Tuesday, July 3, 2007

HPY News

This section contains summaries of news articles and press releases related to Heartland Payment Systems. I've done my best to summarize those topics which pertain to the company or it's technology. If you wish to read the entire story, please follow the links provided. The entries are listed from newest to oldest. Please note that many of the headlines are my own and may be different from the writer's headline.


Strategic Relationship with Bremer Bank

Company Release - 07/05/2007 08:52
Initially, more than 1,500 of Bremer's current merchant clients will be converted to Heartland's processing system. Heartland and Bremer will also focus on a joint business development program that leverages both companies' regional customer bases for new business and cross selling opportunities.

HPY To Deliver Contactless Payments to Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

Company Release - 07/02/2007 16:05
This first-of-its-kind college campus solution in the United States - developed by Heartland's new micro-payments division - capitalizes on two well-established trends: the ubiquity of the mobile phone among college students; and the popularity of new contactless, or tap-and-go, payments among American consumers.

Beginning in July, Slippery Rock University's 8,500 students, faculty and staff will receive a new official campus ID card and a separate contactless token designed for use with their mobile phones.

Using either the card or the phone, they will be able to make payments at on-campus locations as well as participating merchants in the surrounding community. During the summer, campus vending machines, laundry facilities, photocopiers and printers will be outfitted with dual technology readers to enable contactless payments via mobile phone in addition to the traditional ID card payments.

The new mobile phone tokens incorporate the same standards-based contactless technology (ISO 14443) used worldwide by MasterCard, Visa and leading card issuers in the payment and identity sectors.

The technology enables data to be read without physical insertion into - or contact with - a card reader. Thus, it is more convenient and secure than prior payment options. By design, the phone must be held in close proximity - no more than 2 inches - to an approved contactless reader for communication to occur.

"We anticipate that our work with Slippery Rock University this summer will generate major interest from other campus administrators and local merchants as they see the benefits and opportunities for improved student service and administrative and payment cost savings," [says Robert O. Carr, chairman and chief executive officer of Heartland Payment Systems].

Heartland received the award through a competitive bid process initiated in March by Slippery Rock. Nationwide, Heartland processes $55 billion in transaction volume annually for more than 150,000 merchants. The company has served as Slippery Rock University's payment processor for nearly ten years.


CEO Bob Carr Wins Ernst & Young 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Company Release - 06/26/2007 09:23
The award - bestowed in the "Business Services" category - recognizes and celebrates outstanding entrepreneurs and business leaders in New Jersey.

Carr was recognized not only for his achievements as the founder and CEO of Heartland Payment Systems, but also for his charitable contributions as the founder of the Give Something Back Foundation.


Heartland Advances Micro-Payments Strategy with Acquisition of eSecure Peripherals and Hiring of Industry Leaders

Company Release - 06/18/2007 09:12
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Formed in 1998, eSecure Peripherals developed some of the industry's most advanced technology around the vital interface between vending machines and the consumer. With eSecure Peripherals' technology, an entire range of transactions once thought of as exclusively cash or coin can be paid with credit, debit, or prepaid cards - including vending, parking, laundry, and others.

In line with this acquisition, Heartland has named Ron Farmer, former chief executive officer of Revenue Technologies Corporation, executive director of Heartland's new micro-payments division. This division will focus on the expansion of cashless technologies to small payments including parking, vending, laundries, print management and gaming.

Farmer is a 25-year veteran of the technology and payments space, having served in an executive capacity with companies such as AT&T and Oracle. During the late 1990's, he served as president and chief executive officer of Debitek, the global leader in electronic cash systems Heartland acquired in 2005. Most recently, Farmer engineered the turnaround of Revenue Technologies Corporation. His success at Revenue Technologies Corporation culminated in the sale of the company to Oracle earlier this month.

Allan Brown, the former president and founder of eSecure Peripherals, will join Farmer on the leadership team of Heartland's micro-payments division. Brown will serve as director of micro-payments products.

"The micro-payments space is one of the biggest growth opportunities for Heartland today," says Robert O. Carr, chairman and chief executive officer of Heartland Payment Systems. "The nature of payments is changing, and an array of transactions -- once the exclusive domain of cash and coin -- is now being completed with plastic."

Carr continued, "Over the past 24 months, we have gained access to a range of technologies in the micro-payments space through our acquisition of Debitek and our investment in Parcxmart Technologies, an electronics payments company. Now, with eSecure Peripherals' technology under the Heartland umbrella, we have the critical mass to formalize our micro-payments strategy and drive the transition to a cashless society."

Heartland's micro-payments division will focus on automating every part of the micro-payments process which encompasses transactions under five dollars. Its technology allows for a secure, more convenient alternative - or addition - to traditional cash and coin payment options.


HPY and Parcxmart Finalize Strategic Equity Partnership Deal

Forget about finding change for a parking meter, use a card!

Company Release - 06/14/2007 16:00
[HPY] increases its strategic investment in Parcxmart Technologies, an electronics payments company. The two companies also signed an exclusive marketing agreement whereby Heartland's national sales network has exclusive rights to sell Parcxmart's payment system to merchants nationally.

The Parcxmart(TM) Card and patent-pending payment solution is America's first fully functional parking and local merchant smart card payment system...

Currently, Parcxmart's smart card payment system is fully operable in Bridgeport, CT, New Haven, CT and Truckee, CA.

"In these cities, the Parcxmart Card acts as the municipality's card, providing people with an easy payment method that makes downtown shopping and parking convenient," continued Carr. "This, in turn, supports the economic development of these communities. The faster we are able to grow the merchant network, the more each city can benefit from the ease of use and convenience Parcxmart offers."


CEO Bob Carr Named ''Best Executive'' by American Business Awards

Company Release - 06/13/2007 09:24

[Carr] received a 2007 Stevie Award from the American Business Awards, the only national, all-encompassing awards program honoring great performances in business. Carr was recognized at the annual awards dinner held earlier this week in New York City.

Carr received the "Best Executive - Other Industries" award which recognizes the efforts and achievements of individual performers in American business. Carr competed with more than 2,000 executives from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry.