Cards

The alternative-payment processor mPayy Inc. on Thursday announced a mobile payment app for handsets that run the Android operating system from Google Inc.

A U.S. District Court in New Jersey last week rejected Heartland Payment Systems Inc.’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent VeriFone Holdings Inc. from soliciting the payment processor's merchants who use VeriFone point-of-sale terminals, according to the terminal maker. Heartland is seeking to stop VeriFone from promoting a Web site where merchants may register for free terminal support directly through VeriFone to begin after Dec. 31, when VeriFone will stop providing Heartland with support. Heartland contends it can continue to support the terminals without VeriFone’s help. Judge Mary K. Cooper denied Heartland's request in an opinion dated Dec. 23, noting contradictory claims Heartland had made regarding its ability to provide ongoing service to clients using VeriFone systems, according to VeriFone. “The ruling means that despite Heartland’s considerable efforts, VeriFone can continue to offer direct support to Heartland merchants for VeriFone systems,” states a VeriFone spokesperson. Heartland is “disappointed” the judge denied the processor’s request for a preliminary injunction, the company said in a statement. “Heartland is considering its options with the circuit court. This opinion is a preliminary ruling, and Heartland intends to pursue damages in its state court action,” the statement said. The two companies are suing each other over a disagreement stemming from Heartland's development of an advanced encryption terminal. San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone alleges Heartland is infringing on one of its patents; Princeton, N.J.-based Heartland claims VeriFone is engaging in unfair trade practices.

The number of small-business owners who think the economy is getting worse declined this month compared with November, according to new survey data Discover Financial Services released today. Discover’s Small Business Watch improved slightly in December to 77 from 76.5 in November. The Watch is a monthly report measuring the relative economic confidence of 750 randomly selected small-business owners based on their responses to six questions. Its creators established a base index of 100 when the Watch began in August 2006. The number of small-business owners who think the economy is getting worse fell in December to 49% from 53% in November. Some 24% of small-business owners see no changes in the economy, up from 16% who said so in November. Some 25% of respondents see the economy improving, down from 28% in November, and 2% are not sure. Some 51% of small-business owners have experienced cash-flow problems within the last three months, down from 52% who said so last month, while 45% have experienced no cash-flow problems up from 41% who had no cash-flow problems in November, and 4% are not sure. Some 74% of respondents said the recession has reduced their retirement savings, while 19% said the recession has had no impact and 6% have seen their retirement savings increase.

The new year may bring the long-predicted "cashless society" even closer to reality, reports Credit Union Journal, a CardLine sister publication. Several large grocery chains are piloting a "no checks policy," including Whole Foods market at certain stores in Arizona and California. Another chain, Fresh & Easy, dispensed with the pilot test and declared it would simply stop accepting checks altogether. James Neckopulos, manager of the financial services industry group with Hitachi Consulting, said that if not within five years certainly within ten paper checks will no longer be in use, replaced by debit cards and other plastic. An analyst with the American Bankers Association said he expects other retailers will follow the Whole Foods test closely and will follow suit if it appears successful. Data released by the National Retail Federation for the 2008 holiday showed paper checks made up just 4.3% of payments at store registers, a decline from 5.5% in 2007 and 6.2% in 2006.

Reacting to customer feedback on its Web site, GiftCardMall.com, Blackhawk Network Tuesday announced it is selling prepaid electronic gift cards from Bass Pro Shops, Sears Holding Corp. and J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

NCR Corp.’s hiring yesterday of Richard Bravman as its first chief marketing officer offers more evidence that the company is transitioning from its traditional role as an ATM manufacturer to a technology company involved in a wide-ranging line of businesses.

Consumers in the Midwest initiated 10.8% more transactions from Dec. 1 to 14 than during the same period in 2008, according to a First Data Corp. SpendTrend 2009 Holiday Special Edition report. The report is based on credit, debit and electronic benefits transfer transactions First Data processed for its merchant customers. The Atlanta-based payment processor says the Midwest also led U.S. regions in sales-volume growth at 9.3%. First Data did not provide specific transaction or spend totals. Transaction volume in New England grew by 8.5% to rank second, though the region had the fourth-largest sales-volume growth at 6.5%. Transaction volume grew by 8.4% in the Mid-Atlantic region, while sales volume increased by 6.9%. In the South, transaction volume grew 7.5%, while sales volume grew by 6.4%. Consumers in the West conducted 7.2% more transactions and spent 6.6% more. Transaction volume in the Southwest grew 5.7%, while sales volume rose 5.8%, First Data says. The payment processor says transaction volume at value merchants, defined as discount merchants such as Walmart Stores Inc., grew by 14.9%, while sales rose 13.5%. Petroleum-sales volume outpaced all other merchant categories with a 43.7% increase, while transaction volume rose 13.5%. The data illustrate that consumers remained focused on value, which resulted in the large transaction volume increases in petroleum transactions and among value merchants, according to First Data. First Data representatives were not available for additional comment.

Consumers in the Southeast region of England are more likely to have plastic payment cards than are consumers in other parts of the country, suggest survey data from the UK Payments Council, a trade group that helps set strategy for payments in the United Kingdom. The council based its findings on surveys of 3,859 adult consumers it conducted earlier this year. Ninety-seven percent of respondents from the Southeast reported having payment cards, while only 86% of respondents from West Midlands region said they did, making that region the lowest in England for plastic card ownership, the council says in a statement. Fifty-nine percent of consumers on the Southeast reported using mobile or Internet banking, the highest rate among England’s regions, while only 46% of consumers in the Northeast did, the lowest rate. Consumers in East Anglia make the fewest ATM withdrawals–51 per person each year, the council says. In general, more consumers in the southern parts of England have payment cards than do consumers in the northern parts, the council adds.

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. has launched what it says is a major ATM-deployment initiative in Bangladesh, a spokesperson for the financial institution says. The effort involves the deployment of 100 ATMs, including one machine installed this week in Dhaka, the country’s capital, the spokesperson says, who declined to name who manufactured the ATMs. The bank provides cash-withdrawal services to customers through a network of 34 ATMs shared with six other financial institutions, the spokesperson says. “Even after we set up our own ATMs, our customers will still be able to use the shared ATMs, the number of which we are looking to increase,” says the spokesperson. “In addition, we are going to be connected to the international Visa network soon.” The bank plans to complete the deployments by next December, the spokesperson says.

Indusind Bank Ltd. has deployed its first solar-powered ATM, a spokesperson for the Mumbai-based financial institution says. The bank plans to deploy similar machines across India, but the spokesperson would not say how many or when. The ATM deployments fall under the bank’s “Green Office” campaign, the spokesperson says. The solar-powered machines, made in collaboration with with Mumbai-based Centre for Environmental Research and Education, are designed to use energy from the sun for eight hours per day, and they can store unused solar energy, the spokesperson says.

Residents of the Asia-Pacific region cite changes in salaries, job security and cost-of-living expenses as their top financial concerns entering 2010, the results of a recent Visa Inc. survey suggest. Of the 5,520 survey respondents across 10 nations, 48% cited changes in the cost of living as their top concern, while 44% cited increasing their savings and the same percentage cited job security as potential troubles in 2010. Within the region, however, differences emerge. In China, respondents cited payment card fraud, increasing savings and job security as their top three concerns. Hong Kong residents said they expect changes in their salaries, job security and cost-of-living expenses to cause them worry in 2010. In Taiwan, the value of consumer retirement funds, changes in salaries and job security ranked as the top three concerns for next year. Among respondents in Japan, the top concerns were increasing savings, changes in salaries and cost-of-living expenses. Visa did not provide individual nation results. The survey, conducted in August and September, also canvassed consumers in Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and New Zealand.

Consumers worldwide cannot account for approximately 20% of their weekly cash spending, according to survey data Visa Inc. released today. Ipsos Group’s Ipsos Mori, a United Kingdom-based market-research company, in September conducted the telephone survey of 12,103 adults in 12 global markets on Visa’s behalf. Australians ranked highest in losing track of their cash, reporting they cannot account for an average of $US59 of spending weekly, followed by individuals from Persian Gulf-region Arab states ($42), Russia ($35), Canada ($26) and the United States ($21). The Japanese appear to be least guilty of losing track of their money. While Japan ranks fourth among the 12 regions in terms of average cash spending, at $166 weekly, Japanese consumers on average can account for all but $11 spent each week, the survey found. The only countries where consumers keep better track their cash expenditures is India, where consumers report losing track of $8 weekly on average, and Korea, at $10 weekly. U.S. consumers spend the most cash weekly on average ($228), followed by Australia ($176) and Canada ($167). Spotlighting cash-handling habits among U.S. consumers, Visa’s survey data suggest that younger adults between the ages of 18 and 24 claim to lose track of $2,500 annually on average, more that twice the average U.S. adults lose. Missing cash is most likely going toward purchasing food and other groceries, cited by 34% of respondents; buying nonessentials, 32%; enjoying a night on the town, 31%; and dining out, 26%. Some 37% of respondents listed debit cards as their primary payment method for personal and household expenses, followed by 22% who listed cash, 20% who cited personal checks and 16% who noted credit cards. Five percent were not sure. Some 68% of survey respondents said they prefer using their debit cards whenever possible for routine payments versus paying with cash. Some 61% of those surveyed said using a debit card helps to track and control everyday spending.

With its announcement today of the new Disney Rewards Visa Debit Card, which carries a $25 annual fee, JPMorgan Chase & Co. appears to be expanding its rewards-at-a-price strategy for cardholders. And the new card’s terms also suggest the issuer is determined to continue pushing consumers toward signature debit, which tends to reap higher interchange revenue compared with PIN-debit purchases.

A late flurry of holiday shopping this week should help boost fourth-quarter gift card sales compared with the same period last year, according to a report from Mercator Advisory Group.

Merchants processing from 1 million to 6 million MasterCard transactions no longer have to meet a Dec. 31, 2010, deadline to have a third-party security assessor perform an onsite assessment of their payment networks for compliance with Payment Card Industry data security standards unless they want to do so voluntarily, according to a MasterCard spokesperson. This is a reversal from a policy MasterCard contained in an Aug. 17 Site Data Protection program document that would have required such so-called Level 2 merchants to pay for a qualified security assessor to audit their compliance by Dec. 31, 2010. Now MasterCard has moved the compliance deadline to June 30, 2011, and made the onsite assessment optional. Level 2 merchants will be required annually to complete a self-assessment questionnaire and perform quarterly network-security scans of their systems. Merchant employees completing the self-assessments must have completed Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council training and pass the council’s accreditation program, according to a MasterCard Dec. 15 Global Security Bulletin. The Aug. 17 summary of changes to MasterCard’s Site Data Protection program said the earlier change was designed to aid the “consistent application and implementation of [data security-standard] requirements.”

Monitise PLC, the British mobile banking vendor, says it plans a broader push next year into mobile retailing, initially in the United Kingdom, then across Europe and in the United States.

MoneyGram International Inc. said Monday that it is working with Smart Communications Inc., a unit of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., to launch a mobile phone money transfer service in the Philippines, reports American Banker. MoneyGram agents in San Diego and Hong Kong are testing the service starting this week. Consumers in those locations can visit agents to send money to people in the Philippines that have a Smart Money account on their mobile phones. MoneyGram, of Minneapolis, separately has more than 7,000 locations in the Philippines and allows users there to receive payments in U.S. dollars. "This partnership gives MoneyGram access to more than 39 million Smart subscribers in the Philippines and extends the benefits of our safe and reliable money transfer services to a new category of consumers," John Hempsey, executive vice president for MoneyGram's Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions, said in a press release Monday.

Steven A. Rathgaber, who will become the new CEO of Cardtronics Inc. Feb. 1 (see story), will receive a $200,000 one-time signing bonus to lead the world’s largest ATM independent sales organization, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Vesta Corp., a Portland, Ore.-based prepaid technology provider, Monday announced that NetSpend Corp. will use its online reload service for prepaid cards. The service enables NetSpend cardholders to load up to $250 using a debit card.

HSBC Merchant Services, a United Kingdom-based subsidiary of Atlanta-based Global Payments Inc., announced today that the BHF-BSSA Group Trade Association will refer its 7,000 small and midsize independent retailers to HSBC for their payment card processing. The British Shops & Stores Association, a 3,300-member group that merged in September with the 3,700-member British Hardware Federation to form the trade group, previously had referred its members to HSBC Merchant Services. The UK-based trade group says on its Web site that merchants using HSBC Merchant Services will get a processing rate of 1.195%. Merchants that switch to HSBC Merchant Services also receive three months of free payment terminal rental, according to the trade group.