Sept/Oct 2013
The Magazine of Transactions, Cards & EBPP in Canada
Game changers What’s new in alternative payments? also in this issue:
CELEBRATING WOMEN IN PAYMENTS ❱ WIP Award Winners ❱ The new face of Moneris
PM 4 0 0 5 0 8 0 3
table of contents
September/October 2013 Volume 4 Number 5 Editor Amy Bostock amy@paymentsbusiness.ca Publisher Mark Henry mark@paymentsbusiness.ca
COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4
18 One On One
Segment Update
FEATURES
Celebrating
Contributors Kristy Duncan, Jordan Rinaldo, Patrick Huynh, Andrew Clachers Creative Direction Jennifer O’Neill jennifer@paymentsbusiness.ca
Women in Payments™ Awards 2013
Photographer Gary Tannyan Advertising Sales Rep Brent White brent@paymentsbusiness.ca President Steve Lloyd steve@paymentsbusiness.ca For subscription, circulation and change of address information, contact subscriptions@ paymentsbusiness.ca Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050803 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department 302-137 Main Street North Markham ON L3P 1Y2 t: 905.201.6600 f: 905.201.6601 info@paymentsbusiness.ca www.paymentsbusiness.ca Subscriptions available for $40.00 year or $60.00 two years. 2012 Lloydmedia Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the publisher. Printed in Canada Reprint permission requests to use materials published in Payments Business should be directed to the publisher.
5
Online Retail: The era of online shopping Why driving additional revenue for your business starts with an online payment solution
Celebrating Women in Payments™ Awards 2013
24
Vertical Market
20
Security, Fraud & Privacy PCI DSS Compliance
Made possible with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation
7
Just how secure is your ecommerce platform?
26
Alternative Payments Game changers
Next issue…
NOvember/december — SME: Finding revenue streams in the largest market september / october 2013
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
3
segment Key theme update
VeriFone delivers POS software platform for tablets to ISOs and acquirers
V
eriFone Systems, Inc. has launched GlobalBay Merchant, a new point of sale software platform and support infrastructure designed to help ISOs and acquirers provide tablet POS solutions to small and medium businesses (SMBs). VeriFone’s GlobalBay Merchant makes it easy for SMBs to order everything they need in a tablet-based POS system, including tablets, VeriFone devices, cash drawers, scanners and printers through VeriFone partners. GlobalBay Merchant is an extension of the VeriFone GlobalBay line of software already in use by a number of sophisticated, highly integrated retail organizations. Currently available for iOS, it is tailored to the needs of SMBs and built for distribution solely through VeriFone channel partners. GlobalBay Merchant provides acquirers and ISOs with secure, easy-to-use payment capabilities and defined interfaces, so that vertical market or customer-specific programs can be rapidly deployed using tablets. GlobalBay Merchant also provides ISOs and acquirers with a complete support infrastructure, including VeriFone’s 24/7 help desk and automated on-boarding processes. “The GlobalBay Merchant software platform creates new opportunities for ISOs and acquirers to grow their business and is now available from a partner that is invested in their success,” said Jennifer Miles, president, VeriFone Americas. “It provides everything that merchants need to support their immediate and future business goals, backed by a comprehensive infrastructure that makes it easy for service providers to sell and support.” SMBs are increasingly interested in using 4
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
tablets as an alternative to electronic cash registers for fixed and mobile POS. But ISOs and acquirers seeking to identify and deploy feature-rich software often find themselves in conflict with the goals of technology providers who are primarily focused on displacing existing processing relationships and are unable or unwilling to work with channel partners. More than a dozen partners representing a base of more than 500,000 merchants have already signed up to sell GlobalBay Merchant to SMBs, including EVO Payments International, a leading payments service provider. “GlobalBay Merchant combines everything merchants need in a POS software platform for tablets with backoffice support and the security and reliability of a trusted partner,” said Jeff Rosenblatt, president of EVO. “The ability to easily integrate GlobalBay Merchant with other VeriFone devices creates an easy path for migration and expansion as merchants grow their businesses and adapt to consumer expectations for mobile wallet acceptance and value-added services at the point of sale.” The company is in discussions with additional ISOs, acquirers and processors representing another 4 million merchants.
Built for VeriFone channel partners GlobalBay Merchant enables ISOs and acquirers to create their own pricing schedules, including flat monthly, discount rate or per-click fees. In addition to support, VeriFone provides sophisticated payments infrastructure, including secure encryption and tokenization, and an ecosystem of POS hardware providers that makes it easy for
ISOs and acquirers to configure their own unique solution. Merchants can opt to order hardware configurations, including tablets, VeriFone devices, cash drawers, scanners and printers through VeriFone partners. Additionally, ISOs and acquirers can configure their tablet POS solutions with the VeriFone PAYware Mobile secure audio reader for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. GlobalBay Merchant also integrates with VeriFone VX payment terminals and consumer-facing MX multimedia payment devices to ensure access to the latest payment technology, including EMV adoption, mobile wallets and value-added services. Additionally, it can be used to access VeriFone’s PAYware Connect gateway, which is capable of routing transactions to all major processors.
Designed for merchants GlobalBay Merchant is easy to use for small merchants, but provides advanced features that mid-size businesses need for fixed POS and in-store mobility, including: • Easy to use, intuitive user interface, that makes it fast and easy to train new personnel • Support for multiple stores, multiple devices per store, and multiple employees • Adding and tracking inventory, scheduling appointments in-store or online • Tracking employee time, commissions, and tips • Sophisticated reporting capabilities, including multi-store consolidation, via a web portal • Access to value-added services and all major payment networks and payment processors
september / october 2013
ONLINE Key RETAIL theme
The era of online shopping
Why driving additional revenue for your business starts with an online payment solution By Jordan Rinaldo
O
nline payment processing solutions are becoming more and more important as cash use continues to decrease over the last five years. Online shoppers are becoming more prevalent and businesses from all verticals are taking to the web to devise online strategies to engage with their customers and create marketing programs that are promoting online shopping over the typical brick and mortar stores.
september / october 2013
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
5
ONLINE RETAIL
One of the great benefits of having an online presence is that customers are able to find out a great deal of information regarding the product without having to head to a store location and speak to sales reps, or tech reps, unless obviously they desire to do so. The amount of information that is presented online creates a comfortable and informative position that customers and shoppers enjoy when making purchases for their products and services. In addition to the amount of information that is presented, enabling online shoppers to do their due diligence and research in order to consistently make an informed decision, online payment processing solutions are much simpler and easier than using cash at a location. When an online shopper chooses to make a purchase, or even begins to inquire about something they wish to purchase, they have a number of ways to make that purchase and an online payment solution provides these options.
Interact payment Although it may seem uncommon, more and more businesses are requesting an option for their customers to be able to pay using their debit cards online. The way an Interac payment works online is very similar to an email money transfer, or an online money transfer. The integration with your online payment processing solution is very simple, and requires very little development,
“ 6
if any. The Interac API integrates into the shopping cart solution for the website, and allows your online customers the option of either paying with a credit card of their choosing or with Interac. There are a number of great advantages to having that option for your online store, the most important being that not all online shoppers want to use their credit cards. With today’s population growing in debt, a lot of consumers are opting to use their debit cards rather than their credit cards in order to better manage their finances, and stop spending money that they might not necessarily have. Look into this solution for your online payment processing, and see the results.
Multi-currency pricing Multi-currency pricing is another great benefit to having an online payment solution for your business. If your are thinking about breaking into over seas markets, or currently have a following in over seas markets but may not have an online presence, an online payment solution with multi-currency pricing is a great way to increase your revenue, and expand your customer base. By providing multi-currency pricing to your customers, you are providing them the ability to purchase your products in their home currency, giving them peace of mind in their purchase. It is a fantastic value add for international customers to know exactly what they will be charged online will be exactly
When customers, not just online customers, feel comfortable with the company and product they are doing business with, they will return again, keeping your customer retention high, and sales even higher.
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
what they will see on their receipt and their credit card statement. This solution reduces confusion, increases customer loyalty, and greatly reduces costly chargebacks. When your online customers know exactly what they are paying, and there are no surprises, there should be no rebuttal when it comes to their statement. Meaning your business does not have to worry about purchases being charged back that directly affect your bottom line.
Online marketing With an online payment solution, you have the ability to get to know your customer base a little bit more. Use social media to attract and keep valued customers by connecting with them through promotions, marketing campaigns, and perhaps a 24/7 live chat. When customers, not just online customers, feel comfortable with the company and product they are doing business with, they will return again, keeping your customer retention high, and sales even higher. Take the time to review your business model, and establish an online presence that will not only drive new customers to your website, but encourage their return. You will be able to connect with a much broader customer spectrum, and establish market areas where your business strives in. Driving additional revenue for your business starts with an online payment solution. Jordan Rinaldo studied Political Science and Economics and has worked in the payment industry for just over three years. For the last two years, he has been with the boutique payment processing company BNA Smart Payments – first in sales, focused on eCommerce solutions, and currently as marketing manager, looking after inbound marketing processes, website content, blog, branding, and concepts.
september / october 2013
Celebrating Women in Payments™ Awards 2013
Key theme
Women in Payments™ Awards 2013:
Letter from the President President
Dear Reader, Dear Reader, Congratulations to the winners of the Women in Congratulations to the of the in Payments™ Awards for winners Innovation and Women Leadership! Payments™ Awards for Innovation and Leadership! This is the second year we’ve held the Women in This is thesymposium, second yearwhere we’vewomen held thecan Women Payments™ learn, in Payments™ symposium, where women can network, and celebrate their achievements inlearn, the network, and celebrate their achievements the160 payments industry. Participation has grown in from payments industry. Participation has grown from 160that women last year, to over 250 this year, which tells me women last year, to over 250 this year, which tells me that it’s meeting a real need for many of us. it’sUnder meeting a real need for many of us. the title of celebrating our achievements, it is Under title ofthat celebrating achievements, it is with greatthe pleasure I’d like toour introduce two awards being presented by Women in Payments™ fortwo theawards first with great pleasure that I’d like to introduce time year. by Women in Payments™ for the first beingthis presented Thethis Women time year. in Payments™ Award for Leadership honours a woman in the industry whofor demonstrates The Women in Payments™ Award Leadership both professional excellence and a commitment to advancing honours a woman in the industry who demonstrates both and supporting women and working in payments. This professional excellence a commitment to advancing leader has a keenwomen ability to inspire,inand freely shares and supporting working payments. This her knowledge experience enable andfreely empower leader has aand keen ability to to inspire, and sharesothers her to achieve their goals. She has coached and mentored knowledge and experience to enable and empower others others within the industry, and has influenced the financial to achieve their goals. She has coached and mentored community by encouraging diversity, learning, and others within the industry, and has influenced the financial professional excellence. community by encouraging diversity, learning, and The Women in Payments™ Award for Innovation professional excellence. honours a woman who has been instrumental in The Women in Payments™ Award for Innovation fostering and promoting innovation of products or honours a woman who has been instrumental in services in the payments industry. She has a keen ability fostering and promoting innovation of products or to inspire creativity in others, and shares her knowledge services in the payments industry. She has a keen ability to inspire creativity in others, and shares her knowledge september / october 2013
and experience to enable and empower others to be and experience to enable and empower others to be innovative. innovative. The awards judges and I were extremely impressed by awards and I were extremely the The quality of thejudges nominations submitted this impressed year, whichby the quality of the nominations submitted this year, which is a tribute to the overall excellence of women working is a tribute to the overall excellence of women working in our field. We were also delighted to see the level of in our field. We were also delighted to see the interest in these awards from across the industry. level The of interest in these from The nominations cameawards on behalf of across womenthe in industry. retail payments, nominations came on behalf of women in retail payments, corporate and commercial payments, emerging payments, and commercial payments, emerging payments, ascorporate well as electronic (EFT/ACH) payments. asInwell as electronic (EFT/ACH) payments. closing, I’d like to thank our panel of judges, In closing, I’d like our panel of judges, themselves leaders in to thethank payments industry here in Canada. These women putpayments a great deal of timehere intoin themselves leaders in the industry reviewing nominations anda providing to the Canada. the These women put great dealinput of time into discussion decide on the winners. The judges reviewingtothe nominations and providing input included to the Murielle Boucher fromon Public Works andThe Government discussion to decide the winners. judges included Services CIBC; Jillian MurielleCanada; BoucherLinda fromHartley Public from Works and and Government Rogers from Bank of Montreal. Services Canada; Linda Hartley from CIBC; and Jillian I look forward to the awards presentation at the Rogers from Bank of Montreal. Women Payments™ symposium on September 25, and I lookinforward to the awards presentation at the I appreciate your ongoing interest and support for Women in Payments™ symposium on Septemberthe 25, and Women in Payments™ Awards for 2014. I appreciate your ongoing interest and support for the Women in Payments™ Awards for 2014.
Kristy Duncan, P. Eng. PRINCIPAL / FOUNDER Kristy Duncan, P. Eng. PRINCIPAL / FOUNDER
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
93
women in payments Payments
Brenda Clark Meet this year’s winner of the Women in Payments™ Award for Innovation By Amy Bostock
4 10
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
Photo by: Gary Tannyan
C
hanging the landscape and making it easier for Canadians to transact in a global context. That’s the challenge that Brenda Clark, Vice-President, Payments Innovation and Integration, Retail and Business Banking at CIBC set out for herself and her team. Having been involved with business development in many forms and in many industries before, Clark knew that this was her niche. “The business development side has a lot of white space,” she says. “It’s very interesting and challenging - trying to find out what will work well for Canadians and what will improve their lives. It is work that takes a lot of collaboration and the chance to work with lots of various bodies of people is what makes it so interesting.” Through the business development opportunities within CIBC she was involved in the conversion from the bank card system to TSYS in an era when very few banks had done that before. She was also a part of the team working on CIBC’s migration from magnetic stripe to chip and was influential at the industry level there. “I was involved in the first introduction of VISA debit in Canada,” she continues, “and the latest project has been working on the NFC mobile payment app that CIBC put out which allows you to load your credit card on the phone,
tap it at an NFC terminal and pay.” During her time in the industry, Clark has seen some significant changes in how banks do business in the payments space. “Sophistication and the way we run things at the industry level and the way each bank approaches projects has become much more disciplined,” she says. “We have a technology methodology now that we created along the way. Back in the day we were mostly working from everyone’s smarts and collaboration but now we have a lot more processes and methodologies that help everyone achieve a greater level of excellence before anything is deployed.” Clark has also seen a real growth in collaboration within the payments space. “The payments industry in Canada always has and continues to work together very well, really collaboratively. For instance the introduction of Interac was done in a collaborative manner as was the Canadian mobile reference model and chip migration
“The industry knows how to get its arms around what is the common part and to leave the differentiating parts for individual competition among organizations. But they find that common piece and move it forward in such a way that benefits both consumers and merchants so that the process for making a payment is consistent and they don’t have to train their staff on five or six different types of payments. It also keeps costs low because there is one standard way of doing things within the industry.” This collaborative model, she says, is what allows payments in Canada to continue innovating. “There is a lot of innovation right now and what will happen over time is that it will narrow down as the ecosystem determines which ones it can commercially support and technologically support. Then that will narrow down and we’ll get to standards on how to do things and then we’ll move on from there and then the innovation will widen again and so on. “The winners will be those
september / october 2013
women in WomenKey payments theme Payments
who have found a way to speak to the broad audience and take everyone’s needs into account and to standardize the technologies that they’re on for cost efficiencies.”
Award win was a team effort
Winning the Women in Payments™ Award for Innovation is a huge honour for Clark and one that she doesn’t take all the credit for. “I’m very grateful to have received the award but I do feel that payments is an ecosystem which is made up of many players. A bank is made up of many players and all of this means that you have to have a broad collaboration and everyone pulling in the same direction. There is a lot of team work going on here. “This award is a reflection of what the team was able to accomplish and what the industry partners were able
to accomplish. It all works to help the whole industry come along so I’m very grateful to everyone that I did work with. I think it’s always great to stop and celebrate our successes because it is important for people to mark those milestones and as the industry develops I think it’s great to recognize individuals and it’s great to recognize teams.”
Some words of advice
The industry, says Clark, has always been full of women. “In my experience there hasn’t been a glass ceiling for anyone in the industry I think it’s been great from that perspective. I would encourage young women today to get out there and be active, to see what’s out there and to be planful about their career path as they look around for their next position and to
grab as much of a broad perspective about the industry as early in their career as they can. You will rely on the experience you gain in one area in order to help you solve issues in other areas and I think that is one of the keys to working through some of the obstacles - to say where have other people already solved a similar problem if not the same problem in another industry or another area of the industry. Because payments is an ecosystem if you only understand one part of it you may not realize why the solution you’re looking at might not work in another part of it So I would say it’s important to really try and gain that broadness and network/liaise with other members of the ecosystem because you can gain a lot from getting to know people in other parts of the industry.”
CIBC congratulates Brenda Clark, Vice-President, Payments Innovation and Integration, CIBC Payments division, for winning the Women in Payments Award for Innovation. Thanks to leaders like Brenda, CIBC is a leader in mobile financial services. CIBC was the first bank in Canada to offer clients the ability to install a credit card on their mobile phone for NFC payment at retailers.
september / october 2013
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
5 11
women in Key theme payments Payments
Debbie Sawka Women in Payments™ Award for Leadership By Amy Bostock
W
then move on. “I loved what I was doing and thought that I saw a great career at RBC,” says Sawka. “I started off working in
Montreal and then there was an opportunity to move to Toronto with the bank, which I took. From there I’ve worked in the trading area as back office
Photo Photoby:by:Gary GaryTannyan Tannyan
hen Debbie Sawka started with RBC 38 years ago, her plan was to stay for a few years and
6 12
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
september / october 2013
and even though I’ve never actually worked in a branch, I’ve always been in a role where I was supporting staff in some way.” Sawka eventually moved into the AFT world (electronic payments, preauthorized debits and direct deposits) and it was at that point that she realized that she wanted to be able to be a resource to people. “I wanted to be able to teach people what people had taught me. I had a lot of mentors throughout my career and I wanted to be able to give back - so that became very important to me.” She feels that her love of mentoring and training staff came from her desire to be a teacher when she was in high school. “While I didn’t take the path of being an actual teacher, I did to some extent in not only this role as Manager, ACH/AFT Support but all of the various roles that I’ve had.” During her time with the bank, Sawka has seen a number of significant changes in the payments industry but the one that stands out most for her is the technology advancements that have allowed RBC to serve their customers in a more efficient way. “When I first started in this particular role the banks were exchanging payment info on tape and cartridges; now it’s all electronic, it’s transmission and in some cases it’s same day
women in WomenKey payments theme
processing. I remember when I first stared in the bank we had terminals and then went to computers and even that was a big move that required a lot of training. “When we implemented a large system in RBC I had the opportunity to go across Canada and train people on the system. The staff was just so excited about this new technology and being able to support our clients and give them access to processing things so much faster than they could before.”
With change comes challenge
“Training others in the ever-changing technology is certainly a challenge but I think with the Canadian Payments Association and the different committees they have there is a lot of information that gets out there. “Our technology groups at RBC are always on the forefront of trying to find bigger, better and faster ways
of doing things so from a training perspective we are always trying to look at how we can train our staff faster, better and how we can help them retain the training. “We used to do classroom training which wasn’t very accommodating for all staff – especially if they’re working different shifts. Now we have the ability to do webinars and can reach across the whole country without having to schedule training for weeks at a time.”
Advice to her younger self
“I don’t know that I would do anything differently myself,” she says, “but the advice I would give my younger self is ‘have confidence’. When I started off in the bank I was very quiet and didn’t like to give my opinions. I used to believe that my opinion didn’t matter and I think that was a big mistake that I made early on in my career. “But again, this is where having mentors showed me
september / october 2013
that I had an opinion and that it is important to speak out. That certainly changed my way of thinking. “For a young woman coming in to the industry I would tell her to have the confidence to know that any opinion you have is worth voicing – the worst that can happen is they say no.”
Women in payments
Sawka says she has seen a marked increase in not only the number of women involved in the industry over the last 38 years but also the level at which these women are working. “When I first started working at the bank most of the people I reported to were men but now, actually, when I look back I realize that I did have some mentors that were men but now I probably have more women as mentors then I do men. “I’m seeing a much better increase in the number of women that are coming to
the forefront in the payments industry and I think it is important to encourage women to take the career path of payments. So it’s very important and amazing to have events like the Women in Payments awards and conference that recognize that.” “I love payments, I love working in the industry and I can’t see myself doing anything else - which is probably why I’ve been here 38 years.” She was a little taken aback at her Women in Payments™ Award for Leadership. “I’m shocked, I’m humbled, I’m just so at a loss for words to be honest. It’s a huge honour and it really is the highest honour that I’ve ever received. It means a lot to know that I’ve been recognized by my colleagues at the bank and even from the Women in Payments committee for them to read through the nominations and the letters of support and select me.
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
7 13
Payments Business Magazine would like to congratulate this year’s Women in Payments™ Awards winners Brenda Clark and Debbie Sawka on their outstanding accomplishments!
+
$$$
COMING IN NOVEMBER Is your equipment polymer-ready? Contact your supplier. LEARN MORE: BANKOFCANADA.CA/BANKNOTES
Securing Mobile Life.
Creating Confidence. Giesecke & Devrient offers a comprehensive range of payment products and solutions based on the latest EMV, contactless and dual interface technologies. Our smart debit, credit and prepaid products are available on a wide range of platforms based on secure and highly flexible operating systems. Alongside the comprehensive portfolio of easily configurable card products and card solutions, we offer all services related to electronic payments including m-commerce and transit. Our services include personalization, system integration, project management and technical consulting from a single source. For more information, please visit: www.gi-de.com/ca
One on one
The new face of MoneRis Solutions Corporation Toronto native Angela Brown takes the reins of one of North America’s leading payment processors By Amy Bostock
18
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
W
hen Angela Brown had the chance to move back to Toronto and into the corner office at Moneris Solutions Corporation (“Moneris”), she jumped on it. Toronto born and raised, Brown spent many years in the U.S. working first for VISA and more recently for MasterCard. “At MasterCard I was working on merchant opportunities across the globe which is fascinating because it took me all around the world but also to Canada,” she says. “As
I connected back here in Canada and this opportunity came up it I felt that it brought together all of my experiences and was a great opportunity for me to step into a leadership role and put all of my experience to practice. It was a very exciting opportunity.” Brown, now President and CEO of Moneris, studied economics at University of Toronto and, after completing her MBA at York University, she entered the workforce smack dab in the middle of a recession, joining Proctor & Gamble. “It’s a great company and I had a great experience there but I realized that I wanted to climb the ladder and, through a series of moves, ended up in financial services,” she says. “I ended up following someone who had been in packaged goods and at the time financial services was trying to bring the same type of project management discipline into financial services, so I moved to CIBC
and was there 13 years.” While at CIBC, Brown found herself in the merchant processing business but her job also included work with ATM, debit cards and payments products in general. During the first dot-com boom, she moved to the US with CIBC. “As part of CIBC, I got to know VISA USA very well as I was working on a P to P solution and there was a lot of collaboration with VISA at the time,” she says. “I ended up joining VISA and staying in the U.S. and from there made a couple of other moves into merchant and debit card processing.” You don’t work in the industry this long without witnessing some significant changes, and for Brown the biggest shift she’s seen involves the implementation of new technologies. “With technology what I found happens is that there will be a prediction of significant change
september / october 2013
One on one
and it won’t happen as fast as everyone initially predicts but then suddenly the technical capability and the consumer demand starts to catch up.” For example, she says, the chip card was in discussion in the U.S. and predicted long before they finally got a mandate now for EMV. “I was at CIBC when we were working on our very first mobile solutions and now mobile is absolutely a prerequisite for the business, a very important part of payments processing and it’s very common - but that’s 13 years later. I think the technology has really accelerated in the last three years and I think that’s because people see technology, they see the opportunity to create the business, and it takes a while for the critical mass of both consumer demand and merchant demand and the technical capabilities.” The other change she’s seen is that the competitive nature of the payments industry has accelerated. “You’ve seen some consolidation in the industry, in the U.S. especially, but also in Canada. It’s a very competitive market and I expect the pace of change to continue to accelerate.” Having worked in the industry on both sides of the border, Brown is able to offer insight into how we stack up against our neighbours. “In some ways Canada is much more advanced than the U.S. in the technology it’s adopted, in part because there are fewer players to corral so it’s not quite as challenging to get on the same page. This country has been very advanced in terms of some of
the innovations in the payments processing industry. “I would say that the competitive dynamics are very similar now and becoming more similar because of the connections between U.S. payment processors and Canadian processors (many of them are now part of a larger US company).” The technology trajectory seems to have a different pace to it here she says, with Canadians being very adaptable and open to change. For example, when ATMs rolled out they went very quickly from being a new technology to really taking a significant role in the branch network. “Another example is how online debit really displaced chequing in Canada so quickly. I think Canadians are very open to trying technology and new services and I think they do trust their financial institutions to provide really safe solutions and therefore the adoption rate is better.”
Being a woman in payments “I think payments is a great career for women,” says Brown, “and I think there is a very long history of women having leadership roles and that continues today. In fact, in the Canadian market there are some very positive statistics about the percentage of leadership that are women. “I think that the ceilings that we all hit are really personal and have to do with the personal choices you make between your career your family, where you want to live and how you want to spend your time, and what you love doing. Personally, I feel like this is a really great time to
be a woman in financial services and, in particular, in payments.”
Encouraging the next generation…and the current one Within the Canadian payments industry exist many examples of mentorship – both formal and informal – and there are also a number of associations that will foster that on a formalized basis. Brown encourages young women entering this industry to take advantage of those programs and to join those associations and get to know the programs. Associations like the Women’s Network in Electronic Transactions (W.net), the premier electronic transactions organization dedicated solely to women in the field. “Moneris has several senior executives who are members and active mentors and take the time to pass on their knowledge. It’s a good message for us here at Moneris as well,” says Brown. “I think it’s a really great vehicle for women to tap in to the industry, and to get to know other women. And because there are so many women in the industry, there is also that opportunity to network on a more social basis and cultivate relationships and get that good advice.” “I was hired out of university by a woman who was my boss for several years at P&G and we have stayed in touch all these years; we’ve had different careers paths but she’s been one of those people that I can always count on to talk to about different things relating to my career.” Brown has also had some wonderful bosses over the years. “I can think of three people – one at CIBC, one at VISA
and one at MasterCard – these people have made a huge difference in my career and what’s interesting is that they were all men and the best advice I got from them was about career paths and opportunities. As you make transitions to a different role it’s a great time to pull on your network and understand where you can learn and who has been there before.”
What lies ahead for the Canadian payments industry? “I think the payments industry is really becoming very global – I mean it always has been, but the world seems to be shrinking. 10 years ago there was less overlap in people and different markets, but I think it’s really converged. I think that ecommerce has accelerated this because suddenly everyone needs global solutions, and some of the consolidation that has occurred, and the extension into other markets that some of the large processors have accomplished, has made the world a little smaller.” According to Brown, Canada has such great technological experience that it’s really relevant when you start dealing with other parts of the world where EMV has also been put in place. “We’re in a very good position to offer advice and to share common experiences,” she says. “I’m very excited about the opportunities for Moneris because of that expertise and the innovation that the company has shown in the past. This is a very interesting time in acquiring and I love the tech that’s emerging.”
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
19
SECURITY, FRAUD & PRIVACY
PCI DSS Compliance What is it and why is it important for my business? By Patrick Huynh
W
hat does PCI DSS compliance mean and why is it important for my business? These are questions that we hear every day. We should start by answering the first question: The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. These regulations are continually changing as newer and more secure technology is implemented to combat security threats. This standard applies to all merchants, regardless of size and the environment in which they accept credit card payments. However, the requirements vary according to levels which are primarily determined by the transaction volume:
Level 1 Any merchant, regardless of acceptance environment, processing over 6 million transactions per year.
Level 2 Any merchant, regardless of acceptance environment, processing between 1 million to 6 million transactions per year.
Level 3 Any merchant processing 20 thousand to 1 million e-commerce (card not present) transactions per year.
Level 4 Any merchant processing fewer than 20 thousand e-commerce transactions per year, and all other merchants processing up to 1 million transactions per year. A merchant within the scope of PCI DSS, refers to any entity that accepts payment cards bearing the Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover or JCB logos. These major card payment brands together encompass The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), which is an independent body that exists to manage the ongoing evolution of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards
20
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
with a focus on improving payment account security throughout the transaction process. Now to answer the second question: why is PCI DSS important for my business? To many merchants, compliance represents a cost without any apparent benefits. On the contrary, however, the benefits certainly outweigh the expense. The reality is that data breaches resulting in credit card fraud can be extremely costly for a merchant and could potentially cripple their business. The main objective of the PCI DSS Compliance requirements is to create a more secure environment that will ultimately lead to reduced instances of fraud and subsequently reduced costs associated with fraud. According to a Nilson Report, Issuers, merchants, and acquirers of credit, debit, and prepaid general purpose and private label payment cards worldwide experienced gross fraud losses of $11.27 billion in 2012. This enormous figure is up 14.6% from the previous year and represents 5.22 basis points in total volume, up from 5.07 basis points in 2011. The largest percentage of fraudrelated loss resides within the card not present realm, where unsecure environments such as email and websites leave sensitive cardholder data vulnerable to potential breaches.
september / october 2013
THANK YOU
Pivotal Payments would like to thank its clients, shareholders, suppliers and partners for their support over the past 10 years and pay tribute to its employees who have been instrumental to the company’s success. From the company’s humble beginnings to becoming a top tier North American Merchant Services Provider, Pivotal Payments currently powers the success of over 60,000 merchants, processing more than US$10 billion in annual transaction volume. The company continues to invest in strategic growth, new technologies and improved point-of-sale, mobile and online payment services that push the boundaries of technology, security and ease of use.
COMING SOON
Standalone and Integrated Payment Solutions • • • • • •
Enables faster time to market. Lowers capital requirements. Removes PCI-DSS from scope. Faster deployment for merchants. Better reporting and reconciliation. Single point of integration for ISVs.
Commerce Platform and Payment Gateway • Multi-currency online and mobile payments application with smart BIN routing. • Gateway solution with seamless global expansion possibilities. • Advanced fraud management tools and vast reporting features.
www.pivotalpayments.ca
SECURITY, FRAUD & PRIVACY
Hackers are constantly testing these systems to identify and exploit points of weakness in security. The goal of the hacker is twofold, steal cardholder information to resell on the black market or reuse it themselves disguised as a legitimate customer. These devastating losses are inevitably recouped through increased costs and fees to all parties, including the merchant, issuers, acquirers as well as the consumers. PCI DSS comprises a minimum set of requirements for protecting cardholder data, and may be enhanced by additional controls and practices to further mitigate risks. Some of the key items include: • Building and maintaining a secure network. • Protecting cardholder data. • Maintaining a vulnerability management program. • Implementing strong access control measures. • Regularly monitoring and testing networks. 22
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
• Maintaining an information security policy. Depending on the applicable level, PCI DSS compliance can be met quite easily or may require greater effort by the merchant. At the most basic level (4), a merchant must complete a selfassessment questionnaire (available on the PCI Security Standards Council’s website at www.pcisecuritystandards.org) and pass a vulnerability scan with a PCI SSC Approved Scanning Vendor. This scan must be performed on a quarterly basis if the device used to process an electronic payment has internet connectivity such as a POS terminal, gateway, software, etc. Compliance validation is set by the merchant acquirer. For all other levels, in addition to the Self-Assessment Questionnaire and quarterly scan, the merchant must receive an Attestation of Compliance from an Approved Scanning Vendor. At the highest level, merchants may also be required to
meet physical environmental requirements. The overall cost of certification can be as low as a few hundred dollars a year for level 4 merchants all the way up to mid five figures for merchants at the highest level. This is affected by a number of variables including transaction volume, processing environment, and a list of third party applications used in payment processing. Merchants should always enquire whether their payment application vendors are PCI compliant (which they should be) to ensure a completely safe environment and reduce liability. It’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure a safe processing environment and as such, acquiring banks are required to govern the compliance of their customers – the merchants. The payment card associations may fine an acquiring bank $5,000 to $100,000 per month for PCI DSS compliance violations. The banks will most likely pass this fine downstream until it reaches the merchant. Furthermore, the banks may ultimately terminate the
september / october 2013
SECURITY, FRAUD & PRIVACY
merchant’s ability to accept electronic card payments and place the merchant on a global MATCH list. This would essentially prohibit a merchant from accepting card payments through any bank acquirer. Merchants should keep in mind the following points when evaluating the effort necessary to ensure compliance:
to a safer ecosystem and as a result, benefit everyone involved.
Patrick Huynh, Vice-President of Client Services, Pivotal Payments: Mr. Huynh began his career at Pivotal Payments as Vice President of Business Development where he was responsible for Pivotal Payments’ Ecommerce Solutions group.
• Adhering to PCI DSS is an ongoing process as security exploits are continuously changing. Your best resource for confirming compliance is your payment brand or acquirer. • There are 12 requirements to PCI DSS and no one-size fits all products or vendors. You’ll need to implement an approach that includes people, processes and technology. Outsourcing all factors does not automatically prove that you’ve met the requirements. Merchants are just as involved in protecting cardholder data from the moment it’s received, processed, refunded or charged back as their vendors are. • Merchants are responsible for ensuring that card payment terminals comply with the standards. Make sure to request proof of compliance from your provider on an annual basis. • Level 4 merchants that complete a SelfAssessment Questionnaire only prove that they’ve evaluated their compliance at one moment in time. Continuous assessment is necessary to keep breaches at a minimum. • Keeping up-to-date on the standards is pivotal to protecting your business as noncompliance can be costly once you factor in fines, legal fees and lost business among other things. As fraudsters are becoming more and more sophisticated, the payment acceptance ecosystem must ensure that it stays ahead of fraudulent practices to reduce its impact. That’s why the PCI DSS compliance requirements are so important to understand and follow. As mentioned, the first step is to contact your acquiring bank or ISO to learn more about becoming compliant. These small steps will only lead
Today, Mr. Huynh is Vice President of Client Services where he oversees major account management, relationship management and client retention, in addition to Ecommerce strategies. Mr. Huynh has more than 10 years of experience in management and business development with a number of organizations in payment processing as well as other industries. Before joining Pivotal Payments, Mr. Huynh was VicePresident of Marketing at Verifi, Inc.
Fraud waiting to happen...
Learn how to prevent criminals from tampering with your PIN Pad terminals.
september / october 2013
halometrics.com/pinpad PAYMENTSBUSINESS
23
VERTICAL Key theme MARKET
Just how secure is your ecommerce platform? By Andrew Clachers
“ 24
E
lectronic Commerce (ecommerce) has been growing between 15 and 20 per cent per year even during hard economic times. Every company wants to have access to a global, or at least tap into their national market, and if you have a great product with competitive pricing you should be retailing online as well. However, there is one aspect of ecommerce every organization absolutely must ensure when starting up an online store – site and PCI security. If your online retail channel is not secure then your company is putting customers’ privacy at risk, which could lead to fraud. Security is still the number one deterrent for consumers
to make an online purchase decision. That is, they are fearful of identity left. So, how can your business ensure everything is being done to protect against this happening? The first step is to train your employees. If there was such a thing as common sense, then you would not have to do this, but everyone’s perspective on personal information is different. Hence, you should take the time to properly have your staff security trained on what is and isn’t appropriate to discuss with customers when emailing, or chatting with them online. Just one slip up could mean big problems for your business, so be sure to review your policies and procedures when needed.
Electronic Commerce (ecommerce) has been growing between 15 and 20 per cent per year even during hard economic times.
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
Firewalls are the first line of defense when combating virtual theft. It is important to note even though this an excellent defense strategy to protect your servers nothing is 100% safe, including the transmission of data from a consumers’ computer to your online store. Confirm that your servers, or your service provider uses firewalls. The most common mistake many merchants make is believing HTTPS prevents anyone from obtaining consumer information from their online store, but it is not true. HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) is used for encrypting data transfers of personal information between the world and a server. You must utilize SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates in conjunction with HTTPS to authenticate the cardholder’s identity. The current best practice is to use 256 bit SSL certificates with 2048 bit keys. Ensure the certificate you purchase, or the one your service provider
september / october 2013
VERTICAL MARKET
purchases meet this level. Some certificate resellers may recommend expensive EVSSL certificates, which have a green bar over the website address, but they are not necessary. Most of the large Internet retailers do not use EVSSL certificates such as Amazon, and eBay. Nevertheless, even if you have strong 256 bit SSL security it does not mean your ecommerce website is secure. This is because payment information will still come into contact with the electronic commerce platform, so there is the possibility someone could hack through firewalls, into the ecommerce application, and redirect any personal data being entered on the website. To prevent this from happening, modern ecommerce solutions have a completely separate payment data entry page integrated into the check out, which directs all the payment information to a different server. That server should be completely secure, use 2-factor authentication for access, and be PCI compliant in terms of the application and where it is hosted. Furthermore, when your company begins retailing online select not only a payment gateway, but also an ecommerce platform that has a PCI secure payment process, which accepts credit cards and communicates to your payment processor.
Many merchants believe incorrectly that as long as the payment processor is PCI compliant they are compliant. The problem is that the software accepting the payment information, then sending it to the payment processor must also be compliant. If you skip this important step you run the risk of having credit numbers passing through your system stolen. Also, Visa and MasterCard ask merchants to fill out a compliance form, the most common one being the Self Assessment Questionnaire – type D (SAQ-D), and many do not realize having a compliant payment processor is not enough. In fact, if you are not compliant Visa and MasterCard have begun to fine merchants who are not end to end PCI compliant. The fines range anywhere from about $25,000 to $200,000 depending on what level of vendor you are and the amount of incidents accrued. Some payment processors accept additional fees to provide insurance for this, but the best solution is to use a platform that is secure. However, fines are not the issue it is the loss of credibility and potential lawsuits from customers if your systems are hacked and data is stolen. For example, TJ Maxx – a large US retailer – had class-action lawsuits against them in 2007 because at least 46.5 million credit
and debit card numbers were stolen. The retail giant had to pay an estimated $41 million just to Visa and the bank that processes TJ Maxx’s credit cards. Ultimately, $128 million in total to settle with everyone affected, and resolve the issue with their security. Your company may not have 50 million customers, but the risk to your credibility and lawsuits are still significant. It is your responsibility that as the merchant when accepting payments for goods and/or services via American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, or Visa you must adhere to the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). Visit www.pcisecuritystandards. org for more information on how to become compliant. You need compliant software, data centers or hosting, and business processes. In conclusion, even if your company has firewalls, HTTPS logins with strong SSL certificates, there will always a possibility that a cyber-thief could break through, so find an ecommerce platform provider who is and knows how to be PCI Compliant in order to ensure the security of your customers’ payment information. Andrew Clachers is the Marketing Communications Manager for Avetti. com Corporation. For more information visit www. avetticommerce.com
Emerging Mobile Payment Systems: Legal and Regulatory Risks Get the key insights and expert advice you need to know to understand and master the risks and legal pitfalls of mobile payment solutions
November 4 - 5, 2013 | Toronto, ON | Attend Live or Online For more information and to register, please visit: www.osgoodepd.ca september / october 2013
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
25
ALTERNATIVE
PAYMENTS
Game changers Innovative new apps are making a splash in the Canadian market and we’ve chosen a few of our recent favourites
A
trip to Jimmy’s Coffee, a popular Toronto coffee shop in the King West neighbourhood that previously accepted only cash and debit card payments, was our first experience with PayPal’s new cloud-based check-in technology. One of the first restaurants to accept PayPal mobile payments with their TouchBistro iPad, Jimmy’s Coffee staff finds that people who pay with PayPal help to 26
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
keep the lines moving faster as they don’t have to take out their wallet, look for cash or punch-in their debit card details. “We believe our success stems from the great taste of our coffee and our commitment to excellent customer service,” says Penny Vine, Store Manager at Jimmy’s Coffee. “If a customer checks-in with the PayPal mobile app, their photograph shows up at our TouchBistro iPad POS and we greet
them by name or have a conversation about their profile picture. It’s driving a whole new level of service, loyalty and convenience. Our customers can now check-in with the PayPal mobile app before they enter the store and walk away with their coffee and snack – completely wallet-free.” The recent PayPal Canada agreement with innovative Canadian restaurant technology provider TouchBistro allows customers to use their smartphone to check-in and pay with PayPal at cafés and restaurants at the point of sale. PayPal’s check-in functionality integrated with TouchBistro’s point of sale (POS) technology will make it easy for restaurants to accept mobile payments and interact with their customers. Now in the pilot phase, the POS technology can be found at select locations in Toronto. When a customer checks-in with the PayPal mobile app, their name and profile picture shows up at the point of sale – making it easy for restaurant staff to identify customers, greet them by name and process their payment a lot faster than accepting cash or cards. It’s a quick and all-in-one solution for cafés, food trucks and restaurants to accept cloud-based mobile payments and deliver exciting new services with PayPal over the counter or tableside. Advanced applications of TouchBistro’s technology with PayPal’s check-in functionality will allow restaurant staff to visually identify customers who check-in with PayPal for food delivery and bill payment even if the person changes their seat at a restaurant. “We’re collaborating globally with existing POS providers so that businesses
september / october 2013
ALTERNATIVE
PAYMENTS
don’t have to rip or install new hardware to deliver unique and useful mobile payment experiences for their customers. We’re thrilled to work with TouchBistro, an innovative Canadian POS provider, to build the best-in-class payment experiences for our five million active PayPal users in Canada in the restaurant and food services industry vertical,” says Darrell MacMullin, Managing Director at PayPal Canada. “Small businesses in Canada are eager to accept mobile payments but they’ve been wary of investing in new and expensive hardware at the point of sale,” says Alex Barrotti, CEO of TouchBistro. “Our collaboration with PayPal makes it easy for Canadian restaurants to step into the future and start accepting mobile payments, today. All a restaurant needs is a PayPal business account and TouchBistro’s POS solution to deliver a simple and fantastic mobile payment experience to their customers.”
JUSP At their home base in Milano, Italy, JUSP has launched the world’s first all-in-one mPOS “chip & pin” solution that connects directly to smartphones and tablets through the audio jack. Their streamlined technology also offers the lowest price and smallest transaction fee around. By connecting directly into a smartphone or tablet audio jack, JUSP allows merchants have a device that is all one piece, easy to operate and works with the highly secure credit and debit cards in use in all countries except for the US. The JUSP reader makes it faster and more convenient for merchants to do payment transactions over their mobile devices
anywhere by plugging the device directly into their iPhone or Android smartphone or tablet audio jacks, with no Bluetooth pairing required. Transactions happen in seconds once merchants use the free JUSP app, insert the customer’s card in the chip reader, and let customers enter their PIN code. JUSP then connects directly to the bank systems to complete the transaction using 2G, 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi networks. The product offers a number of advantages over other solutions: • One simple solution handles all transactions: JUSP’s all-in-one chip-andpin solution handles transactions using an mPOS, which can be attached to smartphones and tablets. Other chipand-pin alternatives need a Bluetooth pairing, which requires handling two separate devices. • Total ownership of the solution: JUSP creates and builds the complete solution – from software to hardware to the payment gateway, allowing the company to deliver innovative and personalized solutions to all size of merchants and partners. • Cheapest solution: $49 per unit, JUSP is the lowest-priced mPOS chip and pin reader on the market today, making it attractive to all merchants, particularly small, independent merchants. The cost per transaction for the merchant is also the lowest in the market at 2.5%. • Versatile credit card options, high security and interoperability: JUSP accepts all major credit and debit cards and will soon be EMV certified, ensuring high security and global interoperability of chip-based payment cards. • Works for businesses of all sizes: The simple solution is perfect for any business ranging from the smallest micromerchants to large corporate clients. JUSP is also available as a white-label solution for other payment service providers and banks. “JUSP gives merchants and their mobile customers the best user experience on the market today by making credit and debit card transactions convenient, secure and
september / october 2013
faster,” says Stefano Calderano, CEO, JUSP. “With a couple of taps, the transaction process is complete within seconds. Plus, the solution meets all global circuits and banking requirements.” The innovative new JUSP solution is expected to be widely used in regions where the chip-and-pin mPOS market is rapidly expanding. The company is also well positioned to enter the U.S. market in 2015, when chip-and-pin solutions have been mandated by large credit card companies.
Payfirma Payfirma’s Tablet POS (Point-Of-Sale) solution turns your iPad into a mobile cash register so you can easily accept credit cards, cash, checks and other types of payments. “This is something that is going to push the market forward in terms of payments evolution,” said Michael Gokturk, CEO of Payfirma. “We’re allowing merchants to go global with one click.” In 2011, Payfirma came to market with their mobile app, which was designed as a one-off transaction, to a tremendous reception. Many merchants came back with requests for features such as inventory and customer tracking. “Merchants these days are very sophisticated; they are trying to differentiate themselves by more than just a product they are selling and are trying in new ways PAYMENTSBUSINESS
27
ALTERNATIVE
PAYMENTS
to engage their customers,” he said. “Our POS product was the evolution of our mobile app. We provide so much data back to our merchants – like best sales times, best selling product and best performing employee – it allowed merchants to have the full effectiveness of a regular point of sale while keeping the mobile spirit.” By plugging Payfirma’s credit card reader into an iPad, merchants can now have a fully integrated and secure point of sale device or use it on its own as a digital cash register. Once they sign up for Payfirma, merchants can get a complete solution including a merchant account, credit card processing, and a POS. Some of the cool features of the Payfirma Tablet POS include
tablets as the way to get paid. Our solutions let businesses engage their customers in new ways and ultimately increase revenue.”
• Simple and flexible inventory management • Tax, tip, and discount support • Email or printed receipts • Full or partial refunds • US or Canadian currency • Web based reporting • Employee controls and permissions • Receipt printer and cash drawer support • Trial Account
Bitcoin ATM
Credit card processor BluePay partnered with Payfirma in this venture. Integrated seamlessly with BluePay’s payment platform, Payfirma’s tablet solutions are yet another value-added module integrated with BluePay technology. Designed to simplify payments and engage customers, Payfirma’s tablet solutions provide a new way for BluePay to offer innovative payment processing to its customers. Now, in addition to providing true eCommerce, MOTO, retail, and virtual terminal transaction processing, Bluepay’s platform also provides tablet-based mobile payment solutions. Ever on the rise in diverse industries, from retail to food to hospitality, smartphone and tablet payments will eventually replace traditional POS systems and credit card terminals altogether. “Mobile is the future of computing and payments,” said Gokturk. “Businesses of all sizes, from large enterprises to small retailers are adopting mobile devices like 28
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
Lamassu, Inc., makers of the Bitcoin Machine, the world’s first Bitcoin ATM, are nearing production and have opened their website (www.lamassu.is) for pre-orders. CEO Zach Harvey expects the preliminary run of 15 units to ship in September and the remainder of the pre-orders to ship by the end of the year. “The difficulty in obtaining bitcoins is what gave birth to the idea of the Bitcoin ATM,” says Harvey. “You have limited options if you want to purchase the digital currency. You can open an online exchange account, verify your identity and wire funds into the account or you can find someone in your vicinity that’s looking to sell Bitcoin. Opening an online exchange can take up to 30 days and many people don’t feel comfortable meeting strangers in an alley in order to exchange cash for Bitcoin. It is a lot easier to walk into a convenience store scan your phone to a machine, put in a few bills and be on your way with your new Bitcoins within 15 seconds.” Instead of taking an off the shelf ATM, Harvey and his team set out to create a device that would be built for Bitcoin from the ground up. Figuring out how to design a machine that’s never existed before proved challenging, especially getting all of the details to work just right. “But we have incredibly talented professionals working with us on this
project, and we’re quite confident it will be a really special little machine”, he says. Industry response has been promising so far. “I think a lot of payment and financial services know how flawed the current monetary institutions are and are watching Bitcoin closely to see how quickly it may hit mainstream use,” he says. “That doesn’t mean they’re going to ditch their current revenue streams, but they do want to watch the Bitcoin alternatives and be ready to hop on board when they feel comfortable with the risk.” In comparison to credit cards, Bitcoin’s transfer system is significantly more secure. “When I give a gas station my credit card, I am basically giving them access to my entire credit limit and asking them to only take $100, once. With Bitcoin, I give them only what I choose and they have no access to further funds. There are also no charge backs, making the payment more secure for internet purchases.“ It also has advantages over cash. No physical notes or coins, no change. Nothing to count and harder to steal. And the most obvious advantage, it can be sent anywhere in the world, immediately. At an earlier stage of Bitcoin, when the industry was less familiar with the properties of Bitcoin, not everyone was hopping on the Bitcoin bandwagon. “It’s natural to be skeptical of a new monetary technology, especially one that’s so hard to wrap your head around. Just as online sales took years to gain people’s trust. But we haven’t encountered any real concerns from the industry in the past months. “As we are an international company shipping these units all over the world (our first 15 units are going to 13 different countries), we are doing our best to gather information from all of our operators to see how we can integrate systems that will help them with their compliance. I believe that countries with more reasonable regulatory requirements will be quicker to adopt Bitcoin, and those who are more protective of the traditional institutions may be left behind.”
september / october 2013
Industry News
Payments peace of mind Strenua Solutions sets out to safeguard Canadian businesses from the overwhelming costs of Identity Theft.
“T
echnology serves profit – These three words sum up the need for our products” explains Mark-Oliver Hassoun, President and co-founder of Strenua Solutions, the developers of Identity Block. Identity Block shielding protection was developed with the consumer’s right to privacy in mind. “In the latter part of the last decade our team identified serious end-user integration issues with NFC payments. Convenience is greatly enhanced, but data security goes out the window.” At the time, Identity Block was convinced that end users would be given the “how to” instructions to safe NFC contactless payments. The scientific truth is that NFC payment cards can’t possibly tell the difference between a legitimate point of sale interaction or the solicitation that may came from an unauthorized, unwanted and illegal scanning device. This factual vulnerability, if promoted, detracts from the main benefit of NFC technology: convenience and faster transaction speed. In a push to widen market share, electronic payment processors have set their sights on smaller purchases (0-50$), a segment in Canada representing 180 Billion CAD$ in transaction value last year.
End-Users are caught in the circumstantial “Perfect Storm” of conflicting information concerning their personal and financial data. “We are given strict guidelines to never share our PIN. We are educated to shred bills and receipts in order to preserve our identity. Identity Block’s message speaks to our basic right to privacy and understanding the technology in use to transmit our identities. In early 2013, Canadian retailers started rolling out NFC P.O.S. payment terminals, surfing the promotional initiatives of INTERAC, VISA and MASTERCARD designed to support the market launch. Identity Block acted on this as a cue to give Canadians a crash course in identity theft prevention. Identity Block is the world’s first company to develop a compelling demonstration of data vulnerability relying solely on out of the box tools and software available to all for no money at all. Equipped with a dated phone and a user designed application downloaded from the Google playstore, Identity Block made national media headlines and is credited with instigating Canadian awareness to RadioFrequency theft, also known as “Skimming.” “The public isn’t directly threatened by september / october 2013
the thought of some faceless hacker using sophisticated gear to gain access to your data. This all changes when it becomes so easy a child can do it.” states Hassoun. As a result of Identity Block’s media influence, Canadians are no longer in the dark when it comes to their electronic identity. Furthermore, there is now a preventive solution to Identity Theft in an industry dominated by reactive surveillance measures. Beyond its media presence, what defines Identity Block protection? First and foremost, Identity Block sleeves are guaranteed and certified security products. Identity Block is the thinnest shield on the market. Identity Block features embedded protection as opposed to surface application which wears off in time. Each Identity Block sleeve is made in North America and always will be as an added seal of quality and proof of origin to customers. Identity Block is a total line of protection for all types of payment cards and government issued identification in card and passport format. Now that Canadians are keeping their I.D. and Payment Cards in Identity Block sleeves, businesses small and large have taken noticed added the added value of these products.
Identity Block sleeves are a functional, convenient and appealing way to reward a client. A customised sleeve sent with this year’s insurance policy renewal is a nice way to protect your customer’s wallet and provide peace of mind. The Identity Block custom sleeve that you slide your customer’s credit card into when he settles the bill at your restaurant is the best way to promote your business while protecting your customer’s identity. Instead of a generic leave behind item, protect a test driver’s license when leaves the dealership in order to reflect on his upcoming purchase. “We have been customising promotional campaigns with our sleeves as our business to business division creates tools to educate, protect and promote. Some customers are even using Identity Block sleeves as their business card.” “There are so many real world scenarios and applications for our products” says Hassoun, “we know businesses spend so much on promotional efforts to reinforce brand equity and we are proud to provide the ultimate costeffective value-added tool. “Your customer’s deserve peace of mind.”
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
29
service directory Card Manufactures
Integrated Payments Solutions
Integrated Payment Solutions and Services
Secure Solutions for Payment & Identification
One of the most advanced and reliable payment delivery solutions in financial services technology.
Since 1852, G&D has been an integral partner that is solutions orientated and trusted by banks, governments and carriers. Our solutions are founded on trust, integrity and the creation of value through Confidence.
www.everlink.ca
• Contact, Contactless and Dual-Interface Smart Cards • Mobile Payment • On-line Secure Authentication • Enhanced Card Identification
Toll Free: 1-800-387-9794
Toll Free: 1.866.388.0076
www.gi-de.com
secure payment solutions
Credit Unions
Secure Payment Solutions
EMV & NFC Consulting
Apriva is North America’s Leading Wireless Gateway. SECURE DEVICES | RELIABLE SERVICE | EXCEPTIONAL SUPPORT
To learn more call Paul DeRosse, Senior Vice President, Sales at 905.530.2351 or visit www.apriva.com.
Ensure a successful NFC project with FIME’s consulting team! • EMV & NFC consulting • Test tools • Security evaluation • Certification www.fime.com infoamericas@fime.com
see youR company name here Contact Mark Henry mark@paymentsbusiness.ca 1800-668-1838 x 223
30
PAYMENTSBUSINESS
september / october 2013
In the future, data will be the most valuable currency.
Dollars are digital, Sterling silicon and the Renminbi is wireless. The volume and complexity of transaction data is accelerating across markets, time zones and currencies. HSBC provides the technology to help Treasurers manage global currency flows and reconcile increasingly complex global cash positions. On the ground in over 70 markets, we have the infrastructure and data management expertise, combined with online solutions, to optimise working capital and deliver to the bottom line. This is why HSBC has been recognised as Best Global Cash Manager for Corporates and Best Domestic Cash Manager for Canada in the Euromoney Cash Management Survey 2012. Discover more on global cash management at www.hsbc.ca/cash-management
Best Global Cash Management Bank for Corporates Best Domestic Cash Manager – Canada
Issued by HSBC Bank Canada