PYMNTS.com published a whitepaper produced by Gemalto...

PYMNTS.com published a whitepaper produced by Gemalto...

Retailers to Banks: Give Us Chip and PIN, Electronic ChecksBy Penny Crosman - Bank Systems & Technology

Executives at three of the largest payment generating retailers — Walmart, Best Buy and T-Mobile — were on hand at the NACHA Payments conference this week to tell bankers what they want and the trends they see on the horizon.



One thing Walmart wants is chip and PIN cards, in other words debit cards with a computer chip (rather than a magnetic stripe) embedded in them containing cardholder information.

"Later this year, we'll accept one chip and  PIN program if not two  in the U.S.," said Mike Cook, vice president, finance and assistant treasurer at Walmart. "Walmart stores already have the hardware to accept chip and PIN. Chip and PIN may not work for a particular bank, but it works for us."  PIN debit is Walmart's most-used payment product; signature-based credit cards are the store chain's biggest area of fraud.  Continue Reading

Whether the good ole' U.S. of A. decides to got the route of Chip and PIN or not, the rest of the world has already gone there.  Above is a video of what we believe is the world's first Chip and PIN Card reader designed specifically for eCommerce and mCommerce use.  It was developed by our CTO, Ben Lo and our sister company, BBPOS and is currently going through the certification process.



In the meantime, here is some more information on the BBPOS Chip and PIN Card Reader...

Retailers to Banks: Give Us Chip and PIN, Electronic ChecksBy Penny Crosman - Bank Systems & Technology

Executives at three of the largest payment generating retailers — Walmart, Best Buy and T-Mobile — were on hand at the NACHA Payments conference this week to tell bankers what they want and the trends they see on the horizon.



One thing Walmart wants is chip and PIN cards, in other words debit cards with a computer chip (rather than a magnetic stripe) embedded in them containing cardholder information.

"Later this year, we'll accept one chip and  PIN program if not two  in the U.S.," said Mike Cook, vice president, finance and assistant treasurer at Walmart. "Walmart stores already have the hardware to accept chip and PIN. Chip and PIN may not work for a particular bank, but it works for us."  PIN debit is Walmart's most-used payment product; signature-based credit cards are the store chain's biggest area of fraud.  Continue Reading

Whether the good ole' U.S. of A. decides to got the route of Chip and PIN or not, the rest of the world has already gone there.  Above is a video of what we believe is the world's first Chip and PIN Card reader designed specifically for eCommerce and mCommerce use.  It was developed by our CTO, Ben Lo and our sister company, BBPOS and is currently going through the certification process.



In the meantime, here is some more information on the BBPOS Chip and PIN Card Reader...

Despite a recent study that found swipe fees are stalling the creation of nearly a quarter million U.S. jobs, Visa raised its debit card interchange rate for American retailers to .95 percent plus $.20 per transaction in April, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association. In contrast, Visa Europe announced Monday that it would be capping transaction fees at 0.2 percent for the next four years.

Despite a recent study that found swipe fees are stalling the creation of nearly a quarter million U.S. jobs, Visa raised its debit card interchange rate for American retailers to .95 percent plus $.20 per transaction in April, according to the Retail Industry Leaders Association. In contrast, Visa Europe announced Monday that it would be capping transaction fees at 0.2 percent for the next four years.

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, April 19, 2010 – The Smart Card Alliance today opened nominations for its prestigious “Outstanding Smart Card Achievement” (OSCA) awards, announcing two new categories honoring innovative products and services in payments and security markets.  The 2010 OSCA awards will be presented during the Smart Card Alliance 2010 Annual Conference, May 17^th through the 20^th at the Camelback Marriott Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

• Outstanding Issuing Organization Award.  This award will be presented to an organization that is issuing smart card technology to its internal clients or external customers for their use in North America.

• Outstanding Innovation in Payments Technology Award.  This award will go to an innovative new, or existing payments-related product or service using smart card technology for use in a payments application. 

• Outstanding Innovation in Security Technology Award.  This award will go to an innovative new, or existing security-related product or service using smart card technology for use in an identification, authentication, or access security application.

• Outstanding Individual Leadership Award.  This award will be presented to an individual who stands out for his or her individual contributions to the smart card industry in North America based on a professional record of leadership, vision, support and commitment to the smart card industry.

About the Smart Card Alliance

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, April 19, 2010 – The Smart Card Alliance today opened nominations for its prestigious “Outstanding Smart Card Achievement” (OSCA) awards, announcing two new categories honoring innovative products and services in payments and security markets.  The 2010 OSCA awards will be presented during the Smart Card Alliance 2010 Annual Conference, May 17^th through the 20^th at the Camelback Marriott Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

• Outstanding Issuing Organization Award.  This award will be presented to an organization that is issuing smart card technology to its internal clients or external customers for their use in North America.

• Outstanding Innovation in Payments Technology Award.  This award will go to an innovative new, or existing payments-related product or service using smart card technology for use in a payments application. 

• Outstanding Innovation in Security Technology Award.  This award will go to an innovative new, or existing security-related product or service using smart card technology for use in an identification, authentication, or access security application.

• Outstanding Individual Leadership Award.  This award will be presented to an individual who stands out for his or her individual contributions to the smart card industry in North America based on a professional record of leadership, vision, support and commitment to the smart card industry.

About the Smart Card Alliance

Chip-and-PIN flaw to be investigated by industry body  Tom Espiner ZDNet UK

The specification body, EMVCo, said it will analyze a paper by researchers from Cambridge University, who demonstrated an attack with a valid payment card that did not require a valid PIN to be entered to complete a transaction.



EMVCo, owned by American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa, said those debit- and credit-card payment companies will also scrutinize the paper.



"EMVCo will conduct its own analysis and draw its own conclusions," said the organisation on Wednesday. "The payment systems will do the same."



Last week researchers from Cambridge University said they had found a fundamental flaw in EMV, the protocol behind chip-and-PIN payments. The flaw had allowed them to build a device that modified and intercepted communications between a card and a point-of-sale terminal, and fool the terminal into accepting that a PIN verification had succeeded.



MasterCard confirmed that it would be working with the other card-payment providers to review security around chip-and-PIN, but said this was part of an ongoing process.



"The EMV standard is under constant review by MasterCard and many other major industry players to make sure it evolves to meet emerging product needs," said MasterCard. "These efforts include a frequent and regular review of security to make sure the latest, practical mechanisms are used."



Professor Ross Anderson of Cambridge University, who led the chip-and-PIN research, said there would be no easy fix for the protocol.



"There is much disagreement about [effective] industry measures to fix the vulnerability," said Anderson. "If you look at our blog post [publicising the vulnerability], a significant number of people who claim to be industry experts disagree."



One of the researchers' assertions in their paper, Chip and PIN is Broken, was that the consumer would bear the cost of a fraudulent card transaction if records showed a PIN had been entered into a terminal.



Continue Reading at ZDNet