Ingenico and HSBC Merchant Services have announce that they have extended their partnership and will be working together on a four year deal worth £13m. Ingenico was chosen by HSBC Merchant Services to supply its merchants with advanced services, including 37,000 new payment terminals within the UK. READ MORE

Chase Paymentech has announced a joint initiative with VeriFone and Semtek to provide end-to-end encryption technologies for merchants to combat threats to security. The companies said they "will work together to market and distribute VeriFone’s VeriShield Protect solution to the Chase Paymentech base of retail merchants. The end-to-end encryption solution is designed to help merchants reduce the costs to comply with Payment Card Industry (PCI) requirements and associated security risk by protecting card information from the point of swipe to the Chase Paymentech authorization host." READ MORE

Ingenico has announced the launch of the Payment Personal Digital Assistant (PayPDA), the Ingenico iPA280. According to the company, by "combining secure card payment and PDA functionality, the unique Ingenico device transforms the sales environment into a mobile POS, offering superior quality of service and a complete purchasing experience. This includes secured payment through instant access to online value added applications - from online databases and web based business applications to stock and timetable queries, GPS location services, order processing and even lottery sales." READ MORE

Four electronic payment companies - Chase Paymentech, Mustang MicroSystems, Inc., Semtek Corporation and Transaction Network Services - have joined the Secure POS Vendor Alliance (SPVA), a non-profit business organization founded by Hypercom, Ingenico S.A. and VeriFone. The SPVA works to advance compliance of existing payment card security standards, protect cardholder information and defend merchants and acquirers against security breaches. READ MORE

In an article titled "Getting the Garden Ready: First Data and Mobile Payments at the Point of Sale" over on our sister Payments Views blog, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson takes a look at mobile payments for local point-of-sale transactions and, in particular, First Data's efforts in that regard.

In preparing the article, Carol interviewed Barry McCarthy, President, Mobile Commerce Solutions for First Data, who discussed the four key pieces required for mobile payments at POS: the upgrade of the POS terminal base, availability of NFC-enabled phones, card issuer participation, and consumer education.

VeriFone Holdings has announced that RBS WorldPay has agreed to work jointly towards marketing VeriFone's VeriShield Protect end-to-end solution for encrypting payment card data. According to VeriFone, "RBS WorldPay is the first merchant acquirer to endorse a commercial end-to-end encryption solution. By encrypting the card number on swipe, right at the point of sale, RBS WorldPay merchants who choose the VeriShield Protect solution will be able to dramatically reduce both their own risk and that of their customers as well." READ MORE

Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited, a joint venture between HSBC and Global Payments, has introduced Global BroadbandPay - calling it "an Internet Protocol (IP)-based point-of-sale solution that provides merchants with fast, secure and reliable card acceptance services across the Asia-Pacific region. Merchants and processing partners no longer need to rely on slow dial-up networks or invest in expensive dedicated communication links to their card acquiring banks. Instead, this new product enables use of their existing internet connection to enjoy a "plug-and-play" experience. Global BroadbandPay is now available to merchants in Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, the Maldives, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka." READ MORE

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.