ThreatMetrix Examines Fraud Prevention for Online Banking

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

Fraud solution provider ThreatMetrix has released a new report that examines fraud prevention for online banking
The report, “Trends in Online Banking: Fraud Prevention
and Customer Authentication,” reports that banks and merchants spend large sums of money to
identify and block suspicious credit card purchases and applications,
but many of these technologies were designed to prevent fraud by means
other than the Internet. The result is that in their eagerness to reduce
online fraud, many banks and merchants have also unwittingly blocked
legitimate orders thereby leading to lost valid orders, long-term damage
to their brands, and a negative customer experience.
Other key findings from the report include: 56% of respondents overwhelmingly cited new credit card applications as
the top risk of financial risk of financial loss from fraud.
Over half of the respondents stated that CNP (card not present)
purchases carry the most risk of loss with 65% of respondents predict an increase in online fraud attempts using
stolen or synthetic customer credentials over the next 18 months and 56% of respondents indicated that more than 5% of customer
authentication attempts are fake or fraudulent. The two most cited priorities for new online customer authentications
were reducing fraud losses and protecting their brand. ThreatMetrix helps companies control online fraud
and abuse in real time so they can significantly reduce on-line fraud,
acquire more customers faster, reduce costs, and increase customer
satisfaction with an SaaS approach to
implementation enables companies to get results in hours or days, rather
than weeks or months.

Radiant System&Zoës Kitchen Ink Processing Agreements

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

POS hardware provider Radiant Systems has entered into an agreement with
restaurant chain Zoës Kitchen to install the Aloha Enterprise solution.
The Aloha Enterprise solution helps restaurants in all areas of their
business – from managing day-to-day operations to creating targeted
marketing programs. In particular, the solution’s online ordering,
takeout and delivery capabilities give customers the convenience of
accessing the restaurant when and where they choose. Not only do guests
enjoy that Zoës can save their favorite orders and store payment
information in a secure environment to make future orders easier, but
restaurant operators can analyze customer information from these
applications to make better menu and marketing decisions. In addition,
Aloha Enterprise’s loyalty functionality allows Zoës’ restaurants to
create loyalty programs that help stimulate repeat business and grow
revenues while also adding additional value to the guests’ dining
experience.

Heartland Payment Systems Joins Strategic Processing Partnership

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

Payment processor Heartland Payment Systems, The Council of State
Restaurant Associations, 40 state restaurant associations and the National
Restaurant Association have joined in a strategic partnership.
The associations and Heartland introduced “Full Course Business Solutions”,the
unified payments processing platform for the restaurant industry
“Full Course” launched with an exclusively endorsed suite of payments
products ― including card processing, payroll, check management and tip
reporting and compliance services ― and will grow to encompass other
critical business services. This suite of solutions is supported by
Heartland’s national sales and servicing organization of 1,800
professionals located in communities across America and its 1,600
service, information technology and administrative employees.

10 Consumer Trends Projected to Impact Financial Services Industry in 20

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

Five
consumer-focused trends that will impact the financial services industry
in 2010 are being projected. These trends include: “The New Frugal”, 78% of respondents told Mintel
they’ve been simplifying their lives lately, while 21% said they saved
more in 2009. More than three-fourths of Mintel survey respondents said they intend to
permanently increase their savings rate, and 84% said they plan to be
more conservative with money in the future; “Rebuilding Trust”
Brand perception and consumer trust are major concerns for today’s
banking community; “Convergence”—the merging of technologies or industries—is a major trend
across financial services sectors as companies try to tap into the next
best thing. Currently, about a third of consumers say they don’t want to use mobile
banking or mobile payments because they’re worried about security. Financial institutions need to focus on making new
convergent technologies seem secure, useful, even necessary for
time-strapped, budget-minded consumers; “Social Media”
Believe it or not, Mintel survey data suggests that consumers aren’t
against social networking with their bank or credit card company. Only
one in four respondents told Mintel they think financial services
companies on social networking websites are annoying and 16% said
they’d follow a financial services company for coupons while 11% would
follow for contests or promotions and “Banking 2.0”, Mintel surveys suggest 68% of the
population could be at risk of moving to another bank or a banking
alternative because they’re dissatisfied with financial services providers.

Hipcricket Appoints New Senior VP of Sales

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

Hipcricket mobile marketing leader has appointed Doug Stovall senior VP of sales. Bringing with him over 10 years’ experience, Stovall has created and directed the mobile sales units for Acuity Mobile, Merkle and TeleCommunications Systems (TCS). Other clients over the years have included Harrah’s Casinos, Pitney Bowes, Discover Financial Services, Enterprise Holdings (Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car), H&R Block, Utah Jazz and Washington Capitals, among others. He served as VP of mobile business development at Merkle digital marketing services and directed mobile sales and VP of sales at Acuity Mobile where he built and managed direct and indirect sales and business development organizations for the provider of interactive mobile marketing, advertising and content delivery solutions.

Consumers Put Card Payments Before Their Mortgages

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

Consumers current on credit cards and delinquent on mortgages first surpassed the percentage of consumers current on their mortgages and delinquent on credit cards in the first quarter of 2008. Representing the change in the conventional wisdom around the payment hierarchy, among consumers with at least one credit card and one mortgage throughout a 30-day period, those delinquent on their mortgages and current on their credit cards rose 6.6% in 3Q/09 (from 4.3 percent in Q1/2008). These findings, according to Transunion data, shows the percentage of consumers delinquent on their credit cards and current on their mortgages fell to 3.6% 3Q/09 (from 4.1 percent in Q1/2008). The magnitude of delinquency in the lowest scoring segment is significantly higher than that of the total market, with the rate for consumers delinquent on their mortgages but current on their credit cards during Q4/2007 was 19.1 percent, and rose to 29% in Q3/2009. In a trend similar to that of the total market, the percentage of consumers delinquent on their credit cards but current on their mortgages decreased from 18.1% in Q1/2008 to 14.5% in Q3/2009. These shifts are most profound in Florida and California.

FICO Score Now Available in Equifax ABS Credit Risk Insight

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

FICO’s credit score will now be available in Equifax ABS Credit Risk Insight. Equifax’s incorporation of the FICO score into ABS Credit Risk Insight allows investors to track borrowers’ FICO scores across the life of loans from origination to securitization. The resulting insight will help investors make more informed decisions, increase transparency, track borrower credit quality, and improve default predictability. Now investors who use Equifax ABS Credit Risk Insight will benefit from the consistency of a single credit score across a portfolio, allowing better understanding of portfolio risk including how changes in borrower risk might affect the overall portfolio. FICO’s Decision Management solutions combine trusted advice, world-class analytics and innovative applicationsto automate, improve and connect decisions for clients in 80 countries.

SAS Real-Time Decision Manager Awarded 2009 Product of the Year

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

SAS’ “Real-Time Decision Manager” was named a 2009 Product of the Year by Customer Interaction Solutions magazine. The “Real-Time Decision Manager” combines SAS Analytics with business logic and contact strategies to allow business users to construct, implement and deliver real-time decisions and recommendations to interactive customer channels at the POS, ATMs, back-end enterprise systems, over the web and more. SAS “Real-Time Decision Manager” is also part of the SAS Customer Intelligence suite, which enables companies to deepen customer insights, choreograph customer interactions and continuously improve marketing performance. SAS supports customer initiatives for DeutschlandCard, First Citizens Bank, Grupo Santander, Staples, US Bank and Wolters Kluwer.

Five Credit Unions Partner to Provide Military Surcharge-Free ATM Benefits

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) has signed four different agreements with Fort Bragg Federal Credit Union, Marine Federal Credit Union, Navy Federal Credit Union and Pentagon Federal Credit Union to ensure NC National Guard personnel surcharge-free ATMs worldwide. The agreements will allow Guardsmen to utilize more than 1,600 no-surcharge ATMs, saving as much as $3 per transaction, whether they’re serving in Guam, Japan, Quantico, Virginia or Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This is meant to assist military personnel and thank them for their continuous efforts to serve our Country.

Seiko Instruments Launches New Thermal Mobile Printer

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

Seiko Instruments has unveiled the “DPU-S245” wireless 2” direct thermal mobile printer.
The ultra-small DPU-S245 weighs 0.62 lbs and measures 3.27 inches wide by
1.77 inches high by 5.12 inches deep. Developed for mobile workforce
applications, the printer is among the fastest on the market, producing
crystal clear 203 dpi output at 100 mm/sec. The DPU-S245 combines integration flexibility, dependability, and
ease-of-use. Bluetooth® and IrDA wireless connectivity and USB and
Serial wired connections, make the printer suitable for a broad range of
mobile and tethered receipt printing applications. A windows driver and
software development kit for Windows CE and Windows mobile are also
available. The DPU-S245 is rated for 50km printed output, equivalent to
over 320,000 6-inch printouts. The DPU-S245 gives channel
partners a fast, lightweight, and dependable mobile receipt printer with
a very competitive starting price of $253.

Discover U.S. Spending Monitor Up Mere 2.2 Points in January

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATES

The Discover U.S. Spending Monitor remained flat in January, up only 2.2 points to 85.2, thanks in large part to 50% rating economic conditions as stagnant. The number of consumers rating the economy poor fell 1% since December to 56% while those whom felt economic conditions were getting worse was up a point since December to 49%. Meanwhile, 53% expect to spend the same in February as they did in January, a 9-point increase from last month’s Monitor; 54% plan to spend less on discretionary personal purchases, a point increase from December; 52% anticipate spending less on major personal purchases, also a a point increase from December. There was no change in home improvement spending intentions month-over-month, and 54% of consumers will spend the same on household expenses like gas and groceries during the month ahead, a 3-point increase. Overall, 34 percent rated their personal finances as good or excellent, a 3-point increase from December and a 9-month high, while 22% felt their personal finances were getting better, also a 3-point increase from December and a 17-month high. Twenty-four percent currently rate their personal finances as poor and 47 percent feel their finances are getting worse.

AMEX AXCENTIS

5, CANADA, Country, Priority

American Express Canada has launched “aXcentis”, a comprehensive travel management program that is
local in its delivery and flexible in its design to address the needs of small to mid-sized companies
who previously may not have had access to travel management programs. aXcentis has been designed to ensure companies do not
under-invest or overspend as their need for travel increases in line
with economic revival. aXcentis manages 100% of total travel and expense spending with a focus
program strategy – aXcentis applies proprietary methodology to
evaluate a company’s current travel and expense process, identifies
areas of improvement and matches a comprehensive, business goal-
driven program with clearly defined measurements for return on
travel investment; cash flow management/spend recycling, employing a system to
manage budget spent on unused travel so these resources can be
applied to future trips, which can free up cash to invest in other
business areas and insight and benchmarking. Ongoing program management is handled through a local and dedicated
aXcentis client management team that will work with companies to
optimize their program and provide counsel to help them realize the
greatest return on travel spending. Additional benefits of aXcentis include:
access to exclusive negotiated deals with suppliers and the lowest
total trip costs and an automated travel manager suite, including a pre-trip auditor
and authorization tools, which support travel policy both on and
offline.