The Frontier Times Canada's Payments Journal

VERIFONE, HYPERCOM AND INGENICO ABANDON PLANS TO DIVEST POINT OF SALE BUSINESS TO INGENICO FOLLOWING JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LAWSUIT

2011-05-24T19:19:00.001-04:00

WASHINGTON — May 20, 2011 VeriFone Systems Inc., Hypercom Corp. and Ingenico S.A. have abandoned plans for Hypercom to divest its U.S. point-of-sale (POS) business to Ingenico, the Department of Justice announced today. Their decision to abandon the divestiture came just one week after the department's Antitrust Division filed a lawsuit to block the proposed acquisition by VeriFone of Hypercom and to block the proposed divestiture of Hypercom's U.S. business to Ingenico. The department's lawsuit to block the overall deal between VeriFone and Hypercom is still pending, and as the companies have publicly reported, the department is in discussions with them to identify an alternative buyer that is acceptable to the department.
"We are gratified that the parties recognized the anticompetitive nature of the agreement and abandoned its divestiture plan promptly," said Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. "Our discussions with the companies will continue as they seek to find an alternative buyer that will resolve the department's antitrust concerns."
POS terminals are used by retailers and other firms to accept electronic payments such as credit cards and debit cards. The three companies manufacture more than 90 percent of all POS terminals in the United States.
The department's complaint alleged that the merger of VeriFone and Hypercom would result in a dominant POS terminal manufacturer that would likely raise prices and reduce innovation, quality, product variety and service. The complaint also alleged that the proposed divestiture to Ingenico did not adequately resolve the competitive concerns raised by the VeriFone/Hypercom transaction.
VeriFone is a Delaware corporation headquartered in San Jose, Calif. VeriFone earned more than $1 billion in worldwide revenues in its last fiscal year, ending in October 2010.
Hypercom is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz. Hypercom earned more than $450 million in worldwide revenues in 2010.
Ingenico is a French corporation with worldwide revenues in 2010 of more than $1.3 billion.

Adam Atlas Attorney at Law - The Publisher of this blog

Multi-Billion Dollar Civil Money Laundering And Forfeiture Action Also Filed Internet Domain Names Used By The Poker Companies Seized

2011-04-16T17:18:00.001-04:00

April 16, 2011 (New York) PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JANICE FEDARCYK, the Assistant-Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), announced the unsealing of an Indictment today charging eleven defendants, including the founders of the three largest Internet poker companies doing business in the United States - PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker (the "Poker Companies")- with bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling offenses. The United States also filed a civil money laundering and in rem forfeiture complaint (the "Civil Complaint") against the Poker Companies, their assets, and the assets of several payment processors for the Poker Companies. In addition, restraining orders were issued against more than 75 bank accounts utilized by the Poker Companies and their payment processors, and five Internet domain names used by the Poker Companies to host their illegal poker games were seized.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: "As charged, these defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits. Moreover, as we allege, in their zeal

________________

to circumvent the gambling laws, the defendants also engaged in massive money laundering and bank fraud. Foreign firms that choose to operate in the United States are not free to flout the laws they don't like simply because they can't bear to be parted from their profits."

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge JANICE K. FEDARCYK said: "These defendants, knowing full well that their business with U.S. customers and U.S. banks was illegal, tried to stack the deck. They lied to banks about the true nature of their business. Then, some of the defendants found banks willing to flout the law for a fee. The defendants bet the house that they could continue their scheme, and they lost."

According to the Indictment and the Civil Complaint unsealed today:

On October 13, 2006, the United States enacted the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act ("UIGEA"), making it a federal crime for gambling businesses to "knowingly accept" most forms of payment "in connection with the participation of another person in unlawful Internet gambling." Despite the passage of UIGEA, the Poker Companies, located offshore, continued operating in the United States. In a press release dated October 16, 2006, Absolute Poker announced that the company would continue its U.S. operations because "the U.S. Congress has no control over" the company's payment transactions.

Because U.S. banks and credit card issuers were largely unwilling to process their payments, the Poker Companies allegedly used fraudulent methods to circumvent federal law and trick these institutions into processing payments on their behalf. For example, defendants ISAI SCHEINBERG and PAUL TATE of PokerStars, RAYMOND BITAR and NELSON BURTNICK of Full Tilt Poker, and SCOTT TOM and BRENT BECKLEY of Absolute Poker, arranged for the money received from U.S. gamblers to be disguised as payments to hundreds of non-existent online merchants purporting to sell merchandise such as jewelry and golf balls. Of the billions of dollars in payment transactions that the Poker Companies tricked U.S. banks into processing, approximately one-third or more of the funds went directly to the Poker Companies as revenue through the "rake" charged to players on almost every poker hand played online.

As alleged in the Indictment, to accomplish their fraud, the Poker Companies worked with an array of highly compensated "payment processors" – including defendants RYAN LANG, IRA RUBIN, BRADLEY FRANZEN, and CHAD ELIE – who obtained accounts at U. S. banks for the Poker Companies. The payment processors lied to banks about the nature of the financial transactions they were processing, and covered up those lies, by, among other things, creating phony corporations and websites to disguise payments to the Poker Companies. For example, a PokerStars document from May 2009 acknowledged that they received money from U.S. gamblers through company names that "strongly imply the transaction has nothing to do with PokerStars," and that PokerStars used whatever company names "the processor can get approved by the bank."

By late 2009, after U.S. banks and financial institutions detected and shut down multiple fraudulent bank accounts used by the Poker Companies, SCHEINBERG and BITAR developed a new processing strategy that would not involve lying to banks. PokerStars, FullTilt Poker, and their payment processors persuaded the principals of a few small, local banks facing financial difficulties to engage in such processing in return for multi-million dollar investments in the banks. For example, in September 2009, ELIE and others approached defendant JOHN CAMPOS, the Vice Chairman of the Board and part-owner of SunFirst Bank, a small, private bank based in Saint George, Utah, about processing Internet poker transactions. While expressing "trepidations," CAMPOS allegedly agreed to process gambling transactions in return for a $10 million investment in SunFirst by ELIE and an associate, which would give them a more than 30% ownership stake in the bank. CAMPOS also requested and received a $20,000 "bonus" for his assistance. In an e-mail, one of ELIE's associates boasted that they had "purchased" SunFirst and that they "were looking to purchase" "a grand total of 3 or 4 banks" to process payments.

The Indictment and Civil Complaint seek at least $3 billion in civil money laundering penalties and forfeiture from the Poker Companies and the defendants. The District Court issued an order restraining approximately 76 bank accounts in 14 countries containing the proceeds of the charged offenses. Pursuant to a warrant for arrest in rem issued by the U.S. District Court, the United States also seized five Internet domain names used by the Poker Companies to operate their illegal online businesses in the United States.

* * *

Defendants CAMPOS and ELIE were arrested this morning in Saint George, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada, respectively. ELIE will appear later today before a U. S. Magistrate Court Judge in Las Vegas, Nevada. CAMPOS will appear before a U.S. Magistrate

Court Judge in Saint George, Utah on April 18, 2011. Defendant FRANZEN is expected to appear for his arraignment on April 19, 2011 in the Southern District of New York. Defendants BITAR, SCHEINBERG, BURTNICK, TATE, TOM, BECKLEY, RUBIN and LANG are not presently in the United States and have not yet been arrested. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is working with foreign law enforcement agencies and Interpol to secure the arrest of these defendants and the seizure of criminal proceeds located abroad. BITAR, TOM, RUBIN, BECKLEY, CAMPOS, ELIE, and FRANZEN are U. S. citizens. A chart identifying each defendant, the charges, and the maximum penalties, is attached to this release.

U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA praised the FBI for its outstanding leadership in the investigation, which he noted is ongoing. Mr. BHARARA also thanked Immigration and Customs Enforcement's New York and New Jersey offices, and the Washington State Gambling Commission, for their assistance in the investigation.

The matters announced today are being handled by the Office's Complex Frauds and Asset Forfeiture Units. Assistant U.S. Attorneys ARLO DEVLIN-BROWN and NICOLE FRIEDLANDER are in charge of the criminal case, and Assistant U. S. Attorneys SHARON COHEN LEVIN, MICHAEL LOCKARD and JASON COWLEY are in charge of the civil money laundering and forfeiture actions.

The charges contained in the Indictment and Civil Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Defendant Citizenship Residence Age

ISAI SCHEINBERG Canada;

Israel

Isle of Man 64 (est.)

RAYMOND BITAR United States California

Ireland

SCOTT TOM United States Costa Rica 31

BRENT BECKLEY United States Costa Rica 31

NELSON BURTNICK Canada Ireland 40

PAUL TATE Isle of Man

RYAN LANG Canada Canada 36

BRADLEY FRANZEN United States Illinois

Cost Rica

IRA RUBIN United States Costa Rica 52

CHAD ELIE United States Nevada 31

JOHN CAMPOS United States Utah 57

Count Charge Defendants Maximum Penalties

1 Conspiracy to

Violate Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGIEA)

ISAI SCHEINBERG, RAYMOND BITAR, SCOTT TOM, BRENT BECKLEY, NELSON BURTNICK, PAUL TATE, RYAN LANG, BRADLEY FRANZEN, IRA RUBIN, CHAD ELIE, JOHN CAMPOS

5 years in prison; fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss; 3 years supervised release

2 Violation of

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGIEA) - PokerStars

ISAI SCHEINBERG, NELSON BURTNICK, PAUL TATE, RYAN LANG, BRADLEY FRANZEN, IRA RUBIN, CHAD ELIE, JOHN CAMPOS

5 years in prison; fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss; 3 years supervised release

Count Charge Defendants Maximum Penalties

3 Violation of

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGIEA) - Full Tilt Poker

RAYMOND BITAR, NELSON BURTNICK, RYAN LANG, BRADLEY FRANZEN, IRA RUBIN, CHAD ELIE, JOHN CAMPOS

5 years in prison; fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss; 3 years supervised release

4 Violation of

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGIEA) Absolute Poker

SCOTT TOM, BRENT BECKLEY, RYAN LANG, BRADLEY FRANZEN, IRA RUBIN, CHAD ELIE

5 years in prison; fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss; 3 years supervised release

5 Operation of

Illegal Gambling Business - PokerStars

ISAI SCHEINBERG, NELSON BURTNICK, PAUL TATE, RYAN LANG, BRADLEY FRANZEN, IRA RUBIN, CHAD ELIE, JOHN CAMPOS

5 years in prison; fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss; 3 years supervised release; forfeiture of proceeds of offense

6 Operation of

Illegal Gambling Business - Full Tilt Poker

RAYMOND BITAR, NELSON BURTNICK, RYAN LANG, BRADLEY FRANZEN, IRA RUBIN, CHAD ELIE, JOHN CAMPOS

5 years in prison; fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss; 3 years supervised release; forfeiture of proceeds of offense

7 Operation of

Illegal Gambling Business Absolute Poker

SCOTT TOM, BRENT BECKLEY, RYAN LANG, BRADLEY FRANZEN, IRA RUBIN, CHAD ELIE

5 years in prison; fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss; 3 years supervised release; forfeiture of proceeds of offense

________________

Count Charge Defendants Maximum Penalties

8 Conspiracy to

Commit Bank Fraud and Wire Fraud

ISAI SCHEINBERG, RAYMOND BITAR, BRENT BECKLEY, NELSON BURTNICK, PAUL TATE, RYAN LANG, BRADLEY FRANZEN, IRA RUBIN, CHAD ELIE

30 years in prison; fine of $1,000,000 or twice the gross gain or loss; 5 years supervised release; forfeiture of proceeds of offense

9 Money Laundering

Conspiracy

ISAI SCHEINBERG, RAYMOND BITAR, BRENT BECKLEY, NELSON BURTNICK, PAUL TATE, RYAN LANG, BRADLEY FRANZEN, IRA RUBIN, CHAD ELIE, JOHN CAMPOS

20 years in prison; fine of $500,000 or twice the amount laundered; 3 years supervised release; forfeiture of proceeds of offense

Credit Card Class Action Class Action Filed Against Visa, Mastercard, and Leading Banks Over Alleged Price Fixing Conspiracy

2011-03-29T13:27:00.001-04:00

VANCOUVER (March 29, 2011) -- Branch MacMaster LLP and Camp Fiorante
Matthews filed a proposed national class action in the British
Columbia Supreme Court against Visa, MasterCard, and several leading
banks. The claim alleges that the credit card giants and banks have
engaged in a multi-billion dollar price fixing conspiracy to increase
or maintain the fees paid by merchants on every credit card
transaction.

When a customer pays with a credit card, Visa and MasterCard take a
percentage fee, along with the card-issuing bank and the company that
processes the payment. That percentage varies depending on what kind
of card is used. Basic cards charge a smaller percentage, while
premium credit cards that offer points and other rewards cost
merchants a much higher fee.

The claim alleges that Visa and MasterCard rules force merchants to
accept every Visa or MasterCard credit card, even if those cards carry
high fees for the merchant. The claim also alleges that these rules
prevent merchants from charging more for payments with premium cards.

Ward Branch, partner at Branch MacMaster LLP said, "The lawsuit
alleges that merchants are forced to raise prices for all customers to
cover the cost of transactions with premium cards. Our research
suggests that these fees cost Canadian merchants $5 billion in 2009
alone. The system is bad for Canadian merchants, Canadian consumers,
and for the Canadian economy as a whole."

The suit follows a filing by the Competition Bureau of Canada, which
seeks to prevent Visa and MasterCard from imposing the rules
preventing surcharges and forcing merchants to honour all cards. This
proposed class action seeks to recover the fees that Visa, MasterCard,
and the banks are alleged to have collected illegally from merchants.

Along with Visa and MasterCard, the suit names BMO Financial Group,
Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Desjardins,
National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank,
Bank of America, Capital One, and Citygroup Inc. as defendants.

Webinar On Canadian Mobile Payments Compliance and AML

2011-03-17T10:26:00.000-04:00

When
Thursday March 24, 2011, 1:00 PM EST – 2:00 PM EST.

Cost
Free!

›› RSVP

Free Webinar: The legal framework for MSBs doing business in Canada

What's going on? What's coming next? And what's different about doing business in Quebec?

New federal and provincial legislation have significant implications for electronic payment companies and other money services businesses (MSBs) operating in Canada or serving clients in Canada.

Your are cordially invited to attend the a free webinar targeted to helping money services businesses (MSBs) build, improve and shape their regulatory compliance programs – particularly with respect to anti money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF). This session will focus on the existing requirements, industry trends and emerging Quebec legislation that could change the way you do business.

Get the facts that you need to keep your business on the right side of the law in Canada.

This event features Matthew McGuire and Adam Atlas.

Matthew McGuire is the president of Williams McGuire AML Inc., largest dedicated anti-money laundering consulting practice in Canada. Matthew and his team have assisted countless MSBs operating in Canada. Their experience runs the gamut from AML compliance effectiveness reviews to conducting MSB screening on behalf of a financial service provider. Matthew is widely recognized in financial and academic circles as one of Canada's top experts in AML and CTF. Find out more about Williams McGuire AML Inc. at www.amlcompliance.ca.

Adam Atlas is a lawyer specializing in mobile money companies. His firm, Adam Atlas Attorney at Law is a boutique commercial law firm dedicated to top-tier personal service to clients. He is licensed to practice law in both the Canadian province of Quebec and New York state. Adam has a unique specialization in electronic transaction law and has been widely published on related topics. Find out more about Adam Atlas at www.adamatlas.com.

RSVP at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/345803611

Please note, space at this by invitation-only event is limited.

We look forward to (virtually) seeing you there.

NXGEN Appoints Randy Tillim as Director of Major Accounts

2011-01-07T10:23:00.001-05:00

January 2011, Whitefish, MT – NXGEN Payment Services, a leading Merchant Service Provider (MSP) for Elavon Global Payment Solutions, operating in USA, Canada, UK, and Italy, has appointed Randy Tillim as Director of Major Accounts. Mr. Tillim will be responsible for all the business development, sales, and marketing targeted at merchants processing more than a billion dollars per year in credit card volume. In his position, Tillim will report directly to the President, Giuseppe Caltabiano.

"Randy has already been instrumental to NXGEN's growth by both helping acquire large businesses as well as helping in the design of the NXGEN's exclusive tool for controllable downgrades, MerchReport.com" said Giuseppe Caltabiano. "I am thrilled to be able to offer Randy's expertise, together with the support of the team he brings, to all of NXGEN's sales force"

"I look forward to continuing to build on NXGEN's success in this highly demanding marketplace," states Tillim. "By working with Elavon's National Accounts team, and with the availability of NXGEN's products and tools, we will be able to reduce the costs of processing to our large prospects by an average of 20 to 50 basis points on their Visa, MasterCard and Discover processing per year. This can translate into millions of dollars of previously unrealized profit."

Any ISO or individual sales rep in USA can have access to Mr. Tillim's team, NXGEN's pricing and services, and MerchReport.com; Any ISO or individual sales rep will now

be able to have a team behind when trying to make a bid for very large accounts

About NXGEN Payment Services
NXGEN, a global provider of credit card processing in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Italy, is the top MSP for Elavon Global Payment Services through USBank. NXGEN's mission is to increase the level of professionalism in the Payment Services Industry while providing merchants with the next generation of products at the most competitive prices - Acting locally while thinking globally!

MerchReport.com developed by NXGEN provides detailed interchange processing reports for high volume customers (>$1 million/month). The downgrade reporting provides a valuable tool for customers by identifying quantifiable savings opportunities that they can monitor and control. It is useful in tracking transactions, training store managers to reduce expenses on their processing costs and saving the organization money.

The goal of NXGEN is to set the standard for value and service through timely innovation and a company-wide commitment to each and every merchant. By consistently focusing on these goals, NXGEN continues to pursue our vision to be the global leader in the payment processing industry.

Canadian payments industry experiences a year of unprecedented change

2010-09-02T10:36:00.001-04:00

(Oakville, Ontario – August 12, 2010) — Contactless debit and credit card payments are rolling out rapidly in Canada and are likely to account for significant transaction volumes and values by 2014, a new study published by Technology Strategies International predicts. According to the recently released market research report titled "Canadian Payments Forecast - 2010", there is also strong interest in mobile payments, although in the short term this is likely to ride on the back of contactless rollout.

The study found that consumer payments were remarkably resilient during the recession, with the largest impacts being felt in the value and volume of credit card transactions. The resilience was a result of growth in personal expenditures, even in the face of declining GDP.

"The industry has been through some very significant changes over the past two years," says Christie Christelis, President of Technology Strategies International. "The increased regulatory oversight, and in particular, the Code of Conduct, has had, and will continue to have, far-reaching effects on how the key players position themselves in this market, and how they move forward with their growth strategies."

"Interac is particularly vulnerable to competition in the debit space at the moment," he notes, "and the Code has provided breathing space for the organization to ready itself for the onslaught from scheme debit."

Key findings of the study include:

The impact of the recession was felt in the payments space with cash withdrawal from ABMs, cash purchases, credit card purchases and credit card cash advance volumes declining.
Online payments, cross-border payments and contactless payments grew rapidly in 2009. The use of cheques for personal payments continued to decline.
The intensity of competition is increasing in the Canadian debit payments space. MasterCard and Visa have managed to secure the support of leading issuers to launch alternative debit payment products in Canada – a market currently dominated by Interac.
The merchant lobby has been highly effective in delaying the launch of scheme debit in Canada. The Credit and Debit Card Industry Code of Conduct has forced would-be issuers of alternative debit products to rethink their launch strategies.
MasterCard has encroached on Visa's turf as Visa issuers experiment with issuing the more lucrative MasterCard credit cards.
Contactless payments have extended their reach remarkably quickly over the past year, and issuers and acquirers are undertaking major thrusts to make contactless payments ubiquitous in appropriate payment settings.
Cross-border payments are expected to grow rapidly, with the entry of scheme debit stimulating growth in both the outbound and inbound cross-border payments segments.
Mobile payments continue to attract strong interest from payment companies, banks and acquirers, especially in the face of increased smartphone usage in Canada. Over the next five years. growth in mobile payments will occur primarily on the back of developments in the contactless payments space.
Alternative payment mechanisms for online payments (i.e. non-credit card payments) will account for one third of all online payments made by Canadians by 2014
Cash will remain the most frequently used form of payment in Canada over the next five years, but will suffer some erosion from contactless debit and credit payments

The 138 page report provides a comprehensive review, analysis and forecast of consumer payments in Canada. It identifies high growth segments in the Canadian payments market in the context of some important recent developments in the economy and the industry. Detailed forecasts are presented for credit card payments, debit card payments, cash payments, cheque payments, contactless payments, cross-border payments, online payments, ABM installations and POS terminals.

About Technology Strategies International
Technology Strategies International is a leading Canadian technology market research firm based in Oakville, Ontario. Established in 1995, the company has been tracking developments in Canadian payment industry for the past fifteen years. For more information please seewww.tsiglobalnet.com/reports.html.

NXGEN Payment Services Appoints Two Key Executives

2009-10-14T11:22:00.000-04:00

NXGEN Payment Services Appoints Two Key Executives.

(Adam Montague as COO, Dowe Kaufman as National Sales manager)

October 2009, Whitefish, MT – Calgary Alberta – NXGEN Payment Services, a leading Merchant Service Provider (MSP) for Elavon Global Payment Solutions, operating in USA and Canada, has promoted Adam Montague as its COO and Dowe Kaufman as its National Sales Manager. Mr. Montague will be responsible for all the group’s companies’ operations, and Mr. Kaufman will be responsible for managing and developing NXGEN’s domestic sales channels. In their positions, both Montague and Kaufman will report directly to the President, Giuseppe Caltabiano.

“Adam has been NXGEN’s Director of Boarding, Underwriting, and Support teams, redesigning each department’s organization with a key focus on quality of service, accuracy when we pay commissions, and attention to merchant needs. Dowe has worked in sales for us over the last year and brings an amount of valuable sales experience, having previously managed his own group of agents, and having grown portfolios over the past 7 years” said Giuseppe Caltabiano. “The exciting part for all of us is that we are constantly managing to grow even in a period where the markets have faced challenges. We are able to further fuel growth with these appointments, confirming NXGEN’s commitment to its customers, sales forces and partners.”

“I look forward to continuing to build on NXGEN’s core competencies,” states Kaufman. “Deepening our footprint, growing our Agent Bank and National Referral Program, and continuing to expand our different Sales Channels will be our main focus. We also have great opportunities for growth in Vertical Markets, and now, thanks to our own MerchReports.com, into very large, national accounts.”

“NXGEN’s capability of servicing all our merchants, all our sales forces, referral partners, etc. while boarding new businesses both in USA and Canada is produced by the combination of a team of highly skilled and dedicated individuals and state of the art technology. These skill sets and technical abilities allow us to be fast and accurate in any phase of our processes” explains Montague. “In the last year, we have achieved the ambitious objective of becoming fully paperless in our operations.”

About NXGEN
NXGEN is a multi-national provider of credit card processing in the United States and Canada. NXGEN is one of the top MSPs for Elavon Global Payment Services through USBank.

NXGEN has been awarded MasterCard’s highest level of RAMP Compliance rating for their Fraud Prevention and Risk Management policies, and VISA certified NXGEN as one of only a few companies able to participate in their Tax Payment Pilot program.

For more information, please contact NXGEN Payment Services at: 1-866-863-9977

E-mail: mjaffe@nxgen.com, Internet: www.nxgen.com, www.nxgencanada.com

Three indicted in largest U.S. identity theft scheme

2009-08-18T15:19:00.001-04:00

Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:29pm EDT By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three men were indicted on Monday for allegedly stealing more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers in what U.S. authorities said they believe is the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted.

Albert Gonzalez, a former government informant already in jail in connection with hacking cases, and two unnamed Russians were indicted on charges related to five corporate data breaches from 2006 to 2008.

Card numbers were stolen in those breaches from credit-card processor Heartland Payment Systems and retail chains 7-Eleven Inc and Hannaford Brothers Co, prosecutors said.

The men targeted two other corporations, the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey said in the statement, without naming those companies.

Heartland Payment Systems and Hannaford Brothers had previously and separately acknowledged the breaches, but the scope of the fraud had not been known.

Authorities also for the first time tied those cases to Gonzalez, who was arrested last year on suspicion of hacking into a restaurant chain's payment system.

Attorneys for Gonzalez were not available for comment.

Prosecutors said Gonzalez and the Russians, identified as "Hacker 1" and "Hacker 2", targeted large corporations by scanning the list of Fortune 500 companies and exploring corporate websites before setting out to identify

vulnerabilities.

A year ago, Gonzalez was indicted along with 10 others from five countries on accusations of stealing 41 million credit and debit card numbers from major retailers, including TJX Cos Inc, owner of the TJ Maxx and Marshall's retail chains. Prosecutors said that ring caused more than $400 million in damages.

Prosecutors said Gonzalez and the other two men used numerous techniques to penetrate the computer systems.

Gonzalez was being held in a Brooklyn jail. Prosecutors would not comment on the whereabouts of the two Russians.

All three were charged with conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers, to commit fraud in connection with computers and to damage computers, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each faces up to 35 years in prison and large fines if convicted.

Prosecutors said in the statement that the suspects would seek to sell the data to others who would use it to make fraudulent purchases.

They cited one example in which they said the suspects went to retail locations to identify the type of checkout machines, and after further investigation into the computer systems they uploaded information onto servers that worked as hacking platforms.

PayLogec and NXGEN Canada Join Forces

2009-08-06T16:23:00.001-04:00

August 4, 2009: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – PayLogec Merchant Solutions (www.paylogec.com), a Canadian leading payment service provider registered with Elavon Canada (previously known as Nova Information Systems), and NXGEN Canada (www.nxgencanada.com), a North American leading payment services provider, today announced the creation of a Partnership which will accelerate the availability of new payment services options to Canadian Financial Institutions, Trade Associations, Businesses and Non-profit Organizations in Canada.

Both PayLogec and NXGEN Canada (a company of the NXGEN Group) have been authorized resellers of Elavon Canada since 2005, and together they process approximately $2 Billion annually for merchants in North America.

By joining forces, they will synergize on resources and will be able to bring to market the most advanced payment options for both brick-and-mortar and Internet-based business, as well as the most advanced reporting tools that allow merchants, agents, Financial Institutions and Trade Associations, to monitor on-line their financial performances.

Don Andrews, President of PayLogec (now President PayLogec/NXGEN Canada), will manage this Partnership.

“The competitive environment is causing many processing providers to initiate a lower quality of service. At PayLogec/NXGEN, we are committed to the needs of our merchants, while operating with full integrity, respect, and excellence,” states Mr. Andrews. “This relationship with NXGEN Canada will allow us to focus on what we do best; selling ’Best in Class‘ payment services and supporting our merchants and partners. Furthermore, by making full use of NXGEN’s operations and IT infrastructure, we will automate processes and offer unique on-line data access to our valued partners.”

Thomas Nitopi, CEO of the NXGEN group and co-Chair of Elavon’s MSP Advisory Board, comments “NXGEN is one of the top partners of Elavon in North America. We have performed extremely well in Canada over the last 4 years, and now we are looking toward more accelerated growth by providing the marketplace comprehensive solutions through the relationship and network of the PayLogec/NXGEN team.” He continues, “The last few months of preparation for this venture have been amazingly exciting. NXGEN’s credibility in the payment industry is unblemished. When we began talking with PayLogec, we realized that the core values by which we execute business were the same (especially their focus on long-term relationships with customers and partners) and were achieved only by offering true win-win propositions.”

PayLogec and NXGEN Canada are processing the payment transactions through Elavon, a top ten global acquirer, processing transactions over its secure, reliable and fully redundant network.

“I am thrilled at this alliance and its ability to address the specific needs of Financial Institutions and Trade Associations across Canada,” says Cory Taylor, Managing Director of Elavon Canada. “By combining industry experience with Elavon’s robust network, customer service and pricing structure, PayLogec and NXGEN Canada have created an irresistible offer for every business, bank, credit union, and association.”

About PayLogec:

PayLogec Merchant Solutions Canada is a registered payments partner with Elavon Canada and is a member in good standing of the Visa and MasterCard International Associations. PayLogec delivers Solutions, Service and Expertise in all areas of the payments industry and brings that to each and every merchant.

Expertise: Every merchant and business can be assured that its individual processing situation will be treated with complete respect and privacy.

Service: All merchants will be assigned a PayLogec/NXGEN account executive to not only present a processing program, but to be there to install, train and be available at anytime to assist with questions, technical issues and overall support. We value your business.

Solutions: PayLogec/NXGEN, in partnership with Elavon, provide the most comprehensive processing solution choices to the merchant. From “Chip and Pin” ready POS Terminals with dual dial-up/Internet connectivity, Wireless options and a complete Virtual Suite of products, you can be assured PayLogec has the right solution for your needs at the lowest cost. Furthermore, when you choose one of our solutions they are completely supported and serviced by both PayLogec/NXGEN and Elavon. You never have to deal with the Manufacturer.

About Elavon

Elavon's Global Acquiring Solutions organization is a part of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and provides end-to-end payment processing services and solutions to more than one million merchants in the United States, Europe, Canada and Puerto Rico. Elavon represents the former brands of NOVA Information Systems and its affiliates FHMS and euroConex. For more information, visit http://www.elavon.com.

About NXGEN Canada

NXGEN Canada is a fully-owned subsidiary of NXGEN International, a multi-national provider of credit card processing, e-commerce and comprehensive payment services. NXGEN International’s mission is “To increase the level of professionalism in the Payment Services Industry while providing merchants with the next generation of products at the most competitive prices—acting locally while thinking globally!” The goal of NXGEN Canada is to set the standard for value and service through timely innovation and a company-wide commitment to each and every one of our merchants.”

For more information, please contact

PayLogec Merchant Solutions: by Phone 604-541-8781, e-mail ghowes@paylogec.com

NXGEN Canada: by Phone +1-888-866-9436, e-mail: klamothe@nxgeninternational.com, or on the Internet: www.nxgencanada.com and www.paylogec.com

MasterCard welcomes rejection of price controls, support of debit competition

2009-07-09T11:39:00.001-04:00

Toronto, July 1, 2009 -- MasterCard Canada welcomes today's decision by the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce to reject retail lobbyists' calls for price regulation on credit card payment systems-an approach that would have resulted in consumers' paying the price for merchants' credit card acceptance.

MasterCard also welcomes the Committee's support of competition in Canadian debit. Both recommendations will serve the best interests of consumers and merchants.

"The Senate Committee clearly recognized that price controls are inappropriate and would harm consumers," said Kevin Stanton, president, MasterCard Canada. "Australia continues to provide an excellent example of how such price controls reduce consumer credit card program benefits, and result in no appreciable decrease in the price of goods and services."

When Australia regulated the fees merchants pay for credit card acceptance in 2003, retailers simply pocketed the windfall. Other consequences of these price controls included:

Consumers' credit card fees and interest rates went up;
Some credit card issuers had to stop doing business, so competition and consumer choice was reduced;
Merchants charged consumers extra for using credit and debit cards, even though merchants' fees went down; and
Consumers' credit card benefits and rewards had to be reduced or disappeared entirely.

MasterCard also applauds the Senate Committee for recognizing the benefits to consumers and merchants of introducing competition in the Canadian debit market.

The Senate's recommendation of a flat-fee pricing model aligns with how MasterCard's Maestro debit product is already priced.

"MasterCard's Maestro debit solution is flat-fee based and is less expensive to merchants than Interac and will provide significant benefits for consumers, not the least of which is the ability to pay by debit in countries around the world," said Stanton. "It is time for a new era in Canadian debit."

MasterCard cautions that some other Committee recommendations will result in unintended negative consequences for consumers and small merchants in particular.

The recommendation on surcharging-allowing merchants to charge consumers extra for purchases made on a credit or debit card-essentially asks consumers to bear the merchant's operational costs, and could lead to the type of opportunistic surcharging being levied by merchants at the point of sale in Australia.

Similarly, the Committee's recommendation on honour-all-cards practices will create risk, confusion, delay and difficulty for both consumers and merchants at the point-of-sale.

"Consumers expect to be able to pay with their card of choice wherever the brand is displayed," Stanton said. "Arbitrary acceptance by merchants will create significant risk, unpredictability and confusion at the point-of-sale for both retail staff and consumers, and could lead to the possibility that some credit cardholders will be unable to pay for their purchases."

The recommendation on priority routing of debit payments will take the technical routing decision out of the hands of the parties-merchants and issuing banks-paying for the transaction. Specifically, the Senate's recommendations on priority routing will favour the incumbent debit monopolist and will in effect reduce competition in debit. It will also inject the very operational complications and costs the retail lobby was seeking to avoid in a competitive debit market. It will also result in no benefits and unnecessary confusion for consumers, who do not pay for debit transactions.

MasterCard Canada appreciates the opportunity provided by the Senate committee to participate in the comprehensive examination of Canada's credit and debit payments system and recognizes it has a role to play in promoting greater transparency and education to Canadian merchants. It has a number of initiatives underway to meet this need, including developing model disclosures, and small merchant education materials.

About MasterCard Worldwide

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes approximately 21 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard(R), Maestro(R) and Cirrus(R), MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com .

Half a million Canadians are delinquent - Equifax Canada data reveals 19% jump

2009-07-08T12:40:00.001-04:00

TORONTO, July 3 /CNW/ - Equifax Canada today released the latest
consumer credit delinquency data which shows that Canadians continue
to fall behind on their credit payments at an ever-increasing rate.
The average delinquency rate for Canada rose by approximately 19% over
a one-year span from May 31, 2008 to May 31, 2009. In April, the same
rate was increasing at 13%. The average delinquency rate for all of
Canada as of May 31, 2009 was 1.52%. This means that over a half a
million Canadians are now more than 90 days behind on their credit
payments.

Provincially, Nova Scotia had the highest average delinquency rate in
May at 2.07% and Saskatchewan had the lowest rate at 1.22%. Ontario's
rate was 1.74%.

Equifax Canada defines delinquent accounts as credit facilities that
have not received a payment for at least 90 days. The average
delinquency rate is calculated by comparing the number of delinquent
credit facilities to the total number of credit facilities. Equifax
Canada's experienced team of consultants and analysts compute
delinquency rates by analyzing data from Canadian lenders who report
to it on a daily basis.

Delinquencies - Their Alarming Rise

On a yearly basis, the average delinquency rates have been rising
dramatically in Alberta (26%) and British Columbia (27%), and, on the
east coast, Prince Edward Island experienced a 26% increase. The
national yearly average rate of increase is 18.8%.

It is important to note that these provinces continue to have average
delinquency rates that are lower than the national average with
British Columbia at 1.31% and Alberta at 1.42%. In Prince Edward
Island (2.05%), however, average delinquency rates were higher than
the national rate.

Calgary sees sharpest jump

Urban areas experienced some of the largest jumps in delinquency
rates. Five out of the ten cities monitored by Equifax Canada have
annual increases in delinquency rates that are higher than the
national average:

May 2009 Year over Year

Delinquency Rate Increase (%)
---------------- ------------
Calgary 1.32% 29%
Montreal 1.41% 18%
Vancouver 1.18% 22%
Quebec City 0.83% 17%
Edmonton 1.40% 23%
London 1.66% 20%
Hamilton 1.70% 20%
Toronto 1.98% 14%
Canada 1.52% 19%

With the exception of Quebec City, all provinces and cities monitored
by Equifax Canada from April 2009 to May 2009 experienced an increase
in their average delinquency rate.

Toronto continues to have the highest delinquency rate at 1.98%, even
though its yearly increase rate is 14.45%, which is below the national
average.

"While we have seen delinquencies increase steadily since the
beginning of the year, the rate of increase in the past 3 months has
been significantly higher," said Nadim Abdo, Vice President of Equifax
Canada Consulting Solutions. "The sharpest increase has resulted from
Credit Card and Sales Finance purchases, which have increased by 38%
and 58%, respectively, since May 2008. Such transactions typically
represent the purchase of durable goods, such as furniture or
electronics, and consumers appear to be willing to fall behind on them
first before they miss payments on their Bank Loans and Lines of
Credit."

This is another in a series of news releases that will feature Equifax
Canada's financial and demographic data, which can help businesses
target opportunities and make informed decisions. If you would like to
find out how Equifax Canada can use their unique insights to help you
make better decisions for your business, please contact us at
1-800-278-0278 or visit our website at www.equifax.ca.

About Equifax Inc. (www.equifax.com)

Equifax empowers businesses and consumers with information they can
trust. A global leader in information solutions, we leverage one of
the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with
advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customized
insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives
of consumers.

Customers have trusted Equifax for over 100 years to deliver
innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability.
Businesses - large and small - rely on us for consumer and business
credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection,
decisioning technology, marketing tools, and much more. We empower
individual consumers to manage their personal credit information,
protect their identity, and maximize their financial well-being.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax Inc. operates throughout
the U.S., Canada and 13 other countries in North America, Latin
America, and Europe. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P)
500 Index. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol EFX.

For further information: Craig Hillyer, AVP, Product Management &
Innovation, at (416) 227-5290 or visit our website at www.equifax.ca

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SecureKey Technologies Inc. Wins ACT Canada 2009 Canadian Innovation Award

2009-07-08T12:36:00.001-04:00

TORONTO, June 23 /CNW/ - SecureKey Technologies Inc., a provider of
next generation authentication solutions, has been awarded the ACT
Canada 2009 Canadian Innovation Award in Banking and Finance.

"It is extremely gratifying to be recognized by ACT Canada given the
organization's 20 year history of promoting the awareness,
understanding and use of advanced card technologies" says Greg
Wolfond, Chairman and CEO of SecureKey.

SecureKey's solution enables online service providers to accept
contactless cards or NFC devices as a second factor of authentication
by their customers to increase the security and convenience of
transacting online.

"The ability to leverage all forms of CHIP cards carried by customers
as a strong second factor of authentication will significantly thwart
online fraud. This is the most innovative solution I've seen in a long
time" says Catherine Johnston, President and CEO of ACT Canada.

While contactless technology was initially implemented in credit and
debit cards to facilitate small, in-person retail purchases,
SecureKey's solution leverages these same cards to provide stronger
authentication for online financial services, online payments and
network access.

About SecureKey Technologies Inc.

SecureKey Technologies Inc. is a privately held company based in
Toronto, Canada. SecureKey's innovative, patent-pending authentication
technology enables service providers to enhance their clients' online
experience while seamlessly increasing security and reducing fraud.

About ACT Canada

ACT Canada is the stakeholder association, focussed on secure payment,
secure identity management and other advanced applications. Now in
their 20th year, they are the authority on the Canadian market,
supporting members through working with key stakeholders.

ACT Canada helps members understand the market, public and private
sector applications and potential barriers. They facilitate knowledge
transfer and thought leadership through a neutral forum, while
expanding members' networks. Founded in 1989, ACT Canada is a
non-profit membership association.

For further information: Greg Wolfond, Info@SecurKey.com, (416) 226-4220

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Minister of Finance Launches Task Force on Financial Literacy

2009-07-08T12:31:00.001-04:00

Toronto, June 26, 2009 - The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of
Finance, today announced the establishment of Canada's Task Force on
Financial Literacy to help create a cohesive national strategy to
support initiatives across Canada aimed at improving financial
education.

"Our economy is built on millions of everyday financial decisions by
Canadians," said Minister Flaherty. "Recent events have shown us that
there are major risks and that financial literacy is an important life
skill. Whether it is a question of saving for retirement, financing a
new home or balancing the family chequebook, improving the financial
literacy of Canadians will add to the stability of our financial
system and make our economy stronger."

The task force fulfills a commitment made in Canada's Economic Action
Plan to outline objectives, including a concrete plan of action and a
framework for collaboration among stakeholders, for moving forward and
measuring progress on financial literacy in Canada. Members of the
task force are drawn from the business and education sectors,
community organizations and academia. The task force will be chaired
by Donald A. Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of Sun Life Financial
Inc. L. Jacques Ménard, Chairman of BMO Nesbitt Burns, will be the
Vice-Chair.

"I am honoured to undertake this role and I look forward to working
with such a strong and diverse task force to carry out our ambitious
mandate," said Mr. Stewart. "Valuable insights can be found
internationally and I hope to bring that perspective forward to help
Canadians make informed decisions to improve their lives."

"A great deal of fine work is going on across Canada on financial
literacy, be it in schools, in volunteer groups, through provincial
programs or through the federal Financial Consumer Agency of Canada,"
said Minister Flaherty. "This task force will develop a strategic plan
to build on this collective effort to help make all Canadians more
knowledgeable consumers, investors and savers."

Minister Flaherty said the task force complements other elements in
Canada's Economic Action Plan to strengthen consumer protection, such
as the recently announced improvements to credit card regulations,
which included improved disclosure of interest rate changes.

For more information on Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit
www.actionplan.gc.ca.

Biographical notes are attached.

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Shopster.com Unveils Free Merchant Network

2009-07-08T12:21:00.001-04:00

CALGARY, June 30 /CNW/ - Shopster.com announced today the launch of
the world's largest online Merchant Network. The Shopster Merchant
Network is a one-stop shop for online sellers and suppliers to manage
all aspects of their business. Users of the network are empowered with
tools to manage their buying and selling relationships. In an industry
first, it is free to join.

"Shopster.com is introducing social networking for your products,"
says Sarath Samarasekera, CEO and co-founder of Shopster.com. "Sites
like Facebook and LinkedIn struggle to monetize, but the Shopster
network is about making money for our users which aligns our
interests. Your success is our success, and it's free to join, so
there really is no risk."

According to Paul McCluskey, Shopster's EVP Research and Development,
the Network is the product of five years of e-commerce development and
extensive research with Shopster's large existing user base.

"We wanted to release something that not only met, but exceeded the
expectations of the market," says McCluskey. "The Merchant Network
takes traditional software as a service (SaaS) and pushes it farther
than ever before, growing more powerful and more useful with each new
user. You don't use Shopster to run your business, Shopster is your
business. Cheaper, faster, more powerful. What every network and every
platform has been striving for."

In addition to providing a proven, stable platform for building online
stores, the new Shopster Merchant Network will allow you to:

- Dramatically reduce inventory costs
- Connect with suppliers and sellers immediately and manage those
relationships
- Integrate online commerce activities under one portal
- Enhance search engine discoverability ("search engine optimization"
or SEO)

Merchants and suppliers are encouraged to sign up at
http://www.shopster.com at no charge.

About Shopster.com:

Founded in 2004, Shopster.com is an official eBay Solutions Partner
that offers a suite of eCommerce solutions for small to medium sized
business. Thousands of online merchants rely on Shopster from around
the world. Shopster simplifies the complexities of online retail,
allowing merchants to manage their store, transactions, and supply
chain relationships in one easy to use place. Joining the Network is
free, so merchants can focus on growth and relationships, not on
costs.

For further information: demonstration accounts, or media interviews,
view our multimedia presentation at http://pitch.pe/16159 or contact:
Suzy Vadori, EVP Operations, Shopster e-Commerce, (403) 366-3713,
svadori@shopster.com

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NCR announces new French Canadian President to leverage mulit-channel self-service market in Canada

2009-06-30T14:00:00.001-04:00

Focus will be helping Canadian businesses optimize self-service solutions

June 30, 2009 MISSISSAUGA, Ontario - NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) announced today the appointment of Luc Villeneuve as President of NCR Canada

An accomplished information technology professional with over 20 years of experience, Villeneuve will be responsible for sales, client services, marketing, and the management of all aspects of NCR Canada’s financial and retail businesses, as well as the emerging vertical industries of travel, gaming, entertainment and healthcare. He will be based in the company’s Canadian head office in Mississauga, Ontario.

“Luc’s primary objective will be to help businesses in the Canadian financial and retail industries, as well as the travel, healthcare and entertainment industries,” said John Di Leo, region vice president North America, sales and marketing. “Luc will work with business to adopt and optimize self-service solutions to help lower their costs and open new channels of revenue. There is tremendous growth of the self-service market in Canada. Luc will have close contact with our customers in Canada, helping them to be successful with their self service strategies.”

Prior to joining NCR, Villeneuve spent five years at Sun Microsystems Canada as the vice president of sales. During his career he has held senior executive sales and marketing positions at BCE, GE Capital ITS and CNC Global Limited.

Villeneuve is bilingual and holds a business administration degree from Algonquin College. He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario's Marketing Management Executive Program and is a certified Six Sigma practitioner.

About NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a global technology company leading how the world connects, interacts and transacts with business. NCR’s assisted- and self-service solutions and comprehensive support services address the needs of retail, financial, travel, healthcare, hospitality, entertainment, gaming and public sector organizations in more than 100 countries. NCR (www.ncr.com) is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.

# # #

NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries.

News Media Contact

Alix Edmiston, ABC*
Corporate Communications Consultant, NCR Canada
6865 Century Avenue | Mississauga, ON | L5N 2E2
905.819.4031 (office) | 416.698.7760 (home office) | 416 809-9996 (cell)
www.ncr.com
*Accredited Business Communicator

Precidia: New TransNet Version Expands POS System Support and Achieves PA-DSS

2009-06-19T14:19:00.001-04:00

Version 2.11 supports more POS systems, achieves early PA-DSS
validation and introduces e-commerce capability.

Ottawa, Canada, June 17, 2009 - Precidia Technologies Inc., a global
leader in the design and manufacture of Internet Protocol (IP) payment
and networking products, announced today that Version 2.11 of its
TransNet payment engine software on the POSLynx220 has been released.
This latest version expands support for the hospitality industry's
most popular POS systems, and is among the first such applications to
receive PA-DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standards)
validation. In addition, version 2.11 introduces TransNet's e-commerce
capability, which allows businesses to avoid gateway fees and meet
security mandates when accepting transactions online.

TransNet is payment engine software that resides on a secure router or
terminal. Integrating easily with any ECR, POS System, PC, payment
terminal or application, TransNet is a full featured payment
application that easily and cost effectively routes credit, debit,
gift or loyalty transactions to any processor. TransNet also features
the industry's most comprehensive approach to cardholder data
security, with its secure POSLynx220 hardware platform acting as a
'fortress' for cardholder data. The POSLynx220 features SSL encryption
and field tested firewalling. Version 2.11 of TransNet on the
POSLynx220 has received PA-DSS validation from the PCI Council, making
it among the first such applications to be validated as meeting these
stringent cardholder data security standards.

This latest version of the TransNet solution is the most comprehensive
to date, with support for multiple POS systems, including Maitre'D and
PixelPoint, ECR models from Sharp and TEC, as well as open source POS
systems such as OpenBravo. It also includes a growing list of
pre-certified transaction processors, including gift and loyalty.
Developers can look to this version of TransNet to integrate payment
functionality with an application or website, helping them to simplify
or avoid cardholder data security compliance requirements and
processor certifications. TransNet's new e-commerce functionality
allows businesses to eliminate costly gateway fees and meet the
necessary cardholder data security compliance requirements for
businesses accepting transactions online.

"TransNet is gaining traction in the payment industry, leading to more
certifications and support for processors, equipment and
applications", said Deepak Wanner, President of Precidia Technologies
Inc. "TransNet is increasingly being viewed as the industry's best
integrated payments alternative, and this latest version offers all
the features and functionality of previous versions, while including a
new e-commerce capability that developers can take advantage of".

TransNet is used in a variety of retail payment applications, and
integrates easily with ECRs, PC Systems, IP/Dial payment terminals,
POS applications and e-commerce websites. For more information on
Precidia's Payment solutions, visit www.precidia.com/payments.

About Precidia Technologies
Precidia Technologies is a global leader in the design and manufacture
of Internet Protocol (IP) payment and networking products. With
customers in over 85 countries, Precidia offers unique products
designed for simple serial networking, as well as a suite which
manages the complexity of IP based payments in the retail industry.
All of Precidia's products have been designed to maximize the
potential of existing equipment, with deployment, monitoring, security
and management tools. For more information, visit Precidia on the Web
at http://www.precidia.com

Media Contact
Precidia Technologies
Tracy King
Marketing Communications Manager
tking@precidia.com

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Zoompass - A Revolutionary New Mobile Payment Service Launched in Canada - Service Provides Canadians with a New Way to Send and Receive Money Instantly Using a Mobile Phone

2009-06-19T14:00:00.001-04:00

TORONTO, June 15 /CNW Telbec/ - EnStream LP, a mobile commerce joint
venture company owned by Bell Mobility, Rogers and TELUS -- Canada's
three leading wireless operators, today launched Zoompass(TM), a
breakthrough mobile money transfer and payment service. Zoompass gives
Canadians a fast and convenient way to send and receive money securely
using their mobile phone. The service is enabled through the Zoompass
application on the mobile phone which combines an easy-to-use
interface with an integrated contact manager that redefines how users
send and receive money. Zoompass is a better way to pay than cash,
cheque, or wire transfer.

"The launch of Zoompass represents an important milestone in financial
services that makes the mobile phone the central device consumers use
to transfer money and make purchases," said Robin Dua, President of
EnStream. "The Zoompass mobile service ushers in a new era in
electronic payments that addresses a growing desire to move money
quickly and easily between friends, family, and merchants."

Zoompass makes it easy to split a lunch bill, request money from
parents, collect sports team fees, solicit money for a co-worker's
gift, or even pay a babysitter - right from a mobile phone. With the
groundbreaking launch of Zoompass, Canadians nationwide can expect to
hear more people ask one another "Do you want me to Zoom you the
money?"

Using a safe and secure Zoompass account, customers can link their
personal bank account or credit card to make loading and transferring
money simple and convenient. Customers can access Zoompass on their
computer via the Internet, from the mobile web, or by downloading the
Zoompass application right to their wireless phone. No matter how they
choose to access Zoompass, customers can manage their account 24/7,
anytime, anywhere and transfer money, request money, check their
balance, review their transaction history and more, all in real-time.

Canada's three largest wireless phone companies decided to collaborate
and launch the Zoompass service together with the vision that a common
standard and interoperability for mobile money transfers across all
networks would result in unprecedented convenience for consumers. The
Zoompass service is available to mobile users on the Bell Mobility,
Rogers, and TELUS networks as well as customers of their respective
sub-brands and affiliates including Fido, PC Mobile, and Solo Mobile.
Consumers can visit www.zoompass.com to enroll and start using the
revolutionary money transfer service on their mobile device.

Zoompass transactions run on a highly secure payment system and are
safeguarded by cutting-edge encryption technologies. During the
registration process, users must choose a secure Personal
Identification Number (PIN). Every Zoompass transaction is
PIN-protected, making Zoompass a more secure payment method than cash
or cheque. Customer financial information is stored on secure servers,
not on the mobile phone, so even if the phone is lost or stolen, the
user's Zoompass account remains secure.

The Zoompass mobile application combines a powerful user interface
design and sophisticated features that allow users to send or request
money with just a few keystrokes. The Zoompass application interfaces
with the address book on select phones, allowing users to quickly send
or request money from their contact list.

Another unique feature of the service is the ability for customers to
make secure purchases in stores and on the Internet using the balance
in their Zoompass account with the optional Zoompass Prepaid
MasterCard(R) Card, issued by Peoples Trust. The Zoompass Prepaid
MasterCard is enabled with PayPass(TM) technology which allows for
contactless payments. To pay, customers simply tap their Zoompass
Prepaid MasterCard at PayPass-enabled terminals across Canada. The
Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard can be used at millions of locations
worldwide wherever MasterCard cards are accepted, including
approximately 1.5 million ATMs.

"We are thrilled to deliver on Canadians' increasing desire to
transfer money quickly and securely, and from anywhere, anytime,"
added Mr. Dua. "The launch of Zoompass represents an important
milestone towards developing a mobile commerce ecosystem in Canada
that provides users a convenient mode of doing everyday transactions
with their phone."

About EnStream LP

EnStream LP is a mobile commerce company working to bring
transformational wireless payment solutions to market together with
its carrier partners. With anytime-anywhere money transfers and
payments representing a new frontier of wireless services, EnStream's
mandate is to develop standardized, secure, and easy-to-use mobile
commerce services that work across Canadian wireless carriers and with
existing credit, debit, and prepaid capabilities offered by financial
institutions. EnStream is a joint venture company owned by Canada's
three leading national wireless operators - Bell Mobility, Rogers
Communications Inc., and TELUS Corporation. The company is
headquartered in Toronto, Canada. For further information, please
visit www.enstream.com.

EnStream and Zoompass are trademarks of EnStream LP. All other marks
contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International
Incorporated. PayPass is a registered trademark of MasterCard
International Incorporated.

The Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard(R) Card is issued by Peoples Trust
pursuant to license from MasterCard International Incorporated.

For further information: Elayne Miles, EnStream LP, (416) 365-9000
ext. 223, Mobile: (416) 617-4506, elayne.miles@enstream.com; LeeEllen
Carroll, Thornley Fallis Communications, Mobile: (613) 794-6868,
carroll@thornleyfallis.com

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Paradigm Quest announces their successful implementation of Filogix multi-lender solutions for their BPO business model

2009-06-16T09:08:00.001-04:00

TORONTO, June 10 /CNW/ - Paradigm Quest Inc., Canada's leading mortgage
outsourcing company, announced today their successful implementation of
Filogix multi-lender solutions for their unique Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO) business model. Filogix (a subsidiary of Davis + Henderson) is a leading
provider of credit solutions for the retail lending, small business,
commercial lending, equipment finance, mortgage and real estate industries.
"Being the first organization in the Canadian mortgage industry with a
pure BPO business model, came with unique mortgage processing hurdles we
needed to overcome," said Chris Mariani, CIO, Paradigm Quest Inc. "Filogix
understood our business and through continuous advancements to their lending
offerings, the solution significantly increases our efficiencies and improves
the overall underwriting experience."
Filogix mortgage lending solutions now have multi-lender capabilities,
meaning Underwriters are able to log in once and process deals for multiple
lenders; while only being able to view and edit the Lending institution's data
they have been granted access. It is a highly secure solution that not only
benefits the BPO model, but also large Lending institutions with consolidated
underwriting centres, supporting several different mortgage businesses.
"We were excited to deliver these added efficiencies to Paradigm Quest,
as we understood their pain points and wanted to improve their situation,"
said Lori Ker, EVP Lender Services, Filogix. "Our client's experience is our
primary focus and we will continue to find ways to enrich our solutions and to
meet the unique needs of all our clients."
Paradigm Quest has been using Filogix solutions since their inception in
2005.

About Filogix Limited Partnership:

Filogix Limited Partnership is a leading provider of lending solutions.
With clients in the United States and Canada, Filogix technologies are used by
industry leaders in retail lending, small business, commercial lending,
equipment finance, mortgage and real estate.
For more information about Filogix, please visit www.filogix.com.

About Paradigm Quest:

Paradigm Quest is a strategic partner for Canadian financial institutions
allowing them the ability to focus on their core competencies while having
confidence that their operations, and most importantly their customers, are
being managed by passionate professionals who exceed client expectations. By
leveraging best practices and our core cultural focus on innovating,
processing & technology we bring solutions to our strategic partners that
dynamically redefine efficiencies, excellence and quality in the market place.
For more information about Paradigm Quest, please visit
www.paradigmquest.com.

For further information: Judy Dinn, EVP Product Solutions of Filogix Limited
Partnership, (416) 360-1777 ext. 3394, judy.dinn@filogix.com; Tracy
McLaughlin of Paradigm Quest, (416) 366-8606 ext. 2295,
info@paradigmquest.com

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15th Annual Regulatory Compliance for Financial Institutions

2009-06-15T12:41:00.001-04:00

TORONTO, June 4 /CNW/ - The Regulatory Compliance for Financial
Institutions conference has brought together Canada's compliance professionals
since 1994 to exchange tips and best practices with industry leaders.
Delegates will gather at the 15th annual event in Toronto on November 19 & 20,
to learn practical strategies to mitigate their regulatory risks.

2009 topics include:
--------------------
- Learn about major issues in regulatory compliance such as AML/ATF
requirements, outsourcing, privacy compliance, good governance and
much more.
- Anticipate the impact of recent market turbulence on regulatory
compliance
- Analyze the past year in compliance and identify future priorities

The 2009 speaker faculty features leading experts from: Amex Bank of
Canada, BMO Financial Group, CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, TD Bank
Financial Group and many more.

New for 2009!
-------------
- Executive Roundtable: Analyzing Regulation in Light of the
Financial Crisis
- Interactive Session: Exchanging Best Practices in Managing a
Robust Compliance Program

Conference Title: Regulatory Compliance for Financial Institutions
Date: November 19 & 20, 2009
Location: Arcadian Court, Toronto
Website: www.RegulatoryComplianceforFIs.com

About The Canadian Institute
For over 20 years, The Canadian Institute's conferences, summits and
executive briefings have provided the business intelligence that Canadian
decision makers need to respond to challenges and opportunities both here at
home, and around the world. The Canadian Institute operates as a think tank,
monitoring trends and developments in all major industry sectors, in the law,
and in public policy, with a view to providing information on the leading
edge. Headquartered in Toronto, The Canadian Institute produces over 180
events a year, attended by thousands of senior and C-level delegates from
across the country. For more information, visit www.CanadianInstitute.com.
Media passes are issued at the discretion of The Canadian Institute and
must be arranged in advance. Passes require two business days to process.
Media can register in advance. For media accreditation contact:
Jessika Hunt 416-927-0718 Ext. 324 or j.hunt@canadianinstitute.com.

For further information: Jessika Hunt, The Canadian Institute, 1329 Bay
Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5R 2C4, (416) 927-0718 Ext. 324,
j.hunt@CanadianInstitute.com

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Business Services Industry Projected to See Greatest Hiring Increases

2009-06-11T17:30:00.001-04:00

TORONTO, June 11 /CNW/ - Employers are expected to be conservatively
optimistic about adding accounting and finance professionals in the third
quarter, according to the Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index.
Twelve per cent of chief financial officers (CFOs) expect to hire full-time
employees during the third quarter while 6 per cent anticipate personnel
reductions. The net 6 per cent increase is up one point from the
second-quarter forecast.
The Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index is based on
telephone interviews with more than 270 CFOs across Canada. It was conducted
by an independent research firm and developed by Robert Half International,
the world's first and largest staffing services firm specializing in
accounting and finance.
Among executives who said they plan to hire in the third quarter, 36 per
cent reported business growth or expansion as the primary factor driving
hiring demand. Financial systems upgrades was the second most commonly cited
answer with 30 per cent of the response, followed by regulatory requirements,
identified by 18 per cent of respondents.
"Businesses need highly skilled accounting and finance staff to improve
efficiencies, address regulatory requirements and prepare for growth
opportunities," said Kathryn Bolt, president of Robert Half International's
Canadian operations. "Some employers are gaining a competitive advantage by
tapping the larger pool of skilled professionals now available to upgrade
their teams' abilities and experience level."
Financial executives continue to report difficulty finding highly skilled
professionals for certain functional areas. Twenty-five per cent of CFOs said
audit roles are the most difficult to fill. Twenty-one percent of respondents
said they experience the greatest challenges when hiring for operational
support roles such as accounts payable, credit and collections.

Accounting and Finance Hiring -- By Industry
--------------------------------------------

Among industries, 21 per cent of business services CFOs expect to
increase hiring in the third quarter and none plan to reduce the size of their
accounting and finance workforce, for a net 21 per cent increase. In the
professional services sector, 17 per cent of CFOs anticipate hiring more staff
and 1 per cent expect personnel cutbacks, for a net 16 per cent increase.

About the Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index

First published in 1992, the Robert Half International Financial Hiring
Index was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on more than
270 telephone interviews with CFOs from a random sample of Canadian companies.

About Robert Half International

Robert Half International was founded in 1948 and is traded on the New
York Stock Exchange. Its financial staffing divisions include Accountemps,
Robert Half Finance & Accounting and Robert Half Management Resources, for
temporary, full-time and senior-level project professionals, respectively. The
company has more than 360 staffing locations worldwide and offers online job
search services on its divisional websites, all of which can be accessed at
www.rhi.com.

For further information: Kristie Perrotte, (416) 350-2330,
kristie.perrotte@rhi.com

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GE Capital Opens New Canadian Head Office in Montreal - Celebrates ongoing commitment to helping Canadian companies grow

2009-05-27T15:49:00.002-04:00

MONTREAL, May 26 /CNW Telbec/ - GE Capital, GE's financial services arm, announced today that it has officially opened a newly designed Canadian head office at 1250, RenDe-LDevesque Boulevard West in downtown Montreal. The company offers Canadian companies customized services regrouped under six commercial platforms: Business Finance, Corporate Finance, Vendor Finance, Fleet Services, Corporate Aircraft Finance and Franchise Finance. The company hosted a reception last Thursday that was attended by over one hundred clients, employees and members of the local business community.

"This ceremony marks an important development for us," said Patrick Palerme, President and CEO, GE Capital Canada. "Our business here in Canada has evolved dramatically since starting up, back in 1986, and is now a very well-established and diversified financial services company. Our growth can be seen in terms of our wide portfolio of businesses, in the number and diversity of our people, and in the variety of our product offerings - so it was time to reflect this development in the physical space of our head office."

Palerme added, "our investment in these new offices underscores our confidence in the long-term growth prospects of Canadian companies and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to providing our customers across Canada with customized financial solutions adapted to their ongoing needs."

In line with the values expressed in GE's ecomagination (http://ge.ecomagination.com/site/) initiative, GE Capital's Canadian head office is a LEED(R) Certification Candidate.

170 employees work at the Montreal head office and a little over 400 more are working in 20 other offices across Canada. To view the locations of its Canadian offices, please visit the GE Capital Canada website at: http://www.gecapital.ca/en/company/offices.asp.

About GE Capital Canada GE Capital Canada (http://www.gecapital.ca) is a leading provider of financial as well as fleet management solutions to businesses operating in a broad range of economic sectors, including construction, transportation, energy and manufacturing. The business' customized solutions include asset based working capital and term financing, cash flow financing, corporate aircraft, franchise and fleet financing, as well as financial solutions and services to equipment manufacturers, fleet operators, distributors, dealers and their end users. With more than 20 offices across the country and access to the resources of the General Electric Company, GE Capital Canada has the ability to deliver innovative solutions for all commercial financing needs.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work - a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems.

-0- 05/26/2009 /For further information: Marina Brzeski, Communications Leader, Canada, GE Capital, (514) 397-5321, marina.brzeski(at)ge.com/ CO: GE Capital Solutions Canada ST: QuDebec IN: FIN SU: -30- CNW 08:00e 26-MAY-09

Minister of Finance Releases New Credit Card Regulations to Improve Protection for Consumers

2009-05-25T09:26:00.001-04:00

Toronto May 21, 2009

Related documents

Delivering on the Government's promise to help consumers of financial products, the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today released new proposed regulations aimed at limiting business practices that are not beneficial to consumers and providing clear and timely information to Canadians about credit cards.

"Close to 25 million Canadians have credit cards, and most of them pay their balance in full, which is a great credit to how prudent Canadians are generally," said Minister Flaherty. "Through Canada's Economic Action Plan, we are helping consumers by mandating a 21-day grace period on new purchases made with credit cards during the month, when a full payment is made at the end of that month.

"As for those circumstances when Canadians don't pay off their outstanding balance, we want to ensure they are treated fairly, that interest rates and penalties are clearly shown, and that companies use only appropriate debt collection practices."

The proposed Credit Business Practices Regulations will:

Mandate an effective minimum 21-day, interest-free grace period on all new credit card purchases when a customer pays the outstanding balance in full.
Lower interest costs by mandating allocations of payments in favour of the consumer.
Allow consumers to keep better track of their personal finances by requiring express consent for credit limit increases.
Limit debt collection practices that financial institutions use in contacting a consumer to collect on a debt.
Prohibit over-the-limit fees solely arising from holds placed by merchants.

In addition, amendments to the Cost of Borrowing Regulations will:

Provide clear information in credit contracts and application forms through a summary box that will set out key features, such as interest rates and fees.
Assist consumers to manage their credit card obligations by providing information on the time it would take to fully repay the balance, if only the minimum payment is made every month.
Mandate advance disclosure of interest rate increases prior to their taking effect, even if this information had been included in the credit contract.

"Understanding interest rates, fees and increases to monthly payments are key challenges many Canadians face when managing their credit cards," said Casey Cosgrove, Director of the Social and Enterprise Development Innovations' Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy. "The measures announced by the government today will contribute to financial literacy by bringing clearer and more transparent information to consumers."

The proposed regulations would apply to credit cards issued by federally regulated institutions. Some provisions in the regulations would have broader application to other financial products, such as fixed- and variable-rate loans and lines of credit.

"These proposed amendments will ensure Canada remains at the forefront of consumer protection in the financial services sector," said Minister Flaherty.

The regulations will be published in the Canada Gazette on May 23, and the deadline for submissions is June 13. Contact information for forwarding comments is provided with the proposed regulations.

___________________________________
For further information, media may contact:

Chisholm Pothier
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Finance
613-996-7861

Jack Aubry
Media Relations
Department of Finance
613-996-8080

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The Canadian Payments Association Launches a Consultation Process on its Long-Term Payments Strategy

2009-05-21T09:35:00.003-04:00

OTTAWA, May 20 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Payments Association today launched a national consultation on its draft Long-Term Payments Strategy: Vision 2020, an effort to prepare Canada's national payments framework for the changing nature of payments. The consultation process is founded in broad and sound research regarding payments and payment systems both domestically and internationally. Canada's payment system is central to our country's financial system. The proposed long-term payment strategy is a reflection of the user demands in terms of payment services in Canada and around the world. Retailers want faster and more cost-effective payments. Consumers continue to demand more convenience and broader payment options. Billers want an easier and faster way of compiling the information required with payments to enable straight-through processing. As more companies do business overseas, the CPA also seeks to enable regional interoperability of payments systems. The CPA's proposed strategy is to provide a common foundation to enable its members to competitively deliver modern payments services and offerings to Canadians and it is supported by four main pillars: - Facilitating Electronic Payments - Promoting Domestic and International Interoperability Standards to make payments more efficient; - Modernizing the CPA's regulatory framework to reflect new market and business realities; and - Offering new value-added services to CPA members and all users of Canada's payment system "These are just some of the issues at the heart of the CPA's new consultation process and Long Term Payment Strategy," said president and CEO Guy Legault, "The CPA's Payments Strategy will continue to evolve over time, based on the input of the users of our systems. I encourage all stakeholders to participate in our consultation process and to take part in building a renewed payments system for Canada." As the strategy will set the direction for the association, it will be put through a rigorous public consultation process. This process for CPA members, stakeholders and the public is set to begin later this month and will include webinars, written consultation, and five "town-hall" sessions across Canada. The CPA believes this research and feedback will strengthen the strategy and will lay the solid foundation for efficient, safe and sound clearing and settlement systems, which balances the interests of all its users for years to come. More information on the CPA's Long-Term Payments Strategy: Vision 2020 can be found on the CPA's website at www.cdnpay.ca The Canadian Payments Association (CPA), created by an Act of Parliament in 1980, operates Canada's national clearing and settlement systems; facilitates their interaction with other systems involved in the clearing and settlement of payments; and facilitates the development of new payment methods and technologies. It promotes the efficiency, safety and soundness of the clearing and settlement systems, taking into account the interests of users. Its current membership comprises virtually all of Canada's bank and non-bank deposit-taking financial institutions. In 2008, the CPA's systems cleared and settled transactions averaging $203 billion each business day.

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CPA Draft Long-Term Payments Strategy VISION 2020

2009-05-20T16:36:00.000-04:00

Draft Long-Term
Payments Strategy
VISION 2020
A message from
the President and CEO
Canada’s payment system is central to our country’s financial system. It may not be top of
mind in discussions on the state of the Canada’s financial sector but the payments clearing
and settlement system in Canada has indeed showed its resilience throughout the economic
turmoil of the past 12 months.
The payments environment in which Canadians, businesses and governments operate is
certainly a dynamic one. Consumers continue to demand more payment options. Technological
innovations will continue to foster the development of new payment products and services.
Encouraging this innovation is at the core of the Canadian Payments Association’s legislated
mandate. Over the last few years we have been actively engaged in the promotion of
electronic payments. The CPA has revised and implemented new rules for pre-authorized
debits, conducted consultations on a proposed clearing framework for chip-based PIN-less
Point of Sale debits and is well on its way in its review of enhancements to the bill payment
clearing framework.
As the custodians of our national clearings and settlement systems, the Canadian Payments
Association will continue to play a leadership role in providing a safe and efficient clearing
and settlement system to meet the current and future payment needs of Canadians.
Payment system users are demanding more in terms of payment services, here in Canada but
also around the world. Retailers want faster and more cost-effective payments. Consumers
will continue to demand more convenience and more payment options. Billers want an easier
and faster way of compiling the information required with payments to enable straight-through
processing. As more and more companies do business overseas, we also need to ensure
regional interoperability and integration of payments systems becomes the standard.
These are but some of the issues that are at the heart of the CPA’s new consultation process
and Long Term Payment Strategy.
The CPA’s Payments Strategy will continue to evolve over time, based on the input of the
users of our systems. I encourage you as stakeholders to take part in our consultation process
and to take part in building a renewed payments system for Canada.
VISION 2020 02
As part of our consultation and outreach activities we will organize a series of
web-based seminars in June, followed by townhall meetings across the country in order to
secure your feedback and opinions.
I know all of us at the CPA look forward to working with our members and stakeholders
as well as all the users of our national payments systems to build a payment strategy for
the future.
Guy Legault
President and CEO
Canadian Payments Association
03 VISION 2020
Contents
I – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
DEVELOPING THE STRATEGY 6
II - BACKGROUND: THE EVOLUTION OF THE CPA’S BUSINESS AND CHANGE DRIVERS 10
III - CPA: MANDATE & VISION 16
CP
A MANDATE 17
CP
A VISION 17
IV – CPA STRATEGY 18
CPA STRATEGY STATEMENT 19
CPA PAYMENTS STRATEGY OBJECTIVES 19
CPA FOUR-POINT PAYMENTS STRATEGY 20
V – THE SOLUTION PATH 28
VI - THE SOLUTION PATH TIMELINES 33
GLOSSARY AND APPENDICES 34
VISION2020
05
Executive Summary:
Developing the Strategy
07
“The CPA’s vision
is to play
a leadership role
in providing
a safe and efficient clearing and settlement system
to meet the current
and future
payment needs
of Canadians.”
In 2008, the CPA embarked on a comprehensive exercise to develop a long term strategy for its payment systems. The purpose of such introspection is to monitor payment system developments and related issues in Canada and internationally to ensure that the framework for clearing and settlement continues to serve the needs of all participants and the Canadian public.
In this regard, benchmarking surveys were conducted with the CPA’s international counterparts, including payment organizations in Australia, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, a needs assessment survey was conducted with CPA members and strategic planning sessions were held with members and stakeholders. Further, the Board’s work in this area has identified themes to be further explored. These combined findings serve as the basis for defining the CPA’s future direction.
The purpose of the CPA’s long term payments strategy is to build on the CPA’s mandate and provide a framework for the innovation and progress of payments cleared and
settled through the Association’s systems.
More specifically, the Payments Strategy aims to:
Promote• greater efficiency in the payments system by facilitating further growth of electronic payments. In doing so, the CPA plans to review current policies and rules, identify obstacles or gaps, and where appropriate, adapt the rules to address new developments in these areas;
Provide • a common foundation of interoperable standards to facilitate members’ sending and receiving of payments with domestic and international partners;VISION2020
08
• Modernize the CPA’s regulatory
framework to embrace changing market
participants, innovative payment methods,
while maintaining safety, soundness and
efficiency of clearing and settlement in
the interests of all users;
• Enable the efficient, responsive, secure,
cost effective delivery of clearing and
settlement arrangements via CPA core
systems; and
• Enhance the CPA’s value proposition
to members by providing value addedservices
to fill gaps in the payments
market place.
The CPA’s Payments Strategy will
continually evolve over time – with this
document being reviewed and updated on
a regular basis. At this stage, the Strategy
includes statements of principle, specific
actions, and a number of tightly focused
reviews of key issues. The reviews are
consistent with the CPA’s commitment
to move forward on the basis of an
objective evaluation of the facts and full
consultation.
Over time the CPA will “block in” firm
objectives identified following the approval
of position papers and business cases, in
accordance with the CPA’s strategic lifecycle
methodology. The CPA is committed
to keeping its Board, members and
stakeholders informed as progress on the
Payments Strategy evolves.
VISION 2020
Key Steps
2008
• Benchmarking surveys
conducted with
CPA’s international
counterparts
• Needs assessment
conducted with CPA
members
• Strategic planning
sessions held with
members and
stakeholders
• Board identification of
themes to be further
explored
Spring 2009
• Publication of Vision
2020
• Launch of consultation
Summer/Fall 2009
• Ongoing consultation
with stakeholders
09
“The CPA is committed
to keeping its
Board,
members and stakeholders
informed
as progress on the
Payments Strategy
evolves.”
VISION2020
08
Background:
The Evolution of the CPA’s
Business and Change Drivers
11
At the CPA’s inception in 1980, Canada’s retail clearing systems were mostly paper-based and performed by a handful of chartered banks and other non-bank deposit-taking institutions (i.e. trust companies, credit union centrals) – these players formed the CPA’s membership, as per legislation. As a result, the CPA’s rules and governance structure were developed on a basis of mutual trust between a few homogeneous members, most of which faced similar market conditions and risks and were regulated financial institutions.
With the technological developments of instant communication and the changing
attitudes of consumers in managing their own funds, market entry barriers to the payments marketplace have been reduced. Over the last decade, these change drivers have led to the fragmentation of the payments value chain. As CPA member institutions looked to new payment service providers (PSP’s) to out-source traditional lines of payments business, this created an incentive for non-traditional payment participants to emerge, which gave rise to the introduction of innovative products and services that challenged traditional payment models.
The Payments System Historically
Front end(originate)Payments(validate)Application(capture info)ExchangeClearingSettleMembers in competition with PSPs(CPA does not participate)Members in competition with PSPs(CPA has limited policy role)CPA partnership with membersCPA owns and operatesOriginateValidateCaptureinfoExchangeClearingSettleHistorical FI business
The Payments System Today
VISION2020
12
It is important to note that some schemes operating in Canada only fall partially inside the scope of the CPA’s by-laws and rules. In the case of Interac and some third party payment processors like Internet giant PayPal, the systems operate separately but rely on the CPA’s systems for clearing and settlement; as such, payments flowing through these systems are subject to specific provisions of the Association’s rules and standards. In other cases, such as for credit cards and foreign exchange through the Continuous Link Settlement (CLS), the CPA is only used for Large Value Transfer Settlement (LVTS) settlement. For on-us transactions, the CPA is not involved.
“On-us transactions” involve two accounts held at the same FI, whereby funds move from one account at the FI to another account at the same FI and therefore do not enter the clearings.
Today, based on CPA members’ anecdotal evidence, the CPA clears roughly 35% of all payments initiated in Canada.VISION2020
The CPA Clears Roughly 35% of all payments initiated in Canada
USBE
System
ACSS
System
LVTS
System
USBE
System
CPA Domain
Stored Value
Scheme, e .g.
Dexit
Interac
ATM/POS
e.g.
PayPal
Interac Online
Securities
(CDS)
Foreign
Exchange
(CLS)
Credit Cards
On-us transactions
13
The Payments Landscape
in 2020
“Globally, the highest growth is expected in electronic payments, which are expected to grow to about 85% of all non-cash payments.”
Growth of Electronic
Payments
From 2000 to 2010 global payment volume is expected to increase to 330 billion, with the growth not expected to spread evenly across payment types.1 The highest growth is expected in electronic payments, which are expected to grow globally to about 85% of all non-cash payments – with consumer use of payment cards representing the highest increase. Cheque volumes over the same period are predicted to be down nearly 70% globally.2 From 1999 to 2010, Canadian payment card activity is expected to have doubled to about 67% and electronic payments are projected to be approximately 90% of all non-cash payments; cheque volumes are projected to be down 37%.3 Some nations, such as the Netherlands, have already mandated the virtual elimination of cheques, while others, like the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia have outlined broad strategies to manage the decline – and eventual demise – of cheques.
Interoperability Standards
At the same time, the global economy continues to drive efficiencies in both domestic and international payments systems. International trade expansion is growing the demands for international payments and putting traditional international payments models under pressure. Many countries are moving towards the adoption of new international standards and technology to become more integrated and to permit more efficient cross-border payments.
1 TowerGroup, Global Payments: Trends, Opportunities, and Impact on the Canadian Payments Industry, February 2008
2 Payments Industry Environmental Scan 2007- CPA, June 2007.
3 Global Payments: Trends, Opportunities, and Impact on the Canadian Payments Industry –
TowerGroup, February 2008.
VISION2020
14
Modern Framework and
Systems
“The CPA expects that the
Canadian payments landscape
will evolve over the next
ten years towards highly
automated, highly secure and
highly interactive payments
clearing and settlement
processes and systems.”
Further, increasing standardization and
competition is expected to continue
commoditizing payments. Canada’s
Automated Clearing and Settlement
System (ACSS), as well as the framework
of rules that underpins it, is being run as a
series of bilateral arrangements. As such,
Financial Institutions operations should
recognize and be prepared to cope with
the ever-increasing transaction loads of
the growing electronic payment trend.
More efficient centralized architectures, as
utilized in most nations with large electronic
funds transfer (EFT) volumes, should be
carefully considered in light of the ongoing
changes in this industry. 4
Finally, developments in payments
processing (i.e., clearing and settlement)
are expected to be much more responsive
to the requirements of users. Consumers
and corporate clients will wield increasing
levels of market power with financial
institutions and payment service providers
in satisfying their payment needs.
In summary, the CPA expects that the
Canadian payments landscape will
evolve over the next ten years towards
highly automated, highly secure and
highly interactive payments clearing and
settlement processes and systems.
4 Tower Group, ibid
VISION 2020
The Changing Landscape
In just 10 years, from 1999
to 2010, Canadian payment
card activity is expected to
have doubled to 67%, and
electronic payments are
projected to be 90% of all
non-cash payments.
Cheque volumes are projected
to be down 37%.
15
“In Summary, the CPA expects
that the Canadian payments landscape
will evolve over the next ten years towards
highly automated, highly secure and highly interactive
payments clearing and settlement
processes and systems.”
VISION2020
CPA:
Mandate and Vision
17
The Canadian Payments Association (CPA) is a not-for-profit statutory corporation primarily responsible for establishing and operating Canada’s payments clearing and settlement systems, as well as facilitating the development of new payment methods and technologies. Through a network of committees that bring together representatives of CPA members and stakeholder groups, the CPA develops and implements the rules that apply to the clearing and settlement of different types of payments between its member financial institutions. As per the CPA’s public policy mandate, these rules and the related processes ensure that the Canadian payment system is safe, sound, and efficient, and takes into account the interests of users.
CPA MANDATE
(a) To establish and operate national systems for the clearing and settlement of payments and other arrangements for the making or exchange of payments;
(b) To facilitate the interaction of its clearing and settlement systems and related arrangements with other systems or arrangements involved in the exchange, clearing or settlement of payments; and
(c) To facilitate the development of new payment methods and technologies.
In doing so, the Association will promote the efficiency, safety and soundness of the clearing and settlement systems and will take into account the interests of users.
CPA VISION
“The CPA is to play a leadership role in providing a safe and efficient clearing and settlement system to meet the current and future payment needs of Canadians.”
In support of its vision, the CPA embarked on a comprehensive exercise to develop a long-term strategy for CPA payments. The CPA developed a strategy based on key values it seeks to provide to its membership, including cooperative industry forums, forward looking objectives in step with the payments industry evolution, and flexible payment frameworks to foster competition amongst payment service offerings.
VISION2020
CPA Strategy
19
CPA STRATEGY STATEMENT
“The CPA provides a common foundation to enable its members to competitively deliver modern payments services and offerings to Canadians.”
Increasing standardization and competition is commoditizing the payments clearing and settlement infrastructure. As payment technology and products become closer to the end-user customer, competition between FIs increases for product differentiation and value-added services related to front-end products. This is where investment in competitive products and services is applied. Collaboration and a common foundation for the underlying payments infrastructure can thus be an effective tool in driving greater efficiencies and economies of scale in members’ down-stream front-end product offerings.
The CPA will continue its focus on the collaborative development of rules and standards and a national approach to the development of a safe, sound and efficient payments infrastructure that best serves the Canadian public. This allows for a more standardized processing in members’ back offices, leaving the payment delivery channels to end-user customers, as the point of differentiation and competition between financial institutions.
CPA PAYMENTS STRATEGY OBJECTIVES
“The CPA Payments Strategy seeks to establish and articulate a dynamic plan that systematically addresses CPA payments evolution ten years into the future.”
To enhance the value-added proposition of a robust and efficient common foundation infrastructure for payments clearing and settlement, the CPA Payments Strategy seeks to establish and articulate a dynamic plan that systematically addresses CPA payments evolution ten years into the future, in order to:
(a) Keep CPA payments systems and framework relevant, accommodating, and modern;
(b) Promote continued CPA payment streams innovation and growth; and
(c) Provide efficient and unencumbered payments systems that enable reliable, secure, convenient, and competitive payment types.
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CPA Four-Point Payments Strategy
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1
2
3
4
Electronic Payments
Enabling Framework
and Systems
Domestic and International
Value Added Services Interoperability Standards
Strategic Statement:
The CPA provides common foundation
to enable its members
to competitively deliver modern
payments services and offerings to Canadians
21
The CPA’s Strategy Objectives are anchored in four pillars of work initiatives, as illustrated to the left. When the projects under the four pillars are implemented the CPA will enhance its relevance and provide improved clearing and settlement-related services to members. Specifically the CPA will strengthen its sphere of influence by:
Promoting modern, innovative, safe and sound frameworks to support the continued growth of electronic payments – which are expected to grow globally to about 85% of all non-cash payments;5
Driving efficiencies in both domestic and international payments systems by moving towards the adoption of industry-recognized payment and remittance standards, and integrated frameworks that permit more efficient cross-border payments for the CPA’s members;
Modernizing the CPA’s regulatory framework and supporting core systems to reflect new clearing arrangements and business models, and consider new market participants and innovative payment products
Seeking new value added service to allow the CPA to formally share its knowledge of payments with the industry and work with its members in meeting the needs of payment system participants in this dynamic marketplace.
5 Tower Group, Global Payments: Trends, Opportunities, and Impact on the Canadian Payments Industry, February 2008VISION2020
1
2
3
4
22
“The CPA plans to promote
the migration of paper
payments to electronic
payments by researching
viable alternatives to
cheques, enhancing the
existing electronic payments
framework, and facilitating
new and emerging electronic
payment instruments in its
framework.”
1. Promote Electronic Payments
To promote greater efficiency in the payments
system, the CPA is seeking to facilitate further
growth of electronic payments.
In doing so, the CPA plans to review current
policies and rules, identify obstacles or gaps,
and where appropriate, adapt the rules to
address new developments in these areas.
The CPA plans to promote the migration of
paper payments to electronic payments by
researching viable alternatives to cheques,
enhancing the existing electronic payments
framework, and facilitating new and
emerging electronic payment instruments in
its framework.
The CPA Member Needs Assessment Survey
showed that initiatives to migrate paper
payment forms to electronic – particularly for
businesses – are the highest priorities for CPA
members. Overall members proved to be in
favour of modernizing the CPA framework in
relation to electronic payments, enhancing
current electronic payment instruments,
and developing viable electronic payment
alternatives to business and consumer
cheques.
In Canada, some 70-80% of all commercial
payments are initiated as cheques, a practice
predominantly supported by mid-sized
businesses. Large corporations already
see the advantages of automation and are
increasingly adopting electronic payments.
However, the need for integrated remittance
and payment data is still strong and an
essential element in providing a tighter and
more cost effective method of payment
reconciliation.
What Other Countries
are Doing
Australia’s “Pay Anyone” is a
banking facility that enables
one-off direct credits to be
initiated over the phone or
online that can be paid to
other accounts held at virtually
any financial institution in
Australia.
In the U.K., the “Faster
Payments” system offers bill
payments, credit transfers, and
one-off payments (including
person to person) that are
settled the same day or faster.
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From the consumer perspective, the cards industry is continually seeking new methods of payments initiation to migrate traditional cash and person to person payments to the debit networks.
Based on the International Benchmarking research, other countries are also actively involved in growing the use of electronic payments and reducing paper payment volumes. Many countries have made strides in this regard such as Australia with its “Pay Anyone” system and the UK’s “Faster Payments” .
“The CPA is seeking to provide interoperable standards to facilitate members’ sending and receiving of payments with domestic and international partners.”
2. Domestic and International Interoperability Standards
As standards for payments messages are significant enablers in innovation, global interoperability, competition, efficiency, and cost reduction, the CPA will facilitate the progressive move to message standards alignment for domestic, North American, and global interoperability and play an active role in payments standards development.
The CPA Member Needs Assessment Survey demonstrates that straight through processing (STP) and interoperability are high industry priorities. Addressing STP for Automated Funds Transfer (AFT) payments and for Large Value Transfer Systems (LVTS) payments were both rated highly as key industry objectives. Members also recognized that developing STP could be an important part of a cheque reduction strategy.
Growth in global trade by companies and international transactions by consumers has resulted in more cross border payments being demanded at continually decreasing costs. For stakeholders, moving towards interoperable standards and common remittance standards can lead to improved efficiencies in back-office payment processing and reconciliation practices, and increased possibilities for straight-through-processing (STP).
The development of standards for other types of domestic payments has been established as a goal for many countries. Similarly, cross-border interoperability for low-value payments is a goal for most countries and is being pursued through international projects like Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and the International Payments Framework (IPF).
The CPA will study opportunities for developing an STP strategy for domestic and international payments, focusing on both retail and wholesale payment systems.
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The CPA is seeking to provide interoperable standards to facilitate members’ sending and receiving of payments with domestic and international partners. Such interoperable standards would take into consideration the International Standards Organization (ISO) 20022 (adopted mainly in Europe) and the United States (US) Electronic Payments Network (EPN)-driven STP 820, and would leverage international efforts such as the International Payments Network (IPF).
“The CPA will modernize the CPA’s regulatory framework – through the review of its Rules, By-laws and legislation – to reflect new clearing arrangements and business models, innovative payment products, and to consider new market participants.”
3. Enabling Framework and
Systems
The robustness and flexibility of the CPA framework of rules and processes will be enhanced in order to address the dynamic payments landscape and the needs of its users. The CPA will enhance its current clearing and settlement core systems and develop a long term system evolution and renewal plan in keeping with evolving electronic payments and interoperability standards.
The CPA will modernize the CPA’s regulatory framework – through the review of its Rules, By-laws and legislation – to reflect new clearing arrangements and business models, innovative payment products, and to consider new market participants (e.g. Payment Service Providers and money service providers). These issues will be reviewed with a focus on ensuring the efficiency, safety, and soundness of the CPA’s clearing and settlement system framework. It is anticipated that the basis for the CPA’s proposed amendments to the government in the coming financial legislative reviews will be driven by its strategic direction.
The International Benchmarking research showed a trend towards increased flexibility in clearing arrangements for direct and indirect clearers, as well as, in certain cases, openness to new market players’ participation in clearing and settlement systems. For stakeholders, modernizing the CPA’s enabling framework may mean more flexibility in payment processing arrangements and enhanced transparency in payment processing practices.
In addition, the CPA will continue to enable the efficient, responsive, secure, and cost effective delivery of clearing and settlement arrangements via the CPA’s core systems. In doing so, the CPA is conducting a health check of its current systems which will be leveraged as part of the core system renewal plan moving forward.
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In the CPA Member Needs Assessment Survey, most CPA members have indicated that it is important for the industry to develop faster payments and reduce clearing and settlement times. Internationally many countries studied already have or are working towards same-day or faster settlement of certain payment types.
A revitalized and competitive payments infrastructure should allow members to provide corporate and consumers’ cost effective, rapid and easily accessible Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) network and help further manage the transition from paper cheques to electronic transactions.
“In looking to enhance its value proposition to members, the CPA could provide value added-services such as payments training and education and potentially fraud monitoring to fill current gaps in the payments market place.”
4. Value-Added Services
Given the increasing complexity of payments processes and arrangements and as a result, risk, the CPA will seek to more formally share its knowledge and expertise with members and stakeholders to enhance the understanding of the national payments system.
In looking to enhance its value proposition to members, the CPA could provide value added-services such as payments training and education and potentially fraud monitoring to fill current gaps in the payments market place. In the CPA Member Needs Assessment Survey members identified payments training and education and monitoring fraud and security issues as desirable CPA value added services.
In reviewing the activities of comparable payment organizations abroad, fraud monitoring was identified as an initiative undertaken by the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA), Irish Payment Services Organization (IPSO), and the UK’s Payments Council. It is also common for payment organizations to provide education in their areas of expertise.
CPA education initiatives could include Canadian payments education and training for members and stakeholders on CPA rules, systems, payments, and services. Some education efforts could also be directed specifically to end users to help inform them on payment instruments available to them. It is believed that fostering informed users will help promote electronic payments.
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For more information on the CPA’s research, please visit the CPA’s
website for:
 International Comparator Survey Results: Governance,
Funding & Membership
 International Comparator Survey Results: Core Systems and
Interoperability International
 International Interoperability Environmental Scan
www.cdnpay.ca
An overview of these documents is provided as Appendix 1, 2 and
3, respectively.
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The Solution Path
Project Name
Description
End Dates
1- Electronic Payments
1. Paper to Electronic
Migration (B2B and
Consumer)
(Strategic)
Promote the clearing and settlement of electronic alternatives as substitutes
to cheques.
Cheque use is in decline. That decline • needs to be actively managed; although viable alternatives exist for cheques, in many areas “gaps” continue to exist. Conduct research on these gaps to identify viable alternatives.
Domestic standards for remittance • data are imperative to moving paper payments to electronic forms. This initiative is detailed in section B.
Research & identify new potential uses • for AFT Payments.
Member decision in 2010
2. Enhancing Electronic
Payments Framework
(Tactical)
Promote use of electronic payments, and facilitate and integrate innovation
into CPA framework.
Pre-Authorized Debits•
POS Rule E1 enhancements (i.e. • Pre-funded Debits Products and chip amendments)
Electronic Bill Payments Framework•
2009•
2009
•
Member decision in • 2010
3. Facilitation of Emerging
Payments
(Strategic)
Increase application and significance of CPA’s framework to emerging payment products or new payment instruments.
Mobile Payments Research Paper•
PIN-less POS Payments•
chip applications research•
2009•
2010•
Member decision in • 2010
2011•
29
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Project Name
Description
End Dates
2 - Domestic and International Interoperability Standards
1. Domestic Remittance
Data Standards (Tactical)
Provide a framework for interoperable standards to facilitate the capture of payment and remittance details to enable members to offer complete
automated processing of payments without the need for re-keying and
reformatting data.
Remittance Data standards review
•
Straight-Through Processing (STP) study • for wholesale payments
STP study for retail payments•
Member dicision in 2009•
Member decision in 2011•
Member decision in 2011•
2. Adopting Global
Standards
(Strategic)
Provide a common foundation of interoperable standards to facilitate members’ sending and receiving of payments to international partners.
Global to domestic standards Mapping • (i.e. CPA standards to ISO 20022, EPN 820)
International Payments Framework•
Member decision in 2009
•
2012•
3- Enabling Framework and Systems
1. Modernize CPA Legal
and Regulatory
Framework (Strategic)
Modernize CPA regulatory framework to address changing market participants, innovative payment methods, while maintaining safety, soundness, and efficiency.
Multiple Clearing Arrangements•
Multiple FI numbers•
Default Rules – Phase I•
Payments Industry Competitive • Landscape Assessment
Credit Union Framework Review•
2009•
2009•
2009•
Member decision in 2009
•
2010•
(continued on next page)
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Project Name
Description
End Dates
3- Enabling Framework and Systems (continued)
1. Modernize CPA Legal
and Regulatory
Framework (Strategic)
Direct Clearer /Group Clearer/Clearing • Agent & Tiered Structure/Membership Review
Default Rules – Phase II•
Review Membership, Governance and • Funding
Principled-based Framework
•
2011
•
2011•
2012
•
Member decision in 2012•
3. Government’s
Financial Legislative
Review
(Tactical)
Contribute to the CPA’s long term plan by identifying, assessing, and recommending legislative amendments to the Canadian Payments Act in preparation for the Government’s 5-year financial legislative review
2012 Financial Legislative Review•
2017 Financial Legislative Review•
2010•
2015•
3. Enhancing the CPA’s
Current Clearing and
Settlement Systems
(Tactical)
Enable the efficient, responsive, secure, cost effective delivery of clearing and settlement arrangements via CPA core systems.
LVTS 7.0, Alert Monitoring, & Remote • Access
Health Check for all systems•
ACSS Version 12 (Government 799 • Processing)
LVTS Priority Payments•
End-to-end LVTS payment timeframes
•
More Frequent LVTS Settlement for • Electronic Payments
LVTS Collateral Requirements
•
2009/2010
•
2009•
2010
•
2010•
Member decision in 2010•
Member decision in 2010•
Member decision in 2011•
(continued on next page)
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Project Name
Description
End Dates
3- Enabling Framework and Systems (continued)
4. Long Term System
Evolution Plan – Faster
Clearing & Settlement
(Strategic)
Enable payment exchanges betweens FIs to be made more quickly than is occurring today with current business arrangements and technology. For example, some payment types could be exchanged on a same-day, intra-day, or real-time basis.
Inter-day Settlement Review
•
ACH Review
•
CPA clearing and settlement renewal • plan
Member decision in 2010•
Member decision in 2011•
Member decision in 2012•
4- Value-Added Services
1. Fraud Monitoring
(Strategic)
CPA to enhance value-proposition to members by monitoring security issues/
fraud trends in relation to payments.
Member decision in 2012
2. Payments Education/
Training (Strategic)
CPA to enhance value-proposition to members by providing educational and/or
training sessions on payment clearing and settlement systems and related
issues.
Member decision in 2012
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The Solution Path TimelinesVISION2020
The Gantt chart below includes all the projects currently underway and planned as part of future payments strategy activities.
Glossary of Terms
35
Business-to-business (B2B)
A term commonly used to describe transactions between businesses, as opposed to those between businesses and other groups, such as business-to-consumers (B2C). For the purposes of this document B2B transactions include business-to-government transactions.
CPA regulatory Framework
The CPA regulatory framework comprises its governing Act, Regulations and by-laws, as well as its framework rules and standards.
Clearing & Settlement Core Systems
The CPA “systems” may be defined as any electronic service or offering that either facilitates or operates the clearing and settlement of payments, including the system operating rules and standards. Examples include the Automated Clearing and Settlement System (ACSS), Large Value Transfer System (LVTS), and the U.S. Bulk Exchange (USBE).
Compliance
CPA Member adherence to CPA objects, including its governing Act, by-laws, rules and standards.
End-to-End Processing Times
Once a payment is initiated by the payor, the total processing time required for the funds to become available to the payee.
EPN STP 820
This standard was developed by the Electronic Payments network (EPN), one of two ACH processors in the United States. The objective is to standardize the use of ten remittance fields to ease payment file integration. This standard is approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and is a derivation of the electronic data interchange (EDI) X12 820 standards commonly used for payment files within the United States.
Faster Clearing and Settlement
Payment exchanges between Financial Institutions can be made more quickly than is occurring today with current business arrangements and technology. For example some payment types could be exchanged the same day or in real-time.
Financial Legislative Review
Every five years the Federal Government of Canada embarks on a review of financial legislation.
Global Interoperability
Describes a situation in which payment instruments belonging to a given payment scheme may be used in other countries and in systems installed in separate schemes. Interoperability requires technical compatibility between the systems, but can only take effect where commercial agreements have been concluded between the schemes concerned.
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Governance
Payment System Governance arrangements may be defined as encompassing the set of relationships which exist between a payment system’s owners, governing body, management and other payment system stakeholders. These arrangements provide the structure through which a payment system’s overall objectives are set and achieved, how risk is monitored and assessed and how performance is optimised.1
ISO 20022
This is an extensible Markup Language (XML) schema for the development of financial messages. The schema is driven by payments industry bodies including SWIFT and the Treasury Workstation Interface Standards Team (TWIST). ISO 20022 is being adopted as the framework for payments messaging under SEPA rules throughout Europe, and for the new SWIFT MX message category.
International Payments Framework (IPF)
The International Payments Framework (IPF) concept establishes a membership organization providing rules, standards (ISO20022), operating procedures and guidelines to improve non-urgent cross-border payments through a member service agreement binding members to the operating rules.
The rules will enable interoperability between existing domestic or regional payment systems (AFT in Canada), the ability to exchange transactions in multiple currencies and settlement procedures leveraging existing practices. The rule-making body of the IPF would provide an overlay structure that enables interoperability between Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms (CSMs) and banks, with bank members providing transaction volume.
Non-FI payment providers
In today’s payments environment there is no longer a simple array of direct clearers and indirect clearers that interact to accommodate Canadian payments. There are a variety of non-FIs that may be involved with payments such as connection service providers, acquirers, third-party payment scheme operators, and non-bank payment service providers that may play a role in facilitating the capture, processing, clearing, and settlement of payments.
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1 Bank of International Settlement (BIS), Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems, p.9
37
Retail Electronic PaymentsFor the purposes of this document, retail electronic payments are mainly consumer payments or payments that are of a low value. In general terms, these payments are not made through the CPA’s Large Value Transfer System (LVTS).
Risk Management
A systematic process that involves identifying and assessing risks, evaluating risks against the organization’s stated risk tolerance, communicating those risks and developing strategies to prevent any negative event from occurring and contain or minimize potential harm, while providing reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of the CPA’s objectives.2
Strategic
The formal pro-active consideration of an organization’s future course or direction.
Straight-Through- Processing (STP)
The capture of payment and trade details directly from front-end trading systems and complete automated processing of confirmations and settlement instructions without the need for re-keying and reformatting data.
Tactical
The formal consideration of “how” to implement an organization’s direction.
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2 Canadian Standards Association, Risk Management: Guidelines for Decision-Makers - A National Standard of Canada (CAN/CSA-Q850-97), 2002; IRGC, An Introduction to the IRGC Risk Governance Framework, 2008; Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, 1997; Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Integrated Risk Management Framework, 2001; Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), Enterprise Risk Management - Integrated Framework, 2004; KPMG LLP, Best Practices in Risk Management: Private and Public Sectors Internationally, 1999.
Appendix 1
International
Benchmarking Survey
Results
- Governance, Funding &
Membership -
Executive Summary
The efficient functioning of payment clearing and settlement systems, allowing transactions to be completed safely and on time, makes a key contribution to national economic performance. Correspondingly, their ongoing development and governance, specifically collective decision-making processes, is crucial to continued economic and financial well-being.
The Canadian Payments Association’s (CPA) has embarked on a comprehensive exercise to develop a long term plan for its payment clearing and settlement systems. In support of the comprehensive exercise, the CPA conducted an international benchmarking survey with comparable payment organizations abroad to investigate how these entities are dealing with key areas of strategic importance, including governance, funding and membership. Based on the responses received, the CPA conducted a comparative assessment of itself against eight (8) international payment 1, organizations with the following results:
Governance: Oversight, Mandate & Stakeholders
The CPA’s model is common compared to the majority of the organisations reviewed in that:
Public policy objectives form part of the CPA’s mandate.⇒
The CPA ensures stakeholder engagement by establishing a self-sponsored consultation ⇒ process.
The CPA’s model is uncommon compared to the majority of the organisations reviewed in that:
The Minister of Finance, rather than the central bank, has assumed primary oversight ⇒ responsibility for retail payment clearing and settlement systems.
The CPA’s retail payment clearings are ⇒ not separated into distinct clearing schemes, with a specific and separate governance structure and funding model for each, which can allow direct and indirect participants the flexibility to opt in and out of certain clearing
1 � � � � � � � � � � � � � � Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) – Australia; Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) – United Kingdom; Payment Association South Africa (PASA) – South Africa; Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO) - Ireland; NACHA – United States; The Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) – United States; Equens – Netherlands; Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) – Japan.
02
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03
schemes and/or have different clearing arrangements from one scheme to the next (e.g. join as a direct or indirect participant depending on the clearing scheme).
The CPA maintains a dual role as a system operator and policy maker. The majority of ⇒ the organisations reviewed retain only one role, with the bulk of these acting as a policy maker.
The CPA’s mandate is set explicitly in legislation.⇒
Governance: Board Structure
The CPA’s model is common compared to the majority of the organisations reviewed in that:
Though membership classes and the allocation of seats to each may vary, representation ⇒ on the CPA’s Board of Directors is based on membership classes, with non-transaction based voting entitlements at the Board.2
Independent directors are appointed to the CPA’s Board – a practice more commonly ⇒ employed where non-transaction-based voting rights are utilized.
The CPA’s model is uncommon compared to the majority of the organisations reviewed in that:
Central banks do not generally retain an ex officio right of representation and vote on the ⇒ Board.
The trend is for the President and CEO to serve as an ex officio Director on the Board.⇒
The Chair of the Board is generally an elected member Chair or an Independent Chair.⇒
2 Non transaction based voting: A practice whereby one director is entitled to one vote, rather than to a percentage of the vote based on the percentage of total volume his/her institution clears through the payment system.VISION2020
Membership
The CPA’s model is common compared to the majority of the organisations reviewed in that:
Like the countries reviewed, tiered arrangements are leveraged to grant access to the ⇒ CPA’s retail payment system, the Automated Clearing Settlement System (ACSS), to both direct and indirect members. No trend is discernible within the sample of organisations reviewed in regards to the formal/informal tiering practices of systems.
Informally tiered arrangements are leveraged to grant access to the CPA’s wholesale ⇒ payment system, the Large Value Transfer System (LVTS), whereby only direct participants are recognized in the systems’ rules.
The CPA’s model is uncommon compared to the majority of the organisations reviewed in that:
With only one retail payment clearing and settlement system in Canada and multiple ⇒ clearing arrangements under review3, the CPA does not provide direct and indirect participants the flexibility to have different clearing arrangements for various payment types cleared through the CPA.
The CPA’s membership eligibility remains by and large limited to deposit-taking financial ⇒ institutions4, whereas some of the organisations reviewed allow payment system operators and third-party service providers to become members.
3 The CPA’s policy and rules on multiple clearing arrangements is currently under review. It is anticipated that by Q1 2009, multiple clearing arrangements will be permitted for all electronic payments.
4 In addition to deposit-taking financial institutions, the following are eligible for CPA membership: securities dealers, insurance companies, and money market mutual funds.
04
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Funding
The CPA’s model is common compared to the majority of the organisations reviewed in that:
The CPA functions on a not-for-profit basis.⇒
The CPA membership dues are primarily based on clearing system volumes.⇒
The CPA derives its revenue almost exclusively from member dues.⇒
For the full report, please visit the CPA’s website at www.cdnpay.ca
05
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Appendix 2
International Research
& Benchmarking Survey
Results
- Core Systems -
01
Executive Summary
The efficient functioning of payment clearing and settlement systems, allowing transactions to be completed safely and on time, makes a key contribution to national economic performance. In this regard, the Canadian Payments Association’s (CPA) has embarked on a comprehensive exercise to develop a long term plan for its payment clearing and settlement systems. In support of the comprehensive exercise, the CPA conducted an international benchmarking survey with comparable payment organisations abroad to investigate how these entities are dealing with key areas of strategic importance, including governance, funding and membership. Based on the responses received, the CPA conducted a comparative assessment of itself against eight (8) international payment organisations1.
The core system research generally revealed that countries around the world are continuing to evolve and improve their payments systems. The countries studied are innovating and addressing domestic and international obstacles to enhance and expand their payments service offerings.
The research supports a widely held notion that European countries, with their need to amalgamate multiple countries and markets, are leaders in payments systems innovation. The research also shows that a surprising number of non-European Union (EU) countries are keeping pace with the European payments system evolution. Countries such as the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and South Africa have shown their payments industries are motivated to continually invest in and enhance their core systems.
The research on central clearing systems makes a case that the current Canadian Automated Clearing Settlement System (ACSS) features and processes should be reviewed to ensure that Canada does not fall behind international norms. Some countries studied are progressing in areas of development such as faster payments, automated and faster clearing and settlement, and developing viable electronic alternatives to cheques. Given the short-term plans the countries surveyed have for improving their clearing systems it is timely that Canada is beginning to research developing plans of its own.
1 Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) – Australia; Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) – United Kingdom; Payment Association South Africa (PASA) – South Africa; Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO) - Ireland; NACHA – United States; The Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) – United States; Equens – Netherlands; Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) – Japan.
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The Canadian Payments Association (CPA) could consider conducting further research to explore the feasibility and potential costs and benefits of some new clearing system options.
Concepts for consideration include same day clearing and settlement, separate clearing schemes for some retail payments, providing greater remittance information, and expanding research for interoperability and interoperability standards.
In addition the survey provides evidence that as part of a systems review the CPA may want to study the benefits of adopting a multilateral model [such as an automated clearing house (ACH) model] for clearing and settlement. There is some circumstantial evidence presented that suggests multilateral systems may be linked to greater system flexibility and innovation. The countries with a multilateral model were more likely to report that they are developing more efficient systems built around automated settlement and closer international integration.
The wholesale payments system research demonstrated that Canada’s Large Value Transfer System (LVTS) is currently in line with most of the other countries surveyed. Other countries continue to work and invest in improving and modernizing their wholesale payments systems. To keep pace the research suggests that the CPA should continue to pursue straight through processing for business-to-business payments and interoperability with other countries.
For the full report, please visit the CPA’s website at
www.cdnpay.ca
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Appendix 3
Environmental Scan
- International
Interoperability Standards -
Executive Summary
Standards for payments messages have been touted as significant enablers in innovation, global interoperability, competition, and efficiency and cost reduction. The implications for payment system participants, whether they are corporate clients, financial institutions (FIs) or large infrastructure providers, means that these must be looked at closely from a business perspective as well as technological. New developments in standards create opportunities, and risks, for businesses.
Projects such as the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) have pushed European payments players to adopt a new standard based on the ISO20022 framework, which takes full advantage of the flexibility and convenience of internet technology. In the United States (US), some larger FIs have moved to adopt the ISO-based standard to ensure interoperability with players abroad; while others have moved to the domestic Electronic Payments Network (EPN) STP 820 standard. This standard is based on a “lighter” version of the full Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standard. Despite the popularity of the “EDI-light” standard, organisations such as the US’ Fedwire and NACHA are responding to business demand to improve the ability of payment messages to carry invoice detail by considering global interoperability with the new ISO 20022 standard.
Canada has yet to make a decision on which standard to align itself against. Developing the short term business case for standards alignment presents challenges – not the least of which is spending money to replace existing payments message types and technology that may currently meet users’ needs reasonably well. Often the long term view is not taken into consideration which can lead to significant and costly band-aid solutions being applied at a later stage.
There is therefore an even greater need for strategic decisions regarding message standards alignment to incorporate both local and global interoperability. Domestically, Canada needs to consider and plan for the future of message standards with both retail and wholesale payments.
This document provides an overview of Canada’s more common current cross border payment arrangements between Financial Institutions, as well as the leading standards currently being adopted to enhance global interoperability of payments.
For the full report, please visit the CPA’s website at
www.cdnpay.ca
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Groupe VIVA secures $1.1 million in financing - Digital out-of-home media company specializing in point-of-sale communication also unveils its new bra

2009-05-20T11:29:00.002-04:00

BOISBRIAND, QC, May 20 /CNW Telbec/ - Groupe VIVA (www.groupeviva.com) is proud to announce the conclusion of a private $1.1-million round of financing with a group of investors including the Fonds d'investissement économique régional (FIER) Ville-Marie. This investment will help Groupe VIVA accelerate the growth of its various digital out-of-home (OOH) media properties, strengthening its leadership position in the Canadian industry.

Groupe VIVA's main property, a digital place-based media OOH network where personalized content, local news and advertising converge, and established mainly in retail stores, public areas and health establishments in communities throughout Quebec, could literally transform the province's local media landscape. "We are convinced of the strength of digital media at point-of-sale and in the strong potential of Groupe VIVA's growth plan," said Pietro Perrino, spokesman for the FIER Ville-Marie regional investment fund, adding: "FIER Ville-Marie is delighted to support the growth of this dynamic company that is well-established north of Montreal Island." For his part, Pierre Gendron, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Groupe VIVA, stated: "We are excited to be able to count on the support of a select group of investors led by FIER Ville-Marie. Their involvement will not only help us on the financial side but will also be an important asset in the development of our business. This investment has also triggered job creation within our organization and we are actively pursuing the hiring process in order to strengthen our team."

Groupe VIVA, which has operated under the name Sportech Media since its creation in 2002, is also unveiling its new brand image, a direct outcome of the diversification of its activities in recent years. Beyond its scalable technology, Groupe VIVA first and foremost offers its clients unique expertise in marketing and management of point-of-sale digital content that helps them effectively broadcast their marketing messages, thus optimizing consumer experience and brand positioning. About Groupe VIVA Groupe VIVA is a digital out-of-home media company that delivers an extensive range of products and services for point-of-sale communication to organizations seeking to effectively reach their customers. Groupe VIVA feeds personalized programming to thousands of screens within prestigious private networks across Canada, including Archambault Group, Cage aux Sports, Forzani Group (Sports Experts, Fitness Source) and Pro Hockey Life. The company also operates various digital media properties located mainly in retail stores, public areas and health establishments in communities throughout the Province of Quebec. For more information, visit www.groupeviva.com. For further information: or to book an interview, please contact: Brigitte Filiatrault, Brigitte Filiatrault Relations Publiques for Groupe VIVA, (514) 521-8216, rp@groupeviva.com This information is being distributed to you by CNW Group Ltd.
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Ministers Announce the Launch of the Business Credit Availability Program Website

2009-05-19T12:02:00.001-04:00

Ottawa, May 19, 2009 - The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, and the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, today announced the opening of the Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) website.

"I would invite Canadian businesses who are looking for new credit solutions to visit the BCAP website," said Minister Flaherty. "Ensuring access to credit is one of our main priorities in taking action on the Canadian economy."

The BCAP website features a description of the program, explains the roles of Export Development Canada (EDC), the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and private sector institutions, and provides contact information. It also includes examples of business success stories.

Working in co-operation with the private sector, EDC and BDC will provide at least $5 billion in additional loans and other forms of credit support and enhancement at market rates to businesses with viable business models whose access to financing would otherwise be restricted.

Participating private sector lenders have committed to work with the financial Crown corporations to find solutions for creditworthy businesses who would otherwise have insufficient access to credit.

"Our government continues to take strong and comprehensive action to ensure that businesses have access to the credit they need in these difficult times," added Minister Clement. "The Business Credit Availability Program is a critical component of the Extraordinary Financing Framework announced in Budget 2009."

The June Report to Parliament will contain the first update on the volume of credit extended under BCAP, with regular updates available on the BCAP website.

The BCAP website is located at www.fin.gc.ca/bcap.

For more information on Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca

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The Frontier Times: Canada's Payments Journal
150-5585 Monkland Avenue
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4A1E1
514-842-0886
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National Bank Financial Group launches chip-enabled credit cards

2009-05-18T11:39:00.001-04:00

Montreal, 12 May 2009 - National Bank Financial Group* is proud to announce that, effective today, MasterCard credit cards issued by National Bank to new applicants will contain an electronic chip, providing greater security and protection against counterfeit and fraud when cards are lost or stolen. These new cards are also equipped with MasterCard's exclusive "PayPass" functionality.

Additionally, over the next few months, National Bank Financial Group will gradually replace its clients' credit cards with chip-enabled credit cards equipped with a personal identification number (PIN) and the PayPass functionality. The chip card is part of National Bank Financial Group's ongoing effort to enhance customer satisfaction and expand its product range. This new product is being deployed following the excellent results obtained last fall during a pilot project in Saint-Jérôme and Kitchener-Waterloo.

"When it comes to security, National Bank Financial Group has always been proactive, offering clients payment solutions that are efficient, secure and technologically up to date, yet easy to use. With the chip-enabled card, we are providing clients with an added level of protection against cloning and fraud," stated Danny Déry, Vice-President – Retail Products, National Bank Financial Group.

With the chip-enabled card, instead of signing a receipt, cardholders will now have to confirm their transactions by entering a PIN, where technology permits. This new technology will provide added security and make transactions at the merchant go more quickly. In addition, with the MasterCard PayPass feature, clients now have access to a new payment method that speeds up and facilitates small purchases (less than $50 on average) made at participating merchants.

This new chip technology applies to payment services at points of sale and ABMs. These new chip-enabled cards will still be equipped with the traditional magnetic stripe to allow clients to make purchases at all merchants, even those not yet equipped with the new chip technology, and will continue to provide customers with a dependable and secure payment method. The chip-enabled card is a proven technology that is already widely used around the world.

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The Frontier Times: Canada's Payments Journal
150-5585 Monkland Avenue
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4A1E1
514-842-0886
info@frontiertimes.ca

Econ4U Supports Efforts to Make Credit Card Bills Fairer, More Transparent

2009-05-18T11:29:00.001-04:00

WASHINGTON D.C. May 13, 2009 - Econ4U today expressed its support for rules currently being considered by the United States Senate, which would make credit card bills more transparent and protect borrowers from hidden fees. While we do not endorse all the aspects of this legislation, the bill contains some core reforms that will empower people to make responsible decisions with their finances.

The two key provisions that will help borrowers throughout the country are:

1. Less tiny print: For starters, you can say goodbye to tiny and unreadable fine print: all disclosures must be in 12-point font or larger. This is such a no-brainer it's hard to imagine anyone but magnifying glasses manufacturers opposing it.

2. No sudden/arbitrary rate increases: When you sign up for a credit card, or any other loan, you expect to know the interest rate you'll be charged. Recently, however, a lot of credit card customers have been surprised with arbitrary rate increases, even if they never missed a payment. Under the new law, if you are carrying a balance at 10% fixed APR, you'll know that interest rate won't change (unless your monthly payment is late, or it's a promotional rate that expired). And if it does change, you'll have at least 45 days' notice, plenty of time to look around for a better card and interest rate.

"It is important that all financial institutions make a good faith effort to ensure that contracts are easier to read, that there are no surprises lurking in the fine print, and no hidden fees. Borrowers who make their payments in full and on time should not have to fear surprise, arbitrary rate increases," said James Bowers, Managing Director of the Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy. "There is an epidemic of financial illiteracy in this country and policy makers should work to make sure that Americans have all the tools at their disposal to make wise financial choices. If we eliminate confusing contracts and hidden fees as well as promote a renewed focus on financial literacy, the public will be better prepared to weather this financial crisis, and less likely to make the same mistakes again in the future."

The Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy, Econ4U.org, is a non-profit organization promoting financial education. Its economic education program presents facts on personal finance, business economics, entrepreneurship, and government spending in unusual venues such as movie theaters, restaurants, and bowling centers.

Credit card exec files for bankruptcy after $300M verdict Greg Daily is CEO of

2009-05-14T15:59:00.001-04:00

By Getahn Ward • THE TENNESSEAN • May 12, 2009

Credit-card processing entrepreneur Greg Daily filed Monday for personal bankruptcy protection after a California venture capitalist won a $300 million jury verdict against him.

The award followed trial of a 6½-year-old complaint in which Douglas Shooker accused Daily of thwarting his attempts to invest in Nashville-based iPayment Inc. through an earlier agreement. In his filing in Los Angeles Superior Court that sought more than $115 million in damages, Shooker also accused Daily of stealing his research into a Web-based credit card processing system.

iPayment is the second successful credit-card processing venture for Daily, who paired up with Richardson Roberts to launch the erstwhile Nashville-based PMT Services Inc. in 1984 while in their ’20s. Each man netted millions from selling PMT in September 1998.

Upon launching iPayment, CEO Daily said that the company targeted processing of Internet-based transactions because it offered higher margins although it also involved more risk.

Daily’s assets are estimated at $10 million to $50 million and liabilities at $100 million to $500 million in the bankruptcy filing. He has 15 days from Monday to give the court a list of everything he owns and everyone he owes, though his lawyer could request more time.

By filing under Chapter 11, Daily avoids surrendering his assets to a bankruptcy trustee and instead would be required to file monthly updates on his income and expenses to the U.S. trustee’s office. "It’s likely a strategy to maintain the status quo while they appeal that big California judgment," said John McLemore, a local bankruptcy trustee, adding that Daily would be allowed to keep his assets and submit a plan to repay a portion of his debt.

James N. Penrod, Daily’s San Francisco-based lawyer, said he disagreed with the verdict and would likely appeal.

In a regulatory filing, iPayment said the suit was brought against Daily individually. "Neither the company nor any other shareholders, officers, employees or directors were a party," it said. "The company has no indemnification, reimbursement or any other contractual obligation to Mr. Daily in connection with this legal matter."

Last year, iPayment saw its net income rise nearly 165 percent to $14.3 million from $5.4 million. Revenues, meanwhile, increased 4.7 percent to $794.8 million from $759 million.

Ottawa to propose credit card reforms - Globe and Mail - April 25, 2009

2009-04-30T16:17:00.003-04:00

Ottawa to propose credit card reforms

KEVIN CARMICHAEL

April 25, 2009

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is set to propose regulations next week that would require companies that issue credit cards to provide their customers with clearer information about the interest they're paying.

Mr. Flaherty declined in an interview to give details of what he intends to propose. He spoke on the sidelines of meetings with counterparts in the G7 nations in Washington yesterday.

The Finance Minister emphasized that he is unconcerned with the level of credit card interest rates, saying issuers should be left free to set whatever rate they choose. However, he said he wants to set standards for how those companies explain their interest rate policies to cardholders.

Canada’s First Transaction With a Chip Debit Card - Issue 19 - September 2007

2009-04-30T15:30:00.000-04:00

Canada’s First Transaction with a Chip Debit Card

Toronto, July 9 07—TD Canada Trust has announced the completion of "Canada's first transaction with a chip debit card. The transaction was made at a Green Machine automated banking machine (ABM) located in TD's Creekside Corporate Office in Mississauga, Ontario. TD becomes the first organization in Canada to be able to conduct a transaction using a chip debit card at a chip-enabled ABM that adheres to EMV standards."

EMV is the global technology standard developed by Europay, MasterCard, and Visa for chip-based debit and credit cards to replace existing magnetic stripe cards. While many other countries including Britain and France have already migrated to chip technology, Canada has just begun, with critical mass of cards, ABMs and point-of-sale (POS) terminals in market expected to be reached by 2010. Over the next several years, TD will issue millions of chip-enabled TD Visa Cards and TD Canada Trust Access Cards to its customers. TD Merchant Services has already deployed tens of thousands of chip-enabled POS terminals to merchants in preparation of chip cards entering the market.

"We've made great progress internally to ready TD for the transition to chip, and being the first bank in Canada to be able to complete a transaction with a chip debit card is both a satisfying and proud moment," said Chris Stamper, Vice President, Core Banking and Debit Payments, TD Canada Trust. "With last year's upgrade of our network of more than 2,500 ABMs, today's announcement sets the stage for the final software implementation at Green Machines to accept chip debit and credit cards."

Chip technology simply makes a secure payment system even better. Chip cards have an embedded computer chip that stores information in a secure, encrypted format, making it virtually impossible for unauthorized users to copy or access the information on the card. Chip-enabled POS terminals will prompt chip debit and credit cardholders to enter a Personal Identification Number (PIN). The PIN provides an extra level of protection against fraudulent unauthorized use and is a key security element of the transaction.

"Because we offer both debit and credit card issuing and payment processing services, we feel we're particularly well positioned to assist customers in the transition to chip technology," said Jeff van Duynhoven, Vice President, TD Merchant Services. "Businesses that process their card payments through TD can gain an advantage by tapping into the high level of confidence consumers have with the TD brand at the point-of-sale."

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Chip, contactless and other innovative authentication devices are being rolled out in Canada and the US to cut down on fraud, increase convenience and capture a greater share of transactions that are still cash based. We are approaching, and have perhaps passed, the tipping point where a majority of retail transactions are electronic and not cash-based. In my view, all non-biometric authentication and identification devices have a kind of built in obsolescence with the advent of inexpensive biometric scanning devices. In Germany a material portion of grocery store payments are authorized by fingerprint.

Fingerprint authorizations are becoming popular in certain US markets as well. As a leader in biometric privacy regulation, Germany has also enacted legislation that specifically addresses biometric data bases. German and other European privacy laws make our Canadian PIPEDA and Office of the Privacy Commissioner look comical.

Canadian payments professionals and legislators should set the ground work for biometric payments which will inevitably become the standard form of authorization and payment not long after chip and contactless cards are finally rolled out.

In the mean time, the FT would like to wish all readers an awesome Canadian back to school season.

Adam N. Atlas

Editor in Chief

atlas@frontiertimes.ca

NEWS

Cardex Financial Corporation (CFC) changes their name to Cesef Financial Corporation

Montreal, July 19 07 – Cardex Financial Corporation, a Canadian company offering merchant cash advances, has changed their name to Cesef Financial Corporation.

CFC was formed in June 2006 as the sister company to Cardex Corporation, Canada’s leading payment processor, to offer their merchants cash advances. With Cardex’s recent acquisition by Pivotal Payments, CFC is now in the position to act as a standalone company and continue to offer Merchant Cash Advances to a wider array of Canadian SMEs, and business partners.

“Cesef means money, which is exactly what CFC provides to Canadian businesses,” said Peter Mazoff, President of CFC.

“The traditional reason for SME failure is due to lack of or poorly managed cashflow, Merchant Cash Advances allow millions of businesses to not only survive but also thrive in their new positions.”

Chase Paymentech Provides Tim Hortons Enhanced Speed and Convenience with Point of Sale Payment Acceptance

Toronto, July 17 07-- When customers step up to the front counter or pull up to the 24-hour drive-thru window at their local Tim Hortons, they will enjoy the convenience of paying with their MasterCard(R) card through the introduction of Chase Paymentech-powered services to be rolled out at more than 2,200 Canadian locations by September 2007.

Tim Hortons is introducing the latest payment solutions from Chase Paymentech as a means to provide payment convenience to consumers. Research indicates that nearly half of adult consumers carry $20 or less in their wallet and that 86 percent want to make cashless transactions more frequently.

Tim Hortons will also feature Chase Paymentech's payment solutions equipped with MasterCard PayPass card readers at the drive-thru and inside the store. These point-of-sale terminals will accept the newest contactless payment cards, along with conventional swipe cards from MasterCard. Contactless credit cards contain radio frequency technology to transmit payment details to themerchant's terminal, replacing the magnetic stripe and the need for consumers to swipe the card. Merchants accepting contactless technology are able to accept and process payments quicker, making contactless ideal for the quick service restaurant industry.

"Our customers expect fast, convenient service," said Paul House, president and chief executive officer, Tim Hortons.

"Providing them with the ability to just 'tap-n-go' when buying their coffee and food delivers on our commitment to provide customers with the best quality and convenience in the market."

Smart Processing Solutions partners with Electronic Transaction Services Limited

Toronto, July 19 07-- Smart Processing Solutions one of the TNS Group of Companies has announced that it has entered into a partnership with Electronic Transaction Services Limited, to pilot the Smart Processing Suite™ solution in the New Zealand market.

Independent SalesOrganizations acrossNorthAmerica – and now New Zealand - have been empowered by the Smart Processing Suite™ to successfully process in-house transactions. The Smart Processing Suite securely delivers terminal management, connection to EFT and ATM networks, extensive monitoring, reporting capabilities, and numerous management tools designed specifically to help the ISOs grow and advance.

With the Smart Processing Suite's™highly flexible configuration, exhaustive security measures and extensive feature set, large and small Banking Institutions, Credit Unions, Retail Organizations, and Independent Sales Organizations can provide the same level of service as a major national processing institution.

Anti-Money Laundering Spending Up 71 Percent at North American Banks

North America, July 15 07—A new survey by KPMG International reports that bank executives say spending to combat money-laundering activities rose by 71 percent in North America over the past three years,mainly to pay for IT systems and training staff.

With an expectation that the appropriate IT systems are now in place to support monitoring and regulatory reforms, those same North American executives expect to hold spending increases to just 28 percent over the next three years, the KPMG study found. But IT systems are only part of the monitoring process.

In addition, 95 percent of North American banking executives reported a rise in the number of suspicious activity reports (SARs) over the past three years, with 63 percent of those surveyed saying the number of SARs were up "substantially."

Globally, 72 percent of those surveyed reported an increase, while just 42 percent saying the number were "substantially" higher. The white paper did not ask for the number of SARs that each institution filed.

With more SARs being filed, banks have new investigative challenges, particularly when an issue requires cross-border deployment of staff and when emerging markets are involved.

"To successfully combat global AML issues you need a truly global team," said Pesce. "That means having well-trained, locally-based investigators in foreign countries who know the domestic banking laws and business culture, as well as how to speak the language."

Pesce also pointed out that although globalization of banking and other market forces have increased the focus on moneylaundering by senior management and boards, more attention is needed. According to the survey, only 63 percent of North American respondents believed AML issues were among senior management's highest priorities.

PUREPAY ACQUIRES REMITTANCE SOLUTIONS PROVIDER CREDITRON

Toronto, August 10 07 –Purepay, a $100 million buyout fund focused on payments, banking and the financial supply chain, announced that it has acquired Creditron, a Toronto-based remittance software provider focused primarily on middle market commercial customers in the U.S. and Canada. Creditron’s existing management team will continue to direct the company on a day-to-day basis.

With strong capabilities in Check 21 and Remote Deposit Capture, Creditron has been providing automated lockbox and remittance solutions to small and medium sized companies for 12 years. Regulations like Check 21 and BOC have created new and greater demand for these services. Creditron intends to capitalize on this increased demand by leveraging its operational experience in the sector and tapping Purepay’s capital resources to extend the company’s capabilities into new and broader markets.

Carol Coye Benson, a partner at Glenbrook Partners commented “Not only does Creditron have a very solid core remittance application, but its ROI product’s cash application functionality and integration withMicrosoft Great Plains hits the sweet spot for the small to medium enterprise.”

“We entertained several potential investors and in the end we chose Purepay based on their understanding of remittance and a shared vision of Creditron’s future,” saidWally Vogel, President of Creditron. “Purepay is not only a financial sponsor. We’re looking to leverage their network and resources to enhance the future growth of Creditron.”

Purepay anticipates a consolidation among companies serving this market and expects future opportunities in the remittance and lockbox services over the coming quarters. The deal closed on August 1, 2007.

Pivotal Payments Acquires Cardex Corporation’s 8000 Merchants Expanding Annual Processing to over $3.8 Billion

Montreal, August 8 07 — Pivotal Payments, announced it has purchased the assets of Cardex Corporation, one of Canada’s leading ISO/MSPs. With the acquisition of the Cardex portfolio, Pivotal continues its long-termgrowth strategy that began in 2005 to develop into one of North America’ largest, most complete, merchant friendly payment processors.

The purchase of Cardex Corporation’s assets adds over 8000 merchants to the Pivotal Payments portfolio, solidifying Pivotal as one of the top ISO/MSPs in North America, processing over $3.8 billion annually. All of Cardex’s 51 employees have joined the Pivotal team and will work out of Pivotal’s downtown Montreal offices. “We are very excited with the direction Pivotal is going in and feel confident that this new partnership will lead to tremendous growth,” says Cardex’s founder Greg Mitelman.

With debt financing provided by Goldman Sachs, Pivotal’s growth and acquisition plans continue to produce tremendous value and opportunity for its employees, partners and stakeholders. Plans for 2007-2008 include continued organic growth and additional strategic acquisitions that will extend Pivotal’s influence throughout North America.

NXGEN Payment Services Promotes Michael Jaffe Vice President of Global Marketing and New Programs

Calgary, August 1 07 – NXGEN Payment Services, a leading MSP for bothNOVAInformation Systems andCynergyData, has promoted Michael Jaffe as its Vice President of Global Marketing and New Programs. Jaffe will be responsible for designing, coordinating and driving to execution products and program to feed the company’s growth both in USA and in Canada while jump starting business in the other countries targeted by the International division of the company. In this position, Jaffe will report directly to the COO Giuseppe Caltabiano.

“Michael is one of the founders of NXGEN and has been a driving force in building up the indirect sales organization as well as taking to the market our core products,” said Giuseppe Caltabiano “the exciting part for all of us is that we are now expanding our International Division with senior management while growing profitably”

“After having brought NXGEN USA to the current level of sales, I cannot wait to start exchanging programs, products, and ideas across borders.” States Jaffe “With a solid presence established in USA and in Canada, more than 800 referral partnership in USA alone, we have plans to deepen our presence by growing in different vertical markets, while expanding our reach to different continents”

Michael Jaffe has been with NXGEN since its inception and bringsmore than 10 years experience in the payment and banking industry.

New From NCR, Teller Assist Cash Recyclers

Calgary, August 13 07– NCR Corporation has announced the availability in Canada of new Teller Assist Cash Recycler (TACR) technology. The cash recycling units, a component of NCR’s broader branch optimization portfolio, are integral to further extending NCR’s commitment to providing innovative branch technology to banks and credit unions across Canada.

The worldwide leader in financial self-service solutions,NCR recently signed a multiyear technology license agreement with CIMA S.p.A, a leading cash-handling technology company. With this agreement, NCR will leverage its global manufacturing expertise, customer service infrastructure, and sales and marketing breadth to bring CIMA’s Teller Assist Cash Recycler to the global marketplace.

TACR technology is designed to help improve branch efficiency and customer service levels, cornerstones of all retail bank branch strategies today. The TACR offers the optimum mix of a high-cash capacity, coupled with a small, branch-friendly footprint. The cash recyclers can be positioned at the teller counter for individual or shared use, or be used as a mini-vault to further enhance security for both cash and the employee.

“Since the 1980s, many bank branches have been using Teller Assist Cash Dispensers to improve teller productivity and increase security. We see TACR as an emerging technology that will replace the 20-year-old cash dispense system,” said Nicholas Hames, vice president of NCR’s Financial Solutions division in Canada. “TACRs offer financial institutions many incremental benefits. For example, over the course of the day, cash received by the teller begins to accumulate in teller drawers. TACRs eliminate this as cash can be stored safely within the cash recycling unit itself and made ready for immediate dispense. TACRs can also replace currency counters, day vaults and other commonly used incremental security equipment generally associated with Teller Assist Cash Dispensers.”

The TACR automatically authenticates, counts, stores and makes available deposited currency notes, which are then recycled back to customers over the teller counter. With today’s labour intensive cash counting process, it is not uncommon for a banknote to be counted by hand at least six times on its journey from the vault through the branch. As much as two-thirds of a teller’s daily processing time can be reduced using the TACR technology.

For commercial customers in particular, TACRs can reduce the transaction time for bulk cash counting and sorting deposits and cash purchase orders by as much as 50 per cent.

Desjardins and Couche-Tard Inc. Sign a Canada-Wide Partnership Agreement

Montreal, August 8 07 – Desjardins Group, the largest integrated cooperative financial group in Canada, announced the renewal of its partnership with Alimentation Couche-Tard inc. as a supplier of Desjardins payment solutions (debit and credit services).

Building on the strength of their running, ten-year partnership, Desjardins Card Services and Alimentation Couche-Tard inc. have not only renewed their agreement for services in Quebec, but also expanded it across Canada into the areas served by Alimentation Couche-Tard inc. under the Mac’s banner, as exclusive supplier for the processing of POS transactions.

“Now able to process both VISA™ and MasterCard® transactions, Desjardins Card Services is a premium supplier of payment and financing solutions and is strengthening its position as a leader in this area. Thanks to our extensive range of services, we can meet the evolving needs of merchants all over Canada.

We are very proud to be associated with Alimentation Couche-Tard inc. and to offer Desjardins payment solutions for all of its stores in Canada”, stated Jean Yelle, Vice-President of Desjardins Card Services.

TNS Smart Network Inc.’s Portfolio of 3rd Party ATMs is More Than Double the Size of the Largest Canadian Banks ATM Portfolio

Toronto, August 15 07 - TNS Smart Network Inc., Canada's largest ATM processor, announced that it has exceeded 10,000 3rd Party ATMs installed on its network and expects to reach a new plateau of 11,000 ATMs by the end of 2007. The strength of the Canadian ATM industry coupled with the confidence of Independent Sales Organizations and Merchants in TNS Smart Network's superior service and support is driving more ATMs to TNS Smart Network, surpassing all expectations.

TNS Smart Network's installed ATM base represents a volume of ATMs equivalent to 64% of all the ATMs deployed by the Big Five Banks in Canada. "At the current rate of growth, we expect that within one year, TNS SmartNetwork Inc. will surpass the number of ATMs currently deployed by all Canadian Financial Institutions combined.

Compared to the Banks our installed base of ATM's is more than twice the size of the largest banks installedATMbase." stated Mischa Weisz, President and CEO of TNS Smart Network Inc. (See table below)

Mr.Weisz added that, "The momentum that has driven us to where we are today is what we strive to maintain by offering the best customer service, the most innovative products and services, and giving the card holder what they want, access to their money, anytime, anywhere."

Number of installed ATM's by entity (*)

TNS Smart Network Inc. . .10,291

Royal Bank of Canada . . . . . .4,232

CIBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,818

TD Canada Trust . . . . . . . . . .3,256

Scotiabank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,742

Bank of Montreal . . . . . . . . . . 1,936

(*) Bank information as at October 31, 2006

Global Payments Certifies POSLynx220™ for Payments

Ottawa, August 1 07 – Precidia Technologies Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of Internet Protocol (IP) payment and networking devices, announced today the Class B certification of its POSLynx220™ payment router by leading payment processor Global Payments Inc. Today’s certification allows merchants to integrate Precidia’s secure payment application with existing POS devices including PCs and cash registers for fast, PCI compliant transaction processing to Global Payments’ GlobalNet @dvantage SSL Gateway.

While the popular POSLynx220 provides broadband connectivity to a wide range of POS equipment, from ATMs to payment terminals, today’s announcement introduces Precidia’s secure payment engine, TransNet™, to Global Payments customers. This payment engine integrates with existing PC and cash register applications, separating the payment function from other applications by housing it on the secure POSLynx220. This solution is ideal for hospitality and other retailers who depend on PC-based systems and want to ensure ongoing PCI compliance and cardholder security. With the POSLynx220 already certified by Global Payments to provide connectivity to a wide range of POS equipment, this new certification extends the IP payment options available to merchants processing to Global Payments.

Precidia’s Payment System includes the POSLynx220, TransNet™ secure payment engine, and MerchantVu™, which provides store-level statistics on transactions, network status and settlement. The Payment System boasts the industry’s most comprehensive approach to PCI and data security, with automatic alerts and updates, and a secure server for payments.

Capellas Set to Flip First Data?

August 1 07—MichaelCapellas, who sold bothMCI Inc. and Compaq Computer Corp., will become chief executive officer of First Data Corp. when its $26 billion leveraged buyout is completed. But how long will he and First Data be around?

Capellas, who has made his career by cutting costs and sprucing up companies for sale, may be a perfect fit for First Data under the control of private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Private equity firms typically acquire companies, refinance their debt, cut costs and sell them for a profit after three to five years.

First Data and KKR could not be immediately reached for comment.

Capellas flips companies and pockets a lot of money on the way out. He sold Compaq to Hewlett-Packard and served as the combined company’s president for sevenmonths.He walked away with a severance package of more than $14 million, while 17,000 employees lost their jobs in the merger. At MCI, he got a $39 million package for helping turn around the bankrupt company and selling it to Verizon Communication.

First Data’s Chairman Ric Duques described Capellas as: “Michael is by any measure an accomplished, energetic and visionary CEO.”

PresentPay Inc. to Offer Secure eMail Bill Presentment and Payment

Winnipeg, September 9 07 – TelPay Incorporated is pleased to announce the formation of a subsidiary company, PresentPay Inc. to promote the presentment By secure email of corporate bills, statements and other documents normally distributed by regular mail.

PresentPay has entered into a reseller agreement for Canada with Striata Inc., of New York an international provider of bill presentment services.

Striata Secure eDocument Delivery and Email Bill Presentment & Payment are solution sets that deliver rapid reduction in operational costs and quicker payment, by revolutionizing the way bills, statements, pay stubs and other high volume system-generated documents are delivered and paid.

Unlike today's online billing solutions, which insist on consumers visiting and registering at a website, Striata delivers feature rich, secure email documents directly to customers’ inbox allowing two click electronic bill presentment and payment. This innovative and strategic change from ‘pull’ to ‘push’ dramatically increases consumer adoption of electronic billing, allowing the biller to achieve rapid ROI from their self-service and high volume e-correspondence investments.

Striata provides its billing services to many major utilities, Telco’s and financial institutions worldwide, including 3 of the top 12 banks in the world.

TelPay is Canada’s largest independent electronic bill payment processor. The combination of the Striata solutions and TelPay’s electronic payment capabilities, accomplishes the ideal solution to the long sought Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) eStatement capability that meets the needs of both the biller and the bill payer.

Credential Direct and TD Waterhouse Named Top Online Brokerage Firms in Canada

Ontario September 11 07—For the third time, Credential Direct and TD Waterhouse held top honors as the premier online brokerages for Canadians, according to the newly released Summer 2007 Surviscor analysis. Credential Direct retained both the "overall" and the "investor" top spots. TD Waterhouse retained the top spot in the trader profile. The analysis identified major shifts in price point, with little change in features and functionality across the firms.

In the investor profile, Credential Direct earned four category awards, BMOInvestorLine earned two and ScotiaMcLeod Direct Investing earned one. In the trader profile, TD Waterhouse earned four category awards, and BMO InvestorLine earned one.

According to the 2007 results, the main improvements to features and functionality during the past nine months have been pricing changes and an emphasis on increasing self-directed learning and research tools. "The price war continues to be the main topic of conversation as prices continue to decrease, mainly for active traders," said Surviscor President Glenn LaCoste.

Surviscor predicts that the online brokerage environment will see more features and functionality enhancements this year and into 2008 with security and messaging being at the top of the list of priorities. LaCoste observes that customers are demanding the best possible online security and secure messaging from their online brokerage firms. As a result, many firms have begun investing in delivering the most secure environment possible.

NCR Appoints Former Xerox Executive as NCR Canada President

Mississauga, September 11 07– NCR Corporation has announced the appointment of Ranji Persad as president of NCR Canada.

A proven sales and marketing executive, Persad has overall sales, marketing and management responsibility for all facets of NCR’s retail, financial and support services business in Canada.

“Ranji Persad brings to this executive role solid expertise in leading large-scale business transformation initiatives and delivering significant business results. He is joining NCR’s Canadian organization at a very exciting time as we embark on our journey as the new NCR,” said NCR Senior Vice President Dan Bogan. “By leveraging his successful sales, marketing and management track record, Ranji will help drive cross-functional marketing strategies that enhance the customer experience and also ensure that NCR capitalizes on the tremendous growth opportunities that exist in the Canadian self-service marketplace.”

Prior to joining NCR, Persad spent 24 years at Xerox Canada Ltd., most recently serving as vice president, business transformation and chief information officer. Before that, he held a number of other senior executive positions including vice president, strategy and sales operations, and vice president and general manager, major accounts Canada. His career also included management assignments in Xerox Canada’s business division marketing and indirect channel organizations as well as in the company’s U.S. operations.

Persad has a degree in commerce and economics from the University of Toronto and is Lean Six Sigma certified.

VeriFone to Supply Cara with Pay-At-the Table Systems - Issue 18 - July 2007

2009-04-30T14:37:00.000-04:00

VeriFone to Supply Cara with Pay-At-the Table Systems

June 14, 2007 - VeriFone Holdings, Inc. has announced that Cara, the largest operator of full service restaurants in Canada, has selected the ON THE SPOT pay at the table system designed exclusively for the hospitality industry.

With this multi-million dollar rollout, Cara becomes the largest restaurant operator and the first in Canada to provide its customers with payment at the table. Cara owns many of Canada’s most popular restaurant concepts with stores totaling over 800, including the Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, Kelsey’s, Montana’s Cookhouse and Milestone’s Grill & Bar brands.

ON THE SPOT is designed to significantly improve security for restaurant patrons and cut down on the increasingly common problem of credit card fraud. It has two main platforms. One that allows at-the-table, curb or point of delivery payment for full-service family, casual and fine dining restaurants (model Vx 670); and the other designed for use at drive-thru windows (model QX720). At Cara, ON THE SPOT is integrating seamlessly with MICROS Systems, Inc. point-of-sale solutions.

ON THE SPOT allows patrons to hold on to their card during the payment process, consequently cutting down on “skimming,” an increasingly common practice in which a restaurant employee swipes the card through a special device that records its owner’s account information, which can then be used in identity theft. TransUnion estimates that 70 percent of all skimming takes place in the restaurant environment.

The payment system also uses special encryption and other security features to protect all financial data handled over a restaurant’s Wi-Fi network. These security features are a necessity today, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting that credit card fraud has become the most common form of identity theft.

Restaurant owners may also experience an additional benefit of lower credit card processing fees when customers use PIN-based debit cards, which incur lower processing fees than signature-based credit transactions.

The use of payment devices similar to ON THE SPOT has been widespread in Europe for years and is picking up steam in North American restaurants. VeriFone’s ON THE SPOT is the most widely deployed solution in the U.S. and Canada since being launched in May of 2006 at the National Restaurant Association trade show.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

It seems our gamble at the FT has paid off. Since the founding of this publication, we have bet on the Canadian payments industry going in the direction of the US payments market. I think its safe to say that as of the summer of 2007 that has happened. Every few months a new merchant account ISO comes on line in Canada. Canadian ISOs and some US ISO’s have finally rolled out cash advance products in Canada, and prepaid cards are now being issued wherever you look in Canada. Its official, Canada now has a payments industry.

The challenge for Canadian payments entrepreneurs, in my opinion, is not just to open the Canadian market for payments products, but to keep their market share when the US competitors come to Canada.With the exception of the ten or so biggest names in the industry, most US payments businesses that have tried to come to Canada got tired of not getting called back by Canadian banks and decided that a country the size of California was not worth the hassle. That has left Canadian entrepreneurs with the thankless task of re-engineering the Canadian marketplace to become open and welcoming of new payments offerings. That is happening right now, and we are delighted to report on it in the pages of this publication.

In this issue we are also launching The Frontier Times General Store where readers will be able to pick up odds and ends that might be hard to find elsewhere. The first offering in this regard is cleaning cards. Anyone who has ever done grocery shopping knows how important it is to clean POS machines. The FT is pleased to help you help your merchants with this perennial problem.

Whether you are reading this issue at the cottage with your feet in the lake or in the muggy city summer heat, we hope you are having a great Canadian summer.

Adam N. Atlas

Editor in Chief

atlas@frontiertimes.ca

NEWS

First Data International Extends Agreement with Laurentian Bank of Canada

Toronto, June 06 2007 – First Data International, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment services, announced it has extended its agreement with Laurentian Bank of Canada. Under terms of the agreement, First Data will continue to provide payment processing services for the bank's credit card portfolios.

Laurentian Bank is a Quebec banking institution operating across Canada and drives the third largest branch network in Quebec. The bank has more than 3,200 employees, 158 bank branches, 29 commercial banking centers and 14 brokerage offices, and is dedicated to meeting the financial needs of its clients through the excellence of its service, simplicity and proximity.

First Data has provided card processing services in Canada since 2000 and currently processes accounts on behalf of leading card issuers in the region. The company is also a leading merchant acquirer of MasterCard® transactions in Canada working with a wide range of merchants.

Visa charges ahead with plan to go public

June 22 2007 – Visa has filed documents with regulators that provide further detail on its plan to launch an initial public offering for the company that operates the world's most popular credit card.

Visa said 51% of its shares now owned by the banks that issue Visa cards would be issued to the public.

However, before that can happen, Visa will restructure its global operations. Visa Canada, Visa International and Visa USA will be combined into a single company, Visa Inc., which will be owned by its member banks.

Visa hopes to replicate the success of its rival, MasterCard, which went public in 2006. Its shares gained 18% on their first day of trading and have quadrupled since then.

Member banks who own 100 per cent of Visa's stock could stand to reap huge windfall profits on selling their shares.

Both Visa and MasterCard are facing legal scrutiny in the U.S., where merchants have accused the two companies of price fixing and have filed antitrust lawsuits.

There are currently about 1.5 billion Visa cards in circulation around the world.

Bank of America Expands Toronto-based Global Corporate and Investment Banking Team

Toronto, June 28 2007 – Bank of America has announced two hires to its Toronto-based Global Corporate and Investment Banking (GCIB) team with the appointments of Paul R. DeMelo as Managing Director and head of Corporate Banking, and J. Andrew Riddell as Senior Vice President and Senior ClientManager in Commercial Banking. Both are based in Toronto, Canada.

DeMelo reports to Donald C. Stewart, Managing Director and Principal Officer and Chairman of Banc of America Securities Canada Co. In his position as head of Corporate Banking, DeMelo is responsible for building out and leading the bank's expanding corporate banking efforts in Canada.

DeMelo brings a wealth of experience and success in building and leading corporate banking teams in Canada and the United States over a career spanning 20 years. His most recent position was head of Corporate Banking for JPMorgan Canada.

Riddell reports to Kevin Murphy, Commercial Banking Market Executive for Upstate New York and Eastern Canada at Bank of America. In his position as Senior Client Manager, Riddell is responsible for leading and growing the bank's existing portfolio of commercial customers.

Riddell brings with him a 17 year history of outstanding results in servicing the Canadian commercial sector with a particular focus on cross border financial service needs. His most recent position was as a Senior Vice President in the International Banking group at National City Bank, Canada branch.

The RCMP launches the MERCHANTS AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING AND COUNTERFEITING PROGRAM

Montreal, June 11, 2007 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police created the Merchants Against Money Laundering and Counterfeiting Program to help business people recognize the various forms of money laundering as well as counterfeit bank notes.

Until August, the Merchants Against Money Laundering and Counterfeiting Program team will provide presentations on these two crimes and their consequences to merchants across Québec. The sessions are offered free of charge in both official languages.

Whether it is money laundering or counterfeit money, merchants often lack information to combat these types of financial crimes that affect them directly.

In response to this situation, the RCMP hired students and created a prevention program aimed at merchants who will gain by becoming more familiar with these increasingly popular crimes. “Counterfeit money has seen spectacular growth over the past few years, said Sergeant André Bacon, Regional Coordinator of the RCMP’s Counterfeit Program. Seized bills alone account for losses of tens of millions of dollars for the victims.”

Visual presentations on request:

The program uses visual presentations to raise merchants’ awareness. The material was created in collaboration with the RCMP Integrated Counterfeit Enforcement Team and Integrated Proceeds of Crime, as well as the Bank of Canada and FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada). This initiative has already been successfully implemented in other cities, such as Ottawa and Halifax.

Anyone interested in this program can contact Annie Bélanger and Maude Boivin-Laframboise at (514) 939-8304 for theMontréal area or the RCMP Integrated Proceeds of Crime at (418) 648-4126 for the Québec city area for additional information.

GE Money, eBay Introduce eBay MasterCard

June 16, 2007 – GE Money has announced the eBay MasterCard, calling it an expansion of its partnership with eBay. eBay MasterCard customers will benefit from a new rewards program, earning one Reward Point for every $1 spent in purchases. Reward Points are also earned with non-Internet, everyday purchases wherever MasterCard is accepted. Points are redeemable for shipping discounts and vouchers that can be used to shop on eBay or to pay eBay seller fees.

Cardholders will enjoy other benefits with the eBay MasterCard, such as the ability to choose from one of three card designs, and the option to add their eBay User ID to the card. The card also features Safe Shipping, which protects them if their item never arrives. The card fits perfectly with PayPal, as customers can view their account activity within their existing PayPal account. Additional benefits include zero percent liability for unauthorized purchases, 24/7 customer service and no annual fee.

eBay will provide promotional and branding support for the eBay MasterCard. GE Money Bank will be responsible for issuing the card, and providing customer service, billing and credit management.

The eBayMasterCard is an expansion of a relationship originally created in June 2004 for GE to offer PayPal Buyer Credit, a private label, revolving credit line available to registered PayPal customers. A PayPal® Plus MasterCard was introduced in May 2006.

New POSLynx220 Version Introduces TransNet™ Payment Engine

Solution makes PC-based payment processing more secure.

Ottawa, June 14 2007 – Precidia Technologies Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of Internet Protocol (IP) payment and networking devices, has announced the release of POSLynx220™ version 2.09, which now supports TransNet™, Precidia’s secure payment engine for PC POS systems.

This new solution eliminates the vulnerability of PC-based systems running payment applications by leveraging the POSLynx220 hardware as a secure server for Precidia’s payment application. The solution can be purchased by vendors and developers to integrate secure payments functionality with complementary applications. Delivering peace of mind with automatic PCI alerts and updates, merchants purchasing TransNet with the POSLynx220 can also take advantage of value added store-level management tools.

Established in hospitality and other retail sectors, PC based systems are ideal for running multiple applications, from inventory to email.When it comes to payments, however, PC systems have one fundamental flaw that TransNet has been designed to address: inadequate security. In order to meet the demanding requirements of cardholder security standards like PCI, the payments function must stand alone separate from other applications running on the PC. The POSLynx220 payment router connects to the PC system, delivering fast IP transactions, enhanced management and statistics, switching for multiple card types and solid security.

Experian and eCredit™ Join for Rapid Credit Decision Service

Toronto, June 11 2007 – Experian®, a global information services company, has announced that it has teamed with eCredit™ a leading provider of online solutions for credit and collections professionals, to launch an end-to-end new account and portfolio management credit decisioning tool.

Powered by eCredit's market-leading credit decisioning technology and integrated with Experian's small-business commercial risk information, Credit Risk Advisor(SM) provides the trade credit community with a powerful tool to more efficiently support new accounts and existing portfolio management.

With automated workflow functionality and configurable decisioning criteria, Credit Risk Advisor enables users to develop and easily implement a robust credit policy that identifies areas of risk and opportunity across their entire portfolio. The new service also provides clients with flexible scorecards that meet the evolving demands of trade credit companies, including manufacturers, wholesalers and transportation businesses.

Credit Risk Advisor automates the new account decisioning process by allowing business credit applications to be entered and instantly evaluated in a paperless online environment. All account information including Experian credit scores, payment history, notes and approved credit limits can be electronically routed within the credit department or between credit and sales, enabling clients to save time, reduce out-ofpolicy exceptions and improve cash-management productivity. The new service also will evaluate account portfolios using automated customer-defined rules and will aid in the immediate identification of unwarranted credit exposures before significant problems arise.

MasterCard Wins Injunction Against Visa

New York, June 08 2007 – Federal Judge Barbara Jones ruled that Visa's Settlement Service Fee (“SSF”), implemented in the wake of the settlement of the merchant lawsuit in 2003, was unlawful and must be repealed, MasterCard reported today.

“This is a significant win forMasterCard and its customers,” said Noah J. Hanft, MasterCard general counsel. “With this roadblock out of the way, financial institutions will not be deterred by this coercive fee and can make decisions based on their best judgment about quality of service, strength of brand and other competitive factors that benefit their cardholders.”Mr.Hanft continued, “Banks that were prevented fromfully evaluating MasterCard’s debit offering because of the SSF will now be permitted to terminate their agreements with Visa in order to issue MasterCard debit cards.”

In addition to requiring that Visa repeal the SSF, Judge Jones also issued an order allowing all of Visa’s top 100 debit issuers, with Visa debit agreements that were signed while the SSF was in place, to terminate such agreements in the event that they enter into a new agreement with MasterCard to issue debit cards on MasterCard’s network. In the coming months, all issuing financial institutions in the United States must be notified of the remedy in Judge Jones' decision.

Judge Jones found that the SSF effectively prevented Visa’s top 100 debit issuers from issuing on MasterCard’s network. Mr. Hanft said Visa's intention to put in place a coercive fee to block issuers frommaking independent brand decisions was unmasked by the Court through extensive evidence, including Visa’s own internal documents.

Alliance Data’s Canadian Loyalty Business Signs Multi-Year Agreement with Leading Insurance Company

St-John, NF, June 7 2007 – Alliance Data Systems Corporation, a leading provider of loyalty and marketing solutions derived from transaction-rich data, announced that Roins Financial Services Limited (RFSL) has signed a multi-year agreement in which its affiliates Royal & SunAlliance and Johnson Inc. will become national sponsors in Alliance Data's Canadian AIR MILES® Reward Program. Beginning June 1st, eligible collectors receive reward miles on premiums paid for home or auto insurance policies underwritten and distributed through participating RFSL affiliate companies.

As a leading home, car and business insurance company, Royal & SunAlliance will offer the AIR MILES Reward Program through a large network of independent insurance brokers representing Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada andWestern Assurance Company.

TheAIRMILES Reward ProgramisCanada's premier coalition loyalty program, with approximately two-thirds of Canadian households actively collecting reward miles. AIRMILES collectors earn reward miles at more than 100 leading brand-name sponsors representing thousands of retail and service locations across Canada. AIR MILES reward miles can be redeemed for more than 800 different rewards, such as travel, movie passes, entertainment attractions, electronic merchandise and more.

Founded in 1880, Johnson Inc. is today one of Canada's leading insurance and benefit providers. Headquartered in St. John's, Newfoundland, the company has more than 60 locations across Canada from which it will offer the AIR MILES Reward Programtogether with its award-winning customer service. Johnson Inc. will offerAIR MILES rewardmiles on regularmarket home and auto insurance policies underwritten by Unifund Assurance Company. Johnson Inc. and Unifund Assurance Company share common ownership.

EMC Announces Acquisition of Verid

Toronto, June 4, 2007 – EMC Corporation, the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, announced that it has acquired Verid, Inc., a privately held information security technology leader based in Florida that delivers knowledge-based authentication solutions to millions of users worldwide, through some of the largest consumer-facing financial institutions, telecom providers and retailers. The acquisition is complete and further details of the transaction are not being disclosed.

The addition of Verid marks a significant enhancement in EMC's commitment, through its RSA division to providing protection, visibility and business acceleration at every point of the user verification process. RSA is now strongly positioned to offer continuous security. Starting with the initial user identity verification and maintaining perpetual vigilance throughout the lifecycle of the relationship, across the various channels of user interaction.

The comprehensive RSA® Adaptive Authentication suite will now cover the identity verification process from end-to-end, through a new two-tier approach:

1. Initial Authentication: Verification at the time of enrolment or when an account is opened. This initial stage determines the level of trust that can be applied to an identity, its account and all future transactions.

2. Ongoing Authentication: Once the initial relationship has been established with certainty and a credential has been issued, all subsequent authentication activities can be managed and tailored individually, using appropriate levels of security according to specific scenarios and risk.

Verid's technology and expertise adds advantages to RSA and EMC customers in both of these tiers. Initial authentication will be established using knowledge-based techniques, in conjunction with RSA's recognized risk engine and the RSA® eFraudNetworksm community.

NCR Study Shows Consumers Are Driving Self-Service

Mississauga, June 21 2007 –On-the-go consumers prefer to handle an increasing number of transactions themselves through self-service devices, and are more likely to do business with companies that make it easier to for them to do so, according to a major new study conducted by BuzzBack Market Research for NCR Corporation.

More than three out of four (77%) of the 633 U.S. and Canadian consumers polled said they aremore likely to do business with organizations that offer self-service, and 92% value combining mobile devices with the Internet and self-service kiosks or ATMs to improve their overall service experience.

Some of the more frequently cited transactions respondents said they would like to see automated through multipurpose kiosks include: renewing drivers’ licenses or vehicle registration (76%); checking the status of items ordered online (71%); purchasing transit or airline tickets (62%); making photo copies (57%); and ordering flowers, books and other items (54%). The top-three locations where respondents would like to see this type of convenience are in airports (70%); malls (65%); and grocery stores (55%).

Respondents also showed a strong preference for self-service when it comes to printing on-the-go. An overwhelming majority (85% to 94%) of respondents indicated they would prefer to use self-service to print items such as maps, tickets, schedules, coupons and other items while banking, shopping, travelling, dining or visiting a medical clinic.

Most consumers showed a preference for serving themselves across a number of industries. However, results indicate many respondents prefer to obtain personal assistance with more consultative, financial transactions. For example, 74% said they would prefer to speak with someone to obtain investment advice, 73% would prefer this option for purchasing insurance, and 69% would like assistance obtaining mortgage advice.

Background on survey methodology:

A total of 633 U.S. and Canadian respondents, at least 18 years old, participated in this study. The total sample is representative for age, gender, household income and region.

Hayton Systems Chooses Precidia for Mobile Asset Tracking

Ottawa,May 30 2007 – Precidia Technologies Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of Internet Protocol (IP) payment and networking devices, announced that the iPocket232 has been selected by leading industrial data collection and management provider Hayton Systems. The solution provided by the iPocket232 tracks assets nation-wide for key customers including Verizon Communications. The iPocket232 works withHayton System’s complete handheldmobile scanning package, providing the reliable network connectivity required to transmit status data on company assets from any location nationwide, directly to corporate head office.

Hayton Systems customizes a Handheld Products (HHP) handheld computer with its software and a modem. Customers like Verizon depend on Hayton Systems’ solution to track assets such as power supplies and circuit cards via transactions carried out on theHHP handheld device.With the iPocket232 embedded in the device, users have two options for mobile connectivity: internet and dial, depending on what type of service is available to them. These mobile transactions, which include installs, removals, modifications and movements between locations, are carried by the iPocket232 over an Ethernet network for real-time updates to a central office database.

Precidia president Deepak Wanner points to Hayton Systems as an example of using internet technology to improve customer solutions: “Hayton Systems has designed a mobile solution that is ideal for a wide range of industries, including industrial”, said Mr.Wanner. “By integrating networking capability into this solution, customers have a greater range of options available to them with respect to the transmission of asset tracking data to a central office”.

Cognera Corp. in the Top 4 Meter-to-Cash Business Process Outsourcing Vendors in North America

Calgary, May 31 2007 – Cognera Corp. announced that its outsourced energy billing solution has been recognized as one of the Top 4 Meter-to-Cash Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solutions in the North American market, as per the 2007 Technology Vendor Analysis Matrix (TVAM) rankings released by UtiliPoint International, Inc.

The TVAM is a survey and analysis tool that is based on describing and evaluating utility and energy technology, not just on a "features and functions" basis, but around the more important metrics of architecture, cost of ownership, service delivery, and the cultural relationship between technology suppliers and utilities. The TVAM report ranked Cognera highly in several BPO metric categories including Commitment to Outsourcing, Organizational Strengths, Insurance and Risk Mitigation, and Platform Surety.

Cognera is a leading provider of settlement and retail billing solutions for competitive energy retailers and regulated utilities using a combined Business Process Outsourcing and Software as a Service model. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Cognera delivers a unique and modular software solution that manages complex billing processes, while allowing clients to retain access to their core customer data.

Barclays Canada Launches New iShares ™ Small Cap ETFs

Toronto, May 15 2007 – Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited announced the launch of Canada's first small cap Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs): iShares CDN SmallCap Index Fund (XCS) and iShares CDN Russell 2000(R) Index Fund (XSU).

"With the introduction of the new iShares small cap funds, investors will now have unprecedented access to the equity market in Canada, while also accessing the US small capmarket without the currency risk," saidHeather Pelant,Head of Business Development, iShares, while introducing the new funds to investment advisors during a briefing in Toronto.

Pelant explained that a small-cap company is generally a newer and faster growing company. In Canada, small-cap companies generally have a market capitalization between $100 million and $1.5 billion. In the US, which is a much larger market, the average small-cap company has a market capitalization of about $150 billion. The funds are the first of their kind to be traded in Canada.

"Until now, we have not had a good small cap benchmark in Canada," John De Goey, CFP. Senior Financial Advisor, Burgeonvest Securities and author of The Professional Financial Advisor II. "The new iShares small cap ETFs will provide an important diversifier for any investment portfolio and greatly benefit investors who find themselves heavily over weighted in large cap. Essentially, it is the cure for what has ailed Canadian investors to date."

The new iShares Small Cap funds include:

iShares CDN SmallCap Index Fund, XCS will be the first exchange traded fund to track the new S&P/TSX SmallCap Index. XCS is expected to give investors a better ability to express their views on Canadian equity exposure based on market capitalization.

iSharesCDNRussell 2000 Index Fund, XSUwill provide increased flexibility for investors to choose US small cap exposure without currency risk. Through XSU, Barclays Canada is offering Canadian-dollar hedged exposure to the Russell 2000 Index, which is comprised of smaller US public issuers.

The launch of iShares small cap funds was coupled with the launch of Canada's first Socially Responsible ETF: iShares CDN Jantzi Social Index(R) Fund (XEN). All three funds will began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on May 18, 2007.

BANKS PLAY DEFENSE AT HOUSE OF COMMONS STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE - Issue 17 - June 2007

2009-04-30T13:56:00.000-04:00

BANKS PLAY DEFENSE AT HOUSE OF COMMONS STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

Ottawa, April 17, 19, 2007. When MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis asked all the banks appearing before FINA and MP’s present whether anyone supported her draft bill to end bank ATM surcharges, there was laughter in the room and one heckler said “not even the competition bureau”. That moment encapsulated the extent to which Canadian banks and Interac have cast the status quo in stone and short of an NDP government, no change appears imminent on this topic. Testimony by Richard Taylor of the Competition Bureau did not raise concerns over competition in today's banking services market, but instead reiterated the position taken by the Bureau in its 1996 consent order on Interac. The full minutes of all FINA hearings on ATM fees and electronic payments are available via the FT web site, fronteritimes.

One after another, Canada's big banks, CIBC, NBC, RBC, TD, BMO and BNS went under the spotlight of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) to justify the status quo of levying surcharges on ATM transactions of noncustomers. None of the witnesses who appeared before FINA who is invested in the current business plan of ATM machines had criticism of the surcharges that are disliked by most Canadians and have attracted the ire of the NDP under the leadership of MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis. A group of witnesses representing community organizations, such as the Canadian Community Reinvestment Coalition, the Canadian Consumer Initiative and Consumers Association of Canada complained about the cost of accessing cash to disadvantaged and rural Canadians as well as the lack of transparency on the part of the banks in disclosing the correlation, if any, between cost and pricing of ATM surcharges.

FINA also heard from a third group of witnesses in the form of Canadian payments entrepreneurs such as Joseph Iuso and Brian Crozier of UseMyBank, an online payment facilitator and Susan Ransom of VisionCraft Development Corporation, a cheque imaging and EFT business. The entrepreneurs were less opinionated on ATM surcharges than the banks and community groups, but did have complaints concerning the lack of competitiveness in Canadian payments markets owing to bank dominance therein and the lack of accountability of banks in respect of preventing cheque fraud.

Cost and Competition

Each of the witnesses on the defense of the status quo on ATM fees sidestepped the question of how the amount of ATM surcharges, also known as convenience fees, are actually calculated and what relationship they bear to the actual cost of supplying the services. Wasylycia-Leis posed the question pointedly to the banks: “All of you, as banks, charge up to $5.15, if you apply every single cost. That is a mark-up of what, 500% or 600% or more? It seems to me that it's well beyond the notion of gouging. Gouging is after 15% or 20%, is it not?”

Responses to this line of questioning from the banks included the following:

TD: “The issue of fees and costs in particular, I know, are of interest to this committee, and it's a complicated question to answer. First, I'm not about to disclose my cost structure, especially with my competition sitting right beside me. That is proprietary information, and we do compete strongly.”

BMO: “I will have to echo the comments made on that subject earlier. First of all, the matter of costs on any one service is a very challenging thing to determine, and we would not disclose it if we did have those costs.”

BNS: “[…] So we don't look at this as one specific cost setter. It's part of an integrated part of opening up a new branch system. We don't divulge that for competitive reasons.”

Interac: “Interac Association does not set or regulate fees charged by our members to consumers or merchants. In fact, as an association of competitors, competition law expressly prohibits us from setting or influencing this marketplace pricing. We are, however, committed to full and fair fee disclosure for consumers. Our regulations require ABM operators to display their fees, providing consumers with an opportunity to cancel a transaction if they do not wish to pay the fee.”

The cost for a bank to supply an ATM transaction to a customer of another bank that is a member of Interac does not constitute a large portion of the typical $1.50 surcharge charged to Canadian ATM users. MPs observed that it is impossible to discern how the banks compete on the surcharge issue given that the surcharges are of uniform amount, usually $1.50. Banks were represented on this issue in the media and initially at FINA by the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA), evidencing at least some level of cooperation between banks on the surcharges issue. In another example of bank uniformity on the issue, five of the six banks that testified at FINA made a point of stating what percentage of their own customers' transactions were carried out at their own ATM machines. Here are the numbers:

BNS 75%

TD 80%

CIBC 90%

RBC 80%

BMO 85%

According to testimony of the CBA, ATM fee revenue to Canadian banks is about $153 million and as a percentage of bank revenues that would be some very small fraction of 1%. The 10% to 20% of transactions carried out by customers at machines that are not of their bank therefore constitute all of the $153 million in ATM fee revenue.

UseMyBank

UseMyBank, that was profiled in Issue 5 of the FT, had three principal points to make to the committee. The first was a demand that regulators, by amendment to Rule H-6, treat the Canadian banking system as an infrastructure operated by the banks, to which access should become a matter of right rather than privilege for non-FIs such as UseMyBank. Iuso, of UseMyBank, cited access to telephone infrastructure as a precedent for this kind of promotion of healthy competition. The second was a call for a change to Rule E-2 such that electronic payments need not be initiated by the bank's website, thereby allowing third parties to participate in the payment process. The current rule creates a monopoly for the banks on initiation of electronic payments.

Finally, UseMyBank, leaning on the infrastructure status of banks in Canada, called for an extension of the Bank Act regulation requiring banks to open accounts for almost any individual to include rights of access to banking services for corporations.

VisionCraft

On the subject of bank liability for fraudulent cheques, Susan Ransom of VisionCraft Development Corporation testified that the CPA 006 standard is currently implemented, “consumers are being subjected to excessive cost and risk and VisionCraft sees these increasing in the future. The portion that dealt with cheque scanning in Bill C-37 is one page. The equivalent U.S. legislation, which is generally called Check 21, is 18 pages plus a 144-page final rule, which provides recourse to consumers in the face of mistakes and losses caused by scanning. Check 21 does not require scanning or truncation of cheques. It is voluntary. The banks are acting as a cartel in this matter, and no one is being given a choice. This is directly in contravention to what's happening in the U.S., where the universal commercial code requires that all cheque issuers put as many fraud features as possible on their cheques or they risk liability should a fraudulent cheque be passed.

For a full pallet of links and background on the FINA hearings, please visit the FT web site frontiertimes.ca.

EMERGIS LEADS IN CANADIAN PCI COMPLIANCE

Montreal, April 19 07 - Emergis Inc. announced the launch of its Payment Card Industry (PCI) security services as part of its Assure Security solutions portfolio. “We are proud to be the first Canadian company to be certified by PCI to provide complianceservices,” said Yogen Appalraju, Vice-President, of Security Solutions at Emergis. In the U.S. there are at least a dozen PCI consulting entities already actively helping banks, merchants and processors become compliant with the standard that most industry participants agree is de rigueur.

In an interview with the FT Appalraju explained that they will be initially targeting level 1, 4A and 4B merchants as potential clients. When asked what percentage of Canadian merchants he believed were non-complaint, Appalraju said “a lot”. Amex has reportedly sent letters to Canadian merchants giving notice of a fine that will be imposed on merchants that were not compliant as of March 2007.

Appalraju said that Emergis' PCI compliance services are distinguished from other suppliers of such services by the skills and experience of the bilingual Emergis team which includes individuals who used to work on the enforcement side of compliance.

In the U.S. former Visa and MasterCard compliance officers can fetch top dollar consulting on how to comply with the PCI standard.

The PCI Data Security Standard (DSS), established in 2006 and endorsed by American Express, Discover Financial, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa International, requires merchants and service providers that store, process or transmit customer payment card data to adopt information security controls and processes to ensure data integrity. Participating payment brands require PCI DSS compliance reports by a certified third-party assessor for merchants and service providers that process credit card transactions to achieve compliance.

“The PCI Security Standards Council is committed to helping everyone involved in the payment chain protect consumer payment data. By receiving QSA and ASV certification, Emergis is playing an active part in this important end goal,” said Seana Pitt, chairperson, for PCI Security Standards Council.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Watching FINA hear from witnesses representing consumer groups and banks on the ATM fee issue, it was clear that (a) the Government is not motivated to intervene in the sector and (b) Members of Parliament know very little about how electronic payments in Canada actually work.

From the perspective of the Canadian payments entrepreneur, the main issue is access to the Canadian banking infrastructure. Whether it be Interac access, old fashioned wire transfers, EFT, EMT, USACH via Canadian banks or credit card acquiring, Canadian payments businesses are perennially stalled by banks that tend to dominate the Canadian payments field. As electronic payments, micro-payments and fee-based electronic subscription services become an ever larger portion of our economy, Canadian banks will hopefully realize the business they are now leaving on the table by excluding payments entrepreneurs from leveraging their infrastructure to make money for all concerned.

If you have a positive story about a Canadian bank that is endeavoring to help build your Canadian payments business, let us know, because we want to write about you.

Thanks to all our readers for their outstanding support following on our last issue. In appreciation of your support, we have made this issue a special twelve page issue.

From all of us at the FT, we wish you a great Canadian start to the summer.

Adam N. Atlas

Editor in Chief

atlas@frontiertimes.ca

NEWS

VersaPay and Chase Paymentech to Market Payment Processing Services in Canada

Vancouver, May 07 - VersaPay Corporation, a national Canadian sales organization providing payment processing and financial transaction solutions, has signed an agreement with Chase Paymentech to offer businesses a single source selection in processing credit, debit and customized gift card transactions.

Leveraging Chase Paymentech's powerful payments technology, VersaPay will provide Canadian merchants the ability to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Interac Direct Debit and Interac Online as well as FlexCache, Chase Paymentech's customizable stored value gift card program. VersaPay will further enhance its B2B payment platform by integrating with Chase Paymentech's technology infrastructure.

In making the announcement, Mark Lachance, President of VersaPay said, "We are excited to have forged a relationship with Chase Paymentech. They have proven to be a phenomenal technology and network provider and we look forward to leveraging our synergies and providing the Canadian marketplace with unparalleled service."

Sam Jawad, President, Chase Paymentech Canada thinks this agreement creates a great opportunity for both companies. "Today's consumers demand choice and we are pleased to be working with VersaPay to enable merchants to provide the full spectrum of payment acceptance. Additionally, Chase Paymentech's FlexCache will allow many businesses to profit from the rapid growth of the gift card market."

China's UnionPay Coming to Canada

Canada, March 27 07 - China UnionPay will expand into eight more overseas markets this year to boost its share in the international market.

UnionPay, the country's sole trans-bankcard system operator, will venture into countries including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Egypt, South Africa, England and Canada this year, said Yan Qiang, assistant president of UnionPay.

The Shanghai-based company has already set up its foothold in 25 countries and regions including the United States, Germany, Hong Kong and Japan. China UnionPay Co expects double-digit growth in its overseas card-based transactions this year as more Chinese travel aboard.

Bankcard-based transactions topped 25.5 billion Yuan (approx. US $3.3 billion) last year in overseas markets, nearly double the level a year ago.

Building up the UnionPay brand into a world-class payment method is on Shanghai's five-year plan to become a world financial hub. UnionPay also has big ambitions to further expand its business in China.

UnionPay is the sole player for inter-bank local currency bankcard payment switching in China. It was set up in March 2002 with a registered capital of 1.65 billion Yuan by 80-plus financial institutions, including the country's big-four state-owned banks and other major commercial lenders.

First Data International Signs WestJet in Canada

Toronto, April 23 07 - First Data International, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment services, announced that it has signed a merchant acquiring processing agreement with WestJet, Canada's second largest airline. First Data will provide WestJet with merchant acquiring processing services including Visa and MasterCard.

"We are pleased to be working with WestJet," said Peter Harrington, President, Latin America and Canada, First Data International. "This is a significant and strategic win for First Data in Canada, and it demonstrates the trust our clients place on us to deliver value through our innovative and reliable electronic processing solutions."

"First Data was clearly the right partner for us based on their extensive experience in the Canadian travel market, and their ability to deliver a comprehensive range of services to meet our business needs," said Hugh Dunleavy, WestJet Executive Vice- President Commercial Distribution. "We look forward to building a long-term relationship with them."

First Data provides merchant acquiring and card issuing payment processing services throughout Canada. The company combines its worldwide expertise with local market knowledge to build new partnerships, strengthen client relationships and deliver market-tailored solutions to the region. First Data continues to bring its clients in-country expertise from offices in Canada.

Chungho Chooses the Hercules+ Wireless for ATMs

Saint-John, March 30 07 - Chungho Canada Inc. chooses DPL's Hercules+ Wireless Modem to sell with their ATMs. “We are excited to work with the DPL Group. The Hercules+ units provide our resellers with fast, secure connectivity - at a great price” says Eugene Kim.

The Hercules+ is Canada's Premier Wireless Solution for ATMs. In addition to its ease of use, it supports ATM Management using the Manufacture's Software and has a Theft Alarm Module, AC Disconnect Module and Signal Strength Meter available.

The DPL Group is a Saint John, N.B. Company. Visit the web site http://www.dpl.ca or call 506-635-0055.

MuchMusic Launches Card for Teens

Toronto, March 12 07 - MuchMusic has confirmed it is going where no music station has gone before, into the prepaid card business. Parents will be able to control how much money their kids can spend using this special Prepaid MasterCard, to ensure they don't go into debt or spend too much. It's seen as a good way to match a teen-friendly brand (MuchMusic) with a chance to educate youth about how to manage their money.

Cash can be added to the card at most banks or an ATM and parents will be able to monitor the transactions over the web. They can also oversee the accounts for those between the ages of 13 and 15, while anyone over 16 can apply for a card on their own. That's not all, a full 10 percent of all the profits from the card will go to support War Child Canada, a charity that helps kids affected by conflicts across the globe.

All new cardholders get 10 free downloads from

MuchMusic.com and a 15 percent discount from the MuchStore. It costs just under $35 plus tax, there are no monthly fees and you can add as much money to it as you can afford or want your kids to have.

New Gift & Loyalty Card Solution from STS and Precidia

Ottawa, April 2 07 - Precidia Technologies Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of Internet Protocol (IP) payment and networking devices, together with leading gift card and customer loyalty program provider Smart Transaction Systems (STS), announced the Class B certification of Precidia's POSLynx220™ payment router.

This certification offers merchants a wider range of routing options for gift, loyalty, stored value and multiapplication cards, as well as payments. The POSLynx220 delivers fast, secure and cost-effective routing of these transactions to their respective processors, using existing cash register systems or payment terminals.

The multiport POSLynx220 can route transactions from any existing cash register, terminal, or other point-of-sale device, to the processor's host, speeding transactions, and eliminating the cost of dedicated dial lines. The return on investment is fast for organizations with multiple points of sale.

ITSportsNet and NXGEN Provide On-Line Payment Services to Canadian Sports

Calgary, March 8, 07 - ITSportsNet, a recognized leader in registration, league management, website, and communication solutions for sports organizations, and NXGEN Canada, a leading payment services provider, announced an agreement that will further extend secure, fast and cost effective on-line payment options to sports clubs and leagues in Canada and internationally.

As a result of this agreement, ITSportsNet will strengthen its already complete turn-key solution to sports organizations by providing improved options for the collection of on-line payments for players' enrolments and purchases made by participating club websites.

NXGEN Canada is an authorized reseller of NOVA Information Systems Canada, an affiliate of NOVA Information Systems (NOVA).

CSI Acquires Institute of Canadian Bankers

Toronto, March 30 07 - CSI Global Education Inc. (CSI) announced that it has acquired The Institute of Canadian Bankers (ICB), a division of Thomson Canada Ltd., a Thomson Corporation company. The transaction will close before the end of March.

CSI is one of Canada's leading providers of interactive educational services to the financial services industry. Its purpose is to enhance the knowledge and skills required by securities and financial services professionals in Canada and abroad.

The Institute of Canadian Bankers is a leader in the field of innovative and client-focused financial services training and education offering self-paced, distance, online, and classroom learning in addition to its consulting services to professionals in more than 40 countries. It awards four professional designations, delivers one of the most sought after mutual funds licensing courses in Canada, and offers a Bachelor of Commerce degree in partnership with Nipissing University and a Master of Business Administration in Financial Services degree in partnership with Dalhousie University and the University of Quebec at Montreal.

ICB was founded in 1967 as part of the Canadian Bankers Association and acquired by Thomson Corporation in 2004. It has offices in Montreal and Toronto. The specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Operations of both organizations will continue as usual for the time being and all commitments to students currently enrolled in ICB courses will be honored.

Chase Launches New Card in Canada

Toronto, March 20 07 - Chase Card Services, a division of

JPMorgan Chase announced the launch of the Chase Gold

MasterCard®, the company's first proprietary credit card for

Canadian consumers. The new card offers card members savings

with a low introductory interest rate on balance transfers, no

annual fee and many other benefits.

The Chase Gold MasterCard marks Chase's third card

offering in Canada. In 2005, Chase entered the Canadian

market with the acquisition of the Sears Canada credit card

portfolio. Most recently, Chase introduced its new Marriott

Rewards® Platinum Visa® Card in Canada. Further

demonstrating its commitment to the Canadian market, the

company recently announced plans to hire 100 Ottawa-area

employees and will also expand jobs in Toronto to support its

credit card business in Canada.

“The Chase Gold MasterCard is another extension of Chase's

mission to offer Canadian consumers high-quality products and

services,” said Sherri Silver, senior vice president, Chase Card

Services, Canada. “We look forward to introducing many other

credit card related products and services in the near future.”

Gold MasterCard Benefits:

Chase is launching the new Gold MasterCard by offering a

limited first-time offer of a low introductory rate for six months on

balance transfers and no annual fee. Other product features include:

o Acceptance at over 24 million locations internationally;

o 24/7 customer service with MasterCard Global Assist;

o Zero liability on unauthorized purchases;

o Cash access at nearly one million ATMs and bank locations; and

o Emergency card replacement.

Credit Card Fees Pile Up

Mississauga, March 19 07 - Credit card issuers have adopted

some new policies that could make consumers pay more. It's not

enough that they charge interest rates of 18 to 20 per cent a year

on credit cards when the banks' prime rate is 6 per cent. They're

also dinging you with extra fees and changing the way they

calculate interest, so you have to wait longer to get an interest-free

grace period if you miss a payment.

BMO is one of three Canadian banks (along with RBC and

CIBC) to change its method of calculating interest. Suppose you

make a partial or late payment in April. This means you will get

an interest-free period on new purchases only in July - assuming

you pay in full in both June and July.

With the old method, no interest would be charged on new

purchases made in May, as long as you paid your balance by the

June due date.

Companies using the old method include Canadian Tire,

Citizens Bank, HSBC Bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Laurentian

Bank, National Bank, Scotia bank and TD Canada Trust. Others

using the new method include Amex Bank, Citibank, MBNA

Canada and Wells Fargo Financial Corp.

You can find out which method your card issuer uses by

checking the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's updated

credit card comparisons.

Credit card issuers are also becoming more aggressive in their

marketing. You might end up with a new card or a payment

protection plan simply by agreeing to receive information.

According to the FCAC's comparison tables, most credit card

issues now also have over-the-limit fees. They range from $20 to $35.

New NetVu™ Facilitates Processing for Convenience Stores

Ottawa, April 10 07 - Precidia Technologies Inc., a global leader in the design and manufacture of Internet Protocol (IP) payment and networking devices, announced today the release of NetVu™ version 2.3. This new release of the popular management server is the result of consultations with the convenience store industry's major players, incorporating features such as PCI compliance automation and remote application download.

Designed to work alongside the POSLynx220 and other products such as the iPocket232, NetVu delivers the widest range of deployment, management and security features in the payments industry today.

In much the same way an anti-virus package protects a PC, NetVu automatically updates the POSLynx220 as new threats are recognized and standards evolve. In addition, NetVu's design reflects PCI standards, compelling compliance with strict password rules and audit logs of operator activity. These features effectively deliver security insurance to merchants, ensuring ongoing PCI compliance today and into the future.

Another key feature in this newly released version of NetVu is the ability to remotely download configurations to a field device. Remote configuration and application download is critical for major oil and convenience store chains, providing a simple, cost effective means of standardizing operators on the same applications and versions. This capability contributes to NetVu's reputation for dramatically cutting support costs. With NetVu monitoring and actively managing the end device, help desks can remotely detect the root of problems, for fast resolution. To make 24/7 support even easier, existing help desk applications can be interfaced to NetVu through standard web services.

Moneris Solutions President and CEO Jim Baumgartner Elected President of Electronic Transactions Association

Toronto, April 23 07 - Jim Baumgartner, President and CEO of Moneris Solutions Corporation, Canada's largest provider of debit and credit payment services for merchants, has been elected President of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA).

ETA is the international trade association serving the needs of organizations offering payment processing products and services with over 500 member companies from seven different countries. Most of the ETA's activities are in the U.S.

Baumgartner's presidency, announced at the 2007 Electronic Transactions Association Annual Meeting and Expo, held last week in Las Vegas, Nevada will take effect on July 1, 2007. He will be the ETA's 16th president since the organization's inception in 1990.

"Jim Baumgartner is an exceptional leader and someone who has always put the needs and well being of ETA and its members first," said ETA Executive Director, Carla Balakgie. "We are thrilled to have him as our new President."

In 2005, Baumgartner was named ETA Member of the Year, an award presented to a member who embodies the true spirit of ETA by demonstrating exemplary leadership skills while contributing time, effort, and ideas that have resulted in significant contributions to the success of the association.

"I am honored to serve as the next leader of this outstanding organization," Baumgartner told the more than 3,000 payment professionals from CEOs to sales agents attending the ETA meeting this week.

"As president of the ETA, I will seek to build upon the efforts of my predecessors to listen, to respond to the needs of our membership and to promote the growth and integrity of electronic payments."

FabulousSavings Launches the Essentials Program through GetBusiness.ca

Toronto, April 23 07 - FabulousSavings, an award-winning Internet marketing company specializing in delivering highly targeted browsers and turning them into loyal customers, announced the launch of their popular Essentials program through Getbusiness.ca as the first step in the program's highly anticipated global expansion.

The FabulousSavings.com Essentials program which has been developed and perfected over eight years helps small and medium sized businesses in local communities to get online and Get Business. Basically, the Essentials program allows business owners to do what they do best: focus on their business rather than trying to figure out how to become a web marketer.

Getbusiness.ca adds to FabulousSavings' growing list of achievements and innovations in the online marketing field. The company was named one of the top affiliate marketers in Canada and won the coveted 2006 Innovative Affiliate of the Year Award at the prestigious Third Annual LinkShare Golden Link Awards held in New York. All of these awards and accolades are based on the Essentials program modified for American retailers.

With Getbusiness.ca, FabulousSavings intends to expand on the success of their popular Essentials program by reaching out to small business, the one commercial sector that has - up to now - been unable to join the e-commerce revolution.

Three Arrested in York Region Bank Machine Scam

Toronto, March 14 07 - The work by two off-duty York Region police officers have led to the arrest of three people and the recovery of more than $18,000 in connection with a spree of fraudulent ATM transactions.

Police contacted a number of financial institutions, and after identifying specific bank accounts, recovered more than $18,000 in cash. Investigators believe the culprits made more than 40 fraudulent bank transactions in a span of 35 minutes.

The trio face 47 charges, including fraud over $5,000, possession of credit card data, disguise with intent and driving while disqualified.

NXGEN Payment Services Appoints Giuseppe Caltabiano as Chief Operating Officer

Whitefish, May 07 - NXGEN Payment Services, a leading MSP for both NOVA Information Systems and Cynergy Data, has named Giuseppe Caltabiano as its chief operating officer (COO). Caltabiano will be responsible for managing and directing NXGEN's operational functions for its North American and International facilities. As COO, Caltabiano will report directly to CEO Thomas Nitopi. Mr. Caltabiano will retain his functions and title of President of NXGEN International.

Caltabiano joins NXGEN with more than 15 years experience in senior management positions. Prior to joining the NXGEN Family, Mr. Caltabiano was CyberNet Inc.'s (a Korean Vendor in the top ten of payment industry suppliers) President of WorldWide Operations, responsible for all of CyberNet's international operations, including payment product sales, support and marketing. He brings with him 20 years of experience in the high tech industry worldwide, including 8 years at VeriFone as vice president of business development in Asia Pacific and as one of the founding members of VeriFone's European operations.

He has held business development positions at Olivetti, Philips, and Fingross Card Systems. Immediately prior to joining CyberNet, he was the vice president of IT and business development for GemWare and the general manager of Tranzkorp, an Australian enterprise that has developed and marketed both magnetic-stripe card, smartcard and Internet based loyalty programs. Giuseppe holds a Doctorate in Electronics and Computer Science, University of Milan, Italy and a Master of Business Administration, University of Milan, Italy.

Culligan Enters Financial Partnership with GE Money Canada

Saskatchewan, May 9 07 - GE Money, the Canadian consumer lending unit of General Electric Company has reached an agreement with Culligan, a global innovator of highquality water treatment solutions for business and residential use, in which GE Money will provide financing for consumers purchasing Culligan's products.

GE Money's approach to financing offers special promotional and everyday financing options, such as rapid credit decisions and the timely disbursement of funds. This enables faster service to consumer clientele and has been shown to contribute to an increase in sales.

The agreement between Culligan and GE Money is for the sale of Culligan products across its Canadian dealer network. The company has 50 dealers across Canada.