On the web:

• Starbucks Launches ‘pay by app’ for iPhone Users in UK - Telegraph
• Spindle Plans Mobile Payment Product for Small Banks - American Banker
• Square Expands Retail Partnerships to Include OfficeMax And UPS Store Locations - TechCrunch
• PayAnywhere Lets You Build Payments Acceptance Into An App Of Your Own - Business Insider
• Is what you see what you get? Proposed Pricing Disclosures for Electronic Remittances - Portals and Rails
• State Bank of India Drops Plan for Merchant Acquiring JV with Visa, Elavon - The Times of India
• Top 7 Card Readers For Smartphones: Apple, Android, and Blackberry - Mobile POS News
• The Future of Self-Service Checkout - STORES.org
• The State of ACH Fraud - Bank Info Security

On the wires:

• New Mercator Report on India's Prepaid Card Market
• SunGard Closes Syntesys Acquisition to Offer Expanded SWIFT Connectivity and Services
• Chase Partners with Southwest Airlines to Enhance Ultimate Rewards Travel Options for Cardmembers
• U.S. Bank Implements Secure Vault Payments for Nebraska Online Child Support Payments

Elavon has announced Elavon MobileMerchant, an "innovative, affordable and secure payment solution that effectively transforms mobile devices into terminals, allowing small businesses to accept payments quickly and securely anywhere, anytime."

The App is downloaded onto the merchant’s existing smartphone, and a Bluetooth-connected Chip and PIN device securely captures and encrypts card data, ensuring that no information is stored in the smartphone. Receipts are sent to the customer via email or text message. The solution meets all the current UK banking requirements, so as to protect both cardholders and merchants from fraud, abuse and chargebacks.

Elavon and China UnionPay have announced they have "signed a binding agreement to enable acceptance for UnionPay’s debit and credit cards at Elavon’s merchants in the United States and Europe. The deal also extends credit card acceptance to Elavon’s Canadian merchants and will expand to include Latin America in the future."

U.S. Bank and TSYS have announced an agreement for TSYS to provide core processing services to Elavon, a subsidiary of U.S. Bank.

“TSYS is one of the leading processors of commercial payments in Europe, now processing in 17 countries across the continent,” said Bob Evans, managing director of Europe, TSYS International. “U.S. Bank’s decision to work with TSYS in Europe is a testament to the strong relationship that exists in the U.S. and the experience TSYS has gained through our expansion in Europe.”

U.S. Bank will begin issuing corporate cards in Europe this summer.

On the web:

• ABA Seeks ‘Grace Period’ on Fed Swipe Fee Rules - ETA
• American Express Prepaid Lineup Looks Like Overkill - American Banker

On the wires:

• Ping Identity Fuels Growth with $21M in Financing
• Citi Ventures Makes Strategic Investment in Mobile Billing Company Billing Revolution
• Elavon Introduces SAFE-T Suite Point-to-Point Encryption and Tokenization Solution
• Chase Card Services Adds EMV Chip Technology to Its J.P. Morgan Select Visa Signature Card
• NetSecure Technologies Introduces Kudos Credit Card Acceptance Solution in Canada
• New Aite Group Report Merchant Funded Card Incentives
• 2ergo develops new mobile payment system for PizzaExpress (UK)
• Ally Bank Adds P2P Payments to Suite of Services

On the web:

• More Hurdles Crumble for Same-Day ACH Payments - American Banker
• Is a National Data Breach Notification Law on the Horizon? - Portals and Rails
• FinovateSpring 2011 Demo Videos are Now Online - Finovate
• Durbin 'Ripple' for Community Banks - BAI Banking Strategies
• Little Interest Among U.S. Consumers for Mobile Wallets - Computerworld
• Mobile Payments Startup Calls it Quits, Hires Auctioneer to Sell Off Assets - dBusinessNews

On the wires:

• Turkish Bank Kuveyt Turk’s ATMs to Dispense Gold
• MICROS Simphony Certified to Elavon’s Fusebox Payment Gateway
• TapBase Introduces the Tap Mobile Payments, Loyalty and Rewards Platform
• Coolidge Corner Merchants Association to Offer PXT Money App as Member Benefit
• PAY.ON Continues to Cover Latin America: New Cooperation with DineroMail

On the wires:

• Survey: Card Fraud Experts Warn Against Looming Mobile Payment Fraud Risk
• SecurityMetrics Introduces Network Threat Sensor to Simplify PCI-DSS Compliance
• TSYS Signs Merchant Services Agreement With Caledon Card Services
• NXGEN International Partners with Elavon to Expand European Footprint
• PayCommerce Offers Cloud-Based SMB Payment Suite Reseller Subscription Plan
• Elastic Path Launches Ecommerce on the Google Cloud
• Carta Worldwide Integrates MasterCard Mobile Over-the-Air Provisioning Service (MOTAPS)
• OpenCuro To Demonstrate New Online Payment System at FinovateSpring 2011

On the web:

• NPR: Banks, Retailers In Lobbying Race Over Debit Fees
• TechCrunch: Sequent Software Raises Funding, Aims To Simplify NFC Mobile Payments
• American Banker: ProPay s Zumogo Mobile Payment App Gets Social
• FierceFinance: Bank of America Ponders New Ways to Charge Overdraft Fees (via SMS Opt-In)
• CNET: Intuit Eyes NFC for Mobile Payment System
• GoMo News: India's Interbank Mobile Payment Service Finally Includes Merchants

Credicard, a wholly-owned Brazilian subsidiary of Citigroup, and Elavon have announced a binding agreement to establish a joint venture creating a merchant services company that will offer a full suite of payment solutions to the Brazilian marketplace. "The new company will be branded as “Elavon” and will be supported with the launch of a sales force with national coverage, as well as in-market operations, technology and product resources."

Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners:

• New Aite Group Report on US Mobile Payments Market
• Moneybookers Group Rebrands to Become 'Skrill'
• Major Retailers Add PhoneFactor to Protect Credit Card Data
• Elavon to Market VeriFone’s PAYware Mobile Solution for iPhone
• UMB Bank to use ACH Alert To Protect Business Accounts from ACH Fraud (PDF)
• New VRL Financial Report on Prepaid in Sub-Saharan Africa
• AllTrust Networks' Check Database Now Available via Web Browser
• Voltage Security and PwC Form Joint Business Relationship for Information Risk Management
• PayPal to Use Axiomatics’ Intelligent Access Management Solution

• MIT Technology Review: When Mobile Phone Payments Go Social

Elavon has announced the release of its Enterprise Billing Solution (EBS) that delivers an efficient, end-to-end solution to businesses seeking a single source provider for both electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) and merchant card processing services.

Elavon has announced that Semtek and Voltage Security have been selected to include end-to-end encryption capabilities in its acquiring and gateway solutions.

Elavon says its "implementation is unique in that it has chosen to deliver both hardware and software-based technologies and stands ready to support additional end-to-end encryption technologies as they mature—allowing merchants to choose the security solution that best fits their needs today and in the future." READ MORE »

India's Economic Times is reporting that the State Bank of India "has selected US-based Elavon Incorporation and Visa International as its joint venture partners for merchant acquiring business." See also this article in The Hindu Business Line. It reports that SBI will retain a 51 percent interest in the jV called SBI Payment Services Pvt Ltd.

Elavon and Santander have announced the establishment of a joint merchant services alliance in Mexico. According to Elavon, "the alliance establishes a new global foothold for Elavon in a burgeoning credit card market and capitalizes on an existing relationship with Santander in Spain, the UK and Puerto Rico." READ MORE »

Elavon, the merchant acquiring subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp has announced the introduction of Fusebox - calling it a "next-generation hosted payment gateway that provides secure multi-point connectivity across a merchant’s enterprise." READ MORE »

Diners Club International Ltd., a business unit of Discover, and Elavon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, have announced the signing of a merchant acquiring agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Elavon will add Diners Club card acceptance to its portfolio of payment processing services. This relationship will create more acceptance opportunities for Diners Club and Discover cardmembers, who eventually will be able to use their cards at Elavon merchants in the U.K. and western Europe. READ MORE »

Elavon and Santander have announced the launch of a new alliance for merchant services in the UK. This alliance combines Elavon, a wholly owned subsidiary of US Bancorp, and Santander, one of the strongest and best capitalized banks in the world. "Jointly, Elavon and Santander’s strategy is to become one of the leading players in the UK acquiring market. The new alliance will enable Santander to leverage Elavon’s end-to-end control of the processing relationship; from risk and underwriting, to processing, funding and all customer support functions, whilst Elavon will dramatically increase their presence in the UK market by partnering with one of the most respected and fastest growing institutions in the UK." READ MORE »

Elavon, a wholly owned subsidiary of US Bancorp, has signed a three-year agreement with FNC Inc., a technology company offering tailored solutions for the real-estate and mortgage industry to streamline industry processes, regulations and compliance. According to Elevavon, "the agreement provides credit and debit processing services via a new dashboard functionality offered by FNC in support of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) – a regulatory requirement impacting the mortgage industry’s appraiser selection process." READ MORE »

Elavon has announced enhancements to its international processing platform that expands multi-currency, cross-border and Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) capabilities for merchants. Elavon’s network now has the ability to authorize in 89 currencies, settle in 16, and convert up to 48 currencies for DCC. In addition, Elavon has launched DCC in Germany, where the processor can currently convert 27 currencies, giving its merchants the ability to generate a new revenue stream by sharing in the conversion fees. READ MORE »

Elavon, the merchant acquiring subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, has announced that it is the "first acquirer to commercially market the American Express OnePoint program to its third party sales channels, including Merchant Service Providers (MSP's) and Agent Banks." Under this program, Elavon says it performs all set up, processing, settlement, funding, customer support and reporting for eligible American Express acceptance, thereby providing merchants with one processing relationship for all major card brands. Elavon also offers OnePoint to merchants in its direct sales and alliance bank referral channels. READ MORE »

US Bank has reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2008. Among the details, US Bank reported that debit card transaction dollar volume was essentially unchanged in the fourth quarter as compared to the same quarter in 2007 and was actually down sequentially from the second and third quarter of 2008.

For credit cards, the bank reported a decline in credit card purchase volume in the fourth quarter of about 3.5% from both the prior year. Fourth quarter credit card purchase volume was also lower that in both the second and third quarter of 2008. In the bank's merchant acquiring business (Elavon), the number of transactions processed increased about 3.5% over the prior year while the purchase volume declined about 6%.

Elavon has announced it has completed the rollout of its Electronic Check Service (ECS) solution, utilizing back-office conversion (BOC), at L’Occitane’s 166 luxury bath and body product boutiques across the United States. In addition, L’Occitane has also agreed to implement Elavon’s electronic gift card (EGC) solution just in time for the holidays for both in-boutique and online environments, offering customers the opportunity to purchase, redeem and reload cards in either environment. READ MORE »

Elavon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp and formerly known as NOVA Information Systems, has announced that its Back Office Conversion (BOC) processing handled more than 4.6 million transactions in August, accounting for over $400 million in converted check volumes. BOC implementations of Elavon’s Electronic Check Service (ECS) solution are currently installed at more than 1,800 retail locations nationwide. READ MORE »

NOVA Information Systems (NOVA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, has unveiled a new global company name, Elavon. Elavon becomes the identity for NOVA and its affiliate merchant acquiring brands including First Horizon Merchant Services (FHMS) and euroConex. READ MORE »

Roger Alexander, President of Elavon Merchant Services (Europe) and seasoned payments industry veteran, has been named 'Industry Personality of the Year' at the Card Awards 2008, hosted at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on 31st January 2008.