The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. was up 0.7% in August to 96.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.5% increase in July, and no change since June. The LEI six-month growth rate remains steady, suggesting that conditions in the economy remain resilient. Widespread gains in the leading indicators over the last six…
Digital River expanded its Value Added Tax (VAT) management capabilities by partnering with Meridian Global Services. Digital River has long provided VAT calculation and collection capabilities as part of its global commerce solution. Working with Meridian, Digital River can extend its VAT advisory and remittance capabilities as a companion offering to its Digital River World Payments solution. The joint offering provides cross-border merchants access to both global online payments and VAT compliance solutions. The technology combination benefits merchants by breaking down barriers that prevent them from maximising their overseas selling opportunities. While the Digital River World Payments solution enables merchants to cater to local preferences with regionally preferred payment options and purchasing experiences, Meridian’s solution helps merchants manage the back-office operations of VAT compliance, which go hand-in-hand with global transactions. Through its global payment solution, Digital River offers online merchants more than 180 international and local payment options, and over 170 transaction and display currencies.
PULSE debit/ATM networks implemented a major upgrade to its DebitProtect Fraud Mitigation Service and introduced an optional fraud blocking service. The enhanced system allows transactions to be blocked in real time, enabling PULSE participants to respond faster to suspected fraud before more fraud is perpetrated on a card, thus reducing losses and decreasing cardholder impact. The DebitProtect fraud mitigation system was first launched across the PULSE network in 2007. PULSE collaborated with Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Retail Decisions (ReD) on the DebitProtect upgrade. PULSE deployed the ReD PRISM® software solution, implemented on HP NonStop servers. The initiative received the 2012 HP Alliance ONE Partner of the Year Award for Innovation. In addition to the enhanced fraud detection service and new Authorization Blocking option, financial institution participants may use an optional service that includes the development of custom rules specific to their organization. This helps minimize the impact of false positives on cardholders.
SafetyPay, the real time online payment solution that enables consumers to shop from merchants worldwide and pay in their local currency directly from their bank account or with cash, announced the addition of the United States and Caribbean as regions where global merchants can accept cash payments for purchases made online. Walk-in cash payments can be made in Moneygram locations throughout the US and Caribbean. With SafetyPay, merchants can offer consumers with cash and access to ecommerce sites the ability to pay for online purchases. Cash payments can be offered to both local consumers and consumers located in other countries.
The NFC Forum announced Paula Hunter has been named the organization’s new Executive Director. She comes to the NFC Forum with more than 18 years of leadership experience in technology association management, marketing, operations, and business development. She led global teams and has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences around the world. As Executive Director, Hunter presides over the day-to-day affairs of the NFC Forum under the direction of the Chairman, Officers, and Board of Directors. Her responsibilities include strategic planning and direction, membership development, budgeting, evangelism for the Forum and its mission, and outreach to liaison and vertical market partners. Hunter joins the NFC Forum following more than three years as Executive Director of the Outercurve Foundation, a non-profit foundation formed with the mission of enabling the exchange of code and understanding among software companies and open source communities, and with Outercurve as Director of Operations for SEMPO.
MoneyGram acquired Advanced ChronoCash Services (“ACCS”) and signed an agreement to acquire MoneyGlobe Payment Institution. MoneyGram acquired super agent ACCS through a share purchase agreement. ACCS has been a MoneyGram agent since 2003, and has now grown to more than 400 locations with a loyal base of retail agents. MoneyGram also signed an agreement to acquire the shares of MoneyGlobe Payment Institution S.A., a provider of cash-to-account money transfers from Greece to Bangladesh. The transaction is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals. These latest acquisitions are important to MoneyGram’s offerings to customers in Greece and draw upon the company’s strategy to invest in products and services that enhance operations and provide increased convenience for customers.
Thirteen online commerce companies will now start accepting payments from customers using PayPal. The latest retailers to deploy PayPal include Online hypermarkets, Ozon.ru and Enter.ru; Designer furniture and accessories from Westwing; Travel from Tutu.ru and Anywayanyday.ru; Russia’s largest online store for clothes, shoes and accessories inLaModa.ru; Fashion from MyWalit.ru; Food delivery from Utkonos.ru; Kitchen appliances from Holodilnuik.ru; Cellphone and consumer electronics with Svyaznoy; Emex.ru sells auto goods and parts; Biglion, the leader in coupons, providing discounts for many great services; KupiVip provides 90% discounts on online shopping. Our reputation for successfully handling $145bn in online transactions in 2012, the fact that our payment platform spans 193 markets, and that our world-class fraud detection systems identify many criminals before anyone becomes a victim, provide the reassurance so far missing for Russian online shoppers.
Wincor Nixdorf AG is pooling its software and professional services expertise in Utrecht in the Netherlands. Wincor Nixdorf CEO Eckard Heidloff officially opened the new Software Headquarters on September 18, 2013 in the presence of Remco van Lunteren, Member of the Provincial Executive of the Province of Utrecht. Wincor Nixdorf aims to build on its software strength and is already generating revenue of more than EUR300 million in the software sector. Around 50 employees from Wincor Nixdorf will initially start work in the office complex in Utrecht from October 1; the addition of further staff is also planned. Software for banks and retail companies Banks and retail companies worldwide are striving to make their branch and store processes leaner and more automated. Banks and retailers tend to use non-standardized software. Wincor Nixdorf therefore sees great opportunities in this for offering standard software to handle all the self-service and branch or store processes, irrespective of the hardware installed. Functional enhancements can thus be added quickly and cost-effectively.