Revel Systems announced it has become the first iPad point-of-sale (POS) system to provide EMV compatibility in the United States.

“The industry at large is faced with a major need to reduce credit card fraud and increase security. Revel Systems is the first to anticipate impending changes for industry standards for point-of-sale,” said Revel’s co-founder and CTO Chris Ciabarra. “Integrating directly with EMV readers is the logical next step for us to provide the most innovative technology solutions to our customers and also give them the surest and most secure means to reach EMV certification by the 2016 deadline.”

Medagate, a wholly owned subsidiary of InComm, announced the launch of the MasterCard Dual Value Health Card, the first dual network healthcare spending card.

With the Dual Health Value Card, administrators can designate spending for certain items, such as flu shots, prenatal vitamins or smoking cessation products. Retailers and benefit providers can also offer coupons or special promotions to specific populations (for example, allergy sufferers on the first day of hay fever season). Funds and items on defined contribution and controlled spend lists can be reloaded and redefined at any time. The Dual Value Health Card’s functionality allows plan administrators to give access to flexible benefits, and the distinct tracking allows health program providers to restrict the cards from being used to purchase items such as alcohol, tobacco and other non-approved items.

The Dual Value Health Card enables employers and health plans to combine a member/employee healthcare funding purse with a restricted-spend purse for targeted items and incentives.

First Data has released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of December 2012 compared to December 2011.

Consumers stepped back from spending in December as the fiscal cliff debate continued, lingering effects of Superstorm Sandy persisted, and the initially less aggressive retail discounting environment for most of the month dampened shopping. Dollar volume growth was 4%, the lowest monthly growth in three years and a steep slowdown from the typical range between 6% and 10%.

SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

On the web:

• Data Collection and Privacy: A Continuing Discussion - Portals and Rails
• FirstMerit Bank announces Debit Card Reward Programs - COLLOQUY
• NetSuite Buys Retail Anywhere For Point-Of-Sale Technology - Internet Retailer
• Zavers Offers Real-Time Rewards Redemption Through Google Wallet - Android Authority
• Simple - A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks - NYTimes.com
• PayPal Expands Retail Store Payments Service - CBS News

On the wires:

• MoneyGram Reaches 20,000 Agent Locations in Africa
• NCR Launches Mobile Point-of-Sale Optimization Practice
• Cadence Bank to Launch New Discover Debit Program
• US Bank Launching “Go Mobile” App in Salt Lake and Portland Using NFC Sticker
• Western Union Money Transfers Can Now Be Sent From Around the World to Myanmar
• Heartland Secures Multi-Year Contract Extension With ABM Parking Services
• Ingenico Partners With Shift4 to Provide Processor-Neutral, Secure P2PE Platform
• WorldPay and MoneyGram to Expand Direct-to-Account Service
• Groupon Releases Groupon Payments Support for Android