider

Yahoo will claim that the departure of its now former CEO Scott Thompson is due to cause, superficially citing the inaccurate information on his resume, Kara Swisher at AllThingsD reports. (Read More)

Financing options proliferate in payments sphere; The Green Sheet

The past four years have been challenging for small-business owners, including ISOs and their clients. As banks tightened credit standards, even the strongest companies were forced to seek new funding alternatives or risk going out of business. The result has been an onslaught of new companies and financing tools geared specifically to the merchant acquiring space. (Read More)

HSBC moves to contactless as standard on all UK-issued debit cards; finextra

HSBC is to join Barclays Bank by introducing contactless technology as a standard feature on all new debit cards in circulation. (Read More)

The future of money: Smartphone swiping in the mobile age; PEW Research

Tech experts believe that by 2020 many consumers will have embraced smart-device swiping for purchases, but some suspect financial companies will slow down the trend. The experts also think credit cards and cash will survive for use by some types of consumers and because of security concerns and a desire for anonymity. (Read More)

Yankee Group: NFC is not the next 'Betamax'; Fierce Mobile Content

Despite surging momentum behind rival mobile payment technologies, Near Field Communications-based m-commerce services remain poised for significant growth over the next several years according to research firm Yankee Group, which forecasts NFC-enabled transaction values will exceed $355 billion worldwide by 2016. (Read More)

The trouble with NFC: it needs cooperation to succeed; Venture Beat

About Chirpify: Where Tweets become transactions; Press Release

Costco Self-Checkout Trial Setback After Store Losses; Storefront Backtalk

A two-year-old experiment at Costco to try self-checkout in a handful of stores has not gone well, with at least one Costco in Idaho pulling the systems out after findingundefinedand attributing entirely to self-checkoutundefineda $60,000 inventory loss in six months, said a Costco management source. (Read More)

Is VeriFone Hiding Weakness? The Motely Fool

VeriFone Systems carries $2.0 billion of goodwill and other intangibles on its balance sheet. Sometimes goodwill, especially when it's excessive, can foreshadow problems down the road. Could this be the case with VeriFone? (Read More)

Facebook Credits: The Gaming Currency of the Future; EContent

Nearly any Facebook user can expand his game playing experience on the social networking site simply by purchasing Facebook Credits: unlocking special weapons to help in the quest to take back the neighborhood in Digital Chocolate's Zombie Lane, beefing up culinary creations on Zynga's Café World, or unveil clues to aid in your search for hidden objects on Zynga's Hidden Chronicles.  (Read More)

PayPal seeks permit to process payments in China; SFGate

PayPal wants to be the first foreign operator with a license to process electronic payments in China, allowing it to challenge Chinese companies including Alipay. PayPal filed an application to the People's Bank of China late last year. (Read More)

Swiff Targets Banks With Its Mobile POS Solution; BetaKit

Swiff, which like Square and PayPal Here employs a mobile card reader dongle to allow merchants to accept card-based payments on the go, bills its system as a POS replacement system, but unlike PayPal and Square, it’s not targeting merchants directly; instead, Swiff is partnering with banks and financial institutions to start where business owners are already having their money managed. (Read More)

PayPal versus Alipay in China; eCOMERCE BYTES

VeriFone Bringing Lottery to Card Payment Screens; Press Release

Taxis and Gas Pumps are Ideal Venues for Digital Media-Enabled Lottery Ticket Sales and Printing (Read More)

Facebook: Is it Worth $100B? Or More?? Forbes

SharePost currently pegs Facebook valution at $100B, making it one of the top five US IPOs of all times.  The recent performance of Yelp’s IPO illustrates what could be unprecedented interest in the stock.(Read More)

PayPal debuts in bars, restaurants with TabbedOut integration; GIGAOM

PayPal, the online payment giant, has been working its way into physical stores and is now rolling out as a payment option in more than 2,000 Home Depot locations. The eBay division isn’t just targeting retail, however. It’s also making its debut in restaurants and bars with a new partnership with Tabbedout, an Austin, Texas start-up that lets people pay their tabs using an app. (Read More)

Apple Granted iWallet Patent For NFC Payments; GEEKSAILOR

Why Banks Will Continue To Lose Online Payment Market Share To Tech; Seeking Alpha

ATMs Of The Near Future Will Offer More Than Cash; ISO & Agent

PayPal exec woos big retailers with pricing, data; REUTERS

Accel, SV Angel, Y Combinator Put $1.5M In Online Bank Payments Platform GoCardless; Techcrunch

Self-Checkout Footprints Get Smaller For Retail; The Point of Sale News

PayPal Says It’s Full Speed Ahead on Mobile Payments After President Resigns; All Things D

WePay: The Online Payment Start-Up Behind Occupy Wall Street; Forbes

Amazon Pulls Plug on PayPhrase Service; Mashable Tech

Amazon is pulling the plug on its PayPhrase program, which was originally set up so you can check out of the online retailer faster. (Read More)

POS Terminals: On the Cusp of Change; Press Release

Why “Want” & “Own” might be the most important Actions coming to Facebook; VentureBeat

card.io Launches Payments App, Mobile Payments SDK; Press Release

NACHA Launches ACH Messaging Campaign and Microsite to Provide Resources and Encourage Understanding of ACH Network and Payments; Press Release

NCR unveils cloud-based point of sale for independent retailers at NRF 2012; Press Release

Will Yahoo’s new CEO move the company toward ecommerce? Brafton

Analysis: U.S. casinos, vendors eye big online-poker stakes; Reuters

EU plans next move as Google, Visa jostle for 'eMoney'; EurActiv

Fiserv Slaps Rival FIS with a Lawsuit Alleging Infringement of Three Payments Patents; Digital Transactions

PayPal Increases Fees for International Mass Payment Feature; eCOMMERCE BYTES

SEPA moving forward incrementally; The Green Sheet

First Data launches new online payment gateway; Banking Business Reveiw

In The Messy NFC Battle, Consumers Are The Biggest Losers; FAST COMPANY

Intel Jumps On The NFC Bandwagon With New Deal; WebProNews

Dwolla Waives 25-Cent Fee for Transactions under $10; CUinsights

Acculynk and Major E-Commerce Merchants Form International Internet PIN Acceptance Consortium; Press Release

Xsolla Partners With SafetyPay To Monetize Online Gaming And Social Networks; Press Release

High Bank Fees Give Wal-Mart a Money Aisle; The New York Times

Americans say they are fed up with banks. They are protesting on Wall Street and raising a ruckus over outsize fees. Now there is a surprising beneficiary: Wal-Mart. (Read More) 

Nokia to bear NFC guns in US, create its own mobile wallet? ENGADGET

Nokia is still champing at the bit when it comes to creating the so-called three horse race, but the Finnish mainstay has another three word secret weapon up its sleeve: NFC. (Read More) 

Amex looking for deals in Silicon Valley; Reuters

American Express Co is looking for acquisitions and other deals in Silicon Valley to help the credit card giant expand more in digital commerce. (Read More)

Evaluating the potential of immediate funds transfer for general-purpose payments in the United States; Chicago Fed Letter

Immediate funds transfer (IFT) is a convenient, certain, secure, and low-cost means of electronically transferring money between bank accounts with no or minimal delay in receivers’ receipt and use of funds. Yet IFT is not widely available in the U.S. This article summarizes discussions on the potential for IFT in the U.S. held at the Symposium on Immediate Funds Transfer for General-Purpose Payments, sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, on September 7, 2011. (Read More)

With Numbers up, Visa Execs Touch on Strategies to Keep Network Dominant; Digital Transactions

Confirming other findings that payment card usage is picking up in the U.S., Visa Inc.’s credit and debit card dollar volume rose 9% in the network’s fourth fiscal 2011 quarter ended Sept. 30 to $516 billion from $474 billion a year earlier. Payment transactions increased 7.3% to 10.5 billion. (Read More)

VeriFone Completes Acquisition of Hypercom Corporation; Press Release

VeriFone Systems, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) today announced the completion of its acquisition of Hypercom Corporation. In connection with the closing, VeriFone and Hypercom reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, following which Hypercom divested its U.S. payment systems business to The Gores Group, LLC. (Read More)

Twitter Founder Pushes Square’s Payment Device Into Wal-Mart; Bloomberg Businessweek

Square Inc., the mobile payments company created by Twitter Inc. co-founder Jack Dorsey, said its credit-card reader for smartphones will be available in Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s locations nationwide, boosting the number of retail outlets where it is sold to more than 9,000. (Read More) 

Motorola launches tablet that's strictly business; Los Angeles Times/Technology

Motorola Solutions launched the ET1 Enterprise Tablet, a digital device aimed at retailers. The tablet comes with a bar-code scanner, allows credit card swiping and is password protected so it can be shared by store employees. (Read More)

Citi rounds on Isis, urges other banks to join Google Wallet; Finextra 

Citibank has contrasted Google's open platform approach to mobile payments with the gatekeeper role adopted by the Isis consortium, complaining that the telcos are hampering the development of NFC to the detriment of other market participants. (Read More)

Mobile POS's Single Point Of Failure Is Wi-Fi; StorefrontBacktalk 

Just when you thought you had figured out how to deploy in-store mobile devices, something comes along to remind you that it's not that simple. (Read More)

eBay says that its PayPal division expects to hit $4.7 billion in total payment volume (TPV) of digital goods in 2011. Mashable Business

The projection, announced at eBay’s X.commerce Innovate developers conference, would be a significant increase in transactions for digital goods undefined up 28% from 2010, when digital goods accounted for a TPV of $3.4 billion. (Read More)

Harland Financial Solutions and Harland Clarke Launch P2P Payment Network; Press Release

Recognizing the need for financial institutions to meet increasing demand for person-to-person (P2P) electronic payments, Harland Financial Solutions and Harland Clarke have collaborated to launch their own P2P payment network, Direct Payment Exchange. As part of the launch, they are introducing a complimentary charter membership program for financial institutions. (Read More)

World's first everyday cardless bank to launch 1st Oct. Press Release

As of 1st October, Movenbank, the world's first everyday cardless bank, will begin to "alpha test" its services with a select few members of the public. The launch of Movenbank was announced by its founder and chairman, Brett King, at the SIBOS Innotribe conference in Toronto last week. It is a completely new model of bank that will operate entirely online embracing mobile and social technology. (Read More)

Facing up to the competition; Consult Hyperion Blog

If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world, so it figures that the social networking giant is trying to develop its own currency - Facebook Credits. (Read More)

How New Payment Options Can Drive Revenue; The New York Times

Wal-Mart recently made business news headlines by unveiling a layaway purchase option for customers. This once-common practice involves retailers placing merchandise aside after a customer makes a down payment (typically 10 to 20% of full price). Additional payments are made over time, and once paid in full, the buyer takes possession. (Read More)

American Express Buys Virtual Currency Monetization Platform Sometrics For $30M; TechCrunch

Exclusive: In a push to boost its payments platform for the gaming industry, American Express, has acquired virtual currency platform and in-game payments provider Sometrics. (Read More)

The Ritz London Installs China UnionPay Terminals; ASIATravelTips.com

The Ritz London, one of the world’s most iconic five-star luxury hotels, has installed China UnionPay terminals, China’s largest electronic-payment network. (Read More)

TSYS Extends Processing Services Agreement with Clearent; Press Release

TSYS (NYSE: TSS) announced that it has signed a long-term agreement with Clearent, LLC, to continue their current and well established merchant services processing relationship. (Read More)

Bill.com Launches Printed Invoice Mailing Service, Expands Breadth of Online Receivables Offering; Press Release

Company Breaks New Ground in Electronic Invoicing by Bridging the Gap Between Online and Offline Billing for SMBs and CPAs. (Read More)

RIM waits on carrier plans for NFC with new BlackBerry line: FierceWireless

Research In Motion added Near Field Communications capabilities to its new BlackBerry Bold models, which will go on sale later this month, but is waiting on carriers to flesh out NFC plans for mobile payments. U.S. carriers that are launching the Bold conspicuously avoided mentioning NFC in their press releases trumpeting the device. (Read More)

How a Google-Motorola Combo Could Be ‘Good News’for NFC in the U.S.; DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS

At first glance, the nascent mobile-payments business doesn’t seem to be the major driver of Google Inc.’s $12.5 billion cash acquisition of cell-phone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. The deal, however, could spur payments using near-field communications (NFC) technology as software companies, phone manufacturers, and mobile-communications software companies jockey for position, observers say. (Read More)

Jwaala and eWise Partner to Offer New Payment Solution to Members of MACU; Press Release

Online banking solution provider, Jwaala, and payments solution provider, eWise, have partnered to offer a new online payment alternative for credit union members, merchants, and billers. Through this partnership, the Secure Vault Payments solution has been integrated into Jwaala’s Better Online Banking platform (BOB) allowing users to make payments to online merchants and billers through simple, secure and immediate ACH transactions. (Read More)

Bank of Internet Launches a Person-to-Person Payment Service That Eliminates the Hassles of Checks and Cash; Press Release

Bank of Internet USA (NASDAQ: BOFI) announced today it has expanded its product offerings with the launch of a new innovative service: Popmoney, a person-to-person payment service that eliminates the hassles of checks and cash. (Read More)

Element Express Processing Platform Named a 2011 Best Channel Product By Business Solutions Magazine

ISVs Recognize the Element Express Processing Platform as an Industry-Leading Payments Engine for its Feature-Rich Functionality, Ease of Integration and Seamless Upgrades. (Read More)

eBay and PayPal Open Registration to Developer Program Conference; eCOMMERCE BYTES

eBay and PayPal opened registration for their Innovate developers conference on Wednesday. eBay had canceled its own Developers Conference, scheduled to take place June 7 - 9, 2011, and decided to merge it with PayPal's X Innovate Developers Conference in October under a new name, X.commerce Innovate. (Read More)

Art That Begs to Be Touched; The New York Times

Most mornings, the Museum of Modern Art is as crowded as a Midtown subway station. So it didn’t seem all that odd to witness two middle-school students, Ariel Rogiers, 13 and Javonna Cato, 12, from the Robert F. Kennedy School on the Upper East Side, lining up recently on the museum’s third floor to check the balances on their MetroCards. (Read More)

Ceridian Stored Value Solutions (SVS) and Twitpay Offer Innovative Social Commerce Solution; Press Release

Ceridian Stored Value Solutions (SVS) and Twitpay partner to offer pioneering technology and a seamless social commerce solution. With Twitpay, SVS clients will now have the opportunity to define a social media relationship that will benefit both the merchant and the consumer with real-time offers. Twitpay allows for easy, secure financial transactions within social networks like Twitter through a simple retweet/repost of the offer. (Read More)

Prospects Brighten for Same-Day ACH As Software Emerges And NACHA Eyes Rules; Digital Transactions

Faster clearing and settlement of automated clearing house transactions, hampered by a host of issues and limitations, could be picking up some momentum, albeit slowly. Software is emerging to allow both large and small financial institutions to take advantage of a nearly 1-year-old Federal Reserve service that clears transactions on the same day they are entered. (Read More)

PayPal Enables Peer-to-Peer Payments on Android With NFC; The Wall Street Journal

PayPal has doubled its mobile payments projections to $3 billion this year, and is investing heavily in new ways to make it easy to pay with the phone. (Read More)

First Data Releases June 2011 SpendTrend; Press Release

First Data has released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of June 2011 compared to June 2010. (Read More)

FFIEC Releases Supplemental Guidance on Internet Banking Authentication; Press Release

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today issued a supplement to the Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment guidance, issued in October 2005. The purpose of the supplement is to reinforce the risk-management framework described in the original guidance and update the FFIEC member agencies' supervisory expectations regarding customer authentication, layered security, and other controls in the increasingly hostile online environment. (Read More)

BillMyParents.com Traffic Spikes to 600,000 Unique Visitors; netbanker

If you want to attract customers between the ages of 12 to 21+, you could not have a better name than BillMyParents. But living up to that promise, not to mention appealing to parents, is a little trickier. (Read More)

Accel Puts $34 Million In Online Payments Platform Braintree; TechCrunch

It’s no secret that Accel is making major investments in the online payments space, funding both Wonga and e-payments company Yapstone. And today the venture firm is announcing a $34 million Series A investment in Chicago-based online payments company Braintree. Accel partner Ryan Sweeney will be joining Braintree’s board. (Read More)

Group files FTC complaint over Facebook Credits; The Wall Street Journal

A consumer-advocacy group said Wednesday it has filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over Facebook Inc.’s virtual currency, called Facebook Credits, arguing that the rules for its payments system are anticompetitive. (Read More)

Mexico Banking Leader BBVA Bancomer Orders 10,000+ Hypercom Optimum Payment Systems; Press Release

Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) today announced that Mexico’s largest bank, BBVA Bancomer, has selected and will deploy more than 10,000 Optimum M4230 mobile payment systems to its merchant customers. Hypercom’s M4230 replaces an incumbent provider’s product and was selected in head-to-head competition with other global payment providers. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Read More) 

New Wal-Mart Kiosks Present Subtle, But Real, Threat to Banks; American Banker

The retailer next week will begin rolling out automated versions of its MoneyCenter offices, which provide a range of financial services to shoppers. (Read More) 

SafetyPay Selected By BorderJump as Preferred Payment Solution for Cross Border Transactions; Press Release

SafetyPay™, a secure payment facilitator benefiting online shoppers, merchants and banks worldwide, announces its partnership with Tenn.-based BorderJump. BorderJump eliminates the complexities of cross border ecommerce through an integrated platform handling duty calculation, shipping & logistics, international payments and marketing. SafetyPay is exhibiting with BorderJump at the 2011 IRCE in San Diego at booth #1739, where representatives from both organizations will be available for demonstrations and/or meetings. (Read More)

SHEETZ INC. USES ESQ’S ANALYZER PRODUCTS TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA - May 31, 2011 – Sheetz Inc. operates 391 convenience stores in a six-state area. At peak times, these locations can maximize the company’s network traffic into their servers at 15 transactions per second. The Information Technology (IT) management team at Sheetz recognized the need for a solution that would allow them to get in front of situations that had the potential to negatively impact business operations. IT wanted to eliminate surprises and become more consultative in the way they provided support. Their desire for better monitoring and alerting tools led them to ESQ for a solution. (Read More)

VeriFone to Acquire South Africa Payments Solutions Provider; Press Release

CSC is Market Leader in Region; Provides Base to Grow VeriFone’s Africa Business (Read More)

Merchant Acquiring, an Update: EMV, Interchange, and Mobile Payments; Press Release

As the merchant acquiring industry rebounds, industry executives seek to competitively position themselves in the years to come. (Read More)

Heartland Payment Systems Introduces Tip Manager to Assist Restaurateurs with Tip Distribution and Management; Press Release

Heartland Payment Systems® (NYSE: HPY), one of the nation's largest payments processors, launches Heartland Tip Manager, a new service that offers restaurateurs a way to streamline tip distribution management. Tip Manager also integrates payroll data, credit card sales and credit card tip data from point-of-sale (POS) system. (Read More)

VeriFone and Hypercom Comment on U.S. Department of Justice Civil Complaint; Press Release

Visa Unveils Next Generation Electronic Payments and Services; Press Release

Hypercom Introduces Next Generation Network Technology for ISOs; Press Release

RocketPay LLC to offer Planet Payment’s Multi-Currency Pricing Service; Press Release

Sony Says PlayStation Hacker Got Personal Data; The New York Times

Christopher Miller’s PlayStation Portable game console had been broken for most of two years. So when his parents got him a new one for his 25th birthday on April 18, he was elated undefined but only briefly. (Read More)

Venmo: Fighting the good fight against the online payment giants: CNNMoney

In each corner of the startup world there's a Venmo for every Paypal -- a little engine that could, and wants to, badly. (Read More) 

EBillme Takes a Dive into the E-Gift Card Pool; Digital Transactions

ModaSolutions Corp.’s eBillme bills itself as the cash-based way to pay for online purchases, but the company has put a new twist on its services: electronic gift cards. EBillme this week added a dozen new brands to the approximately 50 merchant brands it was already offering online. (Read More)

Apple Stores Now Stocking Square Card Readers; skatter tech

Square first made a debut last year and began revolutionizing mobile payments. For those unfamiliar, this little card reader paired with an Android or iOS app lets anyone with a compatible smart phone accept credit card transactions on the go. (Read More)

New: PayPal Business Payments – $0.50 flat fee online payments; Fresh Books

PayPal Business Payments is a PayPal pilot program for businesses only in the United States. (Read More)

Striata and Payments Gateway Partner to Securely Deliver Property Tax Bills Electronically; Press Release

Payments Gateway’s partnership with Striata combines powerful electronic payment and presentment solutions with email billing and secure document delivery, enabling customers to receive and pay their bills electronically and securely. (Read More)

Hypercom Brings EMV Card Payment to Dubai’s Metro; Press Release

Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) today announced that it has completed the full EMV certification of all of its Artema Modular self-service  payment systems and Artema Compact countertop terminals across 49 Dubai Metro stations to speed ticketing for four million passengers per month.  The EMV certification means that travelers on Dubai’s urban railway network will benefit from secure and convenient payment using their chip and PIN cards. (Read More)

Secure Vault Payments Will Go Mobile Later This Year with Bar Codes, Exec Says; Digital Transactions

Secure Vault Payments will announce a mobile application next month for the U.S. market, a top executive with the online-payments service tells Digital Transactions News. The mobile application, which will work on Apple, Android, and BlackBerry smart-phone systems, will start with a pilot in the fall and be in commercial production by the end of the year, projects Richard Brierley-Jones, executive vice president at eWise Systems USA Inc., the Denver-based technology company that switches transactions for Secure Vault Payments. (Read More)

J.P. Morgan's Order-To-Pay Network Crosses 100,000 Supplier Threshold as More Businesses Automate Accounts Payable Processes; Press Release

New Functionality Helps Suppliers More Easily Connect to Growing Settlement Network without Implementation Costs (Read More)

Cashless Payments Go Mainstream In Unattended POS Markets; Vending Times

USA Technologies, USAT, Michael Lawlor, cashless vending, cashless payment, credit card usage, debit card usage, video game, AMI Entertainment Network, juke box, snack vending, micropayments, vending business, vending machine (Read More)

On Its First Birthday, WePay Celebrates As Engagement Quintuples In Last 90 Days; TechCrunch

Almost exactly one year ago (their birthday is tomorrow), WePay launched its group payment platform to the public. The goal was simple: give people an easy way to divvy up bills, member dues, and other common transactions with an integrated payment system and easy reminders to nudge those fraternity members who haven’t paid their dues yet. The service is also handy for selling tickets and collecting donations. (Read More)

Jack Henry & Associates Expands Internet Banking Solutions; Press Release

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), a leading provider of computer systems and electronic payment solutions primarily for financial services organizations, today formally announced the availability of My NetTeller, its solution that enables accountholders to create customized dashboard-style landing pages of their most commonly used online banking functions. The company also provided an update on its ongoing success with OurCashFlow™, the online financial management (OFM) solution that is fully integrated with NetTeller Online Banking™ platform. (Read More)

Survey: Adoption of e-Billing in the U.S.; eeiplatform

NACHA CEBP and PayItGreen quantified the size of the U.S. e-Billing(electric billing) market, indicating that a total of 5.1 billion electric bills were delivered in 2010 alone. However, some consumers are moving to adopt electric bills more slowly than anticipated. NACHA and PayItGreen suggests that e-Billing is gaining momentum across business industries with more billers expected to come online in 2011 and 2012. (Read More)

Banks shouldn’t ignore alternative payments; Mobile Commerce Daily

When one thinks of innovation in the retail payments space, alternative payments are definitely top of mind. (Read More)

Zynga challenges Facebook with virtual currency; StrategyEye

Zynga is rolling out its own virtual currency, zCoins, just months before it becomes mandatory for all social games on Facebook to use Facebook Credits. (Read More)

Why the Fed needs to get its act together on payments; Reuters: Felix salmon

I’ve known Josh Reich, BankSimple’s CEO, for a while now, but it’s only today that I managed to sit down and have a serious conversation with CFO Shamir Karkal. He’s a very interesting guy undefined go check out his latest blog entry on the rise of Credits and you’ll see what I mean. Our discussion today was largely about payments, an area where BankSimple stands out starkly from the mass of banks and credit unions by being in favor of lower debit interchange fees. (Read More)

CASHCONNECT ATM NETWORK RESISTS TREND TO INCREASE ATM FEES

With several independent ATM deployers recently hiking their ATM fees, leading ATM provider, BANKTECH has confirmed its CashConnect ATM Network will remain at $2.00 per withdrawal. (Read More)

MoneyGram, Iris Wireless and Globe Telecom Partner to Provide Mobile Top-Up to Philippines; Press Release

U.S. consumers can purchase airtime credits for loved ones in the Philippines at any MoneyGram ExpressPayment® agent location. (Read More)

SPEEDING UP PERSON-TO-PERSON PAYMENTS WITH NEW VISA SERVICE; Press Release

A new Visa person-to-person payments service will transform how Visa cards are used – from being not only the best way to pay, but also the best way to receive payments quickly. (Read More)

Arcos Dorados Selects VeriFone PAYware Merchant for Latin America McDonald’s Restaurant Operations; Press Release

Will Utilize the VeriFone Hosted Payment Services for POS Transactions and Also Provide Restaurants with VeriFone Card Acceptance Systems (Read More)

The TIO Network Surpasses 58,000 Physical Location End-points through Strategic Alliance with MoneyGram International; Digital Journal

Agreement adds over 35,000 location endpoints where a TIO bill payment can be originated. (Read More)

ATMIA establishes a presence in Washington as organization becomes politically active; Press Release

The ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) will establish a permanent presence in the nation's capital, a move that reflects the organization's decision to become politically active to protect its livelihood. (Read More)

Banks Launch Integrated Mobile Banking Solution from First Data; Press Release

With the First Data Mobile Manager – mBanking solution, financial institutions can rapidly implement mobile banking with robust functionality. This solution integrates seamlessly with First Data’s FundsXpress online banking platform, enabling a consistent experience with the same capabilities as online banking on a mobile device, and only one set of logon credentials to manage. (Read More)

Banks Must Retool Their Payments Businesses in Wake of Financial Crisis and Regulatory Changes, Says New Report by The Boston Consulting Group; Press Release

Government Regulation, Tighter Competition, and Shifting Customer Demands Have Taken a Toll on Revenues and Profits; Forging Optimal Business and Operating Models Is Key to Success, BCG Says (Read More)

Mobile Money Transfer & Remittances; Press Release

Markets, Forecasts & Vendor Strategies 2011-2015 (Read More)

The Mercator Map of India: An Overview of the Subcontinent's Payments Market; Report

With 2.97 million square kilometers of land and 1.17 billion people, it is no surprise that the Indian subcontinent is drawing a lot of interest from payment companies worldwide. (Read More)

InComm Gains Momentum in Grocery Channel; Press Release

Top Tier Product Partners and Diversity of Program Offerings, Drivers for Growth (Read More)

Acculynk Bringing PaySecure to the Mobile Channel; Press Release

PaySecure, the first software-only service for PIN debit payments on the Internet, will be available on mobile phones in Q1 (Read More)

SAP Enables New Approach to Billing for Telecommunications Industry; Press Release

Integrated Billing Solution Enables Rapid Innovation and New Services Monetization (Read More)

Leveraging ATMs for the ‘Bank of Mom and Dad’; BAI Banking Strategies

ATMs can be used to facilitate small-dollar remittances and loans and provide additional fee income for banks, according to Privier’s Bill Drevant. (Read More)

First Data Positions for Payments Industry’s Changing Landscape; Press Release

Regulatory changes expected to transform the payments marketplace; Company consolidates operations and management of its business (Read More)

The Future of Payments: 6 Startups Putting Boston on the Map; BostInnovation

2010 was an exciting year for the payments industry. A sector plagued with old piping and pantsuits enjoyed a big breath of fresh air from entrepreneurs like Jack Dorsey and the founders of Blippy. (Read More)

ATMIA (www.atmia.com) has announced the winners of its 2010 Outstanding Service Awards in the United States. Press Release

“2010 was an exceptionally challenging year in the US ATM market, with the Harkin Amendment threatening a wholly unrealistic and potentially fatal cap on ATM fees, coupled with a reduction in crucial interchange revenue,” commented Mike Lee, ATMIA’s CEO. “The industry turbulence which resulted from these measures threw up some outstanding leaders who stood out above the crowd and helped steer us through stormy waters.” (Read More)

A Closer Look at Fed Payments Study Unveils Some Surprises; Digital Transactions

A major Federal Reserve payments study released last week grabbed headlines for documenting a dramatic three-year increase in electronic transactions, but a closer examination this week by officials who worked on the report highlights a number of subsidiary trends in such key areas as remote deposit capture, person-to-person payments, and credit cards. (Read More)

Visa Europe launches new contactless payment solution for London’s black cabs; Press Release

London, 8th December, 2010 - Paying for a black cab will be quicker and easier thanks to a launch of new contactless card payment systems by Visa Europe and the Mayor of London. (Read More)

Ingenico Gets EU1.44 Billion Offer From Undisclosed Buyer; Bloomberg Businessweek

Ingenico SA, the world’s largest maker of payment terminals, got a 1.44 billion-euro ($1.9 billion) offer from an undisclosed buyer. (Read More)

Insights on Payment Innovation from Harvard Business School’s 16th Annual Cyberposium; cataLyst code

This year’s theme was Battle of the Platforms (a subject near and dear to our hearts here at MPD). http://www.cyberposium.com/ The conference usually draws about 600 people and this year was no exception, in spite of what was a gorgeous November Saturday afternoon. (Read More)

China Telecom, Bank of China and UnionPay Launch New Mobile Payment Service

China Telecom, China UnionPay (CUP) and Bank of China (BOC) have launched a new mobile payment service, the E Surfing Great Wall Card in Ningbo, Zhejiang. (Read More)

Visa Develops Electronic Payment Solution Using UIDAI Platform; SMR

Designed especially for the Un-Banked and Under-Banked Aadhaar Holders Mumbai, Visa, a leading global electronic payments technology company has developed a unique payment solution, using the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) platform. (Read More)

VeriFone and RSA to Deliver Comprehensive End-to-End Payment Card Security Service; Press Release

Strategic Partnership to Market VeriFone’s VeriShield Protect and RSA SafeProxy™ Architecture from EMC’s Security Division as All-Encompassing Solution Framework to Protect Data In-flight and At-Rest (Read More)

VeriFone and Gemalto Forge Strategic Partnership; Press Release

Companies will jointly pursue opportunities to accelerate EMV payment adoption; Exclusive discussions for VeriFone to acquire Gemalto POS solutions business; Gemalto to be VeriFone’s preferred M2M wireless module supplier. (Read More)

ATM Wireless Provider Continues Expansion, Promotes New General Manager; ATMIA

Chris Baird Promoted as General Manager of OptConnect (Read More)

ATMs of the Future Boast Sleek Consoles; FAST COMPANY

The boxy frame, the greasy touch screens, the seemingly endless series of bleeps and bloops required to produce your cash -- there's not much to love about the modern ATM. (Read More)

VeriFone and Gemalto Forge Strategic Partnership; PYMNTS.COM

The two companies will jointly pursue new chip card solutions based on the global EMV payment standard, particularly as U.S. retailers and card networks increasingly acknowledge chip card and contactless technologies as a core component of a comprehensive security infrastructure. (Read More)

Redefining the Point of Sale; PYMNTS.COM

Since the inception of payments, point-of-sale (POS) has been part of the vocabulary. The term conjures up images of a consumer at a store checkout counter and swiping a card or handing it to a clerk. (Read More)

Hypercom Provides Update on Rejection of Unsolicited, Non-Binding Proposal from Verifone; The Wall Street Journal

Hypercom Corporation, the high security electronic payment and digital transactions solutions provider, today announced that it has voluntarily withdrawn its lawsuit against VeriFone Systems, Inc. (Read More)

TSYS Signs Agreement with Cynergy Data; Press Release

TSYS Acquiring Solutions today announced that it has signed a contract to expand its services with Cynergy Data to serve as the preferred provider of authorization, settlement and dispute resolution services for the New York-based company. As a market leader in the payments industry since 1995 with more than 120,000 merchants, processing in excess of $13 billion annually, Cynergy will leverage TSYS’ proven solutions to continue to capture additional market share through its recent and future acquisitions. (Read More)

Domino’s Pizza Chooses ACI Worldwide for Centralized Payment Processing; Press Release

Solution Delivers Efficiency and Flexibility to Respond to Market Demands, Improves Customer Service (Read More)

City of Palo Alto and City of Lamar are Bringing in the Bling! Press Release

California and Colorado Municipalities Now Accept Bling Nation as a Form of Payment  (Read More)

VeriFone Acquires End-to-End Encryption Leader Semtek; The Wall Street Journal

Converts Investment into Acquisition to Accelerate Market Delivery. (Read More)

Hypercom Rolls out EFTSec 2.0 Point-to-Point Encryption in the United States; No Per-Transaction Fees; HYPERCOM Press Release

Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) today announced the immediate availability of its HyperSafe� Secure EFTSec Server� 2.0 point-to-point payment data encryption system for processors and ISOs supporting Tier 4 merchants using Optimum T4200 countertop and M4200 mobile payment terminals in the United States. (Read More)

An End to 'Empty Envelope' Fraud? Bank Info Security

“It's been nearly six years since the passage of Check 21, the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act. Yet, the industry has not fully embraced all of the reform's benefits.” Tracy Kitten (Read More)

STAR® Network unveils STAR CertiFlash™; STAR Press Release

New point-of-sale solution combats debit card fraud with advanced, multi-layered security features. (Read More)

High Tech Export Potential for Australia in Middle East/India and Asian Markets

Transaction processing is rapidly becoming a successful high tech export for Australia in markets where secure and reliable processing is required for point-of-sale terminals (POS) and Automatic Teller Machines (ATM). (Read more)

First Data’s Alliance with BofA Helps Fuel Surge in Transactions: Digital Transactions

Boosted by its big new merchant alliance with Bank of America Corp., First Data Corp.’s transaction count surged 41% in the second quarter, the leading payment processor reported Tuesday. (Read More)

Walk a mile with my shoehorn: Digital Money Blog

There's a wonderful variety of new payment systems out there, one of the reasons why I love this business so much. A good example is FaceCash: the payment is made using a barcode on a mobile screen (yet another case of innovators not waiting for operators to get their NFC act together) and the POS displays the picture of the payer so that the merchant can authenticate them. And it's cheap. (Read More)

Bunker-busting ATM attacks show security holes; Source: Yahoo Finance

A hacker has discovered a way to force ATMs to disgorge their cash by hijacking the computers inside them. (Read More)

ProPay Launches ProtectPay Online Virtual Terminal; Source: PropAY

ProtectPay Online Virtual Terminal Provides Merchants with a Secure Payment Option and Reduction of PCI Obligations (Read More)

TIO Networks Press Release

TIO has been selected as one of 3 companies to provide a network of payment locations to assist Florida Turnpike in the transition to All Electronic Tolling (AET) in the State of Florida. (Read More)

Square’s Founder Says the Main Act Is About To Begin; Source: Digital Transactions

After taking a time out in June to resolve problems ranging from a parts shortage to merchant underwriting, the new payment service Square Inc. is about to commercially distribute its cube-shaped card readers for smart phones. Chief executive officer Jack Dorsey, co-founder of the Twitter social network, told attendees at the MidWest Acquiring Association’s annual conference on Wednesday that the release would be “soon,” as in this summer, though that was as far as he was willing to go. “We don’t have an exact date,” he told Digital Transactions News after his speech in Schaumburg, Ill. (Read More)

A New Report from Aite Group: A Merchant Acquiring Update

Three overriding concerns weigh on the merchant acquiring industry today: regulation, economics, and technology. (Read More)

Cardtronics Delivers Notice of Redemption of $100.0 Million Senior Subordinated Notes -- Series B Due 2013; Source: Cardtronics

Cardtronics, Inc. (Nasdaq:CATM), the world's largest non-bank owner of ATMs, announced today that it has initiated a full redemption of its $100.0 million 9.25% Senior Subordinated Notes -- Series B due in 2013 (the "Series B Notes"). The Series B Notes will be redeemed on August 20, 2010, at a redemption price of 102.313% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest through August 20, 2010. The Notice of Redemption for the Series B Notes was sent to all registered holders on July 21, 2010. (Read More)

ATM Industry Statement on Black Hat Briefing

Sioux Falls, SD, USA -     The ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) (www.atmia.com), a global non-profit trade association with over 1750 members in 50 countries, today expressed its confidence in the industry’s software and other critical systems, which are subject to robust governance, standards and industry best practices. The association reaffirmed this standpoint after a recent demonstration by ethical hacker and security professional Barnaby Jack, which indicated that certain ATMs can be “jackpotted”. (Read more)

The Acquiring Industry Stays on Its Top-Heavy Course; Source: Digital Transactions

The rich in merchant-acquiring market share got richer last year, but nearly everyone got a little poorer when same-store sales are the measure, according to the latest annual study of the acquiring industry by Mercator Advisory Group Inc. (Read More)

Australian Transaction Processor reaches milestone with Third Party Processor accreditation from MasterCard and Visa

Innovative Australian company, EFTEX, has significantly enhanced its status as one of the most highly regarded transaction processors in the market place by achieving Third Party Processor accreditation with both major international card schemes, MasterCard and Visa. (Read more)

US Merchant Acquiring 2010: Consolidation at the Top; Source: Mercator Advisory Group

Mercator's annual US Merchant Acquiring analysis (Read More)

Heartland Payment Systems® Installs E3™ Terminals at 1,020 Merchants since May 24 Launch of Its End-to-End Encryption Solution; Source: Heartland payment Systems

Business owners take action to protect cardholder data, embrace ease of use of Heartland’s end-to-end-encryption terminals, no-processing-fee approach to security and warranty (Read More)

California welfare cards can be used in many casino ATMs; Source: The Los Angeles Times

Times review finds that in more than half of the state's casinos and gaming rooms, welfare recipients can get cash from state-issued EBT cards. Officials say they're moving to block such transactions. (Read More)

In China, fake ATM to dupe customers; Source: The Times of India

Robbers in China came up with a novel method of looting people. They set up a fake ATM to record banking details of unsuspecting customers and then used these to make fraudulent withdrawals. (Read More)

Assessor Validates VeriFone’s VeriShield Protect End-to-End Encryption Solution; Source: VeriFone

Independent QSA Determines VeriShield Protect Meets All Visa Data Field Encryption Guidelines and May Take Payment Applications out of PCI Scope (Read More)

June 9, 2010 Press Release

Transforming Ingenico towards profitable growth; Source: Ingenico

2013 targeted revenue above 1 billion € with circa 40% of recurring revenue
Revenue from transactions to be multiplied by 3 between 2009 (PF) and 2013
EBITDA >18% of revenue in 2013 (Read More)

May 28, 2010

Visa Eases up on Triple DES Deadline in Face of ‘Migration Challenges’; Source: Digital Transactions

Visa Inc. has “relaxed enforcement” of the July 1, 2010, deadline for petroleum retailers to install software that meets the so-called Triple Data Encryption Standard (also called 3DES or TDES) in response to requests from the major oil companies, including ExxonMobil, the card network said in a statement released this week. (Read More)

May 25, 2010 Press Release

Vietnam Switch Live on BASE24-eps From ACI Worldwide; Source: ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide Inc., a leading international provider of electronic payments software and solutions, today announced that Smartlink Card Services Joint Stock Company (Smartlink) is using BASE24-eps(R), ACI's market-leading software for online payments processing, on IBM Power Systems infrastructure. Smartlink is one of the largest national retail payment switch companies in Vietnam, and is ACI's first customer in the country. (Read More)

May 25, 2010

Heartland Payment Systems rolls out new card-swipe terminals; Source: USA Today Technology Live

Heartland Payment Systems, the processor of credit card transactions for 250,000 smaller merchants and restaurants, is making available new equipment that should help prevent it from losing customer data to cyberthieves. (Read More)

May 24, 2010

ATMGurus Offers Hantle Support

Bartlett, TN undefined ATMGurus and Hantle USA are expanding their level of cooperation to increase customer service to Hantle USA customers. Leveraging ATMGurus’ state of the art training and repair facility in the Memphis area, ATMGurus is the logical choice to handle Hantle USA training and repair for Hantle USA customers east of the Rockies. (Read more)

May 17, 2010

VeriFone Expands into South Korea with Orange Logic Acquisition; Source: Verifone

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) today announced that it is acquiring the assets of Orange Logic Ltd., a South Korean payment systems provider. (Read More)

May 17, 2010

Wipe the swipe fee, Sacramento; Source: San Francisco Chronicle

When California consumers reach into their wallets to pay for a fill-up, groceries or a cup of coffee, they're likely to pull out a debit card. For bankers, it's the rising star of the financial world: convenient as a credit card but without many of the rules that govern an increasingly cashless society. (Read More)

May 14, 2010

Lower ATM fees? Careful what you wish for; By David Ellis, CNNMoney

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As Congress debates the new rules of the road for the U.S. banking industry, some lawmakers have an ambitious proposal: They want to cut ATM fees. (Read More)

May 11, 2010 Press Release

PaymentVision Announces Release and Successful Use of Integrated Electronic Payments for Auto Master System; Source: EON

Self-Service Channels and Payment Processing Integration Reduce Collection Timeframes and Improve Efficiencies for Buy Here–Pay Here Dealers (Read More)

May 6, 2010

ATM Maker Publishes Password; Thief Appreciates The Courtesy, By Evan Schuman, StorefrontBacktalk

The popular IT directive to “RTFM” was taken to heart by one cyberthief, who read the manual from an ATM manufacturer to learn its machines’ default password (555555) and the key sequence to access that machine’s programming. Having gained that access, according to an FBI affidavit, the cyberthief was going to tell the machine it was loaded with one-dollar billsundefinedinstead of the 20s it really heldundefinedwhich would allow him to boost his original investment 20-fold. (Read More)

May 5, 2010

Senators propose capping ATM fees at 50 cents By Jennifer Waters, MarketWatch

Chalk up ATM fees on the list of amendments that may make their way into the bank-reform bill under debate in Washington. (Read More)

May 5, 2010

FBI Foils Attempted ATM Hack; Expert: Fraudster Found ATM Manufacturer's Manual Online; Linda McGlasson, Bank Info Security

A North Carolina man was arrested in Houston, TX in April after he tried to hack into an ATM and change its passcode, according to the FBI. Thor Alexander Morris, 19, was arrested at a flea market after trying to enter a default administrative passcode on a Tranax Mini-Bank ATM. (Read More)

May 5, 2010

HKIA and China Unionpay launch shopping privileges; By Nicole Mezzasalma

Hong Kong International airport (HKIA) has partnered with card operator China Unionpay (CUP) to offer exclusive shopping and dining benefits to CUP cardholders. For the year from May 1 2010 to April 30 2011, shoppers using CUP cards will be able to enjoy 50 special offers across the airport’s retail and food and beverage outlets. (Read More)

May 3, 2010

Cardtronics, Inc. Q1 2010 Earnings Call Transcript; Source: Seeking Alpha (Read More)

May 3, 2010 Press Release

Merchant Warehouse to Bring Lower Interchange Fees to Merchants Using MICROS-Retail Xstore™ Java POS; Source: MerchantWarehouse

Retail payment processors look to save merchants up to 12% on transactions; will also add enhanced data protection through tokenization and SSL connections. (Read More)

April 27, 2010 Press Release

Euronet Worldwide Receives Notice of Change in Polish Interchange Fees; Source: Euronet Worldwide

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. ("Euronet" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: EEFT), a leading electronic payments provider, today announced it has been informed that Visa Europe ("Visa") notified its member banks that it will lower the Polish domestic ATM interchange fee from PLN 3.50 to PLN 1.30 (from approximately USD $1.20 to approximately $0.45, at current exchange rates), effective May 1, 2010. (Read More)

April 27, 2010

ATMIA and Tremont Capital Group Conduct Business Impact Study of Interchange Changes on ISO Community in the United States; Source: ATMIA

The ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) and Tremont Capital Group, one of the nation’s leading consulting firms specializing in the ATM industry, have announced the completion of a proprietary business impact study assessing anticipated revenue losses for ISOs following MasterCard/Cirrus’s reduction in interchange effective in April 2010; the new system includes a three tier interchange structure. (Read More)

April 23, 2010 Press Release

Dresser Wayne Nucleus® Point-of-Sale System Surpasses 11,000th Installation ; Source: BusinessWire

Dresser Wayne (www.DresserWayne.com), a global innovator of fuel dispensers and technologies, announces the 11,000th installation of the popular Nucleus® point-of-sale system. Built on the retail-hardened IBM® platform and available for installation with Dresser® Wayne®, Gilbarco and other dispensers, Nucleus POS is the most popular touch screen system in the petroleum industry today. (Read More)

April 22, 2010

ATM users warned about credit card skimmers By Nesa Nourmohammadi, The Gazette; Source: The Washington Post

Cases of a hard-to-detect form of credit card fraud are showing up more frequently in the Washington region, police say, including a recent case in Rockville, where a skimming device that reads encrypted credit card data was found in a Wachovia bank branch ATM. (Read More)

April 16, 2010

Mercury Payment Sells Stake As M&A Reps Prowl the ETA Show; Source: Digital Transactions

The growing interest of private-equity firms in merchant processors showed itself again Wednesday when the big independent sales organization Mercury Payment Systems Inc. disclosed that Silver Lake would take a 60% interest in the company. (Read More)

April 12, 2010 Press Release

South Africa based ATM Solutions invests in ATM Network EMV upgrade; Source: ATM Solutions

As the largest independent ATM deployer in Africa, ATM Solutions, who deploys ATMs with eight southern African banks, invested approximately R60-million to upgrade its ATM network to meet full Chip and PIN (EMV) standards for the period October 2008 to September 2009. (Read More)

April 9, 2010

HSBC Bermuda introduces 'tap-and-go' card technology; By Alex Wright. The Royal Gazette

Customers will be able to buy products and services more easily and quickly and businesses cut down on the length of their queues thanks to new “tap-and-go” technology launched by HSBC Bermuda. (Read More)

April 8, 2010

European ATM fraud losses tumble – East; Source: finextra

European ATM-related fraud losses fell from EUR485 million in 2008 to EUR312 million last year, a 36% drop, despite a rise in attacks, according to figures from industry group East. (Read More)

April 8, 2010 Press Release

Cardtronics to Manage Travelex's U.S. ATM Network; Source: Cardtronics

Travelex, the world's largest retail foreign exchange specialist, has chosen Cardtronics (Nasdaq:CATM) to be the exclusive ATM managed services provider for all Travelex ATMs located within the United States. Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Cardtronics will provide comprehensive ATM services including transaction processing, cash management, cash replenishment, monitoring and maintenance. The ATMs are located in high-traffic locations, including over one dozen major international airports and a variety of high-profile retail and business centers. (Read More)

April 8, 2010 Press Release

Erste Bank Hungary and Hungarian Post to Deliver Advanced Payments Through Diebold Opteva(R) ATMs; Source: Diebold

The Hungarian bank and its partner, Hungarian Post, adopt Diebold IDM technology to enhance utility payments. (Read More)

April 7, 2010 Press Release

A New Report From Aite Group: Inside the World of ISO Vendors

Despite the critical role vendors play for ISOs, ISOs are generally unhappy with their vendors, and many plan to change vendors within the next year. (Read More)

April 5, 2010 Press Release

YesPay Launches New Cloud Computing Architecture in a Managed Card Payment Service Context; Source: YesPay

Cloud computing refers to accessing dynamically scalable and often virtualized IT resources as a service over the Internet. YESpay has successfully managed to replicate the cloud computing architecture for its four new global card payments transaction processing data centers located in London (UK), Heathrow (UK), Toronto (Canada) and San Francisco (USA). (Read More)

April 1, 2010 Press Release

TSYS and First National Bank of Omaha Finalize First National Merchant Solutions Joint Venture; Source: TSYS

TSYS (NYSE: TSS) and First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) announced today the consummation of their joint venture transaction pursuant to which TSYS acquired a 51% interest in FNBO’s merchant acquiring business for approximately $150.5 million. FNBO retained a 49% interest in the newly formed company, First National Merchant Solutions, LLC (FNMS). (Read More)

March 31, 2010 Press Release

Open Solutions Canada to Provide ABM Transaction Processing Services to Diners Club®, Discover and PULSE Cardholders; Source: Open Solutions

Open Solutions Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of Open Solutions Inc.®, has signed an agreement with Acxsys Corporation, to provide ABM transaction processing services to Diners Club International®, Discover and PULSE cardholders in Canada. (Read More)

March 30, 2010 Press Release

Gemalto Expands Range of Secure Linux Payment Terminals; Source: Gemalto

Gemalto announced it is expanding its MagIC3 range of Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminals. The new MagIC3 product is a cost-effective solution for wireless payment, requiring no extra subscription or additional communication fees. (Read More)

March 25, 2010 Press Release

Hypercom Appoints William Rossiter Vice President of Marketing; Source: Hypercom

Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) today announced the appointment of William Rossiter as Vice President of Marketing. Mr. Rossiter will be principally responsible for the deployment of the Company’s mobile payment technology. He reports to Philippe Tartavull, Chief Executive Officer and President. (Read More)

March 18, 2010 Press Release

New Report Explores Cloud Computing  and Innovation at the Point-of-Sale

Research evaluates transition toward cloud-based POS systems and applications focusing on vendor solutions operating on hosted technology (Read More)

March 17, 2010 Press Release

PayPal and China UnionPay Open the Global Marketplace to Chinese Consumers; Source: PayPal

PayPal and China UnionPay, China's bankcard association, today announced that China UnionPay (CUP) card members will be able to use PayPal to shop online, representing a new opportunity for international retailers to sell to a large base of Chinese customers who, combined, hold 2.1 billion CUP cards." (Read More)

March 16, 2010

Are you getting the best from your payment acquiring partner? Is your payment acquiring partner giving you the business support you need? Source: RetailWeek (Read More)

In order to be a leader in today’s competitive market, it is essential to respond to all market challenges - and opportunities - with speed. The payments environment is ever changing, and you need to find new ways to respond to your customers, reduce your costs and outpace your competition. (Read More)

March 16, 2010 Press Release

Hypercom and MCS to Expand Self-Service Payments in Germany; Source: HYPERCOM

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., and Bad Hersfeld, Germany, March 16, 2010 – Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) today announced that MCS MICRONIC Computer Systeme GmbH, one of Germany’s leading providers of high-tech solutions for vending and dispensing machines, has selected and will resell Hypercom’s high security Artema Modular to integrators and retailers in Germany. The Berlin-based company, appointed Hypercom’s first Distribution Partner in Germany for self-service, plans to initially deploy at least 1,000 of the popular units.  (Read More)

March 10, 2010 Press Release

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges President and Chief Operating Officer of Mount Vernon Money Center with Defrauding Banks, Retailers, Hospitals, and Universities out of $50 Million; Source: FBI

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and NEIL BAROFSKY, the Special Inspector General of the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program ("SIGTARP"), announced the indictment of ROBERT EGAN, the President of Mount Vernon Money Center ("MVMC"), and BERNARD McGARRY, MVMC's Chief Operating Officer, on charges of defrauding banks, other financial institutions, retailers, hospitals, and universities out of $50 million in funds that had been entrusted to MVMC. (Read More)

March 15, 2010 Press Release

MasterCard Introduces ‘ATM Hunter’ for BlackBerry Smartphones; Source: MasterCard Worldwide

New MasterCard Application Helps BlackBerry Smartphone Users Quickly Find the Nearest ATM Anywhere in the World

Purchase, NY, March 15, 2010 - MasterCard Worldwide today announced the availability of the MasterCard® ATM Hunter application for BlackBerry® smartphones. The app lets BlackBerry smartphone users easily locate the nearest ATM no matter where in the world they are. ATM Hunter is available for free download on BlackBerry App World™ (www.blackberry.com/appworld). (Read More)

March 9, 2010 Press Release

ProfitStars(R) Reports Strong Remote Deposit Capture Growth with Record Transaction Volume; Source ProfitStars

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), a leading provider of integrated technology solutions and data processing services for financial institutions, today announced the continuation of record growth for the Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) solution provided by its ProfitStars division. (Read More)

March 3, 2010

ATMmarketplace.com Top Headlines

Diebold ranked among top global outsourcing service providers; reports losses from discontinued operations

Public Service Credit Union signs with VSoft for Outsourced Teller, ATM, merchant-capture solutions

Transoft says OptimizeCF cloud computing for cash forecasting at ATM, branch is taking off

Gartner recognizes INETCO software in 'Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Monitoring' report

ATM service provider FTSI names new CFO

Symstream names de Pedro new managing director, CEO

Former grocery store cashier charged with stealing $28,500

Mount Vernon's $12 million ATM theft could involve other banks

Firethorn's Mobilebanking.com site lets U.S. consumers access bank accounts on mobile devices

March 1, 2010 Press Release

Thales and Ponemon Institute PCI DSS survey reveals that encryption is the most effective means for end-to-end protection; Source: Realwire

Survey of Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) reveals new information on how merchants are coping with compliance and spending on annual compliance assessments (Read More

March 1,2010 Press Release

Hypercom Hosts Central Payment Server for 300+ Monoprix Stores in France; Source: Hypercom

Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) today announced that the Monoprix Group, one of the largest city center retailers in France, is now using Hypercom’s Wynid® secure payment server to manage and process all card transactions from more than 300 of its retail outlets. The leading retailer has deployed Hypercom contactless-enabled PIN pads and mobile GPRS payment terminals to process IP transactions throughout its network of stores. Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Hypercom is providing complete hosting and data management services for the Monoprix supermarket chain as part of a fully managed secure payment service. (Read More)

February 25, 2010 Press Release

Hypercom Strengthens Global Software Engineering and Customer Services Leadership

Appoints Nassrin Tavakoli Senior Director – Global Software Engineering; Tom Upton Vice President – Global Services (Read More)

February 25, 2010

ATMIA Committee Updates

Joint ATM Security Committee

The first ATM Security Committee was held in February , the agenda included the following:

• ATM Guidelines
• CIT Guidelines
• Industry project proposal, including Project Manager. (Read more)

February 24, 2010 Press Release

VeriFone Wins Sberbank Order; Leading Role in Plans by Largest Bank in Russia and Eastern Europe to Deploy Approximately 130,000 Systems among Merchants; Source: VeriFone

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) today announced a multimillion-dollar order for a portfolio of its leading payment solutions by Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank. (Read More)

February 24, 2010 Press Release

First Data extends range of financial services products for the unbanked and under-banked; Source: TIO Networks

First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today announced an agreement to integrate bill payment processing services from TIO Networks Corp. (TSX-V: TNC), a leading North American multi-channel bill payment processor, with First Data’s Money Network electronic payroll distribution service. (Read More)

February 18, 2010

POS Shipments Plunge For Department Stores, Bars, While Inching Up For QSR, Warehouse Chains; by Evan Schuman, Storefront Backtalk

Last year was an interesting one for POS shipments. Department stores purchased 24 percent fewer systems than the prior year and bar restaurants bought 19 percent fewer, according to a new report from IHL. Those were the biggest segment drops, while the only two segments to increase at allundefinedand even then, only at 2 percentundefinedwere quick-service restaurants and warehouse club chains.   But the economic hardships of last year may have shined a tiny ray of light on some bargain-hunting retailers at the expense of Big Blue. IHL President Greg Buzek said second quarter POS shipments last year for IBM plunged more than 40 percent worldwide, and a good chunk of that was a flood of barely used ludicrously discounted POS units from chains that never made it to 2010. (Read More)

February 11, 2010

Cardtronics, Inc. Q4 2009 Earnings Call Transcript;  Source: Seeking Alpha (Read More)

February 8, 2010

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges President of Money Services Company with $12 Million Bank Fraud

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), announced the arrest of ROBERT EGAN, the President of Mt. Vernon Money Centers ("MVMC"), on charges of defrauding Webster Bank out of $12 million in funds that had been entrusted to MVMC. (Read More)

February 8, 2010

Cardtronics Names New Independent Director, Increases Board Size; Source Cardtronics

Cardtronics, Inc. (Nasdaq:CATM) today announced the appointment of Mr. G. Patrick Phillips as an independent director to its Board of Directors (the "Board"). Mr. Phillips was elected to the company's Board effective February 5, 2010. In addition to his Board seat, Mr. Phillips will serve as a member of Cardtronics' Audit Committee and its Nominating & Governance Committee.  (Read More)

February 4, 2010 Press Release

TSYS to Provide Payment Services to B+S Card Service and Its Merchant Clients; Source TSYS

TSYS and B+S Card Service, Germany, have signed an agreement for TSYS to provide B+S Card Service with back-office merchant acceptance services across Europe. (Read More)

February 3, 2010 Press Release

Marlin Equity Partners acquires elements of Unisys payment systems: Source Burroughs

PLYMOUTH, Mich. –  Marlin Equity Partners (“Marlin”) is pleased to announce that it has acquired the check and cash automation equipment and related U.S. maintenance, printer and direct supply business of Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) and has subsequently formed a new company, Burroughs Payment Systems, Inc. (“Burroughs” or the “Company”).  Burroughs is a leading provider of hardware and related services that address the image capture and payment processing needs of financial institutions, remittance processors, and retailers worldwide.  The Company’s products and services allow customers to process check and cash payments quickly and securely while reducing operating costs and improving efficiencies related to payment processing.  (More Read)

February 1, 2010

Indonesian Banks Tighten Security After Mass ATM Skimming; Source BERNAMA.com

Banks in Indonesia are taking immediate steps to prevent the theft of their clients' money through their automatic teller machines (ATMs) after four banks reported theft of more than Rp5 billion (RM1.8 million) in this way since Jan 16. (Read More)

January 29, 2010

ATM fraud up in recent weeks; By Jaclyn O'Malley, RGJ.com

Their debit or credit cards were safely tucked away in wallets, never out of sight. No one else knew their confidential PIN numbers. But somehow, transactions for hundreds of dollars were made using their bank accounts, some at stores they had never visited in cities as far away as Florida and Ohio. (Read More)

January 26, 2010 Press Release

Cardtronics Sets Sail in ATM Agreement With Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Cruise Lines, which is the world's largest cruise line based on passengers carried and is a unit of Carnival Corporation and plc (NYSE:CCL) (LSE:CCL) (NYSE:CUK), and Cardtronics USA, Inc. (Nasdaq:CATM) have reached an agreement for Cardtronics to provide ATM Managed Services on Carnival ships. Under the terms of this multi-year agreement, Cardtronics will provide numerous services including ATM deployment, monitoring, maintenance, customer service and transaction processing. (Read More)

January 20, 2010 Press Release

NCR sells 50,000th NCR SelfServ ATM™, helps banks around the world deliver improved customer service and maintains position as world’s most popular deposit automation ATM brand. Source: NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR)

Duluth, Ga. – The world’s leading ATM manufacturer and service provider, NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), has sold its 50,000th NCR SelfServ ATM, helping hundreds of financial institutions deliver improved service to consumers at the ATM channel through improved availability and increased transaction options.  Launched less than two years ago in the U.S., NCR SelfServ already is the most successful ATM brand launch in the history of the company, which has led the world in ATM shipments for 23 consecutive years(1).  (Read More)

January 20, 2010 Press Release

Bank of the West Launches Choice ATM Checking Account and Expands ATM Network by Rebating Fees at All ATMs Worldwide. Source: Bank of The West

Bank of the West, known for excellent customer service, today announced the launch of Choice ATM Checking, a new account which allows customers to withdraw cash from any financial institution's ATM free of charge for one year. (Read More)

January 20, 2010

Ingenico reports a 3.8% fall in 2009 revenue By William Horobin, Dow Jones Newswires

French secure transactions and payments systems company Ingenico SA (ING.FR) Wednesday reported a 3.8% fall in 2009 revenue and said it has combined the positions of chairman and chief executive. Revenue in 2009 fell to EUR700.6 million, hurt by a tough economic environment and a particularly challenging first quarter, the company said. Ingenico nevertheless said that the business recovery in various regions will put it "on the road to growth" in 2010. Revenue in the fourth quarter totaled EUR200.6 million, down 7.7% from the same period a year earlier, which was marked by strong revenue in China, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, Ingenico said. In a separate statement, Ingenico said its board of directors has appointed Philippe Lazare, the current chief executive, to the additional position of chairman. Jacques Stern has been released from his position as chairman, but will be staying on as a director until the end of his term. (Read More)

January 19, 2010 Press Release

NCR brings BLOCKBUSTER Express™-branded DVD-rental kiosks home to Texas. More than 150 Brookshire Grocery stores adding BLOCKBUSTER Express.  Source: NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR)

DULUTH, Ga. – NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) will install its BLOCKBUSTER Express-branded DVD-rental kiosks in Brookshire Grocery stores, a more than 150-location grocery store chain located in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. NCR anticipates fully deploying to the chain within the first three months of 2010. (Read More)

January 2010

Key Innovations Signs Trimble MRM as a Preferred Distributor and Service Repair Partner

SCOTTSDALLE, AZ - January 2010 - Key Innovations has signed a distribution agreement with Trimble's Mobile Resource Management (MRM) Service and Repair business base in Dallas, TX. Under the Agreement, Trimble MRM becomes a key innovations preferred distributor and service repair partner for its unattended payment terminals such as its new KST9000 multi-media payment terminal. (Read more)

January 15, 2010

ATMIA e-Campus Webinar 

Regulation E:
How the Changes Could Affect Your Card & ATM Business

A one hour webinar designed for the ATM & Card Professional
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 12:30pm ET

Do you Know About Regulation E?

This is a new proposal would amend Regulation E to implement the gift card provisions of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility Disclosure Act of 2009 (Credit CARD Act.).  This proposal will offer new protection for consumers that purchase or use prepaid products.  Attend this webinar to learn how will this affect ATMs and card programs?

Did You Know…

The Proposed changes to Regulation E will be finalized by February 22, 2010 and will become effective on August 22, 2010

Who should attend?

·       Card Issuers

·        Merchants

·        Marketers

·        Card program managers

·        ATMs that honor covered products

·        Payment card networks

·        Merchant acquirers and third-party processors that sell covered products

Why You Should Attend:

• Find out which products within the ATM and Payments Industry will be subject to the final regulation
• Discover the restrictions and details of the proposed regulation  
• Learn how the final regulation and the statute will affect your business
• Know the circumstances regarding when reloadable debit cards and other stored value cards that are not specifically labeled as gift cards may be subject to this regulation and the statute under which it will be promulgated
• Note how and when you should begin preparing for these changes

Join us on January 20th and register today!

The Presenter:
 - Daveed Schwartz, Of Counsel, Bullivant Houser Bailey PC (Sacramento and San Francisco offices)

January 14, 2010

Reaching Audiences in New Ways: Social Media and Digital Signage

Meeting Description:

The social media phenomenon has quickly spread and has changed the way people expect to receive information and communicate. Social media has changed the traditional one-to-many broadcast by connecting many-to-many through social media dialogues. Content consumers are transformed into content producers allowing you to strengthen your relationship and connection with your target audience.

Join us for this informative webinar and learn how digital signage can be used as a social media tool and how to capitalize on the growing trend to reach your key audiences more effectively.

Don’t miss this complimentary and informative webinar where you will learn about:

Increasing touch points with key audiences

Innovative digital signage social media applications

Transformative implementation examples

January 14, 2010

KioskCom, The Digital Signage Show blurring distinctions
This year's KioskCom Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show will continue blending kiosks and digital signage, showing how the complementary fields work together to lift sales. (KioskMarketplace.com)

Tranax and Hantle to show off new tech at KioskCom
Tranax and its sister company Hantle are showcasing a new ATM/kiosk that can also be used for a range of solutions, from movie ticketing to bill payment, at April's KioskCom. (KioskMarketplace.com)

December 11, 2009

"Former Federal Reserve Chairman Says ATMs most successful financial innovation in the past 20 years"

December 15, 2009

Craigslist ATM I bought Causes Industry Stir

By Robert Siciliano: Blogger News Network

Apparently I raised a hackle or two. Seems my little stunt got the attention of industry insiders, and not all of them believe that I bought a used ATM on Craigslist, which turned out to contain thousands of credit card numbers. Well, it did actually happen, and despite what many say, that the ATM couldn’t have contained 16-digit credit and debit card numbers on it, it did.

December 15, 2009

ATMIA gears up for Miami event

By Tracy Kitten: ATMmarketplace

Mike Lee says he’s excited for 2010. The coming year is expected to be a strong one for the ATM industry and especially the ATM Industry Association, Lee says.

Read More

December 15, 2009

Will digital-download kiosks save Blockbuster?

By Caroline Cooper:  KioskMarketplace

NCR Corp. recently added another notch on its entertainment belt when it announced a test rollout of digital movie-download kiosks with Blockbuster. The NCR kiosks run a digital-download application developed by MOD Systems that, according to MOD CEO and chairman Anthony Bay, allows users to download a full-length movie to a secure digital (SD) card within a few minutes.

 Read More

December 3, 2009

The Top 10 Most Popular on ATMmarketplace.com for November
Two publications about ATM trends continued their long-running popularity as the top downloaded publications in November. An article about the indictment of hackers involved in an ATM heist dominated readers' attention last month, and a Diebold video that demonstrated mobile banking also proved popular. Read on for ATMmarketplace.com's complete Top 10 lists for November.

Read more

November 26, 2009

ATM supplier Global Cash will settle with Arizona regulators

Las Vegas-based Global Cash Access Holdings Inc., which places ATMs at casinos, has agreed to settle a complaint filed by Arizona regulators so that it can continue to operate in that state. According to the news report, Read more at ATMmarketplace.com »

November 18, 2009

Triton standard will require license for use in 2010 Read more at ATMmarketplace.com »

November 17, 2009 Press Release

ATMIA e-Campus Webinar 

Improving ATM Operational Efficiency
A one hour webinar designed for the ATM Professional
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 12:30pm ET

Read more

November 6, 2009 Press Release

NCR and Netkey, two self-service leaders, combine to deliver enterprise solutions that help you transform your business.  Please find the recent news release for further information.

Visit www.ncr.com/netkey to learn more about our solutions and how we can help transform, accelerate and simplify your business.

November 03, 2009

Fiserv releases updates to fraud-risk-mitigation, anti-money-laundering solutions

Fiserv Inc. has announced the availability of Fraud Risk Manager 4.6, the newest version of Fiserv's multichannel fraud detection and management solution. Also available is AML Manager 4.6, the market-leading anti-money laundering s Read more at ATMmarketplace.com »

October 27, 2009

NCR will not be exhibiting at this year’s BAI Retail Delivery Conference and Expo.

“NCR has decided not to take a booth presence at the Retail Delivery Conference and Expo in November 2009,” said Jeff Dudash, an NCR spokesman. “We will have a number of NCR executives in attendance at the conference and will meet with customers.” Source: ATMarketplace; It's official: NCR will not exhibit at BAI's Retail Delivery Expo

October 21, 2009

NACS Urges Retailers to ‘Overwhelm Congress’ With Petition Drives

LAS VEGAS – NACS President and CEO Hank Armour urged convenience and petroleum retailers today to “light a grassroots fire around the country” by encouraging their customers to speak out against outrageous credit card interchange fees undefined hidden fees that cost the typical American household $427 per year.

Read more

October 20, 2009

Seiko Instruments, Arrow Electronics (NYSE: ARW) Agreement Boosts Reliability, Reduces Costs, Speeds Time-to-Market for OEMs and Integrators

TORRANCE, Calif. - October 20, 2009 - Seiko Instruments USA Inc. (SIU) Thermal Printer Division, http://www.siiprinters.com, a globally recognized leader in thermal printer technology, and Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: ARW) a leading global distributor of electronic components and solutions, today announced a new distribution partnership for the Americas.

Read more

October. 20, 2009

FTSI signs with Technology Credit Union

Monrovia, Calif., Oct. 20, 2009 -– ATM product and services provider FTSI signed a multi-year agreement with $1.3 billion Technology Credit Union (TCU). Under the agreement, FTSI will provide first and second line ATM servicing. In addition to the responsive and preventative elements of the agreement, the deal also provides for deposit pulls and cash services.

Read more