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DigitalPersona, Inc., a leader in fingerprint identity and authentication solutions, today announced that the company’s U.are.U® fingerprint biometrics solution was selected by Epicor® Software Corporation, a leading provider of enterprise business software to midmarket and Global 1000 companies. Epicor plans to add “touch-and-go” identification to its upcoming Retail Store Point-of-Sale (POS) solution, using DigitalPersona’s OneTouch® I.D. SDK. This Software Development Kit (SDK) will enable Epicor to provide retailers with fast fingerprint identification for manager authorization of transactions and staff time clock activities, reducing unauthorized overrides and “buddy punching.” Epicor will be demonstrating its biometrically-enabled application in booth #2105 at the National Retail Federation tradeshow.

Many of the world’s leading retailers use Epicor Retail solutions and services to become more profitable, productive and competitive. Delivering comprehensive retail management solutions to enterprises in all tiers–from regional chains to multichannel global brands–Epicor Retail Store software solutions offer robust retail POS and in-store systems. These POS solutions perform functions from returns and merchandise credits, to credit/debit card handling and manager dashboards. The integration of fingerprint identification into the upcoming Epicor Retail Store POS solution will enable retailers to increase accountability and decrease fraud, providing a quick return on investment.

DigitalPersona fingerprint authentication SDKs provide developers with a fast and easy way to make their applications identity-aware. This enables applications to rapidly identify employees, resulting in reduced fraud and improving the bottom line.

For additional information, visit digitalpersona.com.

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Debt counselors are now getting calls from confused and desperate consumers spouting interest rates of 27% to 33% who are looking for credit card debt help.

Late fees make up nearly 70% of the 17.1 billion dollars in fees collected by credit card issuers. Many credit card companies are located in states that have no limits on interest rates and fees. Numerous banks are demanding $39 late fees, fees for same-day payment, payments made by phone, and for usage overseas, and the kicker is, that instead of declining a transaction that will put you over your credit card limit, they approve it and smack you with a “courtesy” fee. Yes, thank you very much.

There is no end to the sneaky methods credit card issuers will utilize to entice you to spend more money. Believe it or not, one-third more people increase the amount they charge if the purchase doesn’t require a signature. This is according to a MasterCard study. By not requiring a signature for charges of $25 or less, consumers are reaching for their credit cards instead of paying with cash. And because your credit card is so handy why not add a few extra things to the bill; it’s not even $25, right? Before you know it those small charges will add up.

Remember when earning rewards was a great way to receive cash back or airline miles? In 2006, American Express removed its double points reward system for everyday purchases on their credit card. And Citibank reduced its cash back on purchases from 5% to 2%. All in all, consumers need to be vigilant and careful with their credit card spending and they must read notices and bills so they don’t end up with a “gotcha!”

For more information, visit consolidatecredit.org.

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Robert Johnson, President of Consumers for Competitive Choice (C4CC), issued the following statement in response to Andrew Martin’s front page story in today’s New York Times titled, “The Card Game: How Visa, Using Card Fees, Dominates a Market.”

“I am pleased that the New York Times is drawing attention to the issues of debit card steering and interchange fees, or swipe fees — two of the many methods that Visa has been using to line their pockets on the backs of small businesses and consumers for far too long. What this article makes abundantly clear is that the most important thing to card companies like Visa is their bottom line — at any cost! Is there any other industry where we put up with practices like this?

“As the article points out, not only do signature debit purchases cost twice as much as PIN debit purchases for retailers, but PIN debit cards are less vulnerable to fraud making them a safer choice for card carrying customers. Yet Visa, MasterCard and others continue to steer customers toward signature debit purchases, even going so far as offering glittering prizes that customers only qualify for by making signature debit purchases. Why? I think that answer is clear … because at the end of the day it means higher profits for big banks and Visa and MasterCard. It is truly disgusting.

“Small businesses have long been willing to pay their fair share with regard to interchange fees, but as the article makes clear, debit purchases were somewhat fee neutral until visa changed that in order to incentivize big banks to issue more credit cards. It is this greed that has led to an escalation of over 300% in interchange fees since 2001, resulting in interchange revenue that has increased to $45 billion today. These fees are excessive and reasonable reform is absolutely necessary.

“I hope that by highlighting these bad business practices, and the perverse form of competition that has been taking place in the credit card industry — on the basis of raising prices as opposed to lowering them — Congress will take swift and appropriate action, and immediately address interchange fees. Small businesses and consumers have been unfairly bearing the burden of the greed that has been prevalent in credit card companies for far too long.”

For more information, visit thecreditcardcon.com.

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Throughout the country, a new breed of tech savvy identity thieves are popping up. After stealing credit card numbers, computer hackers can take inexpensive equipment to re-magnetize their personal cards with the victim’s information. They can then rack up large bills before consumers even know what happened.

This can spell big trouble for the major retailers, but even bigger trouble for consumers. The editor of PictureCredit.com, a leading Free Credit Report website that offers information on credit and identity theft, has outlined 8 ways for consumers to protect themselves from this, and other, identity theft scams.

What steps can consumers take to protect themselves from these types of things? Below are several steps to protect consumers’ identities, with more located on their website.

Monitor Your Credit Card Statements
In the event that your information has been stolen without your knowledge, one of the best ways to protect yourself in to constantly monitor your credit card statements. Many credit card companies offer online access to your account, where the charges are updated instantly; this is a quick and easy way to stay on top of fraud

Shred Sensitive Documents
Although not immensely prevalent in this day and age, it’s still a good practice to destroy all documents containing sensitive information that thieves may be able to use to steal your identity. You don’t need papers with your credit card information floating around. Also, most credit card companies offer paperless updates and statements, so there’s no paper copy of your transactions everything is emailed instead.

Stay Alert
Just reading articles like this and informing yourself on current credit scams is one of the best ways to protect yourself. In this case, knowledge really is power. Spend an hour or so each week keeping up on credit news and you’ll be far ahead of the game.

For more information, visit picturecredit.com.

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