12/13/2002 • CardFlash® - Payment Card Industry News

TNS SMART NETWORK

5, CANADA, Country, PriorityBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

Toronto-based TNS Smart Network has successfully certified
“Triple-DES” on most major ATM platforms, including NCR’s “APTRA Advance
NDC” as well as ATMs by Triton, Diebold, Tranax and others. TNS completed
development of “Triple-DES” support for all compliant ATMs in early
November, and followed with rigorous testing to ensure that ATM performance
and reliability were not impacted in any way by the additional level of PIN
encryption. Many networks and associations have mandated that all ATM
processors and deployers implement “Triple-DES” at various processing
levels between 2003 and 2005, a target that many consider unreachable.

TRANSAKT TERMINAL

5, CANADA, Country, PriorityBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

Calgary-based Wildcard Wireless Solutions has reached agreements
with CardReady International for the sales, support and marketing of its
flagship “TransAKT CDMA” wireless POS terminal in the USA.
CardReady, a U.S. merchant service provider that is sponsored by Key Bank,
will accept and process credit card transactions generated by end users of
“TransAKT” terminals and will also provide front line customer support. In
order to facilitate manufacturing of an initial inventory of “TransAKT”
wireless terminals required for CardReady’s U.S. sales, CardReady has
arranged a US$350,000 financing for Wildcard by way of an inventory secured
loan. In exchange for providing sales, support, and marketing in the USA
for the terminals, CardReady and Wildcard have signed a MOU wherein
CardReady has been granted the exclusive distribution rights within the USA
for the “TransAKT CDMA” wireless terminal and has been designated the
“Merchant Service Provider of Choice.”

PREPAID SERVICE BUREAU

5, CANADA, Country, PriorityBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

Montreal-based Point de Vente and Q Comm International have
entered into an agreement to establish a service bureau for the electronic
distribution of prepaid services. Under the agreement, Q Comm will issue
its proprietary, service bureau hardware and software to Pointe de Vente.
Thereafter, Point de Vente will purchase Q Comm POSA terminals, place them
in retail locations and manage them through the service bureau system under
which Q Comm receives transaction fees. Point de Vente expects to have its
service bureau system completely installed by the end of 2002 and begin
rollout of terminals to their retail network of more than 2,000 stores in
the Quebec and Ontario provinces in first quarter 2003.

$200 SmartCard Terminals

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

VISA, which has led the charge in smart payment cards in USA, announced yesterday the introduction of two new terminals that will offer special base prices of just over $200 that conform to the global EMV standard for chip credit and debit cards. VISA worked with terminal manufacturers Cybernet and Intellect to develop the breakthrough low-cost solutions. The $200 cost of the EMV terminals includes hardware and a full EMV core library as well as support and service warranties. Additional fees will apply to include shipping, customs, taxes, and local customization, which may vary on a country-by-country basis. The Cybernet terminal is available now and the Intellect product will be available in early 2003. VISA also led the effort to cut the actual cost a multi-application smart card from more than $5.00 two years ago to now about $2.60. Five years ago, the price of a smart card hovered at $8 a piece. There are more than 21 million smart cards now in-use in the USA and VISA accounts for nearly 60% of the total. (CF Library 6/25/02; 10/28/02)

BASIC-CARD POS

5, Country, GERMANY, PriorityBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

ZeitControl cardsystems has developed a POS terminal that can be
programmed in “BASIC.” The option enables users to reduce development time
to one to two weeks as opposed to months of traditional development time.
It is possible to add value to an existing application since “BasicCard
POS” also works with common, ISO-compatible, smart cards. .For creating a
POS application you use the “BASIC” compiler contained in the BasicCard
development kit. This means you can use your existing source code. The
“BasicCard POS” can also be extended with an optional PinPad device.

Big Spenders

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

A new study has found that credit card users spend considerably more than those who use non-credit card payment methods during the current holiday season. Other differences between credit card users and non-credit card shoppers are that credit card users favor name brand merchandise more. When it comes to stores shopped most often for women’s clothing, Wal-Mart, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Dillard’s, Sears, and Target top the list of stores credit card users will shop most often. Another key attribute of credit card users is they are more loyal. Their customer lifetime value- the length of time they say they have shopped most often at a store is 8.97 years versus 7.86 for non-credit users. The study, conducted by BIGresearch of 8,500 consumers between November 7 and 14, also found that 67% of credit card users will spend more this year than last.

Einstein/Noah Cards

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

NJ-based New World Restaurant Group has launched the “Einstein Bros Card” and “Noah’s New York Bagels Card” in 369 company-operated and 20 licensed Einstein Bros locations in 29 states, and 83 company-operated and two licensed Noah’s locations throughout the West Coast. Available in any amount from $5 to $500 and fully rechargeable, the Einstein Bros Card and Noah’s Card allow consumers to enjoy cash-free dining from breakfast to lunch and beyond. And, with the Holidays upon us, they also can be used to purchase merchandise at the online outlets recently launched by both restaurant groups.

U.S. Bank & Travelers Express

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

U.S. Bancorp has signed an agreement with Viad’s Travelers Express Company to continue using the company’s official check and money order programs through 2007. Consumers typically purchase Travelers Express money orders at one of U.S. Bank’s convenient banking locations to fulfill unique bill paying requirements not met by the traditional checking account. Travelers Express handles the back office processing of both types of items once they are cashed.

TransAKT Terminal

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

Calgary-based Wildcard Wireless Solutions has reached agreements with CardReady International for the sales, support and marketing of its flagship “TransAKT CDMA” wireless POS terminal in the USA. CardReady, a U.S. merchant service provider that is sponsored by Key Bank, will accept and process credit card transactions generated by end users of “TransAKT” terminals and will also provide front line customer support, according to The RAM Report (www.ramreport.com). In order to facilitate manufacturing of an initial inventory of “TransAKT” wireless terminals required for CardReady’s U.S. sales, CardReady has arranged a US$350,000 financing for Wildcard by way of an inventory secured loan. In exchange for providing sales, support, and marketing in the USA for the terminals, CardReady and Wildcard have signed a MOU wherein CardReady has been granted the exclusive distribution rights within the USA for the “TransAKT CDMA” wireless terminal and has been designated the “Merchant Service Provider of Choice.”

SMS & Cardinal

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

OH-based CardinalCommerce has signed Spectrum Merchant Services, whose annual processing exceeds $500 million, for the “Cardinal Centinel” merchant authentication software. Spectrum Merchant Services is the latest in a series of merchant service providers signed in the last six months by CardinalCommerce, including Heartland Payment Systems, Paradata Systems, eProcessing Network, Innovative Merchant Solutions, Transactional Technologies, and DCTI.

Poland ATMs

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

Poland’s Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy PBK has signed an ATM network participation agreement with Hungary-based Euronet Worldwide. Starting December 20th, BPH PBK’s 2.6 million customers will be able to use any of Euronet’s 430 ATMs throughout Poland without being charged additional fees. This agreement increases the bank’s ATM network from 720 ATMs owned by BPH PBK to a total of 1,150 ATMs, according to The RAM Report ([www.ramreport.com][1]). Under terms of the deal, transactions by BPH PBK customers on Euronet ATMs will be switched directly to the bank for authorization and settlement. The bank has agreed to monthly transaction minimums and will pay a fixed fee per transaction to Euronet. Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy PBK is the third largest bank in Poland, which is owned by the second largest bank in Germany, HypoVereinsbank AG.

[1]: http://www.ramreport.com

MondoCard

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 12/13/2002

A Miami group of predominantly Latin businessmen have teamed to form Mondopolitan to be an international provider of debit and credit cards running on the MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus networks. The group is planning to launch its “MondoCard” in the first quarter of 2003 to the Hispanic un-banked and the credit-challenged market in the USA. The new card will feature voice activated/Internet-based account information system which will be offered in English, Spanish and Portuguese languages. Multiple card issuance with sub-account numbers and preset spending limits will be offered so that consumers can effectively manage their entire household spending with one account. The company estimates there are more than 21 million people with roots in Mexico living in the USA with roughly 16 million of them in California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.

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