Robert McKinley, Senior Analyst/Editor Robert McKinley is an analyst of the payments industry on a daily basis for 32 years covering payment cards and payment systems from both the business side and the consumer side. McKinley is the retired founder and chief executive of RAM Research, CardWeb and CardTrak. In his prior position, McKinley has participated in more than 10,000 documented news media interviews, testified as an expert witness in two separate $billion+ U.S. anti-trust trials, testified before the U.S. Congress, assisted the GAO with paymentsIMG_2006 (1).jpeg reports, chaired numerous business conferences and provided C-Suite opinion to a multitude of Fortune 500 companies. In retirement, he has continued developing and funding digital media assets as well as contributing payments related analysis/content to a broad list of online publishers, including CardFlash, CardTrak and CardData. McKinley is also a national certified mentor with the non-profit SCORE organization with a focus on assisting Fintech startups. www.robert-mckinley.com

Diebold Unveils Green, Power-Efficient ATM

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The Diebold 429 ATM intelligent-powered ATM is designed to use as little as 70 watts of power, consuming up to 40 percent less energy than other models. Currently available in the Indian market, the Diebold 429 ATM could save enough energy annually to power more than 1,200 Indian households. The Diebold 429 offers a solution for financial institutions to better serve people living in areas with limited power. In India for example, approximately 40 percent of the country’s population is underbanked. Diebold was the industry’s only global ATM provider with the ability to deliver a workable solution that met India’s uninterruptible power supply requirements. Diebold is delivering 2,100 Diebold 429 ATMs for India’s Bank of Baroda (BoB), making it possible for BoB to expand self-service options to locations – and consumers – it could not previously reach. The system automatically chooses which power source to draw from – either the internal battery or alternating current (AC) power grid – ensuring that the unit does not exceed 100 watts of power usage.

Pulse to Accept EMV Visa Debit

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Visa and PULSE signed agreements to enable financial institutions that issue EMV debit cards on both the Visa and PULSE networks to use Visa’s common debit solution. Visa’s common application identifier (AID) supports U.S. debit regulations requiring the ability to route transactions over multiple, unaffiliated networks. A common debit solution shared among all participants will help to accelerate EMV chip adoption in the United States and provide a uniform platform that will enable network innovation. PULSE will use functionality on Visa’s common AID to facilitate all types of point-of-sale debit transactions on its network. In addition, the agreement enables PULSE to facilitate domestic ATM transactions on its network and provides for issuer choice in the routing of ATM transactions.

USA Technologies Upgrade ePort Connect for Tokens

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USA Technologies enhanced its ePort Connect service that expand and strengthen its menu of value-added cashless payment, telemetry and consumer engagement services designed for self-serve retailing industries such as vending, amusement and arcade, commercial laundry and kiosk. The upgrade includes special enhancements such as secure card tokenization, new capabilities designed to optimize USAT’s loyalty and prepaid program, MORE., in micro-market environments and new operational tools designed to provide customers additional real-time data about the status of their connected devices. Information regarding some of the latest enhancements to ePort Connect® follows.

Sionic Mobile Adds Google Wallet

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Sionic Mobile announced it has added and now features the ability to pay with Google Wallet in its ION Rewards® app for Android, available for free in Google Play. For a limited introductory period, users will get paid double ION rewards, two percent of their purchase amount, each time they checkout using the “Buy with Google” option. ION is the first fully digital cloud-based mCommerce platform and may be used at more than 25,000 retail and restaurant locations including Lowe’s, Staples, Sephora and Papa John’s Pizza.

Oink Partners with Plinga For Payment Technology

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Oink announced that it has partnered with Plinga GmbH to provide a safe, seamless payment technology for their social games. Plinga’s 15 currently published titles are played by more than 30 million users per month, in 16 different languages, and on more than 2,000 social networks and web portals around the globe. Oink is a mobile-first payment technology designed to allow retailers and game publishers to reach consumers in a safe, legal and effective manner compliant with the FTC and other international regulations. The award-winning technology serves as a digital family wallet that is available online or via mobile and allows safe, secure transactions – and can be enhanced with parental controls.

SmartMetric Predicts Judgement on Against Visa and MasterCard

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SmartMetric expects that its motions which it has brought in its patent infringement law suit against both Visa and MasterCard to be heard by the US Federal Circuit Court this coming May.
If, as expected, the Court’s hearing is held in May, then a ruling can be reasonably expected by June 2014. SmartMetric is asking the Federal Circuit Court to make a ruling on its motions before the Court that both defendants, Visa and MasterCard are in control of the EMV technology used on the new chip credit and debit cards and therefore are liable as patent infringing parties. In representations to the court Visa and MasterCard have denied they “control” the offending technology therefore should not be held liable. SmartMetric believes this to be a preposterous position of the card company’s especially in the light that both company’s expert witnesses under oath in deposition have acknowledged that Visa and Mastercard do control the technology.

MoneyGram Expands in Brazil

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Consumers in Brazil have more options when they send and receive money transfers thanks to an agreement with MoneyGram and São Paulo, Brazil-based Confidence Câmbio. Customers can now use MoneyGram services at 69 Confidence Câmbio stores across the country. Confidence Câmbio is a well-known company with a presence in many of the largest cities in Brazil. It is part of Confidence Group which also owns the first foreign exchange bank in this country. Group Confidence is part of Travelex – the largest foreign exchange group in the world.

MasterCard MasterPass Hits New Market

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MasterCard launched MasterPass, its cutting edge digital service in China, enabling Chinese consumers to be the first in Asia to experience a simpler, quicker and more secure way to shop online and overseas, at thousands of MasterPass-accepting online retailers. China Construction Bank, with the largest cardholder base in the country, will be the first issuer to leverage the MasterPass platform to enable its digital wallet, LongPass. MasterPass enables consumers to make online payments in a comfortable, fast and safe way as they can conveniently and securely store their MasterCard and other branded credit, debit and prepaid card information, shipping details and more, simplifying the process of completing a transaction from any connected device including PCs, tablets and smartphones.

Collis compliance test suite gets GlobalPlatform qualification

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GlobalPlatform has qualified the Collis Compliance Test Suite for GlobalPlatform Common Implementation Configuration for Amendment D and E. The Collis Compliance Test Suite for GlobalPlatform Common Implementation Configuration implements the official test plan developed for the GlobalPlatform Compliance Program. The test suite ensures the compliance of the core features of a card that implements GlobalPlatform Card version 2.2.1 technology. This includes the enhanced security options from Amendments D and E. This test suite has achieved qualified status under the GlobalPlatform Compliance Program. GlobalPlatform has extended its compliance program to provide a formal framework that enables the creation and qualification of test tools that can now be used to confirm the compliance of a card product to the association’s Card Specification and different configurations.

Western Union & Paga Expand mMoney Transfer Network

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Western Union global payment services launched its mobile money transfer service to Nigeria, which increases the reach of Western Union payout options in the country. The new service to Nigeria integrates directly with Paga, the leading mobile payment platform in Nigeria, with more than 1.2 million users. Paga users now have the option of receiving a Western Union Money Transfer® transaction directly into their Paga account. Using Paga’s multi-channel platform, consumers can withdraw the money by sending it to a bank account, withdrawing from an ATM, or through Paga’s network of over 4,000 agents in Nigeria. Consumers can also choose to pick-up their funds at participating Western Union® Agent locations across the country.

US Conference Board LEI Spikes in February

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[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”0″ ihc_mb_template=”1″] The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.S. was up 0.5% in February to 99.8 after a 0.1% increase in January and a 0.1% drop in December. The LEI increased sharply in February, compared to recent monthly figures, suggesting weather-related stifling is over and consumer spending in 2H/14 will…

Diebold’s Cardless ATM

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An automated teller machine (ATM) with no card reader. Pre-staged withdrawals on smartphones. Cardless transactions. And everything managed via the cloud. A new era of banking, inspired by the Millennial generation, is dawning at Diebold Federal Credit Union (DFCU), where an innovative ATM from Diebold, Incorporated and a mobile wallet solution are allowing members to complete self-service transactions and make retail purchases without using physical debit or credit cards. DFCU is piloting the world’s first ATM without a card reader or PIN pad that relies solely on mobile authentication. When a consumer scans a unique QR code at the ATM using a smartphone, the ATM authenticates the user via cloud-hosted services to enable secure, cardless transactions.