Innovation from PPI's Operational Partner

Identity & Greenlist Defined

IDENTITY: A representation of an entity in the form of one or more attributes that allow the entity or entities to be sufficiently distinguished within context [ITU-T]

GREENLIST: A global network of registries that are a specialized source for assured* identity attributes on behalf of issuers whose identity-vetting procedures are trusted by Relying Parties. [PPI]

* "assured" means highest level of trust...whereby an issuer is compensated for owning liability for binding the publicly discoverable ePayment address with an account owner's PII and an Authoritative Party owns Custodial responsibility for data availability & query fulfillment at scale. Account-owners opt-in to be issued a deposit-only ePayment address which is incapable of being debited. This cloaking technology renders routable account identifiers that are linked to true accounts but safe to be made publicly discoverable by a variety of search means. One's private bank account and/or card numbers remain safely protected inside the bank. Security is achieved through Data Minimization and Use Limitation. One example how this can be used by banks is the new Instant Payment Service by FISGlobal called PayNet™

WHY BOTHER WITH DNS FOR ePAYMENT ADDRESSES? ...or if you prefer, WHITE PAGES FOR INFORMATIONAL AND MONETARY ASSET TRANSFERS?

In the face of mounting market shifts, new technologies, and regulations, financial institutions must look to new revenue sources. The growth in e-commerce, mobile commerce, and alternative providers adds urgency to that search. An important opportunity, that leverages the considerable FI investment in KYC infrastructure, is the establishment of a “neutrally positioned registry” of payment addresses. Known as the Greenlist®1, it is an enabling technology for Immediate funds transfer and, on a larger scale, secure value exchange to support transactions in what is an increasingly internet-dominated global economy.

I prefer to have the banking industry, which is highly regulated throughout the world, vouch for my most important publicly discoverable identity attributes rather than a Google, a PayPal or my government. Banks would love to have new ways to delight their customers with augmented services.

Financial Institutions earn little revenue from online banking while costs increase in authentication and security. Demand exists for Identity Management Services with 1 Billion smart phones in use, 2nd. Billion by 2015 and 129.4M sold in the US alone! Consumers trust banks yet use them less. FIs must figure out how to transition from servicing transactions to performing augmented services such as proactively knowing and telling what they can do for customers. Examples include: news, alerts, advice, knowledge, support, help and instant rebates.

Finally, I really like the idea that my account numbers never have to leave the safety of the bank's data centers again for me to receive money electronically. This intelligently mitigates my risk that my account could be drained by design! and it helps move the banks along to think how else they can help me.

1: Greenlist is a registered trademark of Payment Pathways, Inc. in the U.S., China, India, EU and registered with licensed permission by BANCwire in several Latin American countries.

My Excellent Adventure in Space and Sound

Camerawork by DeLeon, a Morrissey (NY) Junior College student...Shot at 1:30 AM while waiting for  Kyle to meet up with me at FIndlay Market in Cincinnati...I had just arrived from DC via my Iron Horse.Frédéric is playing something from Verdi. 

More pix for this unbelievable gem of a room: HERE

Online banking made safer - Sandra Guy, Chi. Sun-Times

ARTICLE: Online banking made safer

photo gallery: here

BANCwire & Greenlist Press Release

Download Press Release: HERE

Where BANCwire competes!

BANCwire's Impact w/Greenlist

Costa Rica Adopts Data Protection Legislation

Costa Rica Adopts Data Protection Legislation

Quick TimeZone Reference

Lima     ChicagoTel AvivTokyo

Can banks keep up the pace?

...6 million users used a credit card app his year. While it is half the number of unique users as banking app users, its use has increased 43 percent from last year's estimates. Shouldn't we be concerned that social media apps. retain our credit card numbers in a plethora of Card-Not-Present transactions?

BofA risks reputational capital with fees

Bank of America risks reputational capital with debit card fees

Do such moves herald a new class of services to justify fees?

HTML 5 and Switched GigE Pathways

Inflection Point

HTML 5 provides for survivable disconnect which implies a level of local repository, close caching, pre-loading and edge device independence. Amazon seized the opportunity for leadership in User Experience with their new Fire. Will Amazon allow access its channel to be the new currency that compensates card issuers as risk bearers of payments before other portals reinvent their economic models and catch up?

Certifying Cloud Safety

As we get closer to an Internet of Things, will Cloud architecture need to go through a radical change to securely and safely handle IP-connected control systems? Will IP over GigE need to be augmented or replaced by new trust frameworks & protocols? Will the cyber insurance industry study mandates to justify progress?

NSTIC and EMV Should Merge

Philip Andreae, AMEX's Global EMV product manager, recently blogged:

• "The next step is to merge the identity sought by everyone and easily relegated to the Banks to manage. Facebook and GMail offer an option if their KYC can be improved. With face to face meeting it is possible to truly prove identity, requiring a branch network.
• Transaction processing is legacy in the developed world while the emerging economies offer an opportunity to build new. Existing standards and processes need to be respected as they transform to absorb the new information attachments and Internet offers we now need to cope with. 
• The Wallet forms the basic unit to create a trusted network employing smart cards, trusted computing, persistent computing and inteligence to enable the consumer experience. 
• Privacy and integrity of that trust is essential to the system 
• The individual is key 
• Respect rights and obligations"

Switched GigE infrastructure (and mobile broadband) as trusted pathways among Identity Providers, Relying Parties and Transactors can and should support payment and digital delivery processes. Learn how to deploy this underperforming national asset by calling us at 312-346-9400.

Where EFT payments are direct-switched

Consulting Services Summary

We know that our solutions are constantly measured for effectiveness and impact. We are responsible for sharing observations, learnings and objective metrics with each client.

Services we may deliver to clients are:

• providing qualified recommendations and direction for (OOBA and Tokenized) authentication factors
• design and implementation of privacy frameworks (payment & sales data)
• design and implementation of secure-by-design network architecture

Mr. Jobs always looked to the next project

Next: direct-switched payment processing

Intuit's Dongle-to-Debit Card This is an example of a company/bank partner (Intuit) directly connecting merchants' transactions with card issuers, by-passing traditional payment processors.  Margin for the "house" (Intuit); safety and accounting simplicity for the Merchant.

Uncovering Demand for Switched Ethernet Payment Fabric

ERP & Data Collection in the Food Industry is stuck in a rut until informatics replaces interchange as the next transactional currency. No framework presently exists for to systemically gather and analyze consumer informatics for supply chain participants.  Identifying trails of digital breadcrumbs belonging to individual shoppers as they depart from their grocer is a high-value, albeit obscure byproduct of transactional switch fabrics of the future.

Using plastic to pay Anthem bill? Prepare to lose your coverage

How many databases out there really NEED to have our debit-able bank account numbers?

Using plastic to pay Anthem bill? Prepare to lose your coverage

MasterCard CEO, Top Execs Preview 2012 Strategy & Latest Innovations - pymnts.com

MasterCard CEO, Top Execs Preview 2012 Strategy & Latest Innovations - pymnts.com

New Consulting Blog

Opportunities abound at the intersection of Privacy/Identity Management, Global Switched Ethernet ecosystems and ePayments for Content Centric Networking. This blog now describes my work to share and extent my experience in new directions for my clients.

A few bad apples...

Tracking W.U.'s Exchange Rate Volatility

Affected exchange rate premiums charged by Western Union.

Stay up to date with PPI

Greenlist on Facebook

Payment Pathways on Twitter

Rick O'Brien on LinkedIn

Newsletter on Payment Pathways

Natl. Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace

Click HERE for details about our recommendations

Robert Reich (Why Washington Isn't Doing Squat About Jobs and Wages)

Robert Reich (Why Washington Isn't Doing Squat About Jobs and Wages)

Unemployed live in the cash economy. It's a universal right to a public, safe ePayment address in the Greenlist to pursue happiness. Can our governmental overlords at least encourage efficient means to migrate payments to electronics and let capitalism take care of the rest?

NEW PPI Links 4 you!

New Website: HERE
New Press Release (May 17, 2011): HERE
New Whitepaper (May 18, 2011): HERE
New Patent (May 17, 2011) : HERE

Black Dub - Our favorite band!

Durbin vs. Tester: Greenlist still succeeds

WSJ Marketwatch Story

Opportunities in the Underbanked Space - Bank 2.0 Briefing

Loyalty, the Social Way - pymnts.com

Loyalty, the Social Way - pymnts.com

Illustrative Graphics for our Greenlist Patent

Download Today's Press Release: HERE

Download Patent: HERE

Pay Anywhere, Anytime from Any Device?

Does the Financial Reform Act help or hinder the creation of new economic models in payments? Does a registry of payment addresses need to be neutrally positioned and open?

Summit Candy - Denali 1980

Soundtracks: Dropkick Murphys & Faure's Requiem

The Long Trudge

First Night on West Butress Route on Denali

Approach and Landing on Denali

Skype brings White Christmas, Kyle's B-day to Tim in Beige Iraq

We miss you, Tim!

Our resident poet/songriter, Mike Birch

Still as relevant today as it was in the early '80's!

Rock on, Mike!

Mobile Year in Review

greatest train story ever told

Trixie Whitley / Daniel Lanois: Black Dub

Black Dub - I Believe In You [Radio Edit]

What it is & Why we did it.

A Fighting Chance

"If I had more time..." Mark Twain

Compass Rose: Trusted Coordinates

Crossing the Divide

Greenlist® Debuts

PRESS RELEASE: HERE

A Permanent Mark

Our patent's claims are allowed! We filed it provisionally back on Feb. 28, 2003 and the final version was filed on Feb. 26, 2004. Seven long years.

AN ENHANCED SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER AND ELIMINATION OF PAYEE’S NEED FOR ENCRYPTION AND PRIVACY

ITS CLAIMS:

1. A computer-implemented method for conducting financial transactions over a network of payment networks, comprising: associating a unique identifier with one or more payment addresses of an account and a holder of said account, said account residing at a financial institution and said associated payment addresses of said account configured to allow withdrawals by said account holder only and to allow a plurality of deposits to be made at different times; making said unique identifier available to users of an Internet portal or search engine without requiring a password or log-in; receiving data over said network of payment networks identifying one or more non-repudiable deposits to be made to said account; assigning said one or more non-repudiable deposits to said account using any one of said payment addresses associated with said unique identifier; and notifying on a real-time basis a depositor of said deposit of said assigning of said one or more non-repudiable deposits to said account, wherein the directory functions as a root directory for real-time synchronizing content with other directories containing a plurality of unique identifiers associated with a plurality of accounts residing at a plurality of financial institutions.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the directory associates the account holder with the financial institution.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the directory is in communication with and operable to be queried by a portal system to make deposits directly to the account associated with said unique identifier.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the directory is in communication with and operable to be queried by a portal system to withdraw funds from a depositor's account and deposit the funds directly into the account associated with said unique identifier.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the directory is maintained by a credit or debit card provider.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the account is linked to a standard financial account.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein funds are transferred automatically in real-time from the account to the standard financial account.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the financial institution is a credit or debit card provider.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein funds are deposited into the account from a merchant or service provider that accepts

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said Internet portal is associated with said financial institution.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said Internet portal is available to a portable computing device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said portable computing device comprises a mobile telephone.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising aggregating said registrations by said plurality of registrars.

Why Change Now?

José De Francisco López poses an interesting question.