Friday 15 September 2017

By Charlotte Cloud.   As data breaches increase in frequency and severity, technology will become an increasingly important line of defence

Tuesday 28 March 2017

The most important change in data privacy regulation in 20 years   What is GDPR?   The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and was designed to harmonise data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens data privacy and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data […]

Monday 23 January 2017

In the technology world, buzzwords come and go. At the moment ‘Machine Learning’ is doing the rounds. In essence it is how a computer gets smarter, by using data to ‘learn’.   But how can these learned behaviours affect of daily lives?

Wednesday 10 August 2016

Staying safe online shouldn’t be a kamikaze mission. But as fraud attacks grow more aggressive by the week, merchants seem to be over correcting for the problem, starving their businesses of sales. Each eCommerce merchant sets their own controls for determining fraud. The problem is that legitimate customers often fall foul of these rules. So […]

Friday 5 August 2016

Theresa May, the UK’s new Prime Minister, is tasked with ensuring a smooth transition for Britain from the EU. As we are all aware, the British public voted 52% to 48% to exit the group – now known the world over as “Brexit”.  We all have strong feelings about this and how it will affect […]

Tuesday 14 June 2016

February 2016 saw the 10th Anniversary of chip & PIN in the UK. Over this last decade, chip & PIN has become an integral part of the way we make payments. Chip in PIN cards were first tested in the UK in 2003, when Barclaycard carried out the biggest trial of chip & PIN cards […]

Friday 27 May 2016

SkyParlour make teamwork and togetherness an integral part of all of our work. So much so that we introduce all new members of staff to ‘The SkyParlour Way’   We aim to lift our clients above the crowd across all communications channels using our mantra, The SkyParlour Way. Our team use this standard to develop […]

Thursday 5 May 2016

Business Rocks, a new event promoting Manchester as a major hub for technology arrived last month. Manchester is the city where the atom was first split, where Alan Turing conducted pioneering research that heralded the computer age and is now at the very centre of developing ground breaking graphene technology. So, new initiatives to continue […]

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Two stories hit the headlines recently that, while appearing to have nothing in common, actually resonate quite sharply with the payments industry.   The first was news from the Payments System Regulator, now seemingly showing its teeth, that it might want banks to sell their stake in VocaLink.   The other was the news that […]

Monday 7 March 2016

As we look back on the month of February, social media became saturated with data in the shape of heavily edited photographs, mushy status updates and hashtags (#boydonegood, anyone?). All of this was traceable to the misty-eyed couples that singletons love to hate, but now that the romance of Valentine’s Day has died down all […]

Monday 29 February 2016

Recently there has been a lot of talk about cash being phased out in favour of electronic payments. John Cryan, CEO of Deutsche Bank has predicted that cash will be abolished within a decade. However, when looking at the spending habits of Germany, Europe’s largest economy, this doesn’t appear to be the case.   Germans […]

Thursday 5 November 2015

Last night was a huge success for the who’s who of the payments sector, after scooping some of the industries most coveted awards at the prestigious annual Payments Awards.   Top names in the industry including Barclays, Transport for London, Digital River and Fiserv gathered at the glittering ceremony, held at the London Marriott Hotel, […]

Friday 10 July 2015

As the dust settles on the first full Conservative budget in 19 years, commentators are starting to pick apart the bones and look at the detail.   With one eye towards continuing economic recovery, this was a relatively cautious budget from the Chancellor. However, behind the headlines about welfare reform, the slashing of inheritance tax […]

Friday 12 June 2015

Well, another PayExpo is over and whilst many are resting weary feet (and maybe some weary heads), we take a look at some of the themes and trends that came out over the two days.   • Payment Networks – whilst there was plenty of talk and appetite to move away from the MasterCard and […]

Tuesday 9 June 2015

The payments industry is growing fast and with a certain amount of fury. New players and new technologies are keeping the traditional stalwarts and models under pressure to evolve and keep pace with speedier, easier and more secure payments. With this context of heady growth, many are asking what future are we hurtling towards and […]

Friday 15 May 2015

Today’s alleged breach at Starbucks is a result of on-going challenges faced by the payments industry; balancing real security with consumer demand for convenience. The technology to avoid such breaches already exists, making breaches such as this increasingly difficult to comprehend, or accept.   The alleged hacking of Starbucks customer accounts is reported to be […]

Thursday 7 May 2015

ONPEX, The Online Payment Exchange, has announced the opening of an office in Hong Kong.   With East Asia being an undoubted centre of payments innovation and China setting new standards for online commerce, ONPEX is seeking to consolidate its bonds with the fruitful Asian markets by strengthening its presence in the region with a […]

Thursday 16 April 2015

With thousands spent on exhibiting at trade shows each year, getting the most out of them is crucial! So as experts in managing media at international events, here are our top seven tips to capitalising on the opportunity   1. Decide Your Story and Tell It! Each event needs a story. Why are you there […]

Wednesday 15 April 2015

Is it finally happening? Are mobile payments finally making the breakthrough in Europe?   New research from ING issued this week suggests that this is finally the case. Across Europe, 33% of mobile device users have used their device to make a payment in the last 12 months and 51% plan to do so over […]

Thursday 9 April 2015

Europe’s first chargeback remediation specialist releases educational white paper to help merchants equip themselves to tackle the rising problem of friendly fraud   Global Risk Technologies, a leading technology company specialising in chargeback compliance, today releases a new white paper examining the threat of friendly fraud in Card-Not-Present (CNP) transactions and examines why this problem […]

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Our company blog launches today, here we will be expressing our news and also views on industry events and issues.   The myPINpad team have a busy year planned for 2015 including attendance at global events and awards so follow our news here and on Twitter @myPinPad.   We were founded in 2012 by an […]

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Once again, FinovateEurope descends on London – a two day event featuring Fintech’ players, from around the world showcasing their technologies and innovations. Over the years presenters have run the length of the financial technology industry and have covered; debit rewards, alternative payments, person-to-person (P2P) lending, new marketing tools, security solutions, big data, mobile apps, […]

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Fraud and Security Concerns Push Industry Further into the Spotlight   With the influx of high profile digital data breaches in the past year, businesses and consumers alike have grown increasingly concerned over the amount of sensitive personal information at risk during online and mobile transactions. As attacks and fraud rapidly evolve and put hundreds […]

Thursday 5 February 2015

Leading Payment Acceptance Solution Provider, Optomany Ltd, has reaffirmed its commitment to the latest payment security standards after being certified against the newly launched version 3.0 of the PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) with the help of data forensics and information security experts Foregenix.   Working with Optomany, Foregenix assessed the handling of cardholder […]

Friday 23 January 2015

By Monica Eaton-Cardone, CIO and Co-Founder of Global Risk Technologies   2015 will be a huge year for fraud and security in retail. Most concern around risk management for the year ahead is focussed on system security and fraud management, which is crucial to today’s transactions.   This is why I co-founded Global Risk Technologies’ […]

Tuesday 21 October 2014

To celebrate our fifth successful year as Marketing and PR specialists in some of the world’s most advanced and innovative industries, we are marking the happy occasion with a night to remember.   We are bringing together our clients, partners, supporters and business friends to share in the celebration of 5 years’ growth as well […]

Monday 20 October 2014

The Women’s Network in Electronic Transactions (W.net) today announces its inaugural UK meeting in London on Thursday 23rd October at 3pm. W.net is a not for profit organisation that, for the last decade, has been inspiring and empowering more than a 1,000 women annually in the US to greater success.   In the US, the […]

Friday 26 September 2014

Nomis Solutions, leading global pricing and profitability technology provider for the financial services sector, conducted a perception audit of deposits and lending managers from Europe’s leading banks. The survey, released today, gauges overall sentiment in the industry and delves into what today’s banks perceive as their principle challenges.   Key Findings   Over 50% of […]

Tuesday 16 September 2014

Creation of a new world-class payment solution company   Introduction in less than 12 months of a new Linux-based POS line   POS terminals with the most advanced certification levels   Strategic mPOS acquisition – Thyron Payments   Strategic R&D expertise acquisition – Altius Plus   Expansion from 2 to 22 countries   3rd largest […]

Monday 15 September 2014

SuiteApp eliminates complexity by making sales tax compliance simple and automatic   Avalara, Inc., (www.avalara.co.uk), a leading provider of cloud-based software that delivers a broad array of compliance solutions related to sales tax and other transactional taxes, today announced its AvaTax™ for NetSuite SuiteApp has achieved ‘Built for NetSuite’ verification. AvaTax for NetSuite SuiteApp works […]

Wednesday 13 August 2014

The expertise and knowledge of the Sky Parlour Co-founders has been requested by the premier professional organisation for women in payments, W.net, to attend their signature 2014 Career & Leadership Summit.   As specialist in the international payments industry, Angela Yore and Kimberley Waldron have been invited to join other key figures at the premier […]

Monday 30 June 2014

The multichannel elite were toasted at the highly anticipated Internet Retailing Awards last Thursday when the who’s who of the retail industry gathered at One Mayfair to celebrate the outstanding achievements by the leading, most admired and emulated multichannel retailers over the past year.   In the run up to the event, the SkyParlour team […]

Wednesday 18 June 2014

The SkyParlour team are on cloud nine after bringing home the Outstanding Small Consultancy Award at last night’s CIPR Excellence Awards.   After taking their seats with hundreds of other excited nominees, SkyParlour waited in anticipation to hear that they had beat off some stiff competition.   Angela Yore, Co-Founder of SkyParlour, when asked about […]

Wednesday 11 June 2014

The SkyParlour team has descended on this year’s highly anticipated PayExpo 2014 and are gearing up for the payment event of the year. Over the next two days, SkyParlour will be sponsoring the networking area as well as supporting exhibiting clients Jumio, Foregenix and Realex Payments. Director of Information Security and Forensic expert at Foregenix, […]

Thursday 29 May 2014

London, 28th May 2014: Realex Payments, Europe’s fastest growing payment service provider, is pleased to announce the UK rollout of its Business bootcamp series in partnership with London Technology Week.   The launch of the London based bootcamps, ‘Get Online, Stay Online’, follows a 95% YoY growth for Realex Payments in the UK last year […]

Thursday 29 May 2014

Transaction tax automation expert offers five tips today to help merchants minimise potential disruptions tomorrow   London, UK, 28th May 2014 – Avalara, Inc., a leading cloud-based tax and compliance automation technology provider, today offered five specific tips to help European broadcasting, telecommunications and electronic services (BTE) companies address imminent VAT changes when supplying to […]

Friday 16 May 2014

London, 16th May 2014 – Argos, House of Fraser, Marks and Spencer, Tesco, ASOS and Thomson (TUI) are just a handful of the brands at the forefront of multichannel retail who have made the shortlist for the Internet Retailing Awards 2014, sponsored by Venda. Taking place at One Mayfair on Thursday 26th June, the Internet Retailing Awards will celebrate the continued […]

Wednesday 14 May 2014

Annual Kount Mobile Payments and Fraud Survey finds 51% of nearly 2,000 respondents believe the risk of mobile fraud has increased year on year  London, UK – 14 May 2014 – One in ten retailers expect most of their online sales to come via a mobile device by the end of 2014, according to the IMRG.[1] However the […]

Friday 9 May 2014

Avalara, Inc., (www.avalara.com), a leading global provider of cloud-based software that delivers a broad array of compliance solutions related to VAT, sales tax and other transactional taxes, today announced the appointment of Sacha Wilson as Director of Sales & Marketing EMEA. Wilson joins Avalara from Amazon Merchant Services, where he headed the Amazon Payments and […]

Thursday 1 May 2014

SkyParlour is reflecting on this month’s busy trip to the Electronic Transactions Association’s (ETA) largest trade show in 24 years; TRANSACT 14. We played a key role supporting ETA at an event that attracted a global attendance from 1000 companies operating in the payments industry. Taking place in Las Vegas, TRANSACT 14 featured over 220,000 […]

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Over 234,913 international calls were placed from the UK to Poland in the first quarter of 2014 racking up more than 1,144,720 minutes spent on the phone. The figures released by TALK HOME Mobile, a leading a pay-as-you-go mobile provider of international calling SIMs, show that call volumes to the country increased by 15% over […]

Thursday 10 April 2014

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), the global trade association representing the payments technology world, has wrapped the largest show in the organization’s 24-year history. Thousands of attendees and 210 exhibitors enjoyed 3 full days of educational opportunities, technical innovations and networking across the expanded 220,000 gross square feet of exhibit space. “This is our first […]

Tuesday 8 April 2014

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), the global trade association representing the payments technology world, today opened its doors on the largest event in the organization’s 25-year history. TRANSACT 14, which launches today and runs until April 10 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, will welcome thousands of attendees from around the world, […]

Friday 4 April 2014

With under a week to go until TRANSACT 14, SkyParlour is getting ready to head across the pond. During the conference we will be hosting the press room, with an exclusive list of journalists from publications including CNBC, Bloomberg BNA, TechCruch, CNET, San Francisco Business Times, The Green Sheet and Mobile Marketing and Technology to […]

Tuesday 1 April 2014

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), the global trade association representing the payments technology world, announced today two exciting additions to TRANSACT 14, the world’s largest payments industry event.  CNBC will be TRANSACT’s exclusive broadcast partner live on the TRANSACT 14 show floor, and Bill Sheedy, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, M&A, Government Relations and Europe […]

Friday 28 March 2014

A 24% increase in visitors and queues out the door at Internet Retailing Expo 2014 Over 5,000 of the leading retailers and suppliers of the multichannel industry passed through the doors of the NEC this week at the Internet Retailing Expo 2014 where  John Lewis, Mothercare, Waitrose, Shop Direct and French Connection were amongst the […]

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Kount Inc., a leading provider of fraud prevention technology, has been nominated for the Customer Choice Award in the Best Overall Fraud Security Solution category of the CNP Awards for the third year running. The winner will be announced during the premiere CNP Expo May 19-22 in Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate, Florida. The awards […]

Monday 17 March 2014

Now PAYG, a leading MVNO specialising in international calling and low cost pre-paid mobile solutions, has been named as runner-up in the ‘MVNO of the Year’ award category at the prestigious Mobile News Awards, held at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel in London. Now’s innovative pricing initiatives, impressive customer service and the recently launched ‘Truly […]

Tuesday 11 March 2014

This week the SkyParlour team is descending on Earls Court, London for the UK’s biggest retail technology trade show, the RBTE. Throughout 11th & 12th March we will be manning our stand – 719, supporting clients with media opportunities, catching-up with old faces and meeting with new ones. Our exhibiting clients include Avalara at stand […]

Friday 28 February 2014

VeriFone Systems, Inc. (NYSE: PAY), announced today that Point, a VeriFone company, and Handelsbanken, one of the highest rated banks in the world, will provide a mobile payment managed services solution for micro merchants and other small businesses in Sweden that want to use smartphones and tablets to conduct transactions. Point is providing VeriFone’s EMV-compatible […]

Friday 28 February 2014

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), the global trade association of the payments technology world, have announced a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the third Payments Next Zone and E-Pay Innovation Award at TRANSACT 14, the world’s largest payments industry event. The Payments Next Zone (PNZ) will showcase innovative payments technology […]

Friday 21 February 2014

Financial technology and alternative lending provider, Advanced Merchant Payments received a splendid mention in Mr Osborne’s economy speech in Hong Kong yesterday. During his speech on achieving strong and sustainable growth, Osborne announced: “…On the other side of the river a small Hong Kong tech company called Advanced Merchant Payments will be opening in London’s Tech […]

Tuesday 18 February 2014

Realex Payments today published its annual ‘Top 3 Sectors – Trends and Transactions’ infographic for 2013 (downloadable here). Overall, Realex Payments volumes increased by 54% between 2012 and 2013, with in excess of 145 million transactions processed valued in excess of £20 billion. In addition, the company saw significant growth in its top 3 performing […]

Friday 14 February 2014

New research report from ePay Consulting Services, Merchant Acquiring: Leading Practices in Retention Management, highlights key trends and operational challenges that are impacting the merchant acquiring market today.   Merchant attrition is a growing concern for merchant acquirers and independent sales organizations (ISOs), and Retention Management needs to become a top strategic priority for organizations […]

Friday 17 January 2014

Disney, Hobbs, Homebase, John Lewis, French Connection, Fortnum and Mason, eBay, Google, the University of Oxford, Waitrose and Tui Travel are amongst the confirmed names billed to talk about how they are delivering multichannel retail results at the upcoming Internet Retailing Expo 2014 in March. 5000 international visitors from across the retail sector will connect […]

Wednesday 15 January 2014

With the holiday retail season now in the rearview mirror, Jumio, Inc. today released its December 2013 mobile commerce analysis, finding that retailers celebrated the most successful mobile holiday shopping season to date, yet still missed out on over £1.5 billion in sales due to the prevalence of outdated mobile payment experiences. While shoppers increasingly […]

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Following recent cyber-attacks and data leaks on retail giants Target and Neiman Marcus over the festive period, data security and forensics experts Foregenix have announced the launch of their latest data security solution that reduces the root cause of online fraud – Foregenix Security Essentials (FSE). This integrated solution reduces the risk of attacks on […]

Wednesday 15 January 2014

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), the global trade association representing the payments technology world, announced today the addition of VeriFone CEO Paul Galant as a keynote speaker for “TRANSACT 14: Powered By ETA,” the industry’s largest payments and technology event. TRANSACT will be the first major speaking appearance for Mr. Galant since his recent appointment […]

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Today, many retailers struggle to conduct rigorous tests and analysis because it requires multiple technology systems and specialized resources – resources that are often already stretched thin. As a result, executives must make crucial decisions about major initiatives based on partial data that doesn’t differentiate between true incremental benefit and “phantom” gains that could result […]

Tuesday 14 January 2014

1010data, Inc. has announced that Claire’s, Inc., one of the world’s leading specialty retailers of fashion jewelry and accessories for young women, teens, tweens and girls, has chosen the company’s cloud-based platform for big data discovery across its global businesses. “The amount of data our stores generate expands on a daily basis. In order to compete effectively, […]

Monday 13 January 2014

Realex Payments, an established e-retail payment service provider, and Visualsoft, an award winning ecommerce platform, have today announced a partnership that offers PCI compliant payment solutions for online retailers operating on the Visualsoft platform. Jon Sheard, Head of UK Corporate Business Development at Realex Payments said of the partnership: “Realex Payments is extremely pleased to […]

Monday 13 January 2014

SAP AG has announced Lori Mitchell-Keller, senior vice president of Global Industry Business Unit for Retail, will serve on the National Retail Federation (NRF) Board of Directors. The announcement was made at the NRF 103rd Annual Convention and Expo, being held January 12-15 at the Javits Convention Center in New York City. “As a seasoned technology […]

Monday 13 January 2014

eBay Enterprise today announced the availability of a combined Magento and eBay Enterprise solution specifically geared towards enabling omnichannel success for mid-sized retailers.  The solution combines the highly flexible, open source front end customization of Magento’s Enterprise Edition, pre-integrated with eBay Enterprise’s modular omnichannel solution suite that includes a retail optimized order management platform comprised of: […]

Saturday 11 January 2014

Large merchants across North America now have access to a fully managed payments solution that allows them to simplify the multi-channel management of card present, card-not-present and mobile payments, improve the security of cardholder data and increase the flexibility of their payments roadmap. TNSPay Direct is a SaaS solution provided by Transaction Network Services (TNS) […]

Friday 10 January 2014

By Kimberley Waldron Consumers today connect with the world through their smartphones, pushing retailers to adopt the latest mobile technologies to effectively engage with their customers. At this year’s Retail’s Big Show, Symphony Analytics will showcase Near Field Communication (NFC), geo-fencing and other location-based and real-time merchandising, inventory and marketing solutions that are helping retailers transform the […]

Monday 2 December 2013

By Kimberley Waldron NewNet Communication Technologies LLC and Spire Payments have entered a distribution agreement for NewNet’s Traxcom Secure Solutions products and services enabling Spire to offer these products and services in all geographies except North America. NewNet is a global leader in mobility technologies with a primary focus in messaging, signalling, wireless broadband, consumer […]

Tuesday 26 November 2013

By Angela Yore The Natural Security Alliance is a global community of large and reputable companies dedicated to accelerating the adoption and ongoing development of Natural Security Technology based solutions Pioneering standard-setter, Natural Security has today announced the launch and newly elected governing board of the world’s first open Alliance dedicated to secure transactions based […]

Monday 25 November 2013

By Kimberley Waldron Spire Payments has established a partnership in Australia with Keycorp Services (Pty) Ltd, aimed at delivering Spire’s new generation of payment terminals to the Australian market.  Keycorp will promote and support the entire range of Spire solutions – including traditional POS devices, mobile POS devices and value-added solutions aimed at the retail […]

Tuesday 12 November 2013

By Kimberley Waldron Spire Payments’ operation in Spain announced today that it received a significant order for its “SP” line from Redsys, the leading payment processor in Spain. The Spire Payments “SP” line was announced earlier this year with an impressive set of credentials ranging from PCI 3.0 certification to SRED compliance, EMV as well […]

Friday 8 November 2013

Where Innovation will meet Merchant Market Need, Says Organisers Today, Birdback, a payment and customer loyalty specialist, in conjunction with Vendorcom Europe’s leading Cards & Payments Community, announced the launch of its ‘Hack the High Street’ event, to be held at the Rainmaker’s Loft, London on the weekend of 9th/10th November. The event, sponsored by American Express, is designed […]

Tuesday 29 October 2013

By Angela Yore Last year, one in five people did all of their Christmas shopping online, and for even the most sceptical of those that ventured out onto the High Street on Christmas Eve will probably ask themselves, ‘Why not more?’ As we have all experienced, shopping on the high street can be hard work, […]

Thursday 10 October 2013

Mako Networks, a world leader in simple, secure, cloud-managed networks, and Blackthorn Technologies Ltd, a leading provider of governance, risk and compliance software solutions and advisory services, today announced a new partnership designed to simplify compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The partnership will deliver a web-based portal that automatically […]

Monday 5 August 2013

By Angela Yore Key payments industry players Andrew Greening, John de Lavis, Souheil Badran, Carl Clump, Sophie Hobbs, Roger Alexander, Ken Howes and Bill Richards form international advisory team. Greenings International, an executive search and HR development & consulting firm led by Andrew Greening, today announced the launch of a global business advisory in the […]

Thursday 25 July 2013

By Angela Yore Foregenix, an independent and specialist data security business, has been invited by MasterCard and Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) to share its global expertise of data discovery and network segmentation with South African system operators and merchants in the region to help minimise the risk posed by cyber-criminals at the MasterCard […]

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Now Mobile, a leading MVNO specialising in international calling and low cost pre-paid mobile solutions, has signed a national sales agreement with Tesco. The distribution agreement will see Now Mobile SIMs made available across the UK in selected Tesco stores, as well as online. The deal is the next step in a partnership which has […]

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Mako Networks, a cloud-based network management and security company specializing in card fraud risk reduction, has today announced successful completion of its fourth consecutive Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) audit, certified as a Level 1 service provider—the highest level of qualification attainable. In this year’s audit, Mako was additionally certified for its […]

Tuesday 7 May 2013

In the last few years the credit card industry has mandated several security requirements and regulations for merchants that process, store or transmit card data. These standards were designed to help eliminate payment fraud and they are known as Payments Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). Becoming PCI DSS certified is an extremely rigorous […]

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Mako Networks has been nominated in the Vendor category at the PCI Board of Advisors election and will be represented by CEO Bill Farmer. Mako is a cloud-based network management company specialising in security and PCI DSS compliance, targeted at Level 4 merchants and distributed enterprises. Mako is headquartered in New Zealand with operations in […]

Thursday 28 February 2013

We’re halfway through our whistle stop business tour of the east coast and so far we’ve had two action packed weeks meeting with noted journalists, clients and industry figures. After settling into our NYC apartment, and surviving the biggest snow storm of the decade, we caught the train to Boston to meet with Will Hernandez, […]

Monday 13 August 2012

by Jonathan Craymer,  Chairman at PinPlus Ltd Recently in a break-out session at a major conference on identity management, I was privileged to ask the speaker, the CTO of globally known luxury car maker: “Does the information security industry provide what you need?” After all, we’ve had years working with passwords, strong passwords, tokens, apps which receive […]

Wednesday 1 August 2012

At SkyParlour security is a topic we deal with on a daily basis, whether it is the latest piece of technology designed to keep data safe, PCI DSS compliance issues or the challenges retailers face in combating criminal activity.

Wednesday 30 May 2012

There have been many new or alternative methods of payment launched by big name companies. But are they really going to make it easier for average Joe to pay for their morning coffee? Whether it be using your mobile or contactless cards to move money around it seems that the major players in the payments […]

Wednesday 25 April 2012

The news in the press recently about the Global Payments breach, closely followed by the Heartland court cases being finally settled are both USA centric it is true, and for the non-payments industry layman it would appear that the problem is primarily based in the USA. It would be right  to think that there is […]

Wednesday 4 April 2012

With the European Commission laying out plans on Wednesday (28th March) to open a centre in 2013 which will combat illegal online activity and shield the EU against cyber-crime, it begs the question; could internet crime really ever become a thing of the past? Cybercrime costs global businesses an estimated $380 billion a year, leaving […]

Friday 30 March 2012

For a mobile site aiming to replicate the sensory thrill offered by an in-store shopping experience (delivered by any modern retailer worth its salt), it is going to be increasingly difficult. Because of technological advances and a proliferation of choice, today’s fickle consumers are becoming more savvy and choosy about where and how they make […]

Monday 26 March 2012

Modern forms of communication such as broadband benefit SME merchants by reducing costs and speeding up processing, but these need to be compliant and by their nature are technically more complex than legacy dial-up lines. For example, a merchant using dial-up who does not hold card data currently needs to accurately attest to 27 questions […]

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Customer loyalty based initiatives capitalising on smartphone capabilities have been big news in retail for the last few years; however, the infrastructure used to deliver it to the customer can be very intrusive, particularly when using location based technology.  With biometrics, customers are not tracked via location, rather they can control when interaction takes place […]

Friday 2 March 2012

Mention biometrics to most of the general population and thoughts are instantly contaminated by popular culture with cries of “Big brother” and references to high-tech thriller, Minority Report. However, as a number of forward thinking companies are beginning to demonstrate, biometrics can actually be used to great advantage in the retail sector. Biometric authentication is the […]

Tuesday 21 February 2012

According to many reports that I’ve read lately many retailers don’t seem to be afraid of PCI . A recent survey undertaken in the US found that 79% of retailers weren’t PCI compliant, similar surveys undertaken in the UK have produced figures that are just as alarming. From conversations I’ve had with industry professionals, it […]

Monday 20 February 2012

The ongoing, worthwhile progress of PCI adhering practices within both large and small businesses will likely be dependent on the forging of strong partnerships between payments technology vendors.  The reason for this is that many businesses that process, store or transmit cardholder data are simply not equipped to change at the speed required by the […]

Friday 17 February 2012

It is widely known that the USA, a global super power in so many ways, has lacked for years (and I mean decades) a certain urgency surrounding the innovation of technology on its credit and debit cards. The mag strip was a cutting edge innovation, a global standard in payments technology. Alas it has had […]

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Mobile Payments is set to become a dominant force in the payments industry over the next few years. But will 2012 see the technology take off in the UK payments market? As is often the case, the US has led the way in developing and implementing the technology. However, with the likes of Google, PayPal, […]

Monday 19 December 2011

Visa Europe is investigating a possible data breach at an Eastern European payment processor that may have hit thousands of cardholders. The firm has confirmed it is looking in to the problem which appears to have hit a processor serving a merchant chain operating in several Eastern European countries. Romania’s state-owned CEC Bank has confirmed […]

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Press reports suggest that Google has chosen the UK as the second market for its mobile wallet service, with a trial set for early next year ahead of the London Olympics. The company officially launched Google Wallet in the US in September and has been gradually rolling out the technology since then. According to French newspaper Les […]

Tuesday 6 December 2011

A new study has shown that customers are prepared to spend four minutes on average undergoing identity verification and other security checks before they abandon an online retail transaction. The research commissioned by Experian, the global information services company, in conjunction with the International Fraud Prevention Research Centre revealed the extent to which time-consuming identity […]

Tuesday 6 December 2011

PayPal has overtaken credit cards as a preferred form of payment for consumers shopping on the Web, according to a survey of global shopping habits conducted by KPMG. The report – which surveyed almost 10,000 adults from 31 countries – finds that consumers around the world are adopting new technologies at a rapid pace, a […]

Friday 25 November 2011

Reports released today by PayPal suggest that 2016 will mark the tipping point for mobile payments in the UK, when consumers will be able to  purchase everyday items using their mobile phones. These findings were based on surveys conducted by Forrester Consulting with 10 senior executives from major UK retailers and other businesses, representing a combined 2010 turnover […]

Thursday 8 September 2011

A recent USA Today article has reinforced the widely held view that card transactions in the United States are outdated and unsafe. The United States is the only developed country still accepting credit and debit cards with black magnetic stripes. Developed in 1960 by IBM for security systems, this payment method was replaced long ago in countries like […]

Thursday 8 September 2011

This is a great article from the Green Sheets. New guideliness for PCI DSS compliance for wireless networks have made it quite clear to experts that there is no replacement for having a hardwired contained network. Although there are many steps that can be taken (including the now mandatory firewalls need to be PCI DSS compliant)to […]

Thursday 8 September 2011

A recent article published in SC Magazine has revealed some frightening Cybercrime statistics. Statistics from the article based on a survey of 20000 people reveal that: Cybercrime has affected 431 million adults worldwide in the past year at a cost of $388 billion in monetary and time costs 14 adults become the victims of cybercrime every […]