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Sept 2nd, 2011 Edition #268 New to NewsFilter? Click here to subscribe. In this Issue In Other News This Day in History 1969 First ATM opens for business On this day in 1969, America's first automatic teller machine (ATM) makes its public debut, dispensing cash to customers at Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, New York. ATMs went on to revolutionize the banking industry, eliminating the need to visit a bank to conduct basic financial transactions. By the 1980s, these money machines had become widely popular and handled many of the functions previously performed by human tellers, such as check deposits and money transfers between accounts. Today, ATMs are as indispensable to most people as cell phones and e-mail. Several inventors worked on early versions of a cash-dispensing machine, but Don Wetzel, an executive at Docutel, a Dallas company that developed automated baggage-handling equipment, is generally credited as coming up with the idea for the modern ATM. Wetzel reportedly conceived of the concept while waiting on line at a bank. Click here to read more.
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August retail sales stand up to natural, economic shocks
9/01/11 Chicago Tribune Hurricane Irene drove away shoppers from U.S. clothing and department stores in the last week of August, weighing on monthly retail results, even as chains selling storm supplies saw a temporary boost. The final tally Thursday, based on reports from 23 retailers, showed sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.4 percent in August, just shy of the 4.6 percent analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters. Job Growth at Halt in U.S.; Worst Showing in 11 Months
9/02/11 The New York Times The economy failed to add new jobs in August, the first time there has been no increase in net jobs in the United States in 11 months. The flat performance was down sharply from a revised 85,000 gain of jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday, and was far below a consensus forecast by economists of 60,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate stayed constant at 9.1 percent in August. Wall Street stocks promptly lost more than 2 percent of their value at the opening of trading. DRF Survey Reveals Merchant Uncertainty on Durbin's Impact 9/01/11 PR Newswire A survey at the Direct Response Forum of 169 executives from some of the largest retailers in the world reveals continued uncertainty about how the recently passed Durbin bill will affect merchants' business practices. When questioned more about interchange fees and Durbin, 41% indicated they will not be passing on debit card fee savings to their customers, but 56% said they don't know what impact the new rules will have on their business. Interchange fees, alternative payments, and PCI/Fraud top the list of concerns of the payment professionals. Surprise: In Fight Over Interchange, Money Not the Critical Factor 8/31/11 American Banker Billions of dollars were on the line in the fight over debit-card interchange fees. Banks and retailers spent millions to lobby Congress. So for key senators, what was the decisive factor in deciding how to vote? The answer, perhaps surprisingly, does not appear to be money. At least not in an obvious way. As American Banker readers know well, the interchange battle hinged on two key Senate votes. On May 13, 2010, retailers scored a surprise victory when the Senate approved the Durbin Amendment. First Data to Process Payments for Mutual of Omaha Clients 8/30/11 GreenSheet TSG Advised Mutual of Omaha on this Transaction First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing and Mutual of Omaha Bank, announced today the companies have signed a long-term merchant services agreement. Through the agreement, First Data will provide merchant processing services to the bank’s business clients nationwide, from large national merchants to local business owners. The bank’s clients will now have access to a comprehensive line of electronic payment solutions. 8/31/11 Ecommerce Times With the advent of mobile payment systems, it's now possible to use your credit card to pay the dogsitter, or tap your phone against a cash register to pay your tab. Does this mean that wallets will soon fade into oblivion? "Soon" may be the operative word, but it's clear that one day, we'll be looking back in wonder at the practice of carrying around a pouch full of paper bills, coins and plastic cards. Q2 Spend Sights Reports Reveal Consumers Restrained in Spending but Unable to Resist an Occasional Splurge 8/31/11 Yahoo! Finance American Express Business Insights released its series of Q2 2011 Business Insights Spend Sights reports, which examine spending patterns across several key categories, US cities and demographic groups. Based on actual, aggregated spending data between April 1 and June 30, 2011, the Business Insights Spend Sights reports provide a year-over-year comparison of consumer and business spending across sectors such as luxury retail, dining and entertainment, and travel. Eight Payment Companies on Inc. 500 8/30/11 GreenSheet Inc. magazine has good news for the payments sphere – the industry is among the fastest growing sectors in the U.S. economy. In 2010, the financial services industry grew 108 percent over 2009, the publication said in its annual Inc. 500/5000 rankings of the fastest growing businesses. The rankings are based on revenue growth from the end of 2007 through 2010. Eight payment companies made it to the top 500 fastest growing companies list – the same number as in 2010; 44 payments industry companies reached the top 5,000. Merchant Maverick Sees Growth with Star-Rating System for ISOs 8/30/11 Digital Transactions The culture of ratings and reviews, so prevalent in the online world these days, has come to the business of merchant acquiring as a slew of sites has emerged to size up processors and independent sales organizations. Merchant Maverick, a 2-year-old site in Orange, Calif., takes the concept a step further by rating ISOs as if they were restaurants or movies, handing out anywhere from one to five stars in the manner of familiar rating sites like Yelp. U.S. Move to Chips: Improved Security 8/30/11 BankInfoSecurity Visa's introduction of chip-based payments incentives for U.S. merchants is enhancing dynamic authentication and expects to accelerate adoption of the EMV standard. "Our announcement is intended to essentially back a proven solution that has provided dynamic authentication at the point-of-sale for many years in the rest of the world, and we want to use that same technology in the U.S.," says Eduardo Perez, who leads Visa's Global Payment System Security group. Isis Investment Just Talk Until Product Launches, Consultant Says 8/30/11 BTN The wireless carriers involved in mobile-payments venture Isis reportedly plan to invest more than $100 million into the project. But this kind of revelation is just talk until AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and T-Mobile USA actually have a product in the market that consumers can test and use, notes one observer. "Until we start to actually see users in the market and we can understand what the user experience is, only then will the [investment] be more interesting." Square, the iPhone Credit Card Machine, Goes Mainstream 8/26/11 The Atlantic I first saw Square's product when Gizmodo's Mat Honan whipped one out at a dinner in San Francisco to help us split a check. Here's how it worked: he ran my credit card through a tiny plastic doohickey (technical term) that attached to his phone. We entered the amount I owed for the pizza, inflated by the price of a couple Belgian beers, and voila, I'd paid him with a credit card. It was a subtly impressive demonstration of the alternative payment system's appeal to the tech-savvy. Execs Worry More About Hackers Than Insiders
8/31/11 Government Info Security Executives in a variety of industries who are in charge of securing their enterprises' IT say they're more anxious about outsiders hacking into their systems than insiders - either maliciously or inadvertently - threatening their digital assets. That's according to Symantec's global 2011 State of Security Survey issued Wednesday. Twenty-nine percent of respondents reported that their organizations experience attacks on a regular basis and 71 percent saw attacks in the past 12 months. Your Social Network Can Finally Earn You Money With Discover 8/29/11 MyBankTracker Right now, Discover is running a credit card promotion for its current credit card holders under which they can receive $50 a Cashback Bonus for each friend that becomes a cardmember. Just log into your account online, share the deal with friends on Facebook, Twitter or via email and Discover will notify you each time you earn extra rewards. You can also opt to receive 5,000 bonus miles for each friend that signs up Fiserv Introduces Mobiliti for Mobile Banking, Alerting, Payments 8/30/11 BusinessWire Fiserv, Inc, the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today introduced the new MobilitiTM mobile banking, alerting and payments suite. Mobiliti unites the functionality of Mobile MoneyTM from Fiserv and BankAnywhereTM from the recently acquired M-Com within a single product suite, and will replace both of those product brands. Mobiliti is available in multiple distinct versions tailored for use by financial institutions of varying sizes within both the US and international markets. Western Union Bundles Online, Mobile Business into New Payments Unit
8/29/11 WTAQ In a news release, the Englewood, Colo., company said that the division, Western Union Ventures, will focus on three strategic growth areas: consumer money transfers, business-to-business payments and new products and services. It will be run by chief marketing officer Diane Scott. The new division will oversee Western Union's website, Westernunion.com, and several of its products and services, including prepaid and stored-value cards and mobile money transfers. Global Payments Honored for World Class Customer Service
9/01/11 The Sacramento Bee Global Payments Inc., a leader in electronic transaction payment processing, announced today that it is the recipient of the Smart Business Atlanta "Zero Risk Customer Service Award." Global Payments was honored at the magazine's 2011 World Class Customer Service Awards event for providing superior service to its customers. Merchant Warehouse Strengthens Leadership in Payment Processing With Key Additions to Executive Management Team 8/30/11 Investors Merchant Warehouse(R), a leading innovator in secure payment processing solutions and merchant account services, today announced key hires to its Executive Management Team including Brian Graham, executive vice president of sales, and David McSweeney, vice president of merchant experience. As Merchant Warehouse continues to experience rapid growth in its customer and partner acquisition, its latest additions strengthen the company's leadership in payment processing. TransUnion Report Shows Credit Risk Declining for Sixth Straight Quarter; Driven by Fewer Delinquent Consumers and Lower Debt Levels
8/29/11 MarketWatch TransUnion's proprietary Credit Risk Index (CRI) declined for the sixth consecutive quarter as consumers continue to pay off their outstanding debt and maintain low delinquency levels on their credit obligations. Compared to one year ago, the 2Q2011 CRI for the U.S. decreased 1.9 percent to 121.22. The Credit Risk Index is benchmarked to 1998 consumer credit risk levels and measures changes in consumer credit risk within various market segments. Text2Pay Enables In-App Payments For Android with Tap2Pay
9/01/11 PRWeb Mobile payment provider Text2Pay today announced Tap2Pay™ their in-app payment solution for Google Android™. Text2Pay enables developers to integrate the Tap2Pay payment widget into their application with a simple API and Java library. Tap2Pay offers all the benefits of Text2Pay including a white labeled solution with coverage in over 70 countries and competitive revenue share rates. Save On Gas With Text Payments at POS and Smartphone App 8/26/11 The POS News With over 90% of the US population owning a cell phone, and half of the population predicted to have a smart phone by the end of 2011, companies are rushing to reach mobile customers in creative ways. Murphy USA, operator of gas stations and convenience stores across the US, has proactively created both a mobile payment system that anyone with a cell phone can use, as well as a Smartphone app to help them find the cheapest gas prices around. What if ATM Machines Were Built by Interaction Designers? [Video]
9/01/11 MIT Technology Review At the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Talk to Me exhibit explores novel and creative ways to interact with technology. One of the highlights is this concept ATM machine, which possesses all the elegance of another surprisingly refined and deliberate design: The interface of the machines that sell you a New York City metro card, which are also a part of the Talk to Me showcase, and are far easier and faster to navigate than comparable systems in other cities. PCI Security Standards Council Releases Updated PCI DSS Wireless Guidelines
8/28/11 PCI The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), a global, open industry standards body providing management of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), PIN Transaction Security (PTS) requirements and the PA-DSS, today published an update to the PCI DSS Wireless Guidelines Information Supplement, providing organizations with the current PCI DSS considerations for implementing wireless technology securely in payments environments. |
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