WHSmith goes contactless with Streamline & Visa Europe

Leading retailer implements contactless payment technology

 WHSmith, one of the UK’s largest retailers of stationery, books, newspapers, magazines and impulse products, has become the latest business in the UK to go contactless in partnership with Streamline & Visa Europe. The new contactless payment option will initially be available in 46 major travel locations, such as London Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Mainline Railway Stations across the UK. These stores are expected to go live throughout Spring 2012.

The Visa payWave contactless technology provided by Streamline enables consumers to simply touch the reader with their cards for everyday items under £15 (rising to £20 from 1 June). Transactions take place in less than a second, giving both retailers and consumers speed and convenience without the need to handle cash. For retailers, contactless payments help to reduce the costs associated with cash handling, and the related security costs of having cash on site.
Matt Rowsell, Chief Commercial Officer for Streamline, said: "Contactless payments are ideally suited to time-poor shoppers, such as those travelling through busy rail and airport locations. We’re confident that contactless will enhance the customer experience and reduce transaction times in these very busy stores."
"The introduction of contactless at these key travel sites is ideal for consumers who often need to complete a purchase quickly prior to catching a train or plane. We are delighted that WHSmith has decided to adopt contactless technology and believe the introduction of this service will be of great value to their customers," said Mark Austin, Head of Contactless at Visa Europe.
With over 1,000 stores across the UK, WHSmith is the first large bookseller, stationer and newsagent to adopt contactless technology in the UK.

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YESpay teams up with YES-wallet.com

Global card payments company YESpay has teamed up with YES-wallet.com to provide a hosted Facebook social commerce service dubbed YESfstore, a Facebook storefront with integrated payment services.

By integrating the YES-wallet’s Pouch digital wallet with YESpay’s payment services, the companies now provide a platform which enables retailers and entrepreneurs to sell any goods and services via Facebook storefront pages with integrated web card payments.
YESfstore enables social commerce for merchants as it constructs and hosts their Facebook storefront pages integrated with its Pouch web payment wallet within the YESfstore Facebook shopping basket.
The Pouch wallet is designed to store credit and debit payment card details, payment receipts, loyalty and coupon information and enables customers to carry out payments.
YES-wallet.com, the hosted Application Service Provider (ASP) for YESfstore, features a series of capabilities including product management, order notification and order management.
YESpay has recently partnered with YES-wallet.com to deliver e-Money payment service, a cloud-based NFC contactless payment service for NFC smartphones.

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PayPal announces Card Reader, app for Android, iOS

PayPal has announced a new mobile payment service involving a Card Reader and an app for the service called PayPal Here.

PayPal, has launched a new service to enable mobile payments named PayPal Here.

PayPal Here works in tandem with a small device that needs to be plugged into an Apple iPhone or Android based smartphone and used with a specific app. The PayPal Here app can be used to accept any type of credit card, debit card and even cash. The PayPal Here device and service will be immediately made available to selected merchants in the US, Australia, Canada and Hong Kong.

PayPal Here is the new mobile payment service that will let you pay using your credit card or debit card from practically anywhere. A small triangular dongle - Card Reader, needs to be plugged to the merchant's device and the PayPal Here app needs to be loaded on the iPhone or an Android smartphone. After that the merchant simply swipes users' credit/debit card across the dongle to initiate the transaction. Then the merchant has to enter the CVV and the other details. A receipt can then be printed using Apple's AirPrint wireless printing service.

Alternatively, the PayPal Here app can be used to scan the credit card or debit card using the smartphone's camera. The Merchant can then proceed with the transaction process. In any case, the merchant requires the customer to enter the CVV code and only then successfully complete the transaction. Besides enabling mobile payment, the PayPal Here app will offer integration to the merchant's inventory, invoices and billing systems.

It is interesting to see PayPal offer such  an innovative solution while mobile payments through Near Field Communication technology is still some time away from becoming a mainstream payment method.

 PayPal has already released a Widget that allows payments via NFC technology.

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DataCash launches white label payments gateway

MasterCard’s payments gateway subsidiary DataCash has rolled out a white label payment solution for banks and processors that enables payment, fraud and risk management.

According to Ajay Bhalla, president of DataCash, the launch of the solution is a “great step” towards growing DataCash’s distribution network under the MasterCard company name.

• Features of the DataCash White Label Payment Gateway service include:
• A pipeline solution to make processing less complex
• Multiple payment type management based on channels, geographies and consumer demographics
• Card processing

DataCash said that the company was working on“new and innovative tools” for banks and acquirers.

One of the acquirers using the service is Elavon.

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Cash machines which make you watch adverts before you withdraw your money

Cash machines that let you watch adverts to avoid paying fees could be coming to Australia, an industry expert has indicated.
The idea is being trialled after some success in the U.S. and could hit machines that charge soon.

However, customers caught in a cash machine queue are being warned they might be left waiting an extra long time.

Australian banking customers are expected to follow in the footsteps of ATM users in the U.S. and make free transactions if they watch a quick commercial first.

Customers ATM is the country's largest independent provider of ATMs with more than 6,000 terminals.

The company's corporate affairs manager Rohan Martin said the concept could hit our nation's cash machines.


'Time will tell,' Mr Martin said. 'Whilst the very large advertisers see it (ATMs) as an excellent medium, we're mindful that the intrinsic function of the terminal remains.

'That is convenience, it's about people gaining cash in a safe and secure environment and doing that as quickly and efficiently as possible.'

Mr Martin said ATM providers would need to look at the value of wavering or discounting the cost of making a withdrawal if advertising were used.

U.S. company Free ATMs NYC rolled out the concept late last year and millions of users have made the most of fee-free withdrawals by simply watching commercials for up to 30 seconds.

In Australia, consumers are often hit with fees starting from about £1 for withdrawing cash from an ATM if they use a machine that is not linked with their bank.

Australian Bankers' Association chief executive officer Steven Munchenberg said he would be surprised if big banks promoted third-party sources and not their own financial institution on their ATMs.

'Banks already use their ATMs as a form of advertising,' he said.

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Fraud levels on Visa cards continue to fall as consumers increasingly choose to pay by card

Annual figures released by Financial Fraud UK and the UK Cards Association show that for the third year in a row, card fraud losses continue to decline and fraud levels are at their lowest since 2000. Visa Europe’s fraud to sales ratio is even lower than the industry average: for every hundred pounds spent on a Visa card in the UK, less than five pence is lost to fraud.

Peter Bayley, Senior Vice President, Fraud Management, Visa Europe, says: "Today’s official figures are great news for consumers who can be assured that paying by card is safer than ever. With one in every three pounds in the UK now spent on a Visa card, Visa Europe is building upon our anti-fraud expertise as we push forward and shape the future of payments. We are developing advances in technology that will make payments easier and more convenient through contactless and mobile payments, while still maintaining the high standards of security that consumers expect.
“Consumers have been changing the ways in which they choose to pay; as they have done so, we have responded by implementing new layers of security– such as Verified by Visa (VbV) – to ensure that we stay one step ahead of the fraudsters. The future of payment technology is really exciting and our challenge is to make sure card users feel as safe as possible whichever way they choose to pay.
“Since the UK fully transitioned to Chip and PIN six years ago, we’ve seen fraud rates plummet and ongoing investment in new security technology by the banking industry really pay off. Overall fraud losses on UK Visa cards were down 2% in the year ending September 2011, while counterfeit fraud was down by a massive 31%. These data show how Visa Europe’s active commitment to safe, secure, and convenient card payments is continuing to pay dividends for both consumers and retailers.
“Fraud cases involving Visa cards across the whole European region continue to fall and the fraud to sales ratio is now just 0.04%.”

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ZipZap Selected As SafetyPay's Preferred Cash Payment Option For All Global Merchants

ZipZap, Inc., the leading global cash transaction network, and SafetyPay, a secure payment provider serving online shoppers, merchants and banks worldwide, today announced that ZipZap's CashPay solution has been selected by SafetyPay as their preferred cash payment option for eCommerce merchants across all channels.

ZipZap's CashPay solution, which enables consumers to make purchases online and pay cash offline in their local neighborhood through a global network of over 700,000 payment centers, will provide SafetyPay with access to the hundreds of millions of cash-preferred consumers worldwide.

Currently World Bank estimates that over 50% of the global population does not have access to banking or credit, while Javelin Research estimates that 30% of consumers will spend more online if they can pay with cash. This new partnership between SafetyPay and ZipZap will provide this growing market segment with secure and convenient payment solution for online transactions.

"We are delighted to partner with SafetyPay and enable their merchants to reach this untapped consumer demographic." stated Alan Safahi, Founder and CEO of ZipZap.

While SafetyPay plans to offer this new payment option to all merchant partners, one of the key industries targeted for implementation will be travel.

SafteyPay's travel industry merchant partners will now have the ability to add an entirely new revenue stream free of chargeback and fraud risk, while giving cash-preferred consumers a secure, convenient and risk-free way to purchase online travel services - something not currently available to them today.

In markets where international credit card penetration is low, local payment options like cash are essential. Not only do they add to consumer convenience, but also potentially increase consumer adoption - statistics show that 52% of customers using cash vouchers for online payment were new customers to the airline. According to Javelin Research (July 2009 Online Spending Research Index) consumers would spend 30% more online if they were able to pay in cash.

"As the emerging leader in secure payments for the airline and travel industry, SafetyPay's decision to partner with ZipZap will perfectly position them to offer cash-preferred consumers worldwide the ability to pay for airline and travel tickets in cash,- something this consumer segment has traditionally not been able to do" added Safahi.

"We are very excited to partner with ZipZap and add CashPay to our payment options for millions of consumers who wish to shop online and book airline and travel tickets with cash in local currency" said Manuel Montero , CEO of SafetyPay.

About ZipZap, Inc.
ZipZap, Inc. is the leading global cash transaction network enabling consumers to use cash to make online purchases, pay bills, and top-up eWallets, prepaid cards and mobile accounts. Through a global network of over 700,000 payment centers, consumers can complete transactions in their neighborhood conveniently and easily using local currency. As an alternative payments provider, ZipZap is redefining the payment experience for more than one billion cash-preferred consumers worldwide.

Founded in 2010, ZipZap is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with operations around the globe.

About SafetyPay
SafetyPay is a global, safe and secure online payment solution that enables online banking customers to make internet purchases from merchants worldwide, and pay directly from their local bank account in their local currency. SafetyPay provides banks with an additional revenue stream and expands their merchants' customer base with an international reach of more than 200 million potential banking customers. SafetyPay also is available through mobile devices and specializes in such key industries as travel and online gaming.

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