Wednesday, June 22, 2011

American Bankers Association Urges Fed to Revise Debit Rules in Letter

Logo of the American Bankers Association.Image via Wikipedia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ABA Media Contact: Jeff Sigmund
(202) 663-5439
E-mail: jsigmund@aba.com
Follow us on Twitter @ABABankingNews

ABA URGES FED TO REVISE RULE ON DEBIT CARD INTERCHANGE


WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve Board should exercise its authority and make revisions to the proposed rule on debit card interchange to minimize harm posed to consumers, community lenders and the U.S. payments system, the American Bankers Association urged in a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke today.

In the letter, ABA President and CEO Frank Keating predicted that failing to make revisions to the rule will have dire consequences, including higher consumer costs for banking products, reductions in bank capital leading to reduced lending capacity, increased failures of community banks and many low-and-moderate-income customers being driven out of the banking system.

“This will result in irreversible harm to local communities and the banks that serve them,” Keating said.

The letter comes after the Tester-Corker amendment to delay implementation of the rule received 54 votes in the Senate on June 8.

“While short of the 60-vote procedural threshold reserved for many controversial issues,
it is clear that a majority of the world’s greatest deliberative body has sent a very strong message of concern over the approach taken by the Board in this rule,” Keating said.

Keating asked the Board to consider the cost of maintaining the debit interchange system, noting that the Board’s “narrow interpretation of the statutory language fails to consider a broad range of costs necessary to carry out individual transactions.”

“Such an interpretation excludes, among other elements, an appropriate allocation of fixed and overhead costs, as well as such elements as fraud losses, network fees applicable to individual transactions, and an appropriate allocation of customer service costs,” he said. “We strongly believe that such costs need to be included in any cost calculation under existing law.”

While the Board has acknowledged fraud prevention costs are specifically permitted to be included in any debit card interchange pricing plan under the statute, the proposal did not include any such adjustments.

“It is imperative that adequate allowances for fraud prevention costs be included in any determination of allowable debit costs under the rule – to both compensate institutions for such costs and incentivize investments in efforts that protect consumers, enhance security, and maintain market confidence in the payments system,” Keating said.

ABA’s letter also encouraged the Board to take action to minimize the harm incurred by community banks.

“A primary driver for harm has been the Board’s narrow reading of allowable costs, which will create market incentives to drive business away from community banks to lower-cost debit card providers,” Keating said. “Reducing such incentives through the expansion of allowable industry costs would greatly mitigate the potential harm to community banks and is clearly consistent with the statutory intent of the provisions.”

Keating also urged the Board to recognize the hardships of implementation and compliance associated with this complex rule, and to extend any compliance deadlines accordingly.

“The rule proposed by the board will have enormous impact on the existing payments system infrastructure which, if done in haste, could have sizeable negative impacts for individuals, consumers and our broader economy,” he said. “We urge the Board to use its existing authority to provide banks and payment networks with a reasonable chance to meet their obligations under the law. That period should be no less than the three-month window envisioned by the statute as enacted.”

For a full copy of Keating’s letter, please click here.

The American Bankers Association represents banks of all sizes and charters and is the voice for the nation’s $13 trillion banking industry and its two million employees. The majority of ABA’s members are banks with less than $165 million in assets. Learn more at aba.com. 
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Bill.com Continues Momentum Earning Top Honors and Recognition by Three Major Industry Award Programs

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bill.com, the leader in integrated bill payment, online invoicing and cash management solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and accounting/bookkeeping firms, today proudly announced that it has been selected as a recipient or finalist for three major industry awards, including:

  • "Bill.com is committed to helping SMBs and accountants save time and money while better managing their financial processes, anytime, anywhere and on any device,” said Bill.com CEO and Founder RenĂ© Lacerte. “We are continually innovating and improving our solution to help our customers get back to focusing on what matters most – their business instead of their bills. It’s an honor to be recognized by these prestigious organizations and we look forward to continuing our strong momentum.”
    Red Herring Top 100 North America Tech Startup –
     An annual selection of the most promising, innovative private technology ventures from the North American business region.
  • CPA Technology Advisor Innovation Award – Focused on identifying new and emerging technologies that have the potential for significant positive impact on the profession and in the day-to-day work of tax and accounting professionals.
  • 2011 American Business Awards Finalist – Considered one of the most coveted business awards, the 2011 American Business Awards selected Bill.com as a finalist for the Stevie Award for Best New Product or Service of the Year – Computer Software – Software as a Service.
By leveraging Bill.com as their daily financial hub, businesses gain dramatic time and cost savings through unique and proprietary payment processes that enable efficient collaboration internally and with their vendor and customer networks. Bill.com’s simple to use but powerful solutions integrate seamlessly with existing accounting and banking systems to automate the tedious process of paying bills and receiving payments, saving its customers time and money while creating more opportunity to concentrate on running their business. By streamlining what historically has been an unwieldy process, Bill.com also helps say farewell to two historic hassles: The burdensome checkbook and the unruly file cabinet.
About Bill.com
Bill.com is an on-demand accounts payable and accounts receivable application for CPAs and small and midsized businesses. Bill.com users can receive, route and pay invoices electronically — they never have to touch a paper bill again — resulting in time and cost savings to finance personnel of over 50% versus manual accounts payable and check writing processes. Invoices are emailed, scanned or faxed into the Bill.com service. Digital images of invoices are then routed electronically for approval, ensuring a complete audit trail and eliminating lost or mishandled paper. Bill.com handles check printing and mailing as well as electronic payments, and uses enterprise-class fraud protections that are impractical for small and midsized businesses to implement on their own. Bill.com integrates with popular desktop and on-demand accounting packages, ensuring consistency of financial data and streamlined financial planning, reporting and audit activities. Bill.com has received numerous awards including Bill.com's Zen (Zero Entry) service winning Accounting Today's Best New AP/AR Product for 2011, a 2009 Innovation Award from CPA Technology Advisor, a 4-star rating from PC Magazine, a 2010 Barlow Monarch Innovation Award for innovation in financial services.

Gemalto and Orange Group Extend NFC Collaboration with Poland Rollout

Complete NFC service for PTK Centertel, from NFC SIM to Trusted Service Manager operation

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, announces that PTK Centertel, an Orange group affiliate, is deploying the largestNFC program in Poland, with a commercial offer targeting several thousand users. This new initiative reinforces Gemalto’s active role in Orange Group’s NFC expansion strategy with deployments already in the UK, France and now Poland.
“Gemalto is committed to assisting Orange Group with its NFC strategy with best-in-class technology and services for mobile contactless payments”
This program, the first commercial NFC pilot in the country, brings PTK Centertel’s customers the convenience of using their mobile phone to securely pay for goods and services at a wave of their handset. Consumers will benefit from Poland’s well established contactless infrastructure of approximately 35,000 acceptance points, notably in fast food restaurants, cinemas, supermarkets and numerous retailers.
Gemalto provided an end-to-end solution that includes NFC software and user interface applications securely embedded on an NFC SIM, and the Trusted Service Management (TSM) services. PTK Centertel and its partnering bank have entrusted Gemalto with the operation of the TSM platform, to securely personalize and manage the payment application in the device over the air.
“With already a number of large-scale rollouts around the world, Gemalto is definitely the trusted reference for mobile NFC implementation,” said Krzysztof Sieczkowski, Product and Content Development Director, PTK Centertel. “We need a complete solution to speed up our time-to-market, and leverage the strong contactless payment network already existing in Poland to make our consumer the first to benefit from the NFC experience.”
“Gemalto is committed to assisting Orange Group with its NFC strategy with best-in-class technology and services for mobile contactless payments,” added Jean-Claude Deturche, senior vice-president of mobile financial solutions at Gemalto. “We have proven our success in France and the UK, and in Poland too our expertise in interconnecting all players in the NFC ecosystem - including the mobile operators, financial institutions and transit companies, will greatly facilitate the delivery of a superior user experience. ”
About Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with revenues of €1.9 billion in 2010, and over 10 thousand employees operating out of 87 offices and 13 Research & Development centers in 45 countries.
Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere—has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.
Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, eGovernment services and national security. We do this by providing solutions that leverage Gemalto’s secure software and services for governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises to help them achieve their goals, enabled by a wide range of secure personal devices. Gemalto is the world leader for electronic passports and identify cards, smart banking cards, two-factor authentication smart tokens for online protection, Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM) and Universal Integrated Circuit Cards (UICC) in mobile phones. Moreover Gemalto delivers on emerging applications related to the ‘Internet of things’ by supplying wireless modules and Machine Identification Modules (MIM) for Machine-to-Machine communication.
As the use of Gemalto’s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the Company is poised to thrive over the coming years.
For more information visit www.gemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter.

MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse Retail and Gasoline Demand Reports Now Available

MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse Retail and Gasoline Demand Reports Now Available on Capital IQ

PURCHASE, N.Y. & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MasterCard Advisors:
“Making SpendingPulse available through Capital IQ will broaden SpendingPulse’s availability in a way that makes it convenient for buy-side firms to access data that delivers an important early indicator of the state of both specific industries and the economy as a whole.”
SpendingPulse™
Data Source:A macroeconomic indicator, SpendingPulse reports on national retail and service sales and is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for all other payment forms, including cash and check. MasterCard SpendingPulse does not represent MasterCard financial performance. SpendingPulse is provided by MasterCard Advisors, the professional services arm of MasterCard Worldwide.
 
MasterCard Advisors, provider of the macroeconomic indicator SpendingPulse, announced today that SpendingPulse reports are now available to subscribers via Capital IQ, the leading provider of real-time access to premium research from brokers and independent research providers. The agreement offers Capital IQ clients, including institutional investors, investment banks, private equity firms, universities, and corporations, the ability to include SpendingPulse in their financial research and quickly and easily access the information online. All of the SpendingPulse US reports --Total Retail, Sectors, Outlooks, and Gasoline Demand -- are available through the platform.
“SpendingPulse is a proven, reliable leading indicator of retail and gasoline sector performance that enables subscribers to make better decisions with more accurate information earlier. Through this agreement, Capital IQ subscribers will now have an easier way to access the data,” said Steve Albert, Group Head, MasterCard Advisors. “Making SpendingPulse available through Capital IQ will broaden SpendingPulse’s availability in a way that makes it convenient for buy-side firms to access data that delivers an important early indicator of the state of both specific industries and the economy as a whole.”
SpendingPulse is a series of Total Retail and Industry Sector reports for the US and UK, available to subscribers on Monday following the retail month-ending Saturday, and on first Friday of the month in the UK. The reports provide estimates of sales and pricing activity ahead of same-store sales reports, along with historical data. In addition, SpendingPulse Gasoline Demand reports, which provide estimates of total gallons pumped and average price for the prior week, are released every Tuesday, a day ahead of Department of Energy statistics.
While SpendingPulse reports are normally available on a subscription-only basis, reports will be available to all Capital IQ users for 30 days, after which a subscription will be required. To help explain the reports being made available and how they can be used by buy-side firms, MasterCard Advisors will be hosting a webinar on June 27th at 12 pm EDT. For more information and to register for the webinar, contact Keith Myers at 914-249-5153 or keith_myers@mastercard.com.
About Capital IQ and Standard & Poor's
Capital IQ, a Standard & Poor's business, delivers comprehensive fundamental and quantitative research and analysis solutions to over 4,200 investment management firms, investment banks, private equity funds, advisory firms, corporations, and universities worldwide. Its solutions are based on the Capital IQ Platform, Compustat, ClariFI, and Alphaworks products, and offer an array of powerful applications for desktop research, screening, real-time market data, backtesting, portfolio management, financial modeling, and quantitative analysis. For more information, please visit Capital IQ's web site at www.Capital IQ.com.
Standard & Poor's, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With offices in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for 150 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit www.standardandpoors.com.
About MasterCard Advisors
MasterCard Advisors provides payments consulting, information, analytics, and customized services to financial institutions and their merchant partners worldwide. Addressing complex challenges in strategy, marketing, risk, and operations, MasterCard Advisors helps clients maximize the value of their payments businesses. As the professional services arm of MasterCard Worldwide, MasterCard Advisors is uniquely qualified to provide clients with insights and solutions that drive tangible impact and financial gain. For more information, go to www.mastercardadvisors.com.
About MasterCard Worldwide
As a leading global payments company, MasterCard Worldwide prides itself on being at the heart of commerce, helping to make life easier and more efficient for everyone, everywhere. MasterCard serves as a franchisor, processor and advisor to the payments industry, and makes commerce happen by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, governments, businesses, merchants, and cardholders worldwide. In 2010, $2.7 trillion in gross dollar volume was generated on its products by consumers around the world. Powered by the MasterCard Worldwide Network – the fastest payment processing network in the world – MasterCard processes over 23 billion transactions each year and has the capacity to handle 160 million transactions per hour, with an average network response time of 130 milliseconds and with 99.99 percent reliability. MasterCard advances global commerce through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro®, and Cirrus®; its suite of core products such as credit, debit, and prepaid; and its innovative platforms and functionalities, such as MasterCard PayPass™ and MasterCard inControl®. MasterCard serves consumers, governments, and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information, please visit us at www.mastercard.com. Follow us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.

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VRL: Cards International Awards 2011 – Winners Announced

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cards International, leading provider of analysis, insight and intelligence to cards, payments and consumer finance professionals, has today announced the winners for its Cards International Awards 2011.
http://www.vrlknowledgebank.com/
“We are seeing developments in all areas of cards and payments, including mobile payments, and there is a lot of innovation taking place. The winners selected are all contributing to this growth, challenging the market and pushing forward in new and interesting ways to meet customer needs.”
The Editor’s Award 2011 for Consumer Focus was given to online financial management solutions provider eWise, which has demonstrated outstanding customer focus with the launch of a new mobile app that could be a game-changer in the field of mobile commerce. BPNA MasterCard Platinum XTRA Credit Card won the Best New Credit Card category with its enhanced rewards scheme designed for consumers who use credit products in a responsible manner, while Capital and Credit Merchant Bank of Jamaica, one of the only three commercial banks to have launched its own debit card in Jamaica, won the Best New Debit Card Award.
Best Prepaid Product went to joint winners Regalocard and Aktif38 City Card, while the First National Bank of Omaha and Poste Italiane jointly won Best New Co-Branded, Affinity or Loyalty ProductBest Innovation or Cross Industry Innovation was awarded to Amex/SAP NetWeaverwhere Amex has extended the use of loyalty points to buy limited edition virtual goods as well as physical and virtual games cards from Zynga.
Best Commercial Credit Card Issuer was awarded to Citi for its overall market position and Best Card Processor of the Year went jointly to FirstData, for the development and extension of its TransArmor payment processing solution, and SIA Group for their recently revised business strategy. Evalon won Merchant Acquirer of the Year for its joint venture with Credicard. Most Promising New Entrant was given to Facebook Credits who in a matter of months has launched its own virtual payments facility, and is tapping into the fast growing social gaming market. And finally, the winner of the Merger or Acquisition of the Year Award was MasterCard, for their acquisition of Travelex Prepaid.
James Ratcliff, group editor, cards and payments, noted: “We are seeing developments in all areas of cards and payments, including mobile payments, and there is a lot of innovation taking place. The winners selected are all contributing to this growth, challenging the market and pushing forward in new and interesting ways to meet customer needs.”
For more details on the winners and finalists, visit http://www.vrl-financial-news.com/cpeurope2011.

Elavon Named Merchant Acquirer of the Year

Cards & Payments Europe 2011
WATFORD, UK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At a glittering award ceremony at the Westin Grand in Frankfurt last night, Elavon, a leading global payments provider and wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), was announced as winner of the Merchant Acquirer of the Year Award at the Cards & Payments Europe 2011 Conference and Awards Dinner.
http://www.elavon.com
“the merchant acquirer that has made a major change to the industry through expansion, technological advancements, acquisitions or other significant activities”
Nominated along with HSBC Merchant Services and AIBMS, the award was given to “the merchant acquirer that has made a major change to the industry through expansion, technological advancements, acquisitions or other significant activities”.
Cards & Payments Europe is a European Conference, running for its 24th year in 2011. It has its foundations in VRL's leading publications Cards International and Electronic Payments International.
The finalists for the awards were judged in eleven separate categories for their achievements over the last 12 months. A panel of five judges selected the winner from among those organizations nominated by readers or judges.
“We are delighted to receive this award; it acknowledges several years of very hard work to bring about the advances we were recognised for last night. Our parent company, U.S. Bancorp, invested heavily in new technology to facilitate faster and more secure processing for our customers. In Europe we are also reaping the rewards of a strong global value proposition that gives our partners and clients one source for all their payment processing needs. Relationships with banks, associations and third-party distributors that began in one country or region have now expanded; many are now doing business with us in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. But ultimately our success is because our people, processes, products and service are so strong,” commented Simon Haslam, President International Operations for Elavon.
About Elavon (www.elavon.com): Elavon is wholly owned by U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and provides end-to-end payment processing solutions and services to more than one million merchants in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Puerto Rico. Elavon markets solutions including credit and debit card processing, electronic gift cards, dynamic currency conversion, multi-currency support, and cross-border acquiring through multiple alliance channels including financial institutions, trade associations, third party sales agents; as well through direct sales. Elavon’s suite of solutions is tailored to meet the needs of merchants in specialised markets such as retail, hospitality/T&E, health care, education and the public sector.
About Cards & Payments Europe: Cards & Payments Europe is content-led, and has its foundations in VRL's leading publications Cards International and Electronic Payments International.

Contacts

Elavon
Claire Gajeckyj (Europe), 01923 651542
claire.gajeckyj@elavon.com
or
Holly Lytle (The Americas), +1-678-731-5236
holly.lytle@elavon.com

NetSecure Launches Kudos, "Square Style Payments to Canada for First time"

NetSecure Technologies Introduces Kudos Credit Card Acceptance Solution in Canada

Kudos Provides a Turnkey “Point of Sale in a Box” Solution for the First Time Ever in Canada, Giving Micro-Businesses a Flexible, Affordable and Secure Way to Accept Credit Card Payments Through a Smartphone, Desktop or Laptop
REGINA, Saskatchewan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NetSecure Technologies, leading developer of products and security solutions for the eCommerce industry, launched the first mobile payment solution of its kind in Canada – Kudos – a service allowing small business owners to start accepting credit card payments on-the-spot via swipe terminals compatible with desktops, laptops and smartphones (iOS, Android and RIM platforms).
 NetSecure Technologies Ltd.“Up until now, the Canadian market’s mobile payment arena has been virtually non-existent”
Cash-strapped small businesses typically cannot afford payment processing services designed for larger merchants. Canada has approximately 2.5 million micro-businesses that do not accept credit/debit card payments. Costly capital outlays upfront, monthly fees, hidden fees and complex contracts all serve as deterrents.
“Terminals and merchant accounts are expensive,” said Daniel McCann, president and founder of NetSecure Technologies. “The whole process is intimidating to small merchants. Is the musician selling his CD’s after the show really expected to shell out hundreds of dollars for a terminal? We have an opportunity to allow small businesses to accept credit cards using what they already have today – their phones and laptops.”
Mobile payments have proven extremely successful in the United States, dominated by a startup called Square that provides a free service for credit card acceptance, charging users a flat rate for all transactions. This service has already been adopted by hundreds of thousands of small merchants. Unfortunately for Canadians, Square is only available in the United States, leaving a vacuum for credit card acceptance for small businesses in Canada.
“Up until now, the Canadian market’s mobile payment arena has been virtually non-existent,” says McCann. “Through the introduction of Kudos, NetSecure is bringing Square-style payments to Canada for the very first time, making it affordable and convenient for small business owners to start accepting card payments and growing their business.”
The Kudos credit card acceptance kit serves as a complete ‘point of sale in a box’ solution for small business owners. Equipped with a swipe terminal, POS software and a merchant account, users can begin accepting credit card payments through their smartphones or laptops for a flat rate of 2.9 percent per transaction, with no monthly or ongoing fees.
Kudos’ key advantages include no limitations on the amount of transactions and the added benefit of compatibility with RIM platforms, such as Blackberry. Kudos also implements full end-to-end encryption, ensuring security for sensitive data.
“The merchant never needs to see their customers’ credit card numbers, so PCI compliance becomes much easier,” says McCann.
By eliminating lost payments, bounced checks and unnecessary trips to the bank, Kudos helps to improve accounts receivables for small business owners, thereby increasing sales and expanding their customer base.
Kudos is an ideal solution for small business owners and independent professionals, including contractors, consultants, day care providers, repair services, massage therapists, personal trainers, photographers, service employees, tradeshows and events, landscapers, plumbers and more.
“Over half of all transactions today are plastic, and customers are demanding greater flexibility from their vendors,” said McCann. “Smaller businesses that do not offer a credit card payment option are at a competitive disadvantage. NetSecure designed Kudos to take the pain out of payment acceptance for the Canadian business owner and their customers.”
Kudos, available for $49.99 at www.KudosPayments.com, is currently available for free as part of a limited time offer, while supplies last.
For additional information about NetSecure Technologies, visit www.netsecuretechnologies.com and contact Jennifer Reiss at 305-576-1171 X144 or via e-mail at jenniferreiss@maxborgesagency.com.
About NetSecure
Founded in 2005, NetSecure Technologies Ltd. is a technology company focused on developing breakthrough security solutions for online transactions. The company’s products, SmartSwipe and Kudos, are designed to prevent interception of information at the most vulnerable point in the transaction: the point of origin. Integrated with NetSecure’s security patents, the company’s products are unique in the industry, taking the pain out of payment acceptance for businesses of all sizes.

Naratte Introduces Ultrasonic NFC, No Chip Needed

Naratte Delivers NFC Now With a Speaker and a Microphone June 20, 2011 08:00 ET
Zoosh, Powered by Naratte, Utilizes Ultrasonic Technology to Deliver Secure Device-to-Device Communication
SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - Jun 20, 2011) -
  • Uses the existing speaker and microphone to deliver secure device to device communication
  • With one App update, millions of mobile phones can make secure mobile wallet transactions
  • Uses ultrasonic technology that is inaudible to humans
  • Available now from Naratte with consumer deployments in July
Naratte [rhymes with karate] Inc., a Silicon Valley-based start-up, has announced that it can provide the benefits of near-field communication (NFC) with ultrasonic technology by using the speaker and microphone already found on mobile devices. This new technology, called Zoosh™, is highly engineered software that communicates in frequencies that are inaudible to humans, but are used in nature by frogs, dolphins and other animals. With one software update, an App can now become Zoosh-powered to securely transfer data between millions of devices already in use by consumers.
"In order to deliver a secure and reliable data transaction using existing audio subsystems, we had to overcome some incredibly difficult engineering hurdles," says Naratte cofounder and CEO, Brett Paulson. "We have accomplished what some said was not possible, and the market timing could not be any better."
Naratte's Zoosh technology is engineered to be low cost, fast, secure and reliable. It can be instantly deployed to millions of mobile devices, including iPhones, Android phones, tablets and even feature phones. It requires no network connection and has no interoperability issues. Zoosh is architected to be safe for mobile payments by implementing security techniques such as creating a unique and perishable transaction IDs.
Zoosh technology is available now. Naratte's partners are currently integrating Zoosh into many different applications and environments, including phone-to-phone and phone-to-POS payments, phone-to-POS loyalty systems and digital couponing. Many other applications are in development, including instant and reliable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi authentication.
"Early adopters are already doing amazing things with Zoosh. A great example is SparkBase whose Zoosh-enabled mobile wallet application, PayCloud, recently won the 'ETA 2011 Technology Innovation Award,'" says Paulson. "Our partners are excited to enable near-field communication across millions of devices without having to wait to 2015 or beyond for mass NFC adoption."
Naratte is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., was founded in May 2009 and has 12 employees. It has received $5 million in strategic funding from an unnamed investor, and its technology is underpinned by eight patents pending. More information on Naratte and its products can be found on its new web site, also launched today at www.naratte.com.
Technology Endorsements:"PayPal is very excited about Naratte's Zoosh technology. Naratte's approach provides instant scale and low cost integration options for merchants which is a major hurdle for most mobile payment technologies. Zoosh has the potential to enable complete consumer-merchant shopping experiences." -- Laura Chambers, general manager of PayPal Mobile.
"We are extremely excited to have Naratte's Zoosh technology running on Texas Instruments' (TI) C5000™ ultra-low-power DSPs. Zoosh opens doors for every mobile customer on the planet to use their handheld device in new ways that makes their world smarter, more secure and definitely more fun. With all the innovation that's been done around wireless communication, this is one of the most creative uses of technology that I've seen." -- Matt Muse, general manager, C5000 Ultra-Low-Power DSPs, Texas Instruments.
"Zoosh is one of the most impressive and clever technologies I've seen in a long time. Being able to easily enable transactions among all types of mobile devices within the true proximity from each other, all done through a pure software-based solution, is incredibly powerful. I am a big fan of the Naratte team's obsession with the end-user experience and its knack to solve really difficult problems." -- Fay Arjomandi, head of US R&D and Incubation Centre, Vodafone Group.

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Isis Chooses Austin, Texas as Initial Launch Market for Mobile Payments

Isis to Introduce Mobile Commerce in Austin, Texas

Austin Among First in U.S. to Adopt Comprehensive Mobile Commerce Experience
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Isis, the mobile commerce joint venture between AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, today announced Austin, Texas is among the initial launch markets for the Isis mobile commerce program. Austin merchants and consumers are expected to be among the first in the U.S. to adopt a comprehensive mobile commerce experience in 2012.
http://www.paywithisis.com
“Austin being chosen as one of the first U.S. markets for Isis to launch is yet another strong confirmation that Austin has cemented its reputation as a national leader in innovation and technology”
“Today we are delighted to announce that Austin will be an initial Isis launch market for the Isis mobile commerce program,” said Michael Abbott, chief executive officer at Isis. “Austin is home to progressive and tech savvy consumers and merchants – a key demographic for Isis’ mobile commerce program. The city’s culture of innovation, thriving business community and early adopters make it an ideal launch market for Isis.”
Starting in the first half of 2012, Austin consumers will be able to use Isis-enabled mobile phones to make point-of-sale purchases and redeem offers at participating merchant locations throughout the city. Isis is working closely with local merchants and the Austin Chamber of Commerce to spur wide scale consumer adoption and merchant support across Austin.
“Austin being chosen as one of the first U.S. markets for Isis to launch is yet another strong confirmation that Austin has cemented its reputation as a national leader in innovation and technology,” said Mike Rollins, CCE, president of the Austin Chamber of Commerce.
Isis will bring mobile commerce to consumers and merchants by allowing them to use mobile phones to make point-of-purchase sales through the use of near-field communication (NFC) technology.
The Isis system will evolve to offer customers across the U.S. a highly secure and convenient way to pay, redeem offers and store merchant loyalty cards, all with the tap of a phone. Earlier this year, Isis announced Salt Lake City as an initial launch market in the first half of 2012.
About Isis
The joint venture is between AT&T Mobility LLC, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless and is based in New York City. The venture is chartered with building ISIS™, a national mobile commerce venture that will fundamentally transform how people shop, pay and save. The Isis mobile commerce network will be available to all merchants, banks, payment networks and mobile carriers. ISIS is a trademark of JVL Ventures, LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos, product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Edelman
Tom Cook, 206-268-2238
tom.cook@edelman.com

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