ValidSoft SMART™ Solution to Tackle Consumer and Micro-merchant Fraud to be Provided by Spindle

LONDON, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ValidSoft (www.validsoft.com), a global supplier of advanced telecommunications-based fraud prevention, authentication and transaction verification solutions, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Elephant Talk Communications Corp. (NYSE MKT: ETAK), has announced that its Secure Mobile Architecture for Real-time Transactions (SMART™) has been selected to be an integral element in the recently announced comprehensive payment acceptance service solution to be provided by Spindle, Inc. (OTCBB:SPDL), a leading US-provider of mobile payments solutions.

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With fraud costs estimated to be over $100 billion annually in the United States, according to public and private sources, fraud-prevention is quickly becoming a matter of survivability for many merchants. However, with the emergence of the micro-merchant, where a smart-phone and card-reader dongle are all that's required to set up shop and process card payments, protection from merchant fraud, driven by the relative ease of being able to process cards, is becoming an imperative in the protection of acquirers.

"As smaller merchants become more successful and expand their clientele, they become more exposed to a number of potential fraud vectors including those that can lead to expensive charge-backs. For many merchants, this can have a devastating impact on profitability, and even survival," said David Ide, Chairman of Spindle. "But having said that, we also need to provide adequate protection against the offenders who see the micro-merchants as the targets on their fraudulent scheme." added Ide. "The winning formula is providing this protection in a way that is low/no friction to both consumer and merchant."

According to Pat Carroll, chief executive officer at ValidSoft, and a highly-regarded expert on fraud prevention in the financial services industry, "the frequency and magnitude of fraud and security breaches in the payments space is rapidly rising. Ultra Strong Authentication™ (USA) and verification are applied at all stages of the mobile payments process, including: Enrollment, Activation and Transacting. Security is only as strong as its weakest link and the recent high profile case of one of the largest UK banks announcing the suspension of its mobile app due to a security flaw in its enrollment process is a stark reminder of this. While prevention of breaches is important, the industry is concerned about the friction factor, so it is imperative that institutions employ a layered approach of strong authentication and verification combining visible and invisible security checks, to ensure merchants are not at risk, whilst also protecting against rogue merchants in the growing area of micro-merchants. This ensures that a complex security model can be implemented, with low friction and high ease-of-use for the merchant and consumer."

"The merchant community relies on service providers such as Spindle to provide easy-to-use payment acceptance solutions that protect them from fraud, without imposing onerous security procedures that can sometimes be difficult to implement and maintain," said Bill Clark, President of Spindle. "In the mobile payment ecosystem, fraud is a major concern for merchants. The integration of the ValidSoft solution allows us to provide highly-authenticated transaction services that can, we believe, virtually eliminate the risk of fraud and consequential charge-backs for merchants that use the Spindle solution, and do so in a way that increases customer convenience, satisfaction and trust." 

About Spindle:
Spindle, Inc. (OTCBB: SPDL), founded in 2010 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, offers a comprehensive platform that supports consumer and merchant engagement services including payment, couponing, loyalty, and advertising in a secure end-to-end SaaS platform.  The company's platform, which is white-labeled by financial institutions, mobile operators, and other organizations, is used to facilitate transactions among individuals and businesses. Spindle offers a technology-agnostic platform that manages customer boarding, risk, underwriting and transaction processing.

About ValidSoft:
ValidSoft Limited has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Elephant Talk since early 2010 and underpins its mobile/cloud security offering. The company is a market leader in providing solutions to counter electronic fraud relating to a variety of bank, card, internet and telephone channels. ValidSoft's solutions are used to verify the authenticity of both parties to a transaction (Mutual Authentication), the security of the relevant telecommunication channel used (Secure Communications), and the integrity of transactions itself (Transaction Verification) for the mass market, in a highly cost effective and secure manner while being very easy to use.

The company counts several leading worldwide service providers and institutions amongst its customers.  ValidSoft is the only security software company in the world that has been granted three European Privacy Seals. Visit www.validsoft.com.

Elephant Talk Communications Corp. (NYSE: ETAK), is a leading international provider of proprietary Software Defined Network (SDN) platforms for the telecommunications industry that empower Mobile Network Operators and Mobile Virtual Network Operators/Enablers/Aggregators with a full suite of Applications, Full OSS/BSS Systems, Delivery Platforms, Support and Managed Services, on-site, cloud, hybrid and S/PaaS solutions, including Network, Mobile Internet ID Solutions, Secure Remote Access Management, Loyalty Management and Transaction Processing Services, superior Industry Expertise and high quality Customer Service without substantial upfront investment. Elephant Talk can count several of the world's leading Mobile Operators amongst its customers including Vodafone, T-Mobile and Zain, and virtually all business is focused on tier 1 and tier 2 operators worldwide. Visit www.elephanttalk.com.

Media Contacts:

Public Relations:
UK: Fishburn Hedges +44 (0)20 7839 4321
[email protected]

Investor Relations:
Steve Gersten
Elephant Talk Communications Corp.
+ 1 813 926 8920
[email protected]

Peter Salkowski
The Blueshirt Group
+1 415 489 2184
[email protected]

SOURCE ValidSoft