The Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) launched a mobile commerce tool to enable merchants to analyze the potential impact of mobile solution deployments on their business. MAG notes the mobile commerce environment is a rapidly changing landscape as nearly 80% of all phones in the U.S. are smartphones. The tool is intended to spark high level…
A major provider of payment processing, risk and alternative payments, and a leading cloud call center management service provider have agreed a global partnership. The EasyPay product offers a secure transaction service while removing the need for call centers to have onerous annual PCI audits.
Elephant Talk Communications business software and services to the telecommunications and financial services industries announced ValidSoft wholly owned subsidiary has renewed the European Privacy Seal for the “VALid-POS” fraud detection and prevention product. This renewal provides further validation that “VALid-POS” can fight fraud while maintaining full privacy and can save banks hundreds of millions of dollars a year by helping to determine whether credit and debit card transactions are legitimate or fraudulent. ValidSoft recently signed a contract with Visa Europe for their fraud detection and prevention solutions “VALid-POS” -which works by correlating the origination of a purchase or withdrawal using a credit or debit card to the proximity of the card owner through the card owner’s cell phone- and “VALid.”
Online Resources online financial services over the last six months has
signed new agreements with more than 40 utilities for various services
within its “eCom Advantage” electronic billing solutions. Online
Resources provides client customers expanded, convenient options for
making payments and real-time acknowledgment of payment posting.
Customers can pay through the Internet, email, Interactive Voice
Response (IVR) or call center environments. Other new utility clients
opted for the companyâs electronic lockbox service for streamlined
reconciliation of remittances and posting of accounts receivables.
eLockbox concentration services combine hundreds of electronic sources
into a single posting file and a single deposit while eliminating
posting errors and exceptions.
Vesta has been selected by Boost Mobile to manage phone- and Internet-based recharge transactions for the operator’s entire product line. The collaboration streamlines Boost’s current credit recharge model by eliminating the need for customers to register over the phone with a live agent. Additionally, new capabilities will be introduced that enable Boost customers to utilize debit cards and electronic checks as payment options, expanding customers’ options for replenishing via phone, WAP, or Internet. Boost will also introduce a feature allowing customers to receive a “gift” of “Re-Boost” dollars. This proprietary Vesta feature allows a subscriber’s friends and family to add funds to an account in real time.
Throughout the London borough of Southwark, the Bankside, the Borough
and the London Bridge parking zones are launching an 18 month pilot to
test mobile phone versatility for parking dues. With this pilot, drivers
will be
able to pay for parking using their existing accounts over the phone when
parked in one of the 3 controlled parking zones. For registration, the
driver is
required to provide a 4-digit pin number for account security, automobile
details, parking location number and for how long they wish to park. If the
duration for how long they wish to park changes, the user is sent a text
reminder when time is nearing expiration and given the option to renew.
A 20p service charge applies to each parking transaction while reminder
texts are charged at 10p per text. Ultimately, with this pilot program,
drivers
are no longer required to physically return to their cars to renew their
parking
fees.
Far EasTone has chosen INSIDE Contactless’ “MicroRead” platform
as the NFC mobile phone chip for its “Beep ‘N Go” pilot. The pilot will
be available to a local panel of 200 and is set to be fully launched next
year. With the INSIDE solution, the Far EasTone project can provide
NFC mobile phones with a multi-usage personal tool through the
“Universal Subscriber Identity Module”. Also beneficial to the “Beep’N Go”
project, “Microread” implements the SWP protocol and allows the “battery
off’ mode, using power generated from the antenna RF field. “MicroRead”
operates the NFC platform over secure connections for mobile payments,
transport ticketing, service discovery and access control.
Lloyds TSB bank will introduce automated telephone alerts, called “First
Alert”, for their debit card customers. The service has been available
to credit card customers since 2005 and, due to effectiveness, is now
being extended to debit card customers. “First Alert” is designed to
work alongside Lloyds TSB’s fraud detection systems and automatically
calling to warn customers of suspicious transactions on their current
accounts. The introduction of this program for debit cards comes at a
time when cases of counterfeit fraud are on the rise. Fraud using cloned
cards have risen by 3%, while card not present fraud, where cards are
used over the phone, Internet or mail order, have increased 16%.
San Francisco-based Pay By Touch has launched the “Rapid Enroll Kiosk” to provide Internet enrollment for loyalty and rewards programs. With the new in-store, Internet-enabled enrollment kiosks, customers can sign up quickly, accurately and securely using an integrated ‘phone number look-up’ application. The Rapid Enroll Kiosk offers multiple financing options available for retailers of all sizes. Pay By Touch Personalized Marketing can create custom reward and loyalty programs for retailers with no established program or under-performing programs in need of revitalization. Pay By Touch (http://www.paybytouch.com) is wowing the world one touch at a time as the leader in biometric authentication, personalized marketing and payment solutions.
Istanbul-based Bank Asya will use VASCO Data Security card-based “Digipass 810” strong authentication to secure its retail- and corporate banking customers for both phone- and e-banking. About 65% of Bank Asya’s money transfer business is generated over the Internet. In addition, the bank receives an average of 200,000 calls per
month for phone banking. The “Digipass 810” functionalities include
EMV-CAP (Europay-Mastercard-Visa Chip Authentication Program).
Beijing-based YeePay has become the first company in the country to provide a single platform integrating both online and offline electronic payments. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Merchant Bank and China Minsheng Bank have teamed with YeePay to launch a telephone payment service. YeePay’s current customers include Baidu.com, Sohu.com, Tom.com, DangDang, eLong, JRJ.com (China Finance Online) and China Unicom. YeePay’s solution integrates with bank’s existing IVR telephone banking system. Most consumers in China use debit cards which are protected by a password, this prevents them from using the cards directly over the phone. There are over 800 million bank cards issued by different banks in China, but with less than 600,000 POS terminals installed and less than 40 million of PCs connected to the Internet, many of these bank cards remain inactive; on the other hand, there are over 800 million mobile phones and telephones.
GE Corporate Payment Services launched a MasterCard payroll card, the latest in its suite of stored value products. The payroll card is supported by phone- and Web-based customer service, however, employers can’t view employee transaction activity. An instant issue version of the payroll card, designed for short-term employment, is also available. GE Corporate Payment Services is the commercial card unit of GE Consumer Finance. Cards are issued by GE Capital Financial Inc.