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Sept 9th, 2011 Edition #269 New to NewsFilter? Click here to subscribe. In this Issue In Other News This Day in History 1893 President's child born in White House On June 2, 1886, in an intimate ceremony held in the Blue Room of the White House, President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom, the daughter of Cleveland's late law partner and friend, Oscar Folsom. Fewer than 40 people were present to witness the 49-year-old president exchange vows with Frances, who at 21 years of age became the youngest first lady in U.S. history. As a devoted family friend, Cleveland allegedly bought "Frank" her first baby carriage. After her father's death, he administered her estate. When Frances entered Wells College, Cleveland, then the governor of New York, asked Mrs. Folsom's permission to correspond with the young lady. After his inauguration as president in 1885, Frances visited Cleveland at the executive mansion. Despite a 27-year difference in age, their affection turned to romance, and in 1886 the couple were married in the White House. Click here to read more.
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Interactive: 10 Years After 9/11 
Yahoo It's been 10 years since the terror attacks that hit New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania took nearly 3,000 lives. In the interactive below, you can explore how the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, left a lasting impact on the world. 9/09/11 The Wall Street Journal President Barack Obama called on Congress Thursday to pass a $447 billion package of spending initiatives and tax cuts to boost economic growth, in what might be the White House's last chance to revive its political fortunes before the 2012 campaign kicks into high gear. More than half of Mr. Obama's plan consists of payroll-tax cuts for employees and employers—an idea the White House hopes will appeal enough to Republican lawmakers—and is the policy that could have the best chance to pass. Fed Chief Describes Consumers as too Bleak 9/09/11 Boston Globe Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, offered a new twist on a familiar subject yesterday, revisiting the question of why growth continues to fall short of hopes and expectations Bernanke, speaking at a luncheon in Minneapolis, offered the standard explanations, including the absence of home construction and the deep and lingering pain inflicted by financial crises. Then he said something new: Consumers are depressed beyond reason or expectation. 9/08/11 GreenSheet It was disclosed today that Rick Pylant, Chairman and President, and Jon Stevens, Vice President, resigned their positions and separated from CoCard Marketing Group, L.L.C. along with several other officers, to start Strategic Payment Systems, Inc., a new style of merchant services Independent Sales Organization. Both individuals were instrumental in the formation of CoCard. No Longer on Hot Seat in Congress, Banks Still Likely to Feel Some Heat 9/08/11 Bank Investment Consultant While financial services issues are no longer on the front burner on Capitol Hill, several high profile topics this fall are likely to impact banks, especially any efforts to revitalize the housing market. The industry is also lobbying to extend higher conforming loan limits and carefully watching key nominations for top regulatory jobs. Like most other business groups, bankers will also be keeping a close eye on the debt super committee, whose actions are hard to predict, but which could have ramifications on the financial sector. Economy Grew Slower in Some Regions Says Fed 9/07/11 Bloomberg The Federal Reserve said the economy grew at a slower pace in some regions of the country as shoppers limited their spending and factories curbed production. “Economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace, though some districts noted mixed or weakening activity,” the Fed said in its Beige Book survey released today in Washington. Report Predicts How the U.S. Terminal Base Will Migrate to EMV and Mobile Payments 9/08/11 Digital Transactions The gradual spread of point-of-sale terminals capable of handling so-called EMV and near-field communication (NFC) transactions will result in slightly more than half of U.S. POS locations supporting such technology in 2015 and 13% actually using it through hosted POS systems that take advantage of its capabilities, according to a new research report. Collectively VeriFone Systems Inc., Ingenico S.A., and Hypercom Corp. have 93% of the U.S. POS terminal market. Mobile Wallet Gaining Currency 9/06/11 The New York Times Nowadays, when Edward McLaughlin is paying for aspirin at the Walgreens drug stores in New York, he just has to tap his Nexus S mobile phone on a terminal device. He not only avoids having to fumble through his wallet and hold up the line, but the tapping also automatically adds loyalty points to his Walgreens’ loyalty card, also stored in his phone, and can help him redeem any coupon he might have downloaded from the Internet. Global Mobile Payment Transactions to Total $945B in 2015 9/07/11 NFC Data IEMR forecasts the gross value of global mobile payment transactions to reach $945 billion in 2015,about a 30-fold increase from the comparable figure of $31.5 billion for 2010. The surge underscores IEMR’s expectation that mobile payments are positioned to become mainstream between 2012 and 2014. “M-commerce and mobile contactless transactions, driven by their allure of convenience,are poised to promote ‘less-cash’societies all over the world,”said Nizar Assanie,Vice President (Research) at IEMR. The Most Important Mobile Payment Infographic. Ever. 9/07/11 Mobile Payments Today What is a mobile payment? I get that question a lot. There's a surprising amount of misinformation and confusion being sown about mobile payments. (Even by well-meaning news organizations and reputable tech sites.) And then there's the hype. Whether it's a payment company executive promising the "end of the physical wallet," or investors claiming there's a "gold rush" going on, the mobile payment space is plenty hyped. Why Great Mobile Payments Ideas Die Young
9/05/11 BTN "Having a great product doesn't necessarily make you successful," says Geringer, who is overseeing the sale of technology owned by FonePays, a startup that never got off the ground. "You need to find a niche … everybody and their brother is selling mobile terminals." Mobile payments have attracted tons of buzz over the past year, but even with all the hype, the tough rules of business apply, particularly for those companies that can't find the right niche or powerful cheerleaders. Mobile, Local, Social ... Modern Market Trends Drive Google to NFC 9/06/11 NFC News “We are committed to NFC at Google.” That is what the company’s Vice President of Payments Osama Bedier, told an audience of bankers and mobile operators in London on a summer afternoon. Less than a month following the announcement of Google Wallet and Google Offers, Bedier was nothing short of a rock star at the NFC Payments Europe event organized by NFC Insight. It was, in a strange way, both encouraging and pitiful to see the banks and mobile operators laud the Google announcement. The Future of Banking: Hunt for a Common Front 9/07/11 Financial Times Three years after the depths of the worst financial crash in eight decades, it is clearer than ever that the crisis many thought ended two years ago is dragging on, particularly in the US and across the eurozone, intensifying. Businesses and politicians say credit is either unavailable or too expensive. Banks complain that profits are being squeezed so hard that investors are deserting them. Regulators, stranded in the middle, are left wondering whether their natural crisis response is building a stronger system as intended or rather exacerbating the problems of a fragile global economy. MasterCard to ATM Owners: Take Chip Cards or Eat Fraud Losses 9/07/11 American Banker MasterCard Inc. is urging ATM owners to add hardware for accepting chip-card payments. Those that don't may be faced with a higher level of liability. MasterCard's plan affects inter-regional transactions on its Maestro network. The Purchase, N.Y., card brand sent a bulletin to top banks and ATM makers last week detailing the new requirements, which would take effect Apr. 19, 2013. The liability-shift program is an extension of one already in effect overseas. KeyCorp CEO Beth Mooney Shares Her Thoughts
9/07/11 Crain's Cleveland Business Forbes.com, which recently named KeyCorp CEO Beth Mooney the 96th-most powerful woman in the world, runs a concise Q&A in which the company's new boss weighs in on topics including the value of TARP, the importance of aligning Key's community and corporate banking units and what she'd want to say in her retirement speech. Facebook Commerce Evolves with New Version of Payvment 9/08/11 EON Payvment, the number one Facebook ecommerce platform, today unveiled the latest version of its social commerce solution that includes an array of new features designed to meet the needs of larger retailers, brands and agencies. Payvment is integrating these new features into two new enhanced paid versions that will be available in late September: Payvment Premium and Payvment Platinum. Payvment’s award-winning free Facebook store will continue to be offered alongside these new versions. The American Express® Gift Card Goes Digital 9/06/11 BusinessWire American Express announced today the launch of the American Express eGift Card, a new virtual gift card to be purchased and used online. This new virtual gift card mirrors the revolutionary American Express Gift Card, with no fees after purchase—including no fees for activation, no fees for checking a balance, no fees for monthly servicing, and the funds do not expire. “As consumers spend more time shopping online, we saw a need for a virtual gifting product.” First Data Responds to FFIEC Guidance with Layered Security Solutions 9/08/11 First Data Responding to the recent guidance on Internet banking security from the FFIEC, First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today outlined facts about its Internet banking security solution package. First Data offers a set of products and services that are available both as integrated tools within First Data’s Internet banking platform and through relationships the company has developed with trusted security vendors. Global Recession? Somebody Didn't Tell That to POS Makers 9/07/11 StorefrontBacktalk In yet another example of mobile rewriting almost everything retail, the most recent quarterly POS terminal shipments spiked nearly twice as much as had been predicted, according to new figures from IHL. One of the key factors driving those shipments was retailers eager to upgrade their POS to be in a better position to accept mobile payments. “The biggest surprise was the resiliency of the POS market and the level of shipments, which was nearly double what we had predicted for the quarter.” VeriFone Reports Results for the Third Quarter of Fiscal 2011 9/07/11 VeriFone "With the acquisition of Hypercom, VeriFone is stronger than at any point in our 30-year history," said Douglas G. Bergeron, Chief Executive Officer. "We will continue to aggressively grow and develop innovative services and solutions in all regions of the world," Mr. Bergeron continued. "We are well on our way to driving significant operating synergies and gross margin expansion through the elimination of overlapping expenses and through business process re-engineering." UBC, Charge Anywhere Ally for M-Payment Solution 9/07/11 GreenSheet United Bank Card (UBC) is pleased to announce a partnership with CHARGE Anywhere to deliver a state-of-the-art mobile payment solution with free hardware. The CHARGE Anywhere mobile processing application enables merchants to quickly, easily and securely accept credit and debit payments through their smartphone or tablet anytime, anywhere. The software application is compatible with Apple, Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile operating systems. SmartMetric Files Further Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Visa and MasterCard 9/06/11 MarketWatch SmartMetric, Inc. today announced that the Company has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against smart card issuers Visa and MasterCard in California Federal Court. SmartMetric filed the lawsuit in defense of its U.S. Patent 6,792,464 ('464 Patent) which provides patent protection concerning both 'contact' and 'contactless' smart card technology specifically when used to automatically access a credit card company network via such contact points as ATM machines or Point of Sale (POS) machines. China's Alipay.com Acquires OnCard Payments 9/07/11 China Tech News Alipay.com, the Internet payment subsidiary of the Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba, has announced that it has reached an agreement with OnCard International to acquire its third-party payment service subsidiary, OnCard Payments. Oncard Payments provides online payment services to passengers of major airlines, including Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, and EVA Air. It also provides a payment interface to the call centers of these airlines, allowing their customers to enjoy a smooth payment experience. Century Payments Partners with Trustwave to Offer Merchants PCI Compliance Solutions 9/07/11 Trustwave Century Payments, an industry leader in payment processing, today selected Trustwave to provide PCI DSS compliance validation solutions to its Level 4 merchants. Trustwave is a leading provider of information security and compliance solutions. In an effort to assist merchants with their compliance efforts, Century engaged Trustwave to provide its merchants access to TrustKeeper®, Trustwave's innovative security and compliance web portal. Ubox App + Vending Machines = Mobile Payments for Drinks and Snacks in China 9/06/11 Penn Olson Ubox is a Chinese app that brings mobile payments at vending machines to China for the first time. With apps for iPhone, Android, and JAVA-based feature phones already available on its site, the next challenge for Ubox is getting a network of supporting vending machines in place. But first, how does it work? Users in China will need to sign-up for the service, and then ‘top-up’ their Ubox account with some money from either a UnionPay bank card, or Alipay |
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