The Prepaid Press - February 15, 2008 - (Page 24)

RETAIL FOCUS February 15 · 2008 - 24 Retailers Welcome Senate Approval of Stimulus Bill Legislation To Provide Taxpayers With Rebates WASHINGTON, DC (February 7, 2008) The National Retail Federation welcomed the Senate’s approval of economic stimulus legislation that would boost consumer spending by providing taxpayers with rebate checks. “Expanding the rebate checks to include retirees and disabled veterans is a win-win strategy,” NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations Steve Pfister said. “Retirees and veterans not only deserve a check, but are also among those most likely to spend the rebates so that this money gets put to work in the economy right away. The most important thing is that Congress is moving quickly, because stimulus legislation needs to be timely in order to be effective. These are very reasonable changes in the House bill, and we urge the House to agree to them and get the bill onto President Bush’s desk as soon as possible.” “We agree with economists who say that boosting consumer spending is the quickest way to get the economy back on track,” Pfister said. “Consumer spending represents 70 percent of our nation’s economy. Money that consumers spend in retail stores supports every job behind every product on the shelf and has a ripple effect throughout the economy.” The Senate voted 8116 to approve H.R. 5140, the Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act of 2008, after amending the House-passed bill to add Social Security recipients and disabled veterans to the list of those eligible to receive rebate checks while barring checks for illegal immigrants. The NRF Board of Directors last month passed a resolution urging Bush and Congress to act after the nation’s slowing economy resulted in the smallest holiday sales growth in five years at 3 percent and NRF issued its 2008 forecast calling for 3.5 percent growth, the lowest increase since 2002. The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry’s key trading partners of retail goods and services. Source: NRF (www.nrf.com) Cyphermint Teams With DHL To Offer Shipping Technology for Walgreens and OfficeMax MARLBOROUGH, MA (February 7, 2008) Cyphermint, Inc., a provider of kiosk and secure electronic payment solutions, will outfit its software solution at thousands of Walgreens retail stores nationwide where DHL will offer its services. Cyphermint currently has its solution integrated within the DHL Shipping Spot at over 900 OfficeMax locations nationwide. Powered by Cyphermint, the DHL Shipping Spots bring an convenience and accessibility to small businesses and consumers. Earlier this month, DHL announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with Walgreens drugstore chain. The agreement is designed to readily serve shippers sending and dropping off their packages for overnight, ground and international delivery. Walgreens is projected to expand to more than 6,500 locations by the end of 2008 with more than 1,600 stores open 24 hours a day. Cyphermint designed a Windows based software solution which is the operating system for the DHL Shipping Spots. At Walgreens and OfficeMax retail locations, The DHL Shipping Spots are staffed by associates to weigh, label and ship customer packages to US and international destinations. The interface within the DHL Shipping Spots feature intuitive screen prompts which help retail associates quickly prepare a customer shipment. After the associate selects the destination, weighs the package, attaches the label and collects payment, the package is secured and available for DHL pick up. Associates working with customers that already have a DHL account can also enter the customer account number and have the remaining information auto-filled for their convenience. Cyphermint utilized the strengths and experience gained from the transactional and financial application of 7-Eleven’s Vcom project and the customer service usability of the recent AAA kiosk to implement the functionality that was essential for the DHL Shipping Spot. DHL Shipping Spots were tested at the photo counters of the 153 Walgreens stores in Texas, Colorado and Kansas starting last June. Results have been excellent according to DHL. Source: Cyphermint (www.cyphermint.com) NRF Forecasts 3.5% Growth in Retail Sales Pace to be Slow Until Second Half The most important global technology event of the year! Unorthodox. NEW YORK, NY (January 14, 2008) The National Retail Federation has released its 2008 economic forecast, predicting that retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) will increase 3.5 percent from last year. According to its quarterly Retail Sales Outlook report, NRF expects a slow pace in sales growth to continue before picking up in the second half of the year. “Consumers will be under financial stress from high energy costs, the fallout from the housing slump, and sluggish employment and income growth,” said NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells. “Shoppers will seek to pay down debt, spend more in line with income growth, and approach discretionary purchases with more restraint.” While the outlook is somewhat reserved, Wells expects sluggish first half sales to eventually give way to stronger sales in the third and fourth quarters. NRF expects industry sales to increase 3.2 percent in the first half of the year followed by a 3.8 percent increase in the second half as economic conditions improve. “Retailers will once again be forced to market to more practical consumers, many of whom will be looking to trade down,” said Wells. “Even areas of past high growth like luxury goods and online shopping will feel the pressure. In 2008, the challenges will be formidable for everyone.” Source: National Retail Federation (www.nrf.com) CTIA WIRELESS 2008 The convergence of more than 1,100 exhibiting companies, dozens of industries and over 40,000 professionals from 125 countries all working toward the common goal of revolutionizing wireless. Whether in broadband convergence, enterprise, advertising, social networking or entertainment– CTIA WIRELESS 2008 is the global marketplace connecting wireless and you. April 1-3, 2008 www.ctia.org/ctiawireless Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, NV, USA http://www.nrf.com http://www.cyphermint.com http://www.ctia.org/ctiawireless http://www.ctia.org/ctiawireless http://www.ctia.org/ctiawireless http://www.nrf.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - February 15, 2008

The Prepaid Press - February 2008 Beachfront Property for Sale Cardholder Facing Systems Contents The Retske Report: Getting the Word Out 5 Minutes With Mark Flanagan, CEO of PrepaidWireless.com Regulatory Rundown: Mid-Winter Update 2008 Prepaid Wireless Handsets Consumer’s Union Raps Wireless Industry Prepaid Reviews Launches Canadian Website Maginpins and TúYo Mobile Form Alliance Prepaid Wireless in Brief Boost Mobile Introduces New $1/Day Chat Plan Mobile Voice to Overtake Fixed in Europe Prepaid Wireless Roundup Another Kind of Prepaid Calling Spot Rates VSNL Wins ATLANTIC-ACM Award The Legal Line Calling Cards in Brief Sapotek Partners with DigiLinea Pactolus Goes Live at Cable MSO Low-Income Market Initiatives to Drive Mobile Banking Payments in Brief Monitise Americas Expands Payments Network Charge Anywhere Mobile POS Wins Award Hypercom Introduces System for Small Merchants TIO Networks Announces TIO Prepaid MasterCard NPBCA Makes Leadership Change A Walk Down the Aisle Branding Your Retail Store Retailers Welcome Senate Approval of Stimulus Bill NRF Forecasts 3.5 Percent Growth in Retail Sales Cyphermint Teams With DHL Retail Focus in Brief Our Advertisers Contact Us

The Prepaid Press - February 15, 2008

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