MasterCard announces MasterPass digital banking service, gives Australia and Canada first dibs

MasterCard Delivers on the Promise of a Digital Future

February 25, 2013

Australia announced as the first market to deliver MasterCard MasterPass Digital Wallet

Sydney, 25 February 2013 – MasterCard today unveiled MasterPassTM – the future of digital payments – and announced Australia as the first to launch the ground-breaking digital wallet technology in March 2013.
MasterPass brings together all of the ways consumers pay for things, from traditional plastic cards to digital wallets, and gives them the ability to make a payment from wherever they are with one simple experience.

Partners already working with MasterCard on MasterPass include Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ME Bank, JB Hi-Fi, AHL, Harvey Norman, Roses Only, Merchant Warrior and Paycorp.

With a simple click, tap or touch – online, in-store or anywhere – using any payment card or enabled device, MasterPass gives Australians access to a range of cards in their digital wallet with one button. MasterPass is the evolution of PayPass Wallet Services announced in May of last year.
Leading the transition to digital payments, MasterPass speeds up the online checkout process. Users can choose to pay from a list of pre-stored cards and shipping addresses kept securely in the digital wallet, removing the need to manually enter payment details as is necessary with most existing online payment systems.

"It's about convenience, accessibility and security," said Eddie Grobler, MasterCard Australasia divisional president.

"Australian consumers want to embrace mobile payments, and MasterPass is a crucial step in the evolution from plastic cards to digital wallets.
"With MasterPass, consumers can safely do their grocery shopping on the train on the way home from work, or make a last minute gift purchase on their lunch break, without the need to re-enter card and shipping details."

Partners already signed up are excited about the opportunity this creates for their own business.
In a first for Australian banking, Westpac customers will be able to checkout seamlessly on their mobile phone, ensuring a faster and more convenient shopping experience," said David Lindberg, Chief Product Officer, Westpac. "Westpac is proud to support ideas that make our customers' lives that little bit easier."

The MasterPass suite of services includes:
MasterPass checkout services – to provide merchants a consistent way to accept electronic payments regardless of where the consumer may be. For in-store scenarios either at the register or in the aisle, MasterPass supports the use of NFC, QR codes, tags, mobile devices used at points of sale or traditional plastic cards. For online purchases, MasterPass provides shoppers a simple check-out process by eliminating the need to enter detailed shipping and card information with every purchase.

MasterPass-connected wallets – to enable banks, merchants and partners to offer their own wallets. Consumers can securely store card information, address books and more in a secure cloud, hosted by an entity they trust. The wallet is open, which means that in addition to MasterCard cards, consumers can use other branded credit, debit and prepaid cards.
MasterPass value added services – to enrich the shopping experience before, during and after checkout. This includes more information like account balances and real-time alerts, loyalty programs, as well as Priceless offers and experiences.
Merchants and Financial Institutions Embrace MasterPass

Since the introduction of PayPass Wallet Services in May of 2012, merchants and financial institutions worldwide continue to support MasterCard and its digital payments strategy. With today's announcement, merchants, issuers and supporting partners working with MasterCard to support the launch of MasterPass include:

Financial institutions: BBVA Bank, BMO, BNLPOSitivity, BNL Italy, BNP Paribas Fortis Belgium, Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander, Banca Sella, Citi, Commonwealth Bank, Deutsche Bank Italy, EMS, EnterCard, EURO 6000, European Merchant Services, Fifth Third Bank, Handelsbanken, International Card Services Netherlands, Intesa Sanpaolo, Lake Trust Credit Union, ME Bank, NAB, SEB Kort, SIA, Swedbank, TMG Financial Services, UniCredit and Westpac.

Merchants: AHL, American Airlines, Argos, Boots, Grocery Gateway, Harvey Norman, Hikingboots.com, JB Hi-Fi, LogiTRAVEL, Mediamarket Spa Italy, MLB Advanced Media, Park Avenue Coffee, Roses Only Group, Runningshoes.com, Vodafone Italy and Wintercheck Factory. In addition to these merchants, through our work with service providers and payment gateways worldwide, MasterPass will be available at more than 5,900 merchants.

Technology partners: Adyen, Buckaroo, CQR, Cardinal Commerce, Cart32, CO-OP Financial Services, DataCash, Demandware, ICBA Bancard inc., Merchant Warrior, mFoundry, Moneris, OPENTECH.com, Paycorp Holdings, PSCU, Reply, Sage Pay, SIA, The Members Group, Usablenet and VeriFone Systems, Inc.

Supporting Partner Quotes
"In a first for Australian banking, Westpac customers will be able to checkout seamlessly on their mobile phone, ensuring a faster and more convenient shopping experience. Westpac is proud to support ideas that make our customers' lives that little bit easier." David Lindberg, Chief Product Officer, Westpac

"Commonwealth Bank is committed to delivering the world's most advanced technology and solutions to our customers. The payments space is a great example for this. Introducing our customers to the convenience, safety and efficiency of MasterPass is therefore the right step for us. Australians are tech savvy, so whether it is via computer, tablet or mobile, they will be able to enjoy the benefits of MasterPass on whatever device they are using." Dr Michael Baumann, General Manager Payments Development, Commonwealth Bank

"NAB is continually looking for ways to improve, extend and enhance our cardholders' experience, whether they are paying in-store or online. MasterPass provides a simple and secure way for Australians to use their digital devices, including computers, tablets and mobiles, to enable payments and NAB is pleased to take part in this industry innovation." David Berry, GM Cards & Personal Loans, NAB
"We are very pleased to be working with MasterCard on the MasterPass wallet and keen to confirm how our customers perceive this simple and convenient service, which helps people buy goods and services over the internet. We believe this new financial service will only increase in relevance as more people buy online." Tom Bekiaris, Group Executive, Product & Strategy, ME Bank
"As Australia's leading technology and entertainment retailer it's vital we play a role in shaping the future of digital transactions. MasterPass represents a genuine step change for Australian retailing. By empowering our customers with a safe, efficient, innovative payment solution we're able to ensure every JB Hi-Fi experience online is a satisfying one." Richard Murray, CFO, JB Hi-Fi
"At Harvey Norman we seamlessly integrate the customer experience across all channels and being able to access different payment platforms is integral to this experience. MasterPass will enable us to continue to provide our customers with a secure and efficient payments experience, with added convenience when making their online purchases."Chris Mentis, Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, Harvey Norman

"After building an outstanding strategic alliance with MasterCard's PayPass through our market-leading brands including Event Cinemas and Thredbo, we are excited about opportunities associated with the next generation of technology including MasterPass. Most customers begin their journey with us in the digital space, by booking and buying cinema and travel experiences online and on mobile. Innovation that supports this is a huge focus for our business going forward." Kristie Atkins, Director of Sales, AHL
"Digital payments represent the lifeblood of our business, so pioneering MasterPass is a key step in giving our customers the freedom to buy whenever they like, wherever they like. As Australia's leading online florist and gift retailer our customers demand an efficient payment process – that's exactly what MasterPass provides." James Stevens, CEO, Roses Only Group
"At Merchant Warrior we are committed to Innovation, Security and Leading edge technologies that empower merchants to offer flexible online payment solutions. We are proud to be one of Australia's premier payment gateways participating in the launch and implementation of MasterCard's MasterPass. We envision this partnership, through MasterPass, to be a step forward in the evolution of Next Generation Digital Payment solutions and are excited to play a part in shaping the future of Payments." Rakesh Pathak, Founder & CEO, Merchant Warrior
"As a leading provider of e-commerce payments solutions and innovation Paycorp are thrilled to partner MasterCard in offering MasterPass to our customers. We are impressed by the wallet's design allowing payment instruments and delivery addresses to be easily added or selected to complete the order checkout process. Our merchants will be surprised at how simple it is to integrate MasterPass to their existing e-commerce or m-commerce interfaces all within a highly secure environment. The open nature of the wallet allows a variety of payment instruments to be loaded, this truly is an online replacement for the physical wallet." John Caliguri, Managing Director, Paycorp Holdings
Find a complete list of MasterCard's news announcements from Mobile World Congress in our Digital Press Kit and follow us @MasterCardNews #MWCashless #MAMobileSymp to join the conversation.

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By: Unknown On 4:44 PM

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Banks fend off attacks designed to disrupt online banking access

A man works at his computer in Virginia Beach, Virginia, February 7, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Samantha Sais

By Jim Finkle and Rick Rothacker

BOSTON/CHARLOTTE, North Carolina | Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:21am EST

BOSTON/CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co and U.S. Bancorp and other major U.S. banks seem to have stopped a group of hacker activists from seriously disrupting their online banking operations.

A financial services industry organization and several cyber security companies said a group of "hactivists" that impeded access to some major U.S. online banking sites in September had so far failed to gain traction in a second campaign that began this week.

"There has been no impact to critical financial systems," the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or FS-ISAC, said in a statement.

Tom Kellermann, vice president of cyber security at security software maker Trend Micro Inc, said the banks had been "very successful.

"I wouldn't see any prolonged outages for the major financial institutions in the coming year."

Arbor Networks, which sells equipment that companies can use to protect their websites against attack, said banks had bolstered their defenses since the last round of attacks in September.

"Everyone has been through this once or twice," said Dan Holden, an Arbor director. "There is just a better level of preparedness."

On Monday, a group that calls itself the Qassam Cyber Fighters said on a website called Pastebin.com that it was planning attacks against a group of five banks that also included PNC Financial Services Group Inc and SunTrust Banks Inc. The same group took credit for the disruptions in September.

U.S. Bancorp spokesman Tom Joyce said the regional bank's website was performing well, but some customers might be experiencing intermittent delays. "We can assure customers that their data and funds are secure," he said.

PNC said its website had unusually heavy traffic in the past several days, causing occasional difficulties in accessing it. Bank of America said it was monitoring its systems, which were operational.

SunTrust and JPMorgan declined to comment.

(Reporting By Jim Finkle in Boston and Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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By: Dilusha On 5:50 PM

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