ShopKeep POS, an iPad point of sale solution for small businesses, and LevelUp have announced an integrated solution that lets a merchant process mobile payments and build loyalty right from the store's POS system.

With this new integration, merchants can now ring up sales and accept LevelUp payments right from their ShopKeep POS iPad register without switching devices. ShopKeep POS consolidates the LevelUp transactions with all other transaction information into one simple report that can be accessed anywhere. Merchants benefit from LevelUp's 0% payment processing fees, and can participate in loyalty programs to retain customers.

Visa announced the results of a study it commissioned from Moody's Analytics on the impact of electronic payment products, such as credit and debit cards, on the GDP of 56 countries.

“Despite a challenging global economic landscape, the increased penetration of payment cards helped boost consumer consumption and, on average, added to GDP,” noted Mark Zandi, Chief Economist of Moody’s Analytics. “This was particularly true for emerging markets. The increase in consumption parallels the growing popularity and accessibility of electronic payments among global consumers, and the findings point to the need for governments to adopt policies that encourage the shift to efficient and secure electronic forms of payments.”

The study found that increases in card consumption contributed to an average additional growth in GDP of 0.17% per year over a five-year period. Over the same time period, GDP in those 56 countries grew by an average of 1.8%.

On the web:

• PCI Council Issues PCI Security Guidance for Cloud Computing - BankInfoSecurity
• WorldPay To Support Mobile Game Developer Playtox - MobilePaymentsToday.com

On the wires:

• Unbanked Turn to RushCard for Faster, More Convenient Paperless Tax Refunds
• Fifth Third Bank Introduces Mobile Check Deposit Service
• GXS Selects MetraTech Monetization Platform