Hypercom, Ingenico, and VeriFone have announced the formation of the Secure POS Vendor Alliance - SPVA, a non-profit business organization chartered with implementing common payment security standards among vendors of secure point-of-sale (POS) devices used by retailers, acquirers and cardholders alike. READ MORE

TSYS Acquiring Solutions has announced the availability of two new all-in-one point-of-sale (POS) solutions to help small- and mid-sized retailers integrate store operations with the point of purchase. Offered as a complete business-in-a-box, each solution includes hardware components and Microsoft software to help retailers manage every aspect of their business. READ MORE

First Data has announced the introduction of two new point of sale (POS) terminals, the FD300 and the FD200. "Developed based on merchant feedback, these devices offer unique capabilities that expand First Data's proprietary terminal line. The FD300 is designed for operations that have more than one business at the same location, and the FD200 is an all-in-one device that supports multiple payment types." READ MORE

Ingenico has announced a new open architecture security enhancement, the Ingenico On-Guard solution, that the company says "will encrypt cardholder data from the transaction terminal to the merchant host, thus adding a significant security layer to card transactions that used to communicate in the clear. The new solution will be available on the Ingenico terminals sold in North America." READ MORE

Yesterday, NCR held an Analyst Day for investors - the presentation slides are available in an SEC filing made by the company.

Online Resources held an Investor Day yesterday - the presentation slides are available online.

First Data Corp. has announced the introduction of the First Data FD50 - calling it 'an affordable point-of-sale terminal featuring solid design and construction, easy operation and state-of-the-art security.' READ MORE

At this week's ETA meeting in Las Vegas, VeriFone has introduced PAYware PC - calling it 'the next generation of its popular PCCharge payment processing solution for standalone or integrated environments. PAYware PC provides end-to-end payment processing and customer management capabilities for small-to-medium-sized merchants of all types and a simple, yet highly-secure integration platform for developers.' READ MORE

SCM Microsystems has announced the SCL3710 NFC reader, a USB dongle which enables a variety of contactless applications using mobile electronic devices. 'The reader can be used to enable contactless transactions for merchants. When inserted into a PC or notebook that is connected to a system such as a Point of Sale (PoS) terminal, vending machine, access terminal or parking meter payment device, the SCL3710 dongle communicates contactlessly with consumers’ NFC-enabled devices to support contactless transactions.'

The IHL Group has released a new study finding that 'the PC-based electronic point-of-sale (EPOS) market in Europe/Middle East/Africa experienced a 4 percent shipment increase in 2007 and continues to show strong growth potential in 2008. Taking advantage of normal cyclical upgrades in Western Europe and enjoying strong oil revenues in Russia and the Middle East, the region is poised to remain strong even while shipments slow in North America.'

Early Saturday morning Ingenico announced that it had sent a letter to the Board of Directors of Hypercom Corporation "offering to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hypercom for $6.25 per share in cash."

NCR in partnership with ViVOtech has announced a suite of contactless payment terminals for the point of sale (POS) that "enable mobile and contactless payment at a variety of customer touch points, including retail checkout, restaurant drive-thru and the diner’s table."

Hypercom has announced that "It has entered into exclusive negotiations with Thales SA, a leading international electronics and systems group serving defense, aerospace and security markets worldwide, to acquire the e-Transactions business line of Thales." The company also announced that it has obtained a $60 million financing commitment from Francisco Partners and that Philippe Tartavull has been named Chief Executive Officer and President of Hypercom Corporation.

Intuit has announced the release of the latest version of QuickBooks Point of Sale retail management software that replaces the traditional cash register and gives small retailers features that help them provide great customer service and improve inventory management.

Florence Fabricant writes for the New York Times Dining section about portable POS terminals - they've been used heavily in Europe for the last 10 years and are now beginning to be seen in restaurants here in the US. Your card never leaves your hand.

VeriFone has announced that its annual Retail Payments Conference will be held October 17-19 at the Don Cesar Resort in St. Pete Beach, FL. "The Retail Payments Conference is the only event that focuses on payment security, payment standards and emerging payment trends from a retailer and a retail systems integration perspective."

Mercator Advisory Group has published a new report titled "The Global and US POS Market: Forecasts and Futures" that reviews global and regional POS terminal shipments and approximate revenues and looks at the future role of POS terminals in the payment ecosystem.

Taking on an expanded role, the PCI Security Standards Council has announced that it has also assumed responsibility for the PIN Entry Device (PED) Security Requirements that were previously administered under the auspices of JCB, MasterCard International and Visa International.

The Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Council has announced new resources for merchants wanting to know more about accepting contactless payments. A new white paper titled "Accepting Contactless Payments: A Merchant Guide" (PDF) and a presentation titled "Contactless Payment Deployment: Merchant Implementation Guide" (PDF) are available free of charge online.

Greg Bluestein writes for the Associated Press about new interest among fine dining restaurants in small point-of-sale terminals that can be brought to the table - enabling diners to complete their payment, add on a tip, and be done without handing their payment to a waiter. Restaurants are rapidly becoming the last places that consumers allow their cards to leave their sight - and have proven to be the greatest sources of mag stripe skimming.

The Smart Card Alliance has published a white paper (PDF) and accompanying presentation (PDF) on merchant implementation of contactless payments. "This guide assists any merchant who is considering deployment of contactless payments. Merchants can use the information in this guide to decide whether contactless payment is right for them and to plan for, implement, and roll out contactless payments successfully."

Global Industry Analysts, Inc. has published a new report that projects that the world EFTPOS terminal market will grow to 10,769,000 units by 2010.

Welcome Real-Time's Aneace Haddad blogs about some new study results that show the benefits to merchants from having the technology to deliver targeted messages and promotions to their customers on POS receipts.

In an article titled 'Restaurants Test Table Card Readers", Greg Bluestein writes for the Associated Press about pay at the table POS systems - very popular in a number of markets outside the US but slow to catch on here. Terminal suppliers now see an opportunity - increased concern about mag stripe card skimming - and feel that the time may be right for pay at the table to take off.

Shift4 Corporation has announced new technology for current and legacy point-of-sale (POS) systems that, when used with Shift4's $$$ ON THE NET(r) gateway, removes all useable personal credit card data at the POS terminal, in back-office data storage and during all data transport.

The law firm of Perkins Coie reports on the more than 100 class action lawsuits that have been filed in federal court since December 2006 against a broad spectrum of retailers alleging violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act ("FACTA") of 2003 (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.). "The suits allege these companies "willfully" violated FACTA by generating electronic customer credit or debit card receipts containing prohibited information, and seek awards of what some courts have described as "annihilating" statutory damages in the $100 million to $1 billion range, plus punitive damages and attorneys’ fees."

Joseph Pereira reports for the Wall St. Journal on how merchants can be vulnerable to fraudsters attaching mag stripe skimming devices to the merchant's own point of sale systems or, amazingly, simply replacing a merchant's POS terminal with one modified by the fraudster to capture card mag stripe and PIN data - as illustrated by Stop & Shop's recent experience. Pereira cites a recent Gartner study that concluded that eighty percent of card data breaches were due to attacks on POS devices.

Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg will be holding an afternoon workshop titled "Point Of Sale Impact: Preparing for the Merchant and Online Payments Revolution" at the upcoming CardTech/SecureTech conference in San Francisco.

Chockstone has announced Receipt and Respond, an advertising network linking its restaurant and retail clients with national and local advertisers. According to Chockstone, the new advertising network "delivers point of purchase advertisements and promotional offers directly on consumer receipts. Specific ads are delivered based on actual transaction parameters, including retailer, store location, consumer spending pattern, type of transaction (e.g. loyalty, credit card), day of week, time of day, and items purchased."

StoreNext Retail Technologies and Pay By Touch have announced an agreement under which the two companies will market and distribute Pay By Touch’s biometric authentication and payment service to independent grocers. The companies says that their joint solution "minimizes grocers’ transaction costs while allowing shoppers to pay for purchases with the simple touch of a finger."

First Data Corp., Microsoft and HP have announced a small business point of sale solution called First Data POS Value Exchange that "replaces a cash register and traditional point of sale terminal with a computer-based system that delivers a complete store management solution with greater information security, speed of transactions and more flexible payment options for customers."