Innovator Series

Payments Processing: Simplified And Customized
Payments processing is a messy and complicated business, but by bringing all of its aspects under one roof, Bluefin Payments is helping to simplify what’s becoming an increasingly complex industry. PYMNTS.com spoke with John Perry, Bluefin President and CEO, and Ruston Miles, SVP of Business Development, eCommerce Division, to find out more about Bluefin, their approach to payments, and why they decided to go beyond the traditional payment getaway.

CSI CEO Keith Stone: Be Fast, Furious And Simple
Keith J. Stone, head of CSI Enterprise, has a lot to say about innovation in B2B payments – a space that is truly tough to ignite. For 23 years, he and his team have built one of the most successful suites of fleet and corporate purchasing products, including its signature globalVCard which couples worldwide acceptance with the ultimate in security and controls.

Biometric Banking Bridges India’s Financial Gap
TSYS and Visa are working to change that through the new Saral Money program, which will use biometric technology and identity verification to bring financial services to those who’ve never had them before. PYMNTS.com spoke with Amit Sethi, managing director, India and Southeast Asia for TSYS, to discuss how Saral Money works, how financial inclusion can change lives and why the Indian government thinks it can add 400 million new cardholders by 2014.

CSI’s Secure Solution For Card-Not-Present Transactions
It can be tough to navigate the murky waters where mobile wallets and card-not-present transactions meet, but CSI’s globalVCard can help to clear the way. By generating virtual card numbers for single and multi-use transactions, the globalVCard gives businesses a secure and flexible way to make mobile payments. What does CSI believe the application’s greatest strengths are, and what are they planning on showcasing during PYMNTS.com’s Innovation Project?

ShopKeep CEO: iPad Is Perfect For POS
How does ShopKeep plan to spend its new $10 million in Series B funding? According to CEO Jason Richelson, it’s going towards product. PYMNTS.com spoke with Richelson about the changing POS industry, why iPads are poised to play a big role, and where his company plans to allocate its new backing.

Chutes And Ladders: How LendUp Plays The Lending Game
LendUp | Payday Lending Service
What do you get when you combine the ideology of Grameen with the scale and experience of CitiGroup? You get Sasha Orloff, the CEO and co-founder of LendUp, an alternative payday lending service focused on better educating a segment of the population that is “inherently distrusting” of financial institutions.

Dynamics Looks To Revolutionize Cobranding With ePlate Launch
Dynamics Inc. | Co-branded Credit Cards
Ever wonder why individuals or seasonal brands never cobrand with credit cards? Thanks to Dynamics’ new ePlate system, pretty soon, they will. PYMNTS.com spoke with Jeff Mullen, CEO and Founder of Dynamics, to learn how the ePlate system works, why it solves a unique cobranding problem and why he believes he’s founded the first payments company to be “truly technologically agnostic.”

Grow Financial Puts New Spin On Window Shopping
Grow Financial | Virtual Money Machine
Free money? It sounds too good to be true, but that’s what Tampa-based credit union Grow Financial is offering to anyone willing to play the “virtual money game” posted outside their newest branch. How does the technology work, and what can consumers win? We’ve got the scoop.

Scanning For Mobile Payments’ Future
Chris Sellers | CEO, Mobeam
We’re used to reading about NFC, QR codes and traditional card readers when it comes to POS technology, but scanning startup Mobeam is taking a very different approach to the future of payments acceptance. PYMNTS.com spoke with Chris Sellers, Mobeam’s CEO, to learn about how Mobeam works, why he’s not threatened by NFC, and some major news his company has for us on the horizon.

PassRocket Looks To Capitalize On SMB Passbook Market
Loyalty Cards on iOS 6 Passbook
With the launch of Apple’s iOS6 operating system and its Passbook app, a whole new section of the eCommerce and daily deals industries is emerging. Enter PassRocket, an app designed to facilitate unique Passbook loyalty cards for SMBs that’s offering some basic services for free. Will PassRocket and other competitors catch on?

Group Bill Payments Get Social With PayTap
Sean-Michael Daley | Co-Founder & CEO, PayTap
PayTap plans to differentiate itself by focusing on group payments. The company has already landed Amazon as a merchant integrator, and says it can “disrupt” the way financial institutions view the online payments market.

Famed Japanese Retail Entrepreneur On The Future Of eCommerce
Bill Clerico | CEO, WePay
Karen Webster spoke with WePay co-founder and CEO Bill Clerico to discuss the company’s one year launch anniversary, what sets them apart from PayPal, and where the future of online payments is headed.

Famed Japanese Retail Entrepreneur On The Future Of eCommerce
Hiroshi Mikitani | CEO, Rakuten
You may know Hiroshi Mikitani best for his huge investment in Pinterest, but the Rakuten CEO is one of Japan’s most influential online retail players. Just where does he see the future of eCommerce headed?

U.S. Senate Contender Barry Hinckley Hits A Home Run With Mobile Donations
Barry Hinckley | Candidate for US Senate & Founder, Bullhorn Software
Rhode Island entrepreneur Barry Hinckley is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate and is the first to adopt ROAMpay’s mCommerce card acceptance solution in a national political campaign. Hinckley shares how mobile payment acceptance is a “game changer” and how voters are reacting to his new fundraising technology.

Intel and MasterCard Making Online Shopping a Breeze
Name: Geoff Iddison | Group Executive, e-Commerce at MasterCard helping the company’s PayPass technology to enable Ultrabooks (powered by Intel) to make online shopping easier and more secure.

CEO Insight: The Quirks to Perks
Name: Dan O’Malley | CEO of PerkStreet Financial helping America understand why the banking system is broken and how to fix it.

Opening the First Cardless Bank – Chief Mobile Officer Explains Strategy
Name: Scott Bales | Chief Mobile Officer at Movenbank aiming to impart some confidence in the major banks around the world that’s time to make a serious move into Mobile oriented business models

Boston Celtics: Turning 5.6 million Facebook Fans into Ticket Holders
Name: Peter Stringer | Boston Celtics Interactive Media Director working on the Celtics’ 3-Point Play Facebook application and turning fans into more than just social loyalists.

How Rosetta Stone Became Fluent in Fraud Prevention
Name: John Kurniawan | European Counsel at Rosetta Stone’s European headquarters in London focusing not only on the fraud prevention solutions but also on the networks amongst traders and businesses in order to add a new aspect to combat against fraud.

Meet the Payments Seer – Capgemini Innovator Clues FIs into Future Trends
Name: Rahul Kapur | Principal, Banking and Payments for Capgemini Financial Services helping banks to get a handle on payment innovation

Why Starbucks, Best Buy & More Chose CashStar’s Gift Card Solution
Name: David Stone | Co-Founder and CEO of CashStar driving adoption for eGift Cards for 200+ brands

United Flying High with One of the Largest Loyalty Programs in the World
Name: Thomas O’Toole | Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer – Mileage Plus Holdings LLC for United working on the airline’s 2012 MileagePlus program

Google Me This: OfficeMax Exec on Working with the Digital Wallet
Name: Chris Duncan | Vice President of Direct and Loyalty Marketing for OfficeMax, building the company’s mobile presence to enhance its MaxPerks® Rewards program

PYMNTS Innovator Disrupts the “Archaic and Dysfunctional Paper Coupon Business”
Name: David Rochon | CEO of SavingStar, the first and only national paperless grocery coupon service online and/or with our iPhone/Android app

Cars.com Innovator: Cash Isn’t Dead, Just on Life Support
Name: Sharon Knitter | Senior Director of Mobile extending the Cars.com business from one platform to a multi-platform business in order to make Cars.com available wherever and whenever people want to use the site.

Gap Innovator Names Most Exciting Growth Opportunity for Retailers Today
Name: Nick Sheth | Gap Inc. Senior Director, Global Business Development working to reach current and prospective customers with the right message at the right time, on whatever device they may prefer.

That Was Easy! Staples VP Shares Keys to mCommerce Success
Name: Steve Bussberg | Staples.com Senior Vice President working on the roll-out of Staples’ new mobile website that features enhanced product ratings and reviews, a Staples retail store locator, store inventory lookup and enhanced on-site search.

Tasti D-Lite Creates First POS Integrated Social Loyalty Rewards Program
Name: BJ Emerson | VP of Technology at Tasti D-Lite spearheading deployment of TastiRewards, the first POS integrated social loyalty rewards program

Are Merchant Loyalty Programs Ever Effective?
Name: Tamara Mendelsohn | Director of Marketing at Eventbrite, a site offering sophisticated technology to organizers of every type of event there is.

Innovator Offers Insights on the Blurred Line between “E” and “M” Commerce
Name: Jessica Cushing | E-commerce Product Manager at TicketNetwork.com working on growing the company’s flagship retail ticket exchange site through new markets

On the Level: The American Express/LevelUp Partnership
Name: Chris Mahl | SVP and Chief Brand Alchemist at SCVNGR/LevelUp working on extending payments and deals into something that causes consumers to fall into a happy, ongoing relationship with brands and merchants

Jingle All the Way This Summer: Zappos Mobile Team Preps for the Holidays
Name: Ian Klassen | Mobile Program Manager at Zappos.com getting Q3 initiatives started and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Zappos Mobile Team

Will GoldMoney’s Business Model Have the Midas Touch?
Name: James Turk | Founder & Chairman at GoldMoney.com, which is growing rapidly and now safeguards over $2 billion of assets owned by 18,300 customers located in 87 countries

How ProPay Became ISO of the Year: Mobile, Social and Security
Name: Chris Mark | EVP; Emerging Markets at ProPay, Inc. developing mobile payment platforms with a strong focus on security and looking toward mobile payments with a social flair

Innovator Bearing Fruit of Social Gaming and Mobile Payments
Name: Si Shen | CEO at PapayaMobile Inc., one of the largest social gaming networks on Android and listed as one of the nine young Chinese entrepreneurs to watch by Forbes

Payments Innovation Takes Flight at Southwest Airlines
Name: Randy Gibbons | Manager of Corporate Credit Card Services at Southwest Airlines streamlining processes and finding new PCard spend

Connecting Mobile Money to the World to Create Universal Wealth
Name: Dylan Higgins | Building a software-as-a-service platform enabling SMEs in sub-Saharan Africa to integrate their back-office with mobile money systems

Behind the Scenes with Founder of one of the World’s First Online Banking Payment Gateways
Name: Joseph Iuso | Expanding the business obviously. This includes online banking in the United States, Asia, and Europe, verticals such as private label platform for enterprise level companies, IPSPs, travel, collections and money remittance companies.

Inside Fiserv’s Digital Payment Network
Name: Mary Beth Lawson | Universal Money Movement utilizing the Fiserv Digital Payment Network.

The Power of Social Buying: Fans to Buyers and Buyers to Influencers
Name: Richard Skeen | We are creating a social buying platform that allows merchants to turn their fan pages into group buying opportunities.

The World’s First Wholesale Marketplace for Apps from Appbackr
Name: Trevor Cornwell | Business-wise, it is aspirational: appbackr has the power to rewire the app market.  

Goodbye Cash? Move Over Checks? What’s Next?
Name: René Lacerte | Bill.com is transforming the way small and mid-size businesses and their accountants manage the day-to-day tasks of making payments and getting paid.

Driving Change in the Retail Payments Landscape
Name: Deborah J. Baxley | Dramatically raising the level of innovation in the retail payments landscape.

International E-Commerce Made Simple
Helping our rapidly growing international customer base with innovative ways to augment and enhance their online payment process while in parallel working to maximize their online conversion rates.

Cashless Europe: Dream or Reality?
Name: Mehmet Sezgin | Transforming Turkey from a credit card country into a fully fledged no-cash card society with prepaid, debit, credit, contactless, and mobile all acting together.

Building TSYS’ Technology Blueprint
Name: Frank Braski | Trying to gain traction with a unified view of TSYS’ future, innovation, product, business and technology development.

Creating Killer Apps for Merchants’ Mobile Commerce
Name: Will Wang Graylin | Some more killer apps for merchants to securely transact with consumers on mobile devices, using ROAM Data’s mCommerce platform.

Driving Innovation for the Next Generation Payment Solutions
Name: Louis Blatt, Ph.D. | Agile Payments: a unified approach to managing the entire lifecycle of payments independent of payment type, customer type, channel, or geography.

From Card Issuing to eWallets, ItsPaid Has You Covered
Name: Duane Tough | President of ItsPaid Consumer Transaction Services LLC; PIN Debit – Domestic and International gateway aggregation

Creating Order From Chaos in Online Payments
Name: Bryan Johnson | The next generation payment gateway and creating order from chaos in online payments.

TSYS Innovator Says Capture Consumers with Customized Applications
Name: Connie Carledge Dudley | We’re looking for a financial win-win solution for both the merchant and the consumer. Presently, merchants pay high fees for card acceptance and issuers pay high costs to fund loyalty programs, so we are looking to offer a collaborative win-win solution to benefit all stakeholders.

Biometrics and Magstripes: Making Beautiful Payments Together
Name: Jonathan Ramaci | Bringing the iCache Digital Wallet and iCache Ecosystem to the Worldwide Market

TSYS’ New Offering and the Innovator Behind It
Name: Karey M. Connally | I am currently working on an upcoming TSYS Analytics conference and planning the TSYS Campaign Tracker session(s).

E-payments: Skyline’s Plans to Transform
Name: Shai Stern | building CheckAlt, our B2B e-payment system, which allows businesses to invoice their clients via e-mail and receive payment via e-check.

Face(book)-to-Face(cash) with Aaron Greenspan
Name: Aaron Greenspan | I’m working on ThinkLink, the first integrated payment and accounting system, including FaceCash, a mobile payment system.

Can Two Truly Tango in the Payments Industry?
Name: Scot Yarbrough | I’m very proud of the TSYS brand and what it stands for in our industry. For example, continuing to be listed in the top 5 of FORTUNE magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies list in our industry is a great honor.

Acculynk: Creating a Customized Consumer Checkout
Name: Ashish Bahl | Establishing PaySecure as the industry standard for Internet PIN debit – worldwide

TaxiPass: Cards Will Control Where Cash Was King
Name: Jason Diaz | savings cabdrivers’ lives (because they now don’t have enough cash on hand to make them attractive to robbers

Cash, Check or Text: Mobile Payments for the other 97%
Name: Steve Roberts | ShopText is the leader in mobile promotion response. We focus on making our brand and retail clients’ media interactive and measurable.

Checks are Checking Out – Will that be Cash, Credit or Mobile?
Name: Eric Remer | We are always focused on ways to simplify the lives of small business owners. From how they learn about the product and get set-up, to actually interacting with our software, we focus on reducing friction every step of the way.