Oct. 2nd, 2015 Edition #474

Trending this week...

Subscribers: EMV is here! Be sure to check out TSG's wrap-up of resources Please complete this and articles as you prepare for the changes ahead. brief 2 minute survey and help us In addition, TSG has put together commentary on EMV from improve NewsFilter! a merchant's perspective as well as a review of TSG Associate Thank you! experiences at the POS throughout the U.S.

Categories In other news, First Data announced this week that it plans to raise up to $3.2B in what could be the biggest IPO in the U.S. Featured so far this year. First Data expects its IPO to price between $18-20 per class A share, valuing the company at approximately Mobile Payments & $17.58B. Bitcoin

Regulation & Security The U.S. Merchant Acquiring Transaction Market is Extremely Active Economy TSG is assisting buyers and sellers connect as well as by providing transaction support services Payments Press to assist both buyers and sellers achieve their objectives. In addition, TSG has been engaged to identify ISO and merchant acquiring business Want to Advertise acquisitions and capital partnerships. in NF? Key investment criteria includes: Click here to learn First Data back-end portfolios (with and more. without the sales component) Producing monthly Net Revenue of $20,000 to $35,000 TSG Resources If you are interested in discussing a potential transaction, please provide TheStrawGroup.com high level details of your business and email us. Learn more about TSG's Transaction Advisory services. All responses will be treated confidentially. TSG Resource Center

PaymentsPulse.com

TSG Overview

Transaction Advisory

Merchant Aggregation Featured

Case Study: Driving TSG Commentary on EMV - Anecdotes from Around the Value Through Country Competitive Bidding The Strawhecker Group What Benefits Me By TSG Associates were trying to use their chip cards around the country Paying a Credit Card over the last week - here are some of their experiences: Swipe Fee? Colorado Use a SmartPhone to "The first dip I had was at a small liquor store in Estes Park over Buy Things! the weekend and then Home Depot today. I wonder if liquor stores are more concerned with fraud?" The Top Ten Ways "My local drycleaner was under the impression that EMV was a Acquirers Can Block the government enforced law." Breach This Day Sign posted at a local vitamin shop: "Until our equipment is able in History: 1985 to take chip cards, all credit card transactions over $25.00, will require a photo ID" "All transactions over $250.00, will require Hollywood Icon address verification" Rock Hudson Dies "Just had my first dip of a chip at Home Depot - they just went live of AIDS and the clerk was very well informed of the process and Oct. 1 date, etc." On this day in 1985, actor Rock Hudson, 59, becomes Click to read more. the first major U.S. celebrity to die of EMV Round-Up complications from AIDS. Hudson's death raised EMV has officially reached the states. Check out TSG's public awareness of the epidemic, which until that round-up of essential resources as you continue to time had been ignored by prepare for the changes ahead. many in the mainstream as a "gay plague." Below you will find an article round-up from several featured Hudson, born Leroy Harold articles: Scherer Jr., on November 17, 1925, in Winnetka, USA Today: Ready or Not, It's Credit Card Chip and Dip Time Illinois, was a Hollywood Digital Transactions: The Big Bang It Ain't heartthrob whose career ABC News: What You Should Know About the New Chip Cards in movies and TV spanned ComputerWorld: Retail Group rips Chip-card Conversion Expense nearly three decades. With Gizmodo: Guide to the New EMV System leading-man good looks, Hudson starred in BankThink: EMV Cards - The Beginning of the End for Hackers numerous dramas and CNBC: Most Americans are Not Ready for Chip Cards romantic comedies in the American Banker: Merchants Must Get on Same Page as Issuers 1950s and 60s, including Forbes: A Race to the Finish - Business Struggle to Meet Deadline Magnificent Obsession, LTP: Six in Ten Americans Have Not Received an EMV Card Giant and Pillow Talk. In ZDNet: EMV Apathy? Why Small Businesses are Avoiding EMV the 1970s, he found Parade: What Shoppers Need to Know About EMV success on the small screen with such series as McMillan and Wife. To ETA Hosts "Chip Card 101" as U.S. Deploys New protect his macho image, Technology to Combat Fraud Hudson's off-screen life as a gay man was kept secret 10/01/15 ETA from the public.

In 1984, while working on the TV show Dynasty, Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS. On July 25, 1985, he publicly acknowledged he had the disease at a hospital in Paris, where he had gone to seek treatment. The news that Hudson, an international icon, had AIDS focused worldwide attention on the disease and helped change public perceptions of it. Click here to read more. Click here for the full C-Span Discussion with ETA's Jason Oxman.

"Today's start of the EMV chip migration is an important step in protecting U.S. consumers' private data," said Jason Oxman, ETA CEO. "ETA has compiled the best information available on the move to EMV, and will continue to work with our members, their merchant-customers, consumers and the media to ensure a smooth transition for shoppers and swift adoption of this criminal-stopping technology."

In conjunction with ETA's Chip Card 101 event, TSG prepared educational infographics to provide merchants and consumers the essential knowledge needed to understand the liability shift. Payment industry players may want to utilize these tools as a merchant talk track.

The first infographic reviews chip card basics - what they are, why we need them, and the benefits to merchants and consumers alike.

The second illustrates how an individual will pay with a chip card in three easy steps: insert, keep, and remove!

Payment Processor First Data to Raise Up to $3.2 Billion in IPO

10/01/15 Reuters Credit card processor First Data Corp said it plans to raise up to $3.2 billion in what could be the biggest initial public offering in the United States so far this year. The company, which was first spun off in an IPO by in the early nineties, was taken private in 2007 by KKR & Co LP for about $29 billion - one of the biggest leveraged buyouts before the financial crisis. Atlanta-based First Data said on Thursday it expects its IPO to price between $18 and $20 per class A share, valuing the company at about $17.58 billion at the upper end of the range.

Related: CEO's Stake Could Be About $110M After IPO

Is the Fintech Sector Overheating?

9/28/15 BTN Some call it "frothy." Some call it "contagious enthusiasm." Some call it "immature." The funding of fintech companies continues to proliferate. Almost $14 billion has been invested in fintech startups in the past year, a nearly 46% year-over-year growth rate, according to CB Insights. The company's data shows a steady rise in fintech funding since 2010. The top categories include online lending, payments, cryptocurrency and personal financial management. All told, venture capital and private equity firms have invested about $50 billion in fintech companies in the last five or so years, according to the London consulting firm William Garrity Associates.

ETA's Jason Oxman: Why Payments is the Most Exciting Tech Industry

9/29/15 Inc. We live in an age of unprecedented technological discovery and change, and the payments industry is fully embracing it. We are paying with our phones, watches, and wearables. Our credit and debit cards have new embedded microchips. And we can now initiate, verify and secure a payment with the swipe of a finger. What is driving innovation in payments? Part of the answer is the payments industry embraces innovation. It's more accepting of new entrants, unlike other incumbent industries.

Mobile Payments & Bitcoin

Samsung Pay Goes Live in the U.S.

9/28/15 CNET Stateside Samsung phone users can now leave their wallets at home. Samsung Pay, the company's mobile payments service, went live in the US on Monday. The service lets users pay for items using their phones or upcoming Gear S2 smartwatch, and it even works at older retail terminals that don't accept . Samsung Pay works with Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, Note 5 and S6 Edge+ smartphones running on wireless networks from AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and US Cellular. Verizon doesn't yet support Samsung Pay, but Samsung said it's still working with the wireless carrier on preloading the service on Verizon phones.

Related:

Review: Samsung Pays Where Apple Can't Here's Why Samsung Pay is Way Better Than Apple Pay and Android Pay Will Google's and Saumsung's Investments in Mobile Payments Pay Off?

Twitter Expands 'Buy' Buttons To Bigcommerce, Demandware, Shopify... And Best Buy

10/01/15 Tech Crunch A year after Twitter launched its first commerce product in the form of "buy now" buttons in tweets, get ready to start seeing a whole lot more of them in your feed. The social media company today is expanding the service in partnership with Bigcommerce, Demandware, and Shopify, three big and well-used commerce platforms, so that merchants using them to run their own online commerce services can now also use their products on Twitter. And it's also signed up some key direct deals with big retail brands. Chief among them is Best Buy, which will use Stripe to power sales directly in tweets. Apple Pay's Adoption Problem

10/01/15 BTN A year after its launch, Apple Pay has infiltrated numerous banks and merchants and two generations of Apple handsets. But its actual usage isn't close to living up to the hype. Banks have been strong supporters. In January of this year, 84% of banks and credit unions surveyed for Pulse's annual Debit Issuer Study said they were involved in a mobile payments rollout. At the time, Apple Pay was still near the height of its marketing push. But issuers reported only a 0.68% average penetration of eligible debit cards loaded on Apple Pay.

Apple is Ramping Up Hiring to Bring Apple Pay to China

10/01/15 Quartz Apple is staffing up to push its payments system in China, a market that's increasingly crucial for generating the growth that investors have come to demand from the world's largest company. Apple launched its mobile- payment system, Apple Pay, in its home market of the US last year. Adoption hasn't exactly been widespread there yet, but the company is looking to bring the service to more mature markets for contactless payments, like the UK, where it launched in July. And now, the company appears to be readying a move into China.

The Incredible Mobile Payments Myth

9/28/15 PYMNTS Adding to insult to injury, if you're a member of the U.S. payments and technology sector anyway, is the never-ending stream of reporting about how mobile payments at the point of sale has "taken off" in the U.K., is surging in Korea and about ready to massively explode in China. Which of course leads everyone, everywhere to two logical assumptions.

Regulation & Security

Trump Hotels Confirms POS Malware Breach

9/29/15 Bank Info Security The hotel chain bearing 2016 U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's name has confirmed that its point-of-sale systems were infected by malware for more than a year. The confirmation comes about three months after the hotel chain said it was investigating reports that its POS systems had been breached. The Trump Hotel Collection, in an undated "legal notice of potential security incident" posted on its website, now warns that POS systems at seven hotels that it manages - in Chicago, Honolulu, Las Vegas, New York, Miami and - were infected with malware, potentially affecting an unspecified number of customers.

Hilton Hotels Investigates Customer Credit Card Security Hack

9/29/15 Fox Hilton Hotels announced that it is looking into a possible security breach that occurred at gift shops, restaurants, bars, and other stores located on Hilton owned properties across the U.S. According to cyber-security expert Brian Krebs, Visa sent confidential alerts to several financial institutions warning of a security breach at various retail locations earlier this year from April 21 to July 27.

U.S. Must Face Payday Lenders' Operation Choke Point Lawsuit

9/27/15 Reuters The main trade group representing payday lenders may pursue a lawsuit accusing U.S. regulators of pressuring banks to stop serving the group's members under an anti-fraud campaign known as "Operation Choke Point," a federal judge ruled on Friday. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington, D.C. said the Community Financial Services Association of America may press claims that the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency violated its members' due process rights.

With Stolen Cards, Fraudsters Shop to Drop

9/28/15 Krebs on Security A time-honored method of extracting cash from stolen credit cards involves "reshipping" scams, which manage the purchase, reshipment and resale of carded consumer goods from America to Eastern Europe - primarily Russia. A new study suggests that some 1.6 million credit and debit cards are used to commit at least $1.8 billion in reshipping fraud each year, and identifies some choke points for disrupting this lucrative money laundering activity.

Hack Brief: Hackers Steal 15M T-Mobile Customers' Data From Experian

10/01/15 Wired For hackers looking for fraud victims, few targets are as tempting as the data brokers that make a business out of assembling millions of people's private information. That's a lesson T-Mobile is learning now that its partnership with one such data collector, Experian, has resulted in the theft of 15 million T-Mobile customers' private details.

Economy

U.S. Job Growth Stumbles, Raising Doubts on Economy

10/02/15 Reuters U.S. employers slammed the brakes on hiring over the last two months and wages fell in September, raising new doubts the economy is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by the end of this year. Payrolls outside of farming rose by 142,000 last month and August figures were revised sharply lower to show only 136,000 jobs added that month, the Labor Department said on Friday. That marked the smallest two-month gain in employment in over a year and could fuel fears that the China-led global economic slowdown is sapping America's strength.

Related: What The Terrible September Jobs Report Means for the Economy

Hurricane Joaquin Economic Impact Overblown 10/02/15 The Street Will Hurricane Joaquin will be an economic event for the U.S.? Despite potential destruction and loss of business days, the storm could actually be a neutral or additive factor to GDP in the fourth quarter. Let me explain. A severe hurricane is headed for part of the U.S. and could interrupt millions of lives and force businesses to close. Should the storm hit, the key for the economy will be the magnitude of the damage and the length of the disruption. Some weather models have the storm heading toward the Northeast, which has a daily GDP of about $10 billion.

Wells Fargo Survey: Millennials Most Optimistic About Finances, Future

9/39/15 Business Wire Americans feel optimistic about their finances and the future, according to the third "How America Buys and Borrows" survey by Wells Fargo & Company and Ipsos. The findings show millennials, ages 18-35, are the most optimistic about their finances and report being most likely to buy a home in the next three years. This optimism is a shift from last year when generations were more united than divided in their outlook. Wells Fargo releases this survey data as part of its annual support of the American Bankers Association's Get Smart About Credit campaign. Payments Press

NACHA's Payments Innovation Alliance Releases White Paper: "Real Time in Real Life"

9/28/15 NACHA Even as real-time payments systems are proliferating around the globe, real time can mean many different things with vastly different implications to users of the system. The paper provides clarity on what a real-time payment is by exploring what real time means, outlining the challenges to implementing real time, and identifying major use cases and user impact. "Real time has the potential to drastically change the way consumers and businesses make payments and interact with their financial institutions," said George Throckmorton, managing director, Advanced Payments Solutions at NACHA.

Introducing the New U.S. PayPal Here Device with EMV, contactless and Swipe Capabilities

9/28/15 PayPal We're announcing that our PayPal Here Chip Card Reader will be available in the U.S. on September 30. The reader works on both iOS and Android platforms and accepts chip card transactions, magnetic stripe, and contactless near field communication (NFC) transactions including Apple Pay™, Android Pay™, Samsung Pay, and any other NFC-enabled device or card. Here's a look at how it works.

Welcome to Smarter, Faster, Easier Payments from Vantiv

9/30/15 Vantiv We're launching a new website that reflects our evolved brand and introduces our new tagline - smarter/faster/easier payments, which captures our brand promise and how we deliver it to you. We know that commerce in the digital era is now more than just buying stuff online. It's also about transforming the systems, processes and culture behind transactions. No one can go it alone in this new era, and that's something we at Vantiv have always understood. We know that in a world of open innovation, common platforms and high expectations, success is created collectively. American Express® Cards Now Accepted at Sam's Club

10/01/15 American Express American Express announced that its Cards are now accepted at the more than 650 Sam's Club locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Sam's Club is the eighth largest U.S. retailer and a leading membership warehouse club for small businesses and consumers. In conjunction with the launch of Card acceptance, American Express is providing a special offer to eligible Card Members for use at Sam's Club locations from October 1-31. Card Members can receive a one-time $25 statement credit after they use an enrolled, eligible American Express Card to spend $45 or more on a new Sam's Club membership in-store.

MasterCard: U.S. Consumers and Merchants Benefit from Security of Chip Cards

9/30/15 MasterCard With just hours before the October 1 liability shift, new data from MasterCard reveals that 40 percent of all U.S. MasterCard-branded consumer credit cards feature EMV chip technology. According to a Payments Security Task Force forecast announced earlier today, the number of chip cards in the U.S. will to grow to 60 percent by the end of this year, expanding to 98 percent by the end of 2017.

TSYS Announces Support of Samsung Pay

9/28/15 TSYS TSYS announced its relationship with Samsung Pay, which will offer TSYS clients - both issuing banks and acquirers - and their merchants a simple and safe way to offer and accept mobile payments using nearly any terminal where you can swipe or tap your card. Combining Samsung's pioneering Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology with Near Field Communication (NFC), Samsung Pay is compatible with nearly all existing payment terminals where you can swipe or tap your card, allowing merchants to quickly and easily accept secure payments from customers using their Samsung phones.

Heartland Launches e-Commerce Merchant Data Protection Solution

9/29/15 Heartland Payment Systems Heartland Payment Systems, one of the nation's largest payment processors, announced the availability of Heartland SecureSubmit, a data protection solution e-commerce merchants use to protect sensitive consumer cardholder data entered via a consumer's browser. Heartland SecureSubmit allows merchants to quickly and seamlessly integrate cardholder data encryption and tokenization into their respective e- commerce websites and checkout pages without redirection or loss of brand identity.

Cayan Prepared for EMV: Activates Businesses Ahead of October 1 Liability Shift

9/30/15 MarketWired This week, the payments industry will undergo a major shift, impacting businesses, consumers and major card brands, alike. Beginning October 1, businesses not prepared to process EMV, or chip card, transactions may face liability in the event of accepting fraudulent transactions. In anticipation of the October 1 deadline, today, Cayan™, the Payments Possibilities Company™, announced that it started to turn EMV capabilities on for customers, ahead of the liability shift.

Discover Global Network Working with Checkout.com to Expand Merchant Acceptance Globally 10/01/15 Discover Online payments provider Checkout.com, and Diners Club, a business unit of Discover Financial Services and part of the Discover Global Network, today announced that all Checkout.com merchants will have the opportunity to accept sales from cards running on the Discover Global Network starting on October 2. This arrangement is part of Discover Global Network's overall strategy to work with key payment solution providers like Checkout.com to help drive increased acceptance.

ProPay Teams With AutoManager To Deliver One-Click Auto Payments

10/01/15 The Street ProPay®, a TSYS® company, announced that AutoManager, Inc. has integrated with ProPay to deliver fully integrated electronic auto loan payments for auto dealers. DeskManager, AutoManager's DMS software, will now allow borrowers to pay auto loans by debit card, credit card or bank account. Payments can be paid in-office, over the phone, by Web, and even by text message. There is no mobile app to download and no online payment portal required.

Harbortouch Offers Free NFC and EMV Reader with Echo POS System

10/01/15 PR Newswire Harbortouch, a leading national point of sale (POS) system and merchant services provider, today announced that the company is offering a free NFC and EMV capable PIN pad with its Echo POS systems for eligible merchants. Harbortouch Echo is a built-for-purpose POS system that combines the performance and functionality of a traditional system with the simplicity and sleek design of a tablet, without any up-front costs to merchants.

Fintech Unicorn Adyen Grabs First Silicon Valley Investor at $2.3B Valuation

9/30/15 VentureBeat Adyen, the Amsterdam-based payment processing company, announced today that its valuation had jumped to $2.3 billion after a new investment from its first Silicon Valley investor. Adyen said it couldn't reveal the amount it received from Iconiq Capital, however, the latest funding comes less than a year after the company raised a round of $250 million at a $1.5 billion valuation.

Worldpay Trials Facial Recognition Technology

10/01/15 Finextra The prototype 'PED Cam' (Pin Entry Device Camera) developed by Worldpay, uses an upward-facing camera, embedded into a standard card terminal to take a picture of the card-user whenever they enter their PIN. The resulting image generates a unique biometric template, linked to the individual's card and is stored in a secure, central database managed by Worldpay.

Moneris expands portfolio of EMV®-capable solutions to United States

10/01/15 BusinessWire Moneris Solutions, introduced its expanded portfolio of EMV®-capable solutions for merchants to accept EMV payments in the United States. With over a decade of experience supporting EMV transactions, Moneris is bringing its expertise and product solutions to the U.S. in time for the pending liability shift in October 2015. Moneris' EMV-capable product lineup features integrated and standalone solutions for merchants seeking net-new EMV payment solutions or terminal upgrades for existing point-of-sale (POS) systems.

Shopify Announces New EMV Credit Card Reader That Accepts Chip and Pin, and Apple Pay

9/25/15 EON Shopify Inc., a leading cloud-based multichannel commerce platform, announced the launch of its new credit card reader that will allow Shopify merchants in the U.S. to securely accept chip and pin, tap, and swipe credit and debit cards as well as contactless payment technologies like Apple Pay™.

INGENICO GROUP: Gregory Lambertie joins Ingenico Group as VP Strategy and M&A

9/28/15 Nasdaq Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamless payment, announced the appointment of Grégory Lambertie as VP Strategy and M&A. Grégory Lambertie will be in charge of strategic planning and the execution of merger and acquisition activity. He will report to Pierre-Antoine Vacheron, EVP Strategy, Finance & Performance.

CardFlight Announces EMV Approval and Certifications via First Data for Mobile Point-of-sale Solution

9/30/15 PR Newswire CardFlight, a leader in mobile point of sale (POS) technology announced that its suite of mobile solutions has been certified by First Data, a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions, to accept EMV "chip card" payments. This will enable merchants to accept EMV payments on iOS and Android devices ahead of the October 1 liability shift.

Powa brings POS services to Mexico

9/29/15 Mobile Payments Today Powa Technologies has teamed with Sophitech, a Latin American point- of-sale software provider, to offer Mexican merchants a next generation, fully integrated tablet-based payment product, according to a press release. Sophitech recently launched its cloud-based POS application for iPad, SkyPOS, which is now available and fully integrated with the PowaPOS T25.

Klarna Checkout Now Supports American Express

9/29/15 Klarna Starting in October, Klarna will enable its checkout merchants the ability to sell with American Express in Sweden, Finland, Germany and the United States. No extra integration or contract is needed for the retailer. The instant roll-out is made possible by Klarna's dynamic checkout solution.

Western Union Bill Payment Service Now at Walgreens Nationwide

9/30/15 MarketWatch The Western Union Company a leader in global payment services, and Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain, this month launched Western Union® Bill Payment services staged via digital self-service kiosks, allowing customers to make payments to 15,000 billers across the United States and beyond. Copyright ©2015 The Strawhecker Group. All Rights Reserved. Unless noted, TSG does not take responsibility for content or opinions. Articles are sourced as appropriate throughout.

'SafeUnsubscribe' below will remove you from all TSG communications, this includes email blasts as well as NewsFilter. Please be aware of this before you choose to unsubscribe. Thank you, we appreciate your continued readership.