Technology opens new retail opportunities while locking down card holder data

DURANGO, CO – January 12, 2012

As retailers face the challenge of growing consumer demand for online and mobile payments, Mercury Payment Systems® will demonstrate new hosted payments technology next week at the National Retail Federation (NRF) annual convention and expo in New York City.

“Mercury HostedCheckout™ is a secure, Mercury-hosted online payment processing solution now available for mobile, ecommerce, and integrated point-of-sale (POS) payments,” said Shelley Plomske, Senior Vice President of Product for Mercury Payment Systems.

The solution shifts the responsibility of handling sensitive card holder data to Mercury, helping remove both software developers and merchants from the scope of the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Plomske added.

Online retail spending reached $36.3 billion for the third quarter of 2011, up 13 percent from 2010, according to comScore, Inc. The digital measurement and analytical firm also reported that U.S. online holiday spending for 2011 hit $19.6 billion in the first 34 days of the November-December shopping season, up 15 percent from the previous year.

Mobile commerce sales are expected to hit $31 billion by 2015, according to a December, 2011, eMarketer analyst report.

“There’s no question that mobile commerce is growing at a fast clip and mobile acts as an engine of overall e-commerce growth, by converting potential brick-and-mortar sales to digital sales as consumers use their smartphones while shopping in-store,” said Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer principal analyst.

Mercury HostedCheckout is a customizable payment page on the merchant’s website, where card data is collected for secure payment processing by Mercury. All other functions for ecommerce and mcommerce are designed and programmed by the software developer prior to their HostedCheckout integration. User interfaces are customizable, and there are no added gateway fees.

Mercury’s proprietary tokenization technology handles all transactions without storing sensitive card holder data. Supported browsers include Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari. The POS solution includes an optimized version for Apple iPad. Mobile phones include iPhone, Android, and Blackberry.

To see a demo, visit Mercury at booth #2827 at the NRF show, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC, Monday through Wednesday, January 16-18, or view online.

For more information, visit Mercury HostedCheckout™ or call 800-846-4472.

About Mercury Payment Systems

Mercury Payment Systems is one of the fastest-growing payment processing companies in North America. Mercury partners with point-of-sale (POS) developers and resellers in a unique business model to provide merchants with integrated payment solutions. Their processing platform is integrated and available for free in hundreds of POS systems. Mercury’s award-winning products and services are distributed solely through the company’s business partners. For more information call 1-800-846-4472 ext. 1820 or go to www.MercuryPay.com.

Media Contact:

Jan Owen
Mercury Payment Systems
800-846-4472 ext 3472
JOwen@MercuryPay.com