Man accused of biggest credit-card breach in U.S. history

According to an article just filed by The Washington Times, the Justice Department has charged a Miami man with perpetrating what is being coined "the largest alleged credit and debit card data breach ever charged in the United States."

The Times reports that Albert Gonzales, 28, is accused of stealing data that affected more than 130 million credit and debit cards. Gonzales, whose nicknames include "soupnazi," targeted 7-Eleven; Heartland Payment Systems; and Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc., a Maine-based supermarket chain.

Along with two unnamed co-conspirators, Gonzales launched an attack on the networks and sent the stolen credit and debit card information to computer servers in California, Illinois, Latvia, the Netherlands and Ukraine. In one earlier case, Gonzales was charged with stealing credit card information after hacking into the computer networks of TJX Corp., a discount chain that operates Marshall's and TJ Maxx stores. He also reportedly infiltrated BJ's Wholesale Club, Barnes & Noble Inc., the Sports Authority, Boston Market restaurants, Office Max, Dave & Buster's restaurants, DSW shoe stores and Forever 21. In that case, he is accused of stealing 40 million credit card numbers.

Gonzalez is being held in New York and faces decades in prison if convicted in all three cases.

Source: ATMMarketPlace.com

New Credit and Debit Card Security Technology by Heartland Payment Systems

Heartland Payment Systems has commercially launched its new state-of-the-art payment card security technology.

According to a press release, Heartland has spent more than two years developing, and 10 months beta testing, this end-to-end encryption technology called E3. E3 is designed to protect cardholder credit and debit card information, rendering scrambled data useless to cyber criminals.

Sun National Bank Goes Mobile With mFoundry

Multi-Mode Sun on Hand(TM) Solution Allows Customers to Bank from Any Mobile Device

Sun National Bank announced today that it has partnered with mFoundry to launch Sun on Hand(TM), a state-of-the-art, fully integrated and comprehensive mobile banking solution for its customers. Featuring text messaging, mobile web and application technology, the program makes financial management possible anytime, anywhere for people with mobile phone access.

Sun on Hand(TM) provides Sun National Bank customers with secure access by allowing them to check account balances, search transaction history, transfer money, and pay bills via their mobile device. Launched in late February 2010, the integrated program supports interactions via instant text messaging (SMS), mobile web browser, and mobile applications for use on the iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry and other major devices. Recognizing that today's banking consumers seek enhanced connections to their financial institutions, mobile banking helps redefine convenience.

How to accept credit card payments using your mobile phone

A new application for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android-powered phones turns mobile devices into a handheld Point of Sales, letting US-based consumers accept credit card payments from virtually anyone who is willing to get their card out of their wallet.

Mobile payment options are rapidly expanding as consumers gravitate towards a paper-moneyless society.

The trend has been around for a long time but is only now becoming a readily-accepted (and secure) method of payment in the Western world. Consumers in Japan and South Korea have been able to make small payments for goods and services with the swipe of their mobile phones for years and have become heavy users of mobile payment systems.

Mobile banking potential far greater than PC banking

Since the Reserve Bank of India's mobile banking guidelines came out in October 2008, more than 32 banks have been given clearance for some form of mobile banking or payment service to be offered to their customers. The annual value of transactions using the mobile banking channel is in the region of Rs150 crore, involving about two to three million transactions. But let us put this in perspective - after all it has taken more than two decades for credit card penetration to reach just about 3 per cent of the population, or about 30 million people!  

Since it does take time to go from giving approvals to actually getting the service to the market in any meaningful way, it is clearly still early days for this new alternate channel. But a quick litmus test indicates three things.

Run Rate:

Experience so far within a year or so of the mobile, prepaid and other concomitant directives is that the run rate for our mobile transactions has grown by six times, whilst pure banking customer related transactions in Nepal and India have grown 10 times.