Retailers

Mobile-payments company Apriva announced this week the launch of the AprivaPay and AprivaPay Professional mobile-payment services. The move means Apriva resellers, including ISOs, banks and merchant acquirers, now can resell Apriva’s integrated mobile-payment product.

Ingenico SA generated $976.3 million (691.4 million euros) in revenue in 2009, a 5% decrease from $1.03 billion the previous year, according to preliminary financial results the France-based point-of-sale terminal maker released yesterday. Ingenico’s preliminary results do not include net-income figures.

A general approach to marketing for ISOs seeking new clients is more likely to fail than would a campaign that targets specific merchant segments and generates referrals, some observers believe.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. this week announced it will offer members of the National Restaurant Association a suite of payment products that includes card processing, check services, and payroll, tip-reporting and compliance reports as part of an agreement between the payment processor and the Washington, D.C.-based trade group.

Bank of India is looking to acquire more than 100,000 point-of-sale terminals this year as part of its POS-network expansion drive, an official from the Mumbai-based financial institution tells PaymentsSource.

Elavon, U.S. Bancorp’s merchant-acquiring unit, has purchased Citizens National Bank’s portfolio of more than 300 merchant-processing accounts, according to the companies. Terms were not disclosed.

SourceMedia Inc., publisher of PaymentsSource, today announced the appointment of Douglas J. Manoni as chief executive officer. He replaces James M. Malkin, who has left the company.

Merchant cash-advance company AdvanceMe Inc. this week announced it has added data to its statements to enable merchants to compare their monthly card sales from the same month a year earlier and how their sales measure up against a peer group.

EProcessing Network LLC, a Houston-based online payment gateway company, says its ePNJPOS payment software now supports VeriFone Holdings Inc.’s PINpad 1000SE PIN pad.

The difference between Mophie LLC’s payment card reader for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and similar products competitors have debuted is that Mophie’s Marketplace product will work with any merchant account, according to the Paw Paw, Mich.-based provider of technology accessory products such as smartphone batteries. Retailers can set up a merchant account through Mophie or use an existing account, and “this is the main difference between the Marketplace and competitors,” says a company spokesperson.

Visa Inc.’s devotion to signature-based contactless transactions has caused one large retailer to take a stand against the card network, and it also poses an obstacle to adoption of EMV cards in the United States, says an industry analyst.

Global Payments Inc.’s North American merchant-services revenue grew 10.5% during the payment processor’s second quarter. ISOs largely drove the growth with their “strong performance ... as evidenced by U.S. transaction growth of 19%,” Paul Garcia, Global chairman and CEO, said during a conference call with analysts last week.

MasterCard Worldwide today announced the availability of a merchant data service called MasterCard Advisors Merchant Solutions.

Mophie, a Paw Paw, Mich.-based provider of technology accessory products such as smartphone batteries, last week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas unveiled details regarding its payment card reader for Apple Inc.’s iPhone (see story) , according OhGizmo.com, a technology blog.

Two point-of-sale terminal makers on Jan. 11 announced product updates. Ingenico S.A. says its new iSC350 payment terminal can display full-motion video on its consumer-facing screen with stereo sound.

PowerPay, a provider of e-commerce and point-of-sale payment-processing products, will offer to its customers a terminal from Transaction Wireless, a mobile-commerce and marketing provider, under an agreement between the companies announced this week.

No single market for new business surfaced in a recent survey of independent sales organizations and merchant acquirers. The survey findings, contained in the report from Aite Group LLC “ISOs and Merchant Acquirers: Two Sides of the Same Coin,” suggest ISOs and acquirers have different views on where they might find new card-accepting merchants.

The payment terminal is about to become a point-of-sale entertainment center, as VeriFone Holdings Inc. prepares to expand the marketing engine it designed for taxicabs to large retailers.

ISOs and merchant acquirers alike foresee a variety of challenges and potential new revenue in 2010, but exactly which ones differs between the two types of organization, the results of a recent Aite Group LLC survey suggest.

ISOs and acquirers faced many challenges in 2009 largely because of the ongoing difficult economy that altered the business landscape, according to some of ISO&Agent Weekly’s editorial board members. The publication has assembled year-end thoughts from some of its board members.