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June 8st, 2012
Edition #307
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In this Issue
In Other News
This Day in History 1968
King Assassination Suspect Arrested
James Earl Ray, an escaped American convict, is arrested in London, England, and charged with the assassination of African American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
On April 4, 1968, in Memphis, King was fatally wounded by a sniper's bullet while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Motel Lorraine. That evening, a Remington .30-06 hunting rifle was found on the sidewalk beside a rooming house one block from the Lorraine Motel. During the next several weeks, the rifle, eyewitness reports, and fingerprints on the weapon all implicated a single suspect: escaped convict James Earl Ray. A two-bit criminal, Ray escaped a Missouri prison in April 1967 while serving a sentence for a holdup. In May 1968, a massive manhunt for Ray began. The FBI eventually determined that he had obtained a Canadian passport under a false identity, which at the time was relatively easy.
On June 8, Scotland Yard investigators arrested Ray at a London airport. Ray was trying to fly to Belgium, with the eventual goal, he later admitted, of reaching Rhodesia. Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) was at the time ruled by an oppressive and internationally condemned white minority government. Click here to read more.
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Merchant Aggregation: Opportunities & Pitfalls
6/07/12 PaymentsPulse  
By Gerritt Kerkstra, TSG of Counsel
Remember when merchant aggregation was forbidden? Well, things have changed. Both MasterCard and Visa have modified their respective rules and now allow merchant aggregation with certain limitations.
What’s changed? In TSG’s view, the payment networks have recognized that innovative upstarts PayPal, Square and others while pushing the limits of legacy rules have broken ground that has led to increased acceptance in tough to penetrate categories. More volume means more processing fees for the networks and incremental interchange for issuing clients of the brands.
Click here to read more more.
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Mobile Users Want More Security Control
6/07/12 Bank Info Security
Consumers are ready to assume more responsibility for the security of their mobile devices, especially when it comes to mobile banking. According to research conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, consumers want to have the ability to act and respond when they suspect they've been hit by a mobile attack that results in fraud. So what's holding them back? Jim Van Dyke, Javelin's president and founder, says banking institutions are the problem. They've been reluctant to release too much control, he says in an interview with BankInfoSecurity's Tracy Kitten.
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Half of World's POS Terminals Will be NFC-Ready by 2017
6/07/12 Finextra
The market for NFC-ready POS terminals grew fiercely in 2011, with annual shipments doubling to an estimated 2.5 million units worldwide, says the report, taking the total number to just under four million - around eight per cent penetration. With Berg Insight forecasting a compound annual growth rate of just shy of 50%, this number will rise to 43.4 million units in 2017, meaning that 53% of all terminals will be NFC-ready.
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LinkedIn, eHarmoney Deal with Breach Aftermath
6/07/12 The Washington Post
It’s time to change your LinkedIn passwords. The company confirmed Wednesday that it had been hit with a breach, and sent e-mails to its affected users. Security experts estimate that more than six million passwords from LinkedIn’s 160 million users were affected in the breach, based on the files that have been posted on hacking sites asking for help cracking the encryption on the passwords. The dating site eHarmony was also hit with a breach, the company said on its Web site — around 1.5 million passwords were taken, according to a report from Ars Technica.
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Most Consumers Use Alternative Payments On Mobile, A Complete Reversal Of Desktop Pattern
6/06/12 StorefrontBacktalk
When an E-Commerce firm this week analyzed two months of recent online shopping data (for all of April and May), it found an interesting disconnect between shoppers using a mobile device versus those using a desktop device. When using a laptop or desktop, 62 percent of shoppers used a payment card, with the remaining 38 percent going for an alternative payment (PayPal, Amazon Payments, Google Checkout, etc.). But when those same shoppers worked with the same retailers using an iPhone, iPad or Android device, 67 percent of them opted for alternative payments.
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Initial Weekly U.S. Jobless Claims Fall to 377,000
6/07/12 MarketWatch
First-time claims fell by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 377,000 in the week ended June 2, the Labor Department said. Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 389,000 from an original reading of 383,000, based on more complete data collected at the state level. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had projected claims would fall to 380,000. The level of claims is a rough gauge of whether layoffs are rising or falling.
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Intuit Merges Its Square Competitor GoPayment With QuickBooks Point Of Sale
6/05/12 TechCrunch
Let the mobile payment wars continue! Only yesterday Square announced its ever-expanding retail availability (20,000 outlets nationwide), and today competitor Intuit GoPayment is following up with some major news of its own. Intuit is now merging its traditional POS software, QuickBooks POS, with its mobile offering (and Square rival) Intuit GoPayment.The two solutions will now be able to communicate with each other, syncing inventory and financial data from PC to mobile or vice versa.
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With New Retail Deals, Square Doubles Locations That Sell Its Card Readers
6/04/12 Digital Transactions
Merchant processor Square Inc. doubled the number of physical stores at which its now-famous payment card reader for mobile devices can be purchased with Monday’s announcement that the reader is available at Walgreen Co., Staples Inc., and FedEx Corp.’s FedEx Office stores. The three new merchants collectively add 10,000 locations: 7,000 for Walgreen and 1,500 each for FedEx Office and Staples, bringing to 20,000 the number of retail locations San Francisco-based Square says its cube-shaped reader can be purchased.
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LevelUp Offers 0% Payment Processing Rate, Making “Interchange Zero” Dream a Reality
6/07/12 BostInno
This morning we reported that the company has raised another $12 million, as part of an ongoing fundraising round (they’re looking to lock a couple of strategics as well). That brings the total money in to $32 million, though this was the first round since the company pivoted from SCVNGR to LevelUp. But today, via Twitter, I came across something I’m told the company hasn’t formally announced yet, though it’s plainly stated on its site: they have dropped their payment processing rate to 0%.
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Citing Growth, Fed Chief Gives No Hints of New Stimulus
6/07/12 The New York Times
The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, said on Thursday that the Fed was assessing whether the economy would continue to grow fast enough to reduce the high rate of unemployment without additional action by the central bank. But he gave no indication that the Fed had decided to take such action. Mr. Bernanke and other Fed officials have made clear in public appearances this week that they are troubled by the recent decline in reported job growth, the escalating crisis in Europe and the chaotic state of domestic fiscal policy.
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EMV Conversion Could Bring Rude Awakening
6/06/12 ISO&Agent
Some of America’s ISOs and transaction processors may be in for a shock when they begin trying to accept EMV chip cards in the coming months. Unless they do their homework, they may find their equipment simply won’t accommodate EMV, Dave Maisey, CEO of ICC Solutions Ltd., tells ISO&Agent Weekly. “If they don’t know the technical requirements, they don’t know if their platform will work,” Maisey says. Lack of memory sometimes causes problems, he notes.
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E-Payments Luminary: Merchant Rewards Will Light Bankers' Way
6/06/12 BTN
Banks are in danger of having their lunch eaten by non-bank purveyors of new technology like the digital wallet, but there are significant opportunities as well, says Kight, the founder and former chief executive of CheckFree. One of the best opportunities is merchant-funded rewards, says Kight, who is now co-chairman and managing partner of the private-equity firm Comvest Group. Through Comvest, of West Palm Beach, Kight recently led a group of investors who put $12.2 million in Cartera, the merchant-funded rewards company in Lexington, Mass.
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Equinox Payments Announces the Appointment of Patrick Hazel as Chairman and CEO
6/07/12 Equinox Payments
Equinox Payments, LLC, a leading high security electronic transactions solutions provider and a portfolio company of The Gores Group, LLC, today announced that Patrick K. Hazel has been named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Mr. Hazel has been a member of the Equinox Board of Directors since November, 2011. “I am especially appreciative of The Gores Group commitment to build a major payments brand. Equinox is well positioned to continue to take share as a result of its leading products and innovative services,” said Mr. Hazel.
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Facebook Rolls Out 'Low-Friction' Mobile Payments System
6/06/12 CNET
Facebook began rolling out a new mobile payments system today that reduces the number of steps users must take to complete a purchase from seven to two. The "low-friction carrier billing" is available to the majority of wireless carriers in the U.S. and U.K. as well as in more than 60 countries around the world, Facebook said today in a developer blog announcing the new system. While U.S. carriers AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile are already on board with the system, one of the notable names not on the list is Verizon's.
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Venmo Relaunches To Make Mobile Payments More Social
6/07/12 Business Insider
Venmo, the mobile phone payment app, just had a relaunch party at the Hotel Chantelle in New York City to show off its new social features. The original app let people pay friends on mobile devices. (You know, like PayPal, but ... exactly like PayPal.) By adding a Twitter-like stream of updates on the home screen, the app is hoping users will find it more fun to pay back someone for drinks, sporting events, dinner, and concerts.
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TSYS Merchant Solutions Selects TrustCommerce as a Valued Payment Processing Partner
6/05/12 TrustCommerce
TrustCommerce, provider of comprehensive payment processing and risk management solutions, welcomes new reseller partner, TSYS Merchant Solutions. TrustCommerce and TSYS Merchant Solutions have partnered to provide TSYS customers with more options for secure transaction processing. TSYS Merchant Solutions is a top 10 payment processor with over 55 years experience in the payment acceptance industry.
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Heartland Payment Systems(R) Named to FORTUNE 1000 List for Third Consecutive Year
6/07/12 Heartland Payment Systems
Heartland Payment Systems, announced that it has been named to the 2012 FORTUNE 1000 list of America's largest companies by FORTUNE magazine. With 2011 revenues of $1.996 billion, Heartland ranked No. 926 after debuting on the list at No. 954 in 2010. "Being recognized on the FORTUNE 1000 list for the third year in a row is a testament to the remarkable efforts of our nearly 3,000 employees who work diligently to provide superior service to our customers," said Bob Carr.
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Braintree Announces International Expansion of Online and Mobile Payment Services
6/05/12 BusinessWire
Braintree, the fastest growing payments platform for online and mobile commerce, announced today that it is expanding its payments platform internationally to help digital companies in every part of the globe launch, support, and scale successful online and mobile businesses. Merchants of all sizes in thirty countries will soon be able to access the same Braintree infrastructure and payment gateway as their U.S. counterparts, realizing benefits including fast integration and time to market, white glove customer service, and proven scalability.
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Green Dot Joins the Mobile Wallet Rush
6/04/12 ATM Marketplace
Reloadable prepaid provider Green Dot plans to get into the mobile wallet business, following in the footsteps of Google and PayPal. According to a report by the Las Vegas Business Press, Green Dot announced plans to leverage its recent acquisition of Loopt Inc. for $43.4 million as a springboard for a mobile wallet. Loopt holds the patent for geolocation mobile messaging, which is the technology that enables a smart phone to act as a credit card.
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Sovereign Bank Launches "First in Mobile Wallet" Promotion With LevelUp
6/04/12 Bloomberg
Today, Sovereign Bank, N.A. announced that it partnered with LevelUp to launch LevelUp's "First in Mobile Wallet" promotion. Sovereign is the first bank to leverage LevelUp's unique "First in Mobile Wallet" promotion that rewards customers who link their Sovereign Debit MasterCard® to their LevelUp account. LevelUp's promotion allows Sovereign to directly incentivize consumers to use their Sovereign Debit MasterCard®.
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Chefs 'Discover' New TV Competition Utensil
6/07/12 American Banker
Competing on reality television shows has become a rite of passage for aspiring celebrity chefs. Now Discover Financial Services (DFS) is trying to follow their recipes for buzz. The perpetual underdog has put its orange-stamped cards into the hands of the contestants on "Food Network Star," the eponymous network's effort to find the next Bobby Flay — or at least the next Guy Fieri.
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The New Consumer Protection Agency Looks at Prepaid Cards
6/04/12 Portals and Rails
The prepaid card industry has grown faster than many expected it to in recent years. The industry has a wide range of customers today, including not only the underbanked market but also many other market segments. In fact, in a public hearing on May 23, 2012, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray noted that while many consumers "actually have a bank account, they often use nonbank products to meet their financial needs," including the relatively new prepaid card.
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