Season's Greetings from Payment Pathways

This will be a tough Christmas for many poor and homeless people in Chicago and throughout the United States. In place of sending cards Payment Pathways has made an equivalent donation to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

(This organization is tackling homelessness and enabling people to shape their future and rebuild their lives)

Supreme Attention

Justices to study Business Methods patents: article here

A Career Begins...

PPI congratulates Tim O'Brien

on his USAF BootCamp Graduation with Honors

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dollar Bank now visibly sponsoring survey

Link: HERE for

Dollar Bank's "Managing your Bank Account and Payments" survey.

Please help us get the word out to social nets.

Change Agents

Strategic Investors warming up to PPI

The market is shifting to where PPI has Greenlist positioned.

Consumers and small business people are voicing their needs to their bankers.

The Hardnose Rule for Hardnose Bankers

Problem: How can Greenlist get to scale without simultaneously attracting every bank to become a registrar?
Answer: Permit consumers to register themselves directly, a la Paypal.
Tactic: Invite all Paypal users via their chat rooms, etc.
Explanation: Primary tenet of Greenist is its utter safety of resolving identifiers into routable bank payment addresses THAT CAN NOT BE DEBITED.
Solution: Restrict access to query the Greenlist to participating banks' web portals. Banks obtaining access must guarantee that any ACH numbers listed will NEVER be debited by their payment engine.

What bankers fear the most

Another bank selling services to their customers that they would have been able to offer had they been paying attention.

Star Financial Bank

Read about Ralph Marcuccili: here

This institution will continue to make news in the months ahead.

The Mobile Dimension

By some estimates, over the next couple of years more than 1 billion people will log in to the Internet for the first time, and most of these log-ins will be via mobile devices (like cell phones) and located in emerging countries. It is also estimated that by 2010, one in three Africans will own a mobile phone. With almost 280 million subscribers in Africa alone, mobile phones are recognized as instruments of change in finance, agriculture, media and, development work.

A recent Gartner report states that the number of mobile payment users worldwide is forecast to reach 73.4 million this year, says Gartner, up 70.4 percent from 2008 when there were 43.1 million users. The research firm predicts that the figure will reach more than 190 million in 2012, representing more than 3 percent of total mobile users worldwide. "Momentum in the mobile payment market gathered further in 2008 with a number of high-profile launches of mobile money transfer services in multiple markets, participation of major global institutions in near-field communication (NFC) payment trials, as well as new payment solutions entering the market," said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. She noted, however, that security concerns, regulatory issues, and an inadequate 'ecosystem' were still holding back growth in the sector.

Gartner defines a mobile payment as paying for a product or service using a mobile technology such as SMS, WAP, USSD or NFC. In terms of both number of users and transaction volumes, Gartner expects Asia-Pacific (including Japan) to maintain the largest share of the market. While mobile payment penetration in Western Europe is expected to rise from 0.9 percent in 2009 to 2.5 percent in 2012, and from 1.7 percent to 3 percent in North America; penetration in Asia-Pacific will rise from 2 percent in 2009 to 3.8 percent in 2012. Mobile payment penetration in EMEA and Latin America is also expected to exceed 3 percent by 2012.

1 year $10B Japanese bank turnaround

Read about PPI's shareholder, Steve Monaghan: HERE

"Naked Credit Transfers"

Pulse has informed PPI and two banks that member banks can be certified to send and receive credit transfers that are not preceded by debits.

Survey link now available

This link (https://www.survey-impact.com/bankpayment_survey_090500/) is your invitation to help us improve the global payments ecosystem by answering a few survey questions. It should only take six to eight minutes of your time. You may supply answers anonymously or at the end, you may optionally provide your name and email address to enter a drawing to win a $500.00 VISA gift card. If you do supply us with your email address, your contact information will NEVER be released to any other company. It will only be used to inform you when a bank launches Greenlist service in your state.

Thanks,

Richard O'Brien - Payment Pathways, Inc.

President & CEO

Bank executives' comments from the annual PULSE meeting in Austin, TX

"Why not describe Greenlist as the directory to enable Debit Card - to - Debit Card money transfers?"

"PULSE would be nuts to NOT enable such a service for its customers"

"Banks need to review Greenlist's Use Case Documentation to determine whether or not its APIs are lightweight yet thorough enough for banks to implement"

"Banks need to review PPI's patents and all pre-existing intellectual property to determine whether any outside entity would sue a bank for using such a resource"

"PPI should put its financial model Excel Workbook on the web for all banks to use to build their ROI justifications."

"PPI should release the results as soon as its marketing survey has sufficient respondents to be statistically valid."

"It is a good idea for PPI to return 50% of fees required by its Engagement & Standby Agreement if banks fail to achieve their chosen target volumes of Greenlist transactions."

"How quickly can PPI move to establish its neutrally positioned web service?"

Tipping Point Magnetism of Greenlist

A host of contemporary bank-innovators

capture our imagination and compel us to believe.

Their quest is carried out not only for bank profits

but for the good of all humanity.

Their journey ultimately involves the dissolution of banker ego

which in turn leads to enlightenment and wisdom.

Starting out at point A: the present bank crisis leads to

transformation-awareness of a neutral directory's benefits,

resulting in point B: replacing regressive payment methods

with safer, more efficient, instant payment applications.

We all identify because it reflects our own personal metamorphosis.

Responsibility for safe-keeping our money:

In transit.

At rest.

Putting more of our money to work more effectively - for us.

Imagine Peace.

Youthful tag line voted most compelling

Poll results determined the best tagline for Greenlist.

"Bill it now. Pay it safe."

Crisp and tweet-friendly.

Think Greenlist

for a trusted, new cool way to pay

with safety, ease and speed.

It works for consumers and small businesses, alike.

Coming soon from a bank near you.

My Dad's parents

My Grandfather, Joseph Bernard O'Brien of St. Paul, MN met my Grandmother, Frances Lutz of St. Louis on a train. They travelled with their respective entertainment troupes from town to town across the Midwest. My Grandfather, much to the dismay of his older brother, William, abandoned the idea of a partnership in his law firm in favor of singing in Enrico Caruso's chorus.

Frances was a free spirited young woman who travelled throughout the country with her high school diving team after graduation. They created a vaudeville act that involved whole-body makeup to look like Indian Princesses. They would dive into a shallow pool of water from a high diving platform. Chemistry between Frances and Joseph must have been good. She converted to Catholicism and they decided to spend their lives together in Toledo, Ohio. My Grandfather made a living to support their five kids by selling wall-safes to banks across the Midwest.

My father sang in several Gilbert and Sullivan light opera productions while attending college. Real world events intervened when he was chop blocked and suffered a knee injury which caused the withdrawal of his football scholarship. My Grandfather died of a heart attack around that time. My Dad enlisted in the Air Force's Officer Candidate School and became a navigator of a B-29 flight crew and flew 29 missions in the Korean War. 1948 was a tough year and he served his country until 1953 and again in 1960-62 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I never knew my Grandfather but I fondly remember my Grandmother playing poker with her four sons and daughter while wearing green eyeshades every year at the O'Brien Reunion at some unsuspecting Midwestern Holiday Inn.

She used to tell us grandkids, "Always follow your dreams and you will be happy." I did and I am.

PINs becoming obsolete?

A new (and different) factor is needed for card-not-present transactions. See article. I propose call-back to the payer to authorize payments to online merchants because:

a.) It uses a separate network (cell or wireline) which is in itself another factor

b.) It enables capture of voice print authorizing payment

c.) It allows voice identification (although that would be overkill for most scenarios)

A whitepaper every banker should read

Author:

George Thomas

Viewpoint:

Enhancing Wire Transfers to Attract Consumers

Click to get it:

HERE

USAF-bound

Tim O'Brien & his Godmother, Mary Andelbradt

Our son, Tim, enlisted in the Air Force this week.

We are very proud of his decision to serve our country.

Why the "Banks-only" Registrar Rule?

Banks serve us

We trust banks six times more than other institutions

Banks keep our money safe

Any bank can offer debit card, loans, savings

8,500 banks and nearly as many credit unions = systemic strength

Our Principles - Green means 'Go!'

• Universal.

Banks can register any identifier as long as it is unique.

• Responsive.

We work hard so you can just 'think it - pay it' or 'think it - bill it.'

• Friendly.

We help banks use different payment networks, all over the world.

• Simple.

We do not sacrifice security or ease of use as banks let you do more.

"Names" (URNs) as Naming Authority Pointers

Filed revisions to claims, today

in response to USPTO Office Action

Greenlist provides payors desiring to pay electronically, a means to locate, validate and effect the transfer of assets to another party by resolving public identifiers into routable, authenticated, payment addresses so transaction requests can proceed without risk of failure due to identity fraud.

This happens without divulging confidential information about transactors while assigning liability for certain risk consequences to the lowest cost risk bearers: banks.

Greenlist authenticates destination payment addresses before banks make financial transactions. Greenlist is completely trusted by risk-bearers. Liability for risk is borne by the registrars of the information contained within the registry.

This liability transfer substantially reduces the payor’s cost of bearing risks because the receiving bank is obligated to reimburse the payor's bank if the payment information identifying the payee is inaccurate.

Banks are responsible for certifying that someone or some entity claiming to be an authorized party is not an impostor. Banks can now offer new levels of service at a substantially lower cost for a variety of transactions. Next up: how the migration to instant electronic payments will affect you.

When payments migrate to electronics...

Do you worry when your mind should be on something else?

- a forgotten payment

- a forgotten deposit

- a debt owed

- a lost check

- late charges

When banks register your Greenlist ID, you simply:

Think it, pay it

Think it, bill it

Pencil in (reserve) a GreenlistID

Any Greenlist ID can be put 'on hold.'

However, an accredited bank-registrar must set your ID permanently within thirty days or your selection is put back in the pool possibly for others to choose.

Proxy-registrars such as mobile phone companies, AOL, Skype, Twitter, Facebook can place Greenlist IDs on 'courtesy holds' for their customers.

However, Greenlist IDs from such sources must:

A.) be unique or "hold denied' message will be returned and

B.) registrants still must opt-in through a bank-registrar (within thirty days).

Why Chicago?

A Top 3 Transaction Processing Center of the world:

Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Options Exchange,

Chicago Board of Trade, Anexsys, Discover Financial Services. US Points of Presence for Deutsche Bourse, London Financial Futures Exchange, Archipelago-NYSE, the list goes on and on.

Global reputation for innovation in transactional services and transparency

Dr. Franco Modigliani

Dr. Franco Modigliani (1918–2003)

winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics,

developed PPI’s guiding principles and intellectual insight.

He co-authored PPI’s foundation patent:

“AN ENHANCED SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC

FUNDS TRANSFER AND ELIMINATION

OF THE PAYEE’S NEED FOR ENCRYPTION

AND PRIVACY.”

Stakeholder Benefits

Listening before cautious moves

Why Neutral Positioning among BANKS?

Insures equal access to services by large and small banks, alike.

Registrar accreditation assigns liability so data accuracy is assured.

Banks routinely meet stringent "Know Your Customer" standards.

The woman behind PPI

Kathy Murphy O'Brien

is working overtime today for the second Saturday in a row...

This photo was taken Christmas day, 1991 at home in Illinois.

Our third son, Kyle was born at 9:35 PM that same day!

Here's Kyle, age 5 with our family's first pet, Bailey.

We moved to Virginia from Chicago in 1994 when he was 2.

It was hard for Kathy to leave her close-knit family ---

parents, six sisters, a brother and countless nieces and nephews

--- to follow her husband's dream.

Two years became seven years away from Chicago.

This picture from a DC holiday party in January, 2001

was taken right before we moved back to Illinois.

Colin's H.S. Graduation in 2005

Kathy re-entered the work force part-time in 2002, full-time in 2003

PPI was founded in 2003

Tim's High School Graduation in 2008

Kyle's confirmation in 2008. He graduates from H.S. in 2010.

The O'Brien brothers --- Summer of 2008 in Saugatuck, MI

with Riley, our second pet

In 2009-10 Colin & PPI will both graduate to self-sufficiency

None of this could ever have happened without Kathy

who, true to her guiding principles, is the foundation of our family's

loving home, despite the stresses and strains of living in Startupland!

Automatic Payroll Deposit Improvements

Many live paycheck to paycheck.

Many don't use banks to cash paychecks.

High payday loan interest is paid if cash to pay bills is needed.

Many employers provide automatic payroll deposits to bank accounts.

Employers must pre-fund the paycheck distribution account.

Emergency payments are needed should company cash flow weaken.

Greenlist offers:

• a way for small employers to send emergency payments to their payroll service.
• a way overcome fear by having a safe payment address for a checking account.
• instant 'good funds' in account so bills can be paid exactly on due date.

What about billing?

GreenlistID.com is a tool for making consumers and small business people more productive by providing the means to ask the simple question, "Can I be paid electronically?"

All a person has to know is his own GreenlistID (GLID) and the cell number of the party that owes him money. A feed is created in one central location, enabling:

1. Electronic billing information delivery right into the bank account of the person billed.

2. Notifying by text message that an e-bill has arrived.

3. A reputation directory in which every online merchant has a profile.

4. A customer satisfaction measurement of merchant performance.

5. A knowledge base of past lookups by payment address.

And if you are in a corporate or small business setting, you can start your company’s Greenlist network by reserving a company GreenlistID for thirty days. Your top financial officer or CEO will need to complete the Greenlist registration and make the company’s GLID permanent through an accredited bank-registrar. The privacy of each company bank account number is ensured. It is restricted for use only within the registrar bank. The basic GreenlistID bill presentment service is free for consumers. Companies can pay to claim and administer electronic bill delivery to their network of payees.

Bankers can and do innovate!

Several instant payment applications, enabled by Greenlist^®, can be added to banks’ consumer & SMB web-services. Bankers achieve accretive Non-Interest Income for their institutions with little or no CAPEX.

Sorry, Paypal. Sorry, Western Union. Sorry, PayDay Loan Providers.

Future NPR tag line:

“Morning Edition was brought to you by (your local bank),

leading consumers and businesses alike to Greenlist^®

– - - the safest, fastest, easiest and most economical way

to send and receive money.

Ask about Greenlist^® today or visit GreenlistID.com.

Banks that traditionally lead the pack

Dollar Bank F.S.B. (Pittsburgh, PA)

Wells Fargo Bank

JP Morgan Chase

What do these three banks have in common? All three are sponsoring pilots in NACHA's Electronic Billing Information Delivery System (EBIDS) which is a green way to save money and trees. Why is this important to Greenlist? It is one of the many practical uses of a safe, public directory of routable payment addresses. Never give a biller your true bank account number again! That's now a risk that consumers and small businesses no longer have to take.

Why Greenlist?

Getting instant money can solve a lot of different problems.

A bank's art department penned the illustration of this point.

Things I Learned about Bells

Bells are special in several ways. They are large, ranging in weight from a few hundred pounds to several tons. A ring of ten bronze bells were installed in 1910 at St. Pat's in Montreal but they had remained un'rung since the fifties. Unrung that is until Luties and I rang them to announce the opening ceremonies of the 1976 Olympics.

We followed rotting ropes beginning at the chimestand that was in back of the organ pipes in the choir loft.


We made our way up through several flights of stairs through three distinct chambers in the belfry. Having both read Dante, we felt we were rising through Pigeon Hell (Pigeon skeletons, rotting pigeon carcasses, etc, Pigeon Purgatory (dead, rotting and nearly dead, trapped pigeons) and finally, the open air top floor of the Belfry: pigeon heaven ---where the bells hung high enough to swing above the sills so when the clappers hit the bell, the sound waves could fly as free as a bird, right into the open air.

We perfected our technique to achieve the best possible chords and tonal quality by getting the balls of clappers to strike crisply inside bell lips at just the right moment when the angles would project the loudest possible sounds. The smaller bells rang frequently because they could be swung fast and momentum could be maintained, the big ones took most of our attention and strength to keep them swinging. But what a thrill when the first big Ring of the Tenor Bell rang out in a tone so deep and rich that we looked up amazed and grinned of pure glee. Before we got the hang of it we probably sounded like Funkadelic meets John Cage. But by free swinging and gonging a variety of peals we finally settled on the repetitious delivery of our favorite musical lines.

The largest, called a Tenor Bell, is pictured, here:


I was delighted to learn that they fixed these bells. This blog got me searching the web for old Y bldg. photos and I found the North American Guild of Change Ringers.

One of my most treasured Montreal memories was walking toward the front of the Church and having the sixty-five year old pastor, Msgr. Matthew Dubee ("the Duber") walking briskly toward us. We were filthy and slapping each other's backs and yelling, "We DID it!!!" to each other, exuberantly.


His lips were moving, his finger was wagging. He was gesturing profusely at the belfry, and then waving his arms as the veins were bulging out of his temples. We were STONE COLD DEAF. We couldn't hear a damn thing. All the Churches were supposed to ring for 10 minutes but we were having so much fun we decided to ring for 40 minutes... ...our reasoning was we were Yanks and that's the way we felt it should be done since no one had heard these bells for so long and downtown was full of interesting echoes and far away from the Olympic Village, anyway.

Well, the big tenor bell sound carries far and wide and 40 minutes was enough time for the local Gendarmes to call the rectory and complain to the Duber about his bells. He really didn't care, in fact I remember in times like this one, he often get that Irish twinkle in his eye that he'd inherited from his mother. Our hearing returned in about a half hour, as we ate vanilla ice cream and sipped our cokes which we poured over ice in chilled glass mugs from his stock of six and a half ounce bottles. We watched, with a now relaxed Fr. Dubee, the rest of the opening ceremonies on a TV in his office.

In 80's the parishioners rebuilt the belfry and the bells are now rung by electronic hammers. I doubt they ring as loudly as they did that warm summer day in August, 1976 when two McGill men cavorted in celebration and brought long forgotten bells back to life in long loud peals of heraldry.

A bell hung in its usual position:
a. Stock
b. Stay
c. Slider
d. Blocks
e. Wheel
f. Groove of Wheel
g. Fillet
h. Ball of Clapper
i. Flight of Clapper
k. Cannons
l. Timber of Cage
m. Gudgeons
n. Lip of Bell

What is Greenlist?

Welcome to Greenlist, Infrastructure for Banks

"We recognized that the consumers are reluctant if not downright unwilling to pay each other electronically because they can't do that without divulging their private bank account or card numbers.

It frustrates them to wait for checks to clear. But if I say I'm going to make it possible that you never have to divulge your card numbers or your checkbook account numbers, most people would be happy to transact electronically.

So we have an opportunity to make the bank portal a more powerful component of a person's financial identity consciousness to make fast, frugal and final transactions."

Rick O'Brien

Payment Pathways.com