FireMon delivered a strong second quarter 2017 with notable highlights:

• Strong year-over-year bookings growth
• Continuation of customer ~90% renewal rates
• Industry veteran James Clegg named New Vice President of EMEA
• Jim Weakley appointed Senior Vice President, Global Services
• Major product releases including Intelligent Security Management for Cloud and FireMon Risk Analyzer

FireMon, the industry’s leading provider of Intelligent Security Management solutions, has announced its second quarter performance highlights for 2017, during which innovation in security technology dominated. FireMon’s market leading platform, which helps organisations worldwide centrally manage and automate changes to their on-premises firewalls, was extended to cloud and native cloud firewalls, making it the industry’s first Intelligent Cloud Security Management solution.

FireMon unveiled its highly anticipated Risk Analyzer technology, which layers vulnerability scan data on network configuration data to simulate cyber risk scenarios and prioritize risk reduction efforts where they will have the most impact. Developed for large enterprises and federal agencies, the patented Risk Analyzer is a revolutionary advancement in network risk identification, enabling enterprises to achieve better security through better management.

“Security remains a focal issue for today’s enterprises, and they are all looking for the latest technology solution that can help bridge the complexity gap by offering sound hybrid cloud security management and automation,” said Satin H. Mirchandani, CEO at FireMon. “This demand drives the FireMon team to develop innovative solutions that go beyond the call of duty to help enterprises manage their complex security systems, whether in the cloud or not, and reduce the scope of attack. By adopting this mentality and focus on our customers, we have been rewarded with the industry leading renewal rates and customer satisfaction, which I believe will continue to grow.”

In addition, FireMon strengthened its management team with two new executive hires. Jim Weakley who will lead customer support, customer success and professional services as Senior Vice President of Global Services. Weakley will draw on 30 years of experience optimizing engagement throughout the customer journey to increase the organization’s industry-leading customer renewal and satisfaction rates.  James Clegg joined the team as VP and General Manager of EMEA. James’ wealth of experience from the security sector will put him in good stead as he drives FireMon’s expanding European, Middle Eastern and African influence.

Two new independent directors have been appointed by Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (Bacs) to the Current Account Switch Service Executive Committee, fulfilling a key undertaking set out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The appointment of Chris Pond and Faith Reynolds further strengthens governance of the switching service and ensures wider representation in the decision-making process from the likes of consumer groups and small businesses, meeting the requirement set out in the CMA’s investigation into the personal current account market last year.

Former MP and Work and Pensions Minister Chris Pond is currently vice chair of the Financial Inclusion Commission and serves as a member of the Treasury FinTech Delivery Panel, as well as being a trustee of GambleAware and of the Family and Childcare Trust. He also chairs the Lending Standards Board and The Money Charity.

Previously Director of Financial Capability and Head of Consumer Affairs at the Financial Services Authority, and Chief Executive of two national charities (Gingerbread and the Low Pay Unit), Chris has written extensively on economics and social policy and has been awarded honorary visiting professorships at two universities.

An independent consumer finance expert, Faith Reynolds is a member of the Financial Services Consumer Panel where she chairs the EU Working Group and is the lead for technology and innovation. A member of the Payments Strategy Forum, Faith acts as the Customer Representative on the Open Banking Implementation Entity Steering Committee and recently authored the report, 'Open Banking: A Consumer Perspective'

Having also recently joined the RegTech Council, Faith previously spent time at the Institute for Government undertaking research on Big Society, earning her the Clore Social Leadership Fellowship.  She established Toynbee Hall’s financial inclusion services in the heart of London’s East End and was a member of HM Treasury’s Financial Inclusion Taskforce.

The announcement follows the appointment of Jo Kenrick as the first Independent Chair of the CASS Executive Committee, in December 2016. Welcoming the two new directors, Jo said: “We are pleased that, in Chris and Faith, we have been able to attract two hugely knowledgeable and respected figures, who bring with them an impressive depth and breadth of skills which will be invaluable in further driving forward the Current Account Switch Service.

“I’m also particularly delighted that Chris and Faith represent, and will give a strong voice to, a range of important interests, which can only help us in meeting the needs of all those who can benefit from switching account. I look forward to working with both in the coming weeks and months as we continue this important work.”

Colin Garland, Director, Remedies, Business and Financial Analysis at the CMA, said: “If you want the best deal on your banking, shopping around for a current account is one way to make sure you get it.  Our extensive investigation into the retail banking sector highlighted the importance of making it as easy as possible for people to switch accounts.  

“The quick, easy and free Current Account Switch Service is designed to make the switching process easier, so it is important that it works for those who use it and not just those who run it.

The appointments of Jo Kenrick, Chris Pond and Faith Reynolds provide the independence CASS needs to work in the interests of banking customers.”

Today, PayPoint, the UK’s leading retail technology and multichannel payments provider to convenience and independent retailers, has announced a strategic partnership with customer engagement specialists, Box Technologies. 

Established in 1996, PayPoint is the UK’s largest technology and payment services provider to C-stores and the independent retail sector, with a market leading network of 29,000 stores.  Offering retail services that combine ePOS with cash, card and contactless payment solutions, PayPoint also integrates utility and household bill payments, lottery and Collect+, which allows customers to collect and return parcels at their local convenience store.

The strategic partnership will see Box Technologies provide PayPoint customers with a web catalogue of third party peripheral devices and hardware to support their PayPoint One devices, enabling them to digitalise and streamline their operations, whilst delivering enhanced customer experience in-store.

Among the key products available in the web catalogue from Box Technologies, which will offer PayPoint’s customers a number of exclusive devices at trade prices, is new hardware to support the PayPoint One platform. 

Emma Allen, Head of Product at PayPoint, said: “We understand the importance of giving our customers a flexible end-to-end solution that supports their varying business needs.  This means being able to offer choice, both in terms of the software applications as part of our PayPoint One solution, and also access to quality hardware at competitive prices.  Our strategic partnership with Box Technologies will deliver just this, as well as giving our customers the confidence in the reliability and quality of devices on offer through the web catalogue, which come with warranty as standard.” 

Raj Parmar, Marketing Director at Box Technologies, said: “Consumers now expect a fast, convenient and seamless experience wherever they shop – and speed and convenience comes to the fore when they visit a corner shop for a quick purchase or go into a small format store for a top-up shop.  This means C-stores and independent retailers need to be confident that their operations are underpinned with the technology to support their customers’ needs and empower staff to realise them, whether this is offering additional services or freeing up store associates’ time so they can focus on customer service delivery.” 

The web catalogue will be available to PayPoint retailers from September 2017 will offers an exclusive selection of high quality and durable hardware options from leading providers.

Fraud and risk management experts, The ai Corporation (ai), are helping global retailers to combat fraudulent use of fuel cards, and protect users, using artificial intelligence (A.I.) and machine-learning (ML), in a move that will revolutionise the global retail industry’s use of fuel cards.

The ai Corporation has developed a suite of self-service machine-learning products to enable fuel card issuers to reduce the impact of a number fraudulent activities - including card copying, card swapping and skimming; at the same time as identifying and stopping fraud before it takes place.

ai’s Fraud Analysis team has extensive experience in helping organisations that operate card schemes to take the fight to criminals; and its unique A.I. and ML technology has already saved businesses a huge amount of money. ai’s products are being used to help fuel card issuers prevent fraudulent activity in over 40 countries around the world, covering 150,000 sites and over 90 card and product types.

ai's technology gives fuel card retailers the opportunity to write their own rule sets into any fraud platform, including ai’s own rules engine, RiskNet®. By using machine-learning, retailers can automate their fraud prevention, mitigating fuel card and transaction fraud, regardless of how and where it is perpetrated.

Matthew Attwell, Risk and Client Service Director at The ai Corporation, says: “ai’s blend of fraud expertise and innovative machine learning technology has been proven to deliver stand-out benefits to the fuel card sector.

“In a sector that involves sophisticated issuing relationships, with high multiples of cards for a single customer account, machine learning has proven it can deliver the high degree of accuracy to match, and then beat, the fraudster.”

How The ai Corporation’s technology is helping to beat fuel card crime

RiskNet can identify any type of fraud by creating specific rule sets for each type of fraud, whether it’s copied cards, card application fraud, driver-side collusion, the use of counterfeit cards or lost and stolen cards. RiskNet® is widely acknowledged as best-in-class. It is a real-time and near real-time self-service rules engine for the detection and prevention of fraud and other suspicious transactions, which supports multiple global card schemes.

SmartScore®, one of six products within ai’s SmartSuite, creates neural models using artificial intelligence and automated machine-learning techniques, to recognise patterns and trends in fuel card fraud, providing transaction risk scores to be used in conjunction with user-defined rules and parameter-mapping.

ai’s Link Analysis product can visually present the common links in historical transaction data, making the analysis of fuel card fraud much easier than traditional spreadsheet based approaches.

Payworks, a leading provider of Point of Sale payment infrastructure, announced today their new certification with First Data Merchant Solutions UK (FDMS), a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions. 

The first blockchain fundraising platform that offers 3-in-1 solutions for ICOs, crowdfunding, and crowdinvesting started its ICO today at 1 PM (GMT) and already by 3 PM reached its 69 percent goal.

PayPal customers in the U.S. can now earn cash back on every purchase online and in stores with today’s launch of the new PayPal Cashback Mastercard issued by Synchrony Bank. The PayPal Cashback Mastercard, designed exclusively for PayPal members, offers cardholders 2% cash back every day, on every purchase – everywhere Mastercard is accepted. 

Unlike other rewards credit cards, there is no annual cash back limit, no minimum redemption amount, no restriction on how to spend cash rewards and no expiration. The PayPal Cashback Mastercard offers all the security and convenience expected from PayPal, plus all the traditional benefits of a Mastercard. All accounts are automatically added to the member’s PayPal wallet to simplify checkout and provide peace of mind.

Key benefits of the new PayPal Cashback Mastercard:

• 2% cash back on every purchase – everywhere Mastercard is accepted
• No annual fee
• No limit or expiration on cash rewards earned

• No rotating rewards categories and no restrictions on purchase types

• Cash rewards redeemed directly to PayPal balance – no redemption minimums or limits on how to use rewards
• Zero fraud liability
• Automatically added to PayPal wallet upon approval, allowing immediate use before physical card arrives in most cases
• When used to pay for merchandise through PayPal, eligible transactions receive PayPal Purchase Protection at no additional cost
• Mastercard benefits including extended warranty coverage, purchase protection, and identity theft resolution assistance

“The introduction of the PayPal Cashback Mastercard with Synchrony Bank continues PayPal’s commitment to provide customers with rewarding product experiences and a range of innovative credit options,” said Mark Britto, senior vice president, Global Credit, PayPal. “By providing a simple way for people to earn cash rewards for the shopping they’re already doing, the PayPal Cashback Mastercard will give consumers yet another reason to shop with PayPal.”

PayPal has partnered with Synchrony Bank since 2004 to offer credit card options that enable cardholders to shop online and in stores.

“We are excited to continue deepening our relationship with PayPal, a digital payments leader who shares the same vision of providing simple and convenient payment solutions for customers,” said Curtis Howse, senior vice president and general manager, Diversified Client Group, Synchrony Financial. “We look forward to advancing our partnership to provide even greater value for cardholders.”

To learn more about the PayPal Cashback Mastercard, visit http://www.paypal.com/cashback.

The PayPal Cashback Mastercard is issued by Synchrony Bank pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated.

Mastercard today unveiled a pilot project in Poland, making a smartphone the only necessary device for accepting contactless payments. The solution is aimed at small and micro merchants that have traditionally taken cash payments, providing them with a simpler and more secure way to run their business. 

A recent study commissioned by the Polish Foundation for Development of Cashless Payments (FROB) shows that among entrepreneurs that gave up card or mobile payments, 36 percent did so because of the associated costs. The solution to be piloted aims to address this. Participating businesses only have to install a dedicated mobile app and create a merchant account in it – no separate payment terminals nor other peripheral equipment will be needed.

The pilot is expected to start this autumn and to last until the summer of 2018. The first stage will involve 200 small and micro businesses from all over Poland, with the number ultimately expected to grow to 500. In the pilot phase, the limit for each transaction accepted by a mobile device will be PLN 50 (USD 14), which is the contactless payment limit in Poland without the need to enter a PIN.

“Mastercard is committed to enable every connected device to accept payments – and I am delighted that Poland is the first country where this latest innovation in payment technologies is being tested. Poles have proven many times that they are open to innovations in trade and finance, and Poland needs such solutions on its way to become a cash-lite economy. I am proud that together with our partners we can contribute to making yet another technological leap in payments,” commented Bartosz Ciołkowski, country manager Poland, Mastercard.

“Innovations such as this can help streamline processes, increase service availability, and reduce time and costs, benefiting small merchants and consumers. As our customers are enthusiastic about adopting new technologies, we work together with our partners to create a digital payment environment using mobile devices,” said Rafał Gołębiewski, country manager Poland, Elavon.

“This project is an important step in widening the possibilities in merchant card acceptance in Poland through innovations in the hardware itself, which offers convenience and ease of use for both merchants and consumers. As a Polish company focused on innovative payment solutions for SMEs, Polskie ePłatności is pleased to be a partner in this pilot. Over the next years this will have an influence on the roadmap leading to supply Polish retailers with cashless payment acceptance supporting the government’s plan to fully digitalize the country,” added Janusz Diemko, president, Polskie ePłatności.

“We’re delighted that through our partnership with Mastercard and Samsung, and with the support of OT-Morpho, we will be able to provide our mobile contactless payment acceptance solution in Poland. As more and more mature and emerging markets call for the wider adoption of electronic payments, mobile contactless payment acceptance is a great fit for banks and merchants looking to best serve consumers in this increasingly cashless age,” said Benjamin du Haÿs, CEO and co-founder of Mobeewave.

Mastercard has the responsibility to balance any emerging solution with the highest security standards. To this end, Mastercard has developed specific security principles that need to be adopted by all pilot participants.

Poland at the forefront of payment innovation

Poland is one of the worldwide leaders in contactless payments. More than 2/3 of transactions with Mastercard cards in Poland are already contactless. Moreover, according to the National Bank of Poland, Poles carry 29.4 million contactless payment cards in their wallets, which already accounts for nearly 78 percent of all cards. There are 514,000 contactless terminals in Poland, which represents 91 percent of all terminals accepting cashless payments.

This initiative is in line with the different activities of Mastercard to expand cashless payments and to include a growing number of entrepreneurs and consumers in the digital economy. The solution meets the expectations of Polish consumers who want to have a choice between card and cash payments. As shown by a recent study[3]commissioned by Mastercard, 61 percent of Poles would like to be able to use cashless payments anywhere, including in small convenience stores, at stalls, marketplaces etc.

Enterpay and Collector Bank have kicked off their collaboration. Collector Bank will add a B2B invoice powered by Enterpay to its payment method selection in Finland and later in the Nordics.

InvestCloud Inc., a global FinTech firm, has announced Stage Venture Partners (Stage) as the latest firm to take up residence at the InvestCloud Innovation Center in Los Angeles.