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

MRC Adds GlobalCollect Advisors

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GlobalCollect announced two of its most senior executives have joined the MRC in key advisory roles. Stephen Buechner, Chief Credit & Risk Officer at GlobalCollect, will join the European Advisory Board. At the same time, Greg Leos, who heads up GlobalCollect’s North American operations as General Manager, will take a seat on the MRC’s Americas Advisory Board. The appointments continue a long-standing relationship between the two organizations, and underline GlobalCollect’s ongoing commitment to support the MRC and its members across the world. The MRC global non-profit organization fully supports and promotes operational excellence for fraud, payments and risk professionals within eCommerce under advisement from industry leaders and merchants.

LAC CARDS 2013

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Gross dollar volume (GDV) for Visa and MasterCard, among the Latin American Caribbean countries (LAC), rose a mere 6.1% last year, better than the 5.8% growth rate in 2012, but significantly lower than the 24% gains in 2010 and 2011. Visa holds a 76% share of the LAC GDV market and grew 4.4% in 2013 to hit $1,078 billion. MasterCard was up 12.2% last year, rising to $340 billion. Over the past five years Visa’s LAC GDV jumped 69.4% and MasterCard soared by 90%.

MoneyGram International 4Q/13, FY/13 Up 10% Y/Y

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[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”0″ ihc_mb_template=”1″] MoneyGram posted 4Q/13 and FY/13 revenue, both up 10% on the previous year. Total 4Q revenue was $385.8 million, an increase over the prior year of 9 percent on a reported basis and 8 percent in constant currency. Money transfer revenue increased to $340.0 million, representing growth of 11 percent over…

Vodafone & MoneyGram Launch Global Payment

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Vodafone and MoneyGram announced their partnership allowing consumers to transfer funds directly from around 200 countries to the millions of users of M-Pesa. The agreement will allow consumers who visit MoneyGram’s 334,000 agents across the globe to send funds directly to M-Pesa accounts. MoneyGram customers can also transfer money to an M-Pesa user through moneygram.com or via a mobile app, available on iPhone, Android and Windows 8 phones. M-Pesa – which allows customers to pay bills and withdraw, transfer and deposit money easily – is now available in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Fiji, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.

Revel Systems iPad POS Introduces Bitcoin Integration

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Revel Systems today announced a new Bitcoin integration that makes accepting Bitcoin easier than ever. Users of the Revel POS can now accept bitcoins as payment, giving their customers even more ways to pay. Revel is currently the only major point-of-sale platform that has embraced Bitcoin as a payment option for enterprise and small businesses. Revel Systems is announcing a new Bitcoin integration, making it even easier for Revel POS users to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Revel is working with Bitcoin wallet provider Coinbase to provide a hardware/software solution that allows users to seamlessly accept Bitcoin into the current Revel iPad POS. The Revel app has already been submitted to the Android® store, and an iOS app has been submitted to the Apple® app store.

SCANSOURCE ADDS MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS

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ScanSource® POS & Barcode is pleased to announce that it has expanded its relationship with Motorola Solutions. Through this expanded relationship, ScanSource POS and Barcode will now offer Motorola Solutions’ Industrial Mobile Computing (IMC) products (formerly known as Psion). By offering these products, ScanSource resellers will have access to Motorola Solutions’ complete enterprise portfolio, including mobile computing products that are designed for extreme work environments. Motorola Solutions’ IMC solutions include vehicle-mount products, non-incendive devices that safely operate in hazardous areas found in a number of applications, rugged handheld mobile computers, and enterprise handheld PDAs.

MoneyGram Announces Organizational Changes

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MoneyGram announced several operational and organizational changes to better support the Company’s corporate objectives, including its goal of reaching $2 billion in annual revenue in 2017. These actions include realigning the organizational structure and commencing a global transformation program designed to help MoneyGram lead the industry in compliance, fuel multi-channel growth and improve its cost structure. MoneyGram has made several changes to its executive committee to position the Company for continued growth. W. Alexander Holmes has been named chief operating officer, effective immediately. He will also maintain his current titles and responsibilities as executive vice president and chief financial officer. In his expanded role, Holmes will be responsible for oversight of all finance, technology and operations functions. The following executives have been named executive vice president of their respective positions and will continue to report to MoneyGram’s chairman and chief executive officer, Pamela H. Patsley: W. Alexander Hoffmann, Global Product Management and Emerging Channels; Grant Lines, Asia Pacific, South Asia and Middle East; and Peter Ohser, U.S. and Canada. The three-year global transformation program designed to strengthen MoneyGram’s competitive position consist of Enhancing compliance, Investing for growth, Reorganization and restructuring.

JCB 2013

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Currently the only international payment brand originating in Japan grew leaps and bounds last year. During 2013, the JCB card reached a milestone as it now has more than 15 million cardholders outside Japan. JCB also expects annual transaction volume to surpass $200 billion in 2014. JCB now has more than 350 issuing and acquiring partners worldwide, with card issuance in 15 countries and acceptance in 190 countries and territories. More than 23 million merchants worldwide serve JCB’s 81 million affluent cardholders. Here is an overview of JCB’s progress in 2013.

NFC microSD mPayments Implement ams

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ams AG analog ICs and sensors announced that US-based DeviceFidelity, Inc. is using unique ams RF technology in its latest CredenSE 2.10 NFC microSD card to enable secure, certified NFC transmissions between any mobile phone and contactless payment terminals from Visa and MasterCard. DeviceFidelity CredenSE 2.10 is the world’s first NFC microSD card to successfully achieve global payment certifications from both Visa and MasterCard without requiring external booster antenna or device specific attachments. Using the AS3922 from ams, an integrated NFC front end with Active Boost technology, CredenSE achieves a typical read range of 4cm in a mobile phone’s microSD slot. The mobile phone is a notoriously difficult environment for RF and variations between phone models make it difficult to consistently achieve good performance. The stringent requirements for read range compatibility with payment terminals for payment applications cannot be met in small form factors such as SIM or microSD cards with a traditional passive NFC card emulation front end and simple planar antenna. The DeviceFidelity CredenSE 2.10 is the first commercially produced NFC microSD card that meets EMV standards using only an ultra-small antenna embedded in the card, making distribution and compatibility with hundreds of phone models possible with one easy-to-deploy microSD card. It can be used to transform any mobile device with a microSD card slot into a contactless payment device without any need for device specific external antenna or attachments. Active Boost allows for robust tag-to-reader communication at a coupling factor 100 times higher than is possible with conventional passive tag designs. The AS3922 also offers unique Antenna Auto Tuning and Q factor adjustment, which are critical to microSD, SIM and µSIM applications. The IC includes an ACLB interface for communication with the contactless interface of any Dual Interface Secure Element, and DCLB and NFC-WI interfaces for digital communication.

Triton Integrates Fujitsu G60 Bill Recycling in its ATM

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Fujitsu front-end solutions and Triton Systems ATMs and ATM management software announced they will offer the Fujitsu G60 bill recycling unit in the ARGO 7 ATM. The integrated solution will be on display in the Triton booth number 508 at the ATMIA 2014 US Conference in Orlando, FL. The ATMIA USA annual conference and expo is the largest ATM-focused event in the world and this year’s event marks its 15th anniversary. Triton’s ARGO 7 ATM features a color touchscreen, supports the eco-friendly option of sending SMS text, email or printed receipts, reducing each machine’s carbon footprint and resulting in cost savings over the life of the ATM. Also it can be configured with a business hours or level one safe and is EMV ready. The Fujitsu G60, with up to 1,900 notes capacity, features 4 recycling cassettes, 1 deposit cassette and 1 optional F53 loading cassette. The loading cassette increases up time and productivity by increasing capacities, start of day replenishment or providing an additional denomination when necessary.

NCR POS Powers Stangengrüner Mühlenbäckerei

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NCR and dascus are modernizing the point-of-sale (POS) infrastructure of all 109 branches of the German bakery chain Stangengrüner Mühlenbäckerei. The complete solution consists of software and hardware along with services and support provided by dascus. Due to its design, the POS technology enables small and midsized retailers to realize significant energy savings, since it features an energy-saving processor and runs without a cooling fan. With its compact design, the technology is easy to setup and maintain. Its color and branding can be customized according to a retailer’s individual preferences and can be used either as a POS workstation or multimedia kiosk for self-service applications.