Elavon Launches Mobile Innovation Center

Atlanta center to have sister facility in Europe

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.

“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”

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.