More than 40 banks including Synovus Financial Corp

at Georgia Tech,FTRANS grew by more than 300 percent in 2008, and added key leadershipincluding Dan Drechsel as CEO.Drechsel joined FTRANS after a career withfinancial technology leaders such as S1 Corp., Checkfree Corp. and ADP.FTRANS provides banks with a program that supports commercial lending tosmall and mid-cap businesses. FTRANS allows B2B customers to outsource to thelender their accounts receivables in return for access to working capital.FTRANS makes those accounts receivables transparent and lendable collateralfor the bank. More than 40 banks, including Synovus Financial Corp., havejoined the FTRANS network that now serves more than 30,000 business sellersand buyers worldwide.FTRANS' program enables banks to immediately increase their profit withinexisting commercial and business loan portfolios, achieve ongoing profitimprovement, and establish a sustainable program for increased lending tosmall to medium size businesses. FTRANS provides enhanced portfolio visibilityand stability through real-time collateral monitoring as well as reducedcollateral risk with credit protection."FTRANS is fulfilling its promise to change the way in which smallbusinesses access working capital and is empowering banks to reach the smallto medium business sector more effectively," said Brian Hirsch, managingdirector of Greenhill SAVP. Ingenico announces the first open architecture implementation for securingcardholder data from terminal to host: The Ingenico On-Guard(TM) SolutionIngenico confirms its leadership in payment solutions by introducing anew security feature that encrypts cardholder data utilizing long-standing and proven industry security algorithms and methodologieswithout any change within the merchant's transaction processor's system.ATLANTA, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ - Ingenico announced that they are implementing anew open architecture security enhancement, the Ingenico On-Guard(TM) solutionthat will encrypt cardholder data from the transaction terminal to themerchant host, thus adding a significant security layer to card transactionsthat used to communicate in the clear.The new solution will be available on the Ingenico terminals sold in NorthAmerica.

As the leading provider ofpayment solutions, Ingenico has taken the lead in producing a solution thatwill cause the least amount of disruption to the merchants business as well asone that is based on industry recognized and supported standards" said LisaShipley, SVP, Sales & Marketing, Ingenico North America."Unlike our competitors, Ingenico's open standard allows merchants andacquirers alike the freedom to adopt this enhanced security feature withoutpurchasing a proprietary decryption package, or risk adopting a new encryptiontechnology that has not proven itself in the marketplace. The securityalgorithms used in the Ingenico's On-Guard(TM) Solution have been backed bythe financial industry for years and have proven to be more than effective inprotecting sensitive and private information" continued Shipley. The IngenicoOn-Guard(TM) encryption solution which incorporates MagneSafe(TM), astate-of-the-art security technology from MagTek, is available for both largeand small merchants. The software is remotely downloaded into the transactionterminal without the need to swap the PIN pad for key injection. This resultsin a less intrusive fix as well as one that can be performed faster and atlower cost than competitive solutions.The Ingenico On-Guard(TM) Solution secures the primary account number andpersonal information on the magnetic stripe card by encrypting selectedinformation from point of entry (card swipe) to the merchants host and or theProcessor directly. Once received at the merchant's host, a decryption serviceis provided by Ingenico so the merchant can utilize the data for theirapproval and settlement purposes with their transaction Processor.Ingenico will demonstrate the Ingenico On-Guard(TM) solution at the NationalRetail Federation Show in New York City, January 11 and 12th, 2009.About MagTek :Founded in 1972, MagTek is the leading provider of technology that makeselectronic transactions easier, faster, and safer.

MagTek has developed manysecure product lines that meet the transaction demands of retail, financialand OEM markets. As one ofthe pioneers in the development of industry standards for cards, checks, andPINs, MagTek's products are used by millions of people every day at financialinstitutions, supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants, casinos, hotels, onairplane seatbacks, ATMs, self-service kiosks and POS terminals. Swipe, scan,dip, PIN, or slide, you're likely to find MagTek security inside. MagTek hassales offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, with independentdistributors in over 40 countries.About IngenicoIngenico is the world's leading provider of payment solutions, with over 15million terminals deployed across the globe. Delivering the very latest secureelectronic payment technologies, transaction management and the widest rangeof value added services, Ingenico is shaping the future direction of thepayment solutions market.Leveraging on its global presence and local expertise, Ingenico is reinforcingits leadership by taking banks and businesses beyond payment through offeringcomprehensive solutions, a true source of differentiation and new revenuesstreams.More information: Corp.Ingenico, Grant Drummond, Director, Marcom Services, (416) 245-6700,.

PARIS (Reuters) - Nissan Europe (7201.T) aims to cut its stock of unsold vehicles to between 60,000 and 70,000 units by the end of March, compared with 93,000 at the end of December, sales vice president Francois Goupil de Bouille said. Russian sales were down 4.6 percent in December.Goupil de Bouille said the company had made "serious" cuts in its stocks in December, after seeing levels creep above 100,000 vehicles. Ashoka Brings Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship to Agriculture inSub-Saharan Africa and IndiaARLINGTON, Va., Jan. Through its wide-ranging,global "nominators network," Ashoka finds individuals with transformativeideas who lack financing, legal support, or the basic means for scaling theirwork.