Atlanta center to have sister facility in Europe
Elavon, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and a
leading global payment solutions provider, has opened a mobile
innovation center at its Atlanta headquarters to focus on merchant-based
mobile solutions. The center is expected to add at least 50 jobs in the
next 12 to 18 months. Known internally as “The Grove,” the center is
focused on harvesting innovation around new technology and product
development for mobile payments and expanding on Elavon’s existing
mobile solutions, including VirtualMerchant Mobile in the U.S. and
MobileMerchant in Europe. It will also allow Elavon to leverage
additional third party relationships similar to the recently announced
distribution and back-end processing agreement with NCR to market NCR
Silver through Elavon’s existing sales channels.
The Grove will be managed by a full-service, cross-functional team and
will operate as a separate business unit with offices within Elavon’s
headquarters. The team’s focus will be to create new technologies that
are compatible with Elavon’s full scope of payments and security
solutions. As mobile payments become more acceptable by merchants and
customers alike, technology must keep pace with the needs on both sides
of the transaction.
The Grove is yet another example of the commitment of Elavon’s parent
company, U.S. Bancorp, to be an industry leader in banking and payment
innovation. U.S. Bancorp’s investment in innovation has resulted in the
company being fast – and often first – to market with new mobile
features and functionality.
“Our focus will be on new technologies that enable merchants to accept
payments via mobile devices while also ensuring the ease of use and
safety of the transaction from the customer’s perspective,” said
Marianne Johnson, executive vice president of global product and
innovation for Elavon. “Payments are moving closer to the concept of the
mobile wallet housed on a smart phone or other device.”
Elavon has begun hiring for the center and is seeking professionals with
skills including mobile product development, systems design and
architecture, operations and deployment, mobile sales engineering and
quality assurance. “As a separate business, The Grove will have the feel
of a start-up operation, but within the stability of an established,
global brand,” Johnson said. “We are looking for skilled professionals
who will thrive in a fast-paced environment within a rapidly-changing
industry.”
According to the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), Atlanta is a
global hub for financial technology, with annual revenue exceeding $20
billion from more than 70 companies focused on the payments industry.
“As a center for both technology and talent in our industry, Atlanta is
poised for even greater growth around mobile payments,” Johnson said.
Elavon recognizes that mobile payment needs may be different for large
vs. small merchants and the company is poised ahead of the competition
when it comes to mobile payment solutions. The Grove will research and
develop new products and technology that meet the needs of merchants at
each end of that spectrum. For larger merchants, these technologies will
be developed to be compatible with Elavon’s full scope of payments and
security solutions. For smaller merchants, these new technologies will
allow broader options for accepting payments as well as the enhanced
security that comes with Elavon’s full suite of security features.
Elavon is also a leader in mobile solutions for EMV (chip-enabled cards)
including MobileMerchant which launched in Europe last year and recently
received the Mobile Payment Award 2013 at the Merchant Payments
Ecosystem event in Berlin, chosen by a panel of independent European
payment experts. MobileMerchant was the first Mobile payments acceptance
product in Europe to support EMV. The Grove will maintain focus on new
technology solutions to meet the needs of the changing U.S. market as
well as global markets served by Elavon.
A second mobile innovation center is planned for Europe. Interested
candidates can find more information here: http://www.elavon.com/careers/index.aspx.
About Elavon (www.elavon.com):
Elavon is wholly owned by U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and provides
end-to-end payment processing solutions and services to more than one
million merchants in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, Brazil
and Puerto Rico. Elavon markets solutions including credit and debit
card processing, electronic gift cards, dynamic currency conversion,
multi-currency support, and cross-border acquiring through multiple
alliance channels including financial institutions, trade associations,
and third party sales agents. Elavon’s suite of solutions is tailored to
meet the needs of merchants in specialized markets such as retail,
hospitality/T&E, health care, education and the public sector.
About U.S. Bancorp (www.usbank.com):
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with $354 billion in assets as of December 31,
2012, is the parent company of U.S. Bank, the 5th largest commercial
bank in the United States. The Company operates 3,084 banking offices in
25 states and 5,065 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking,
brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services
products to consumers, businesses and institutions.