ATM & Debit News articles from February 2004

ATM & Debit News archives from February 2004

Jeanie Snares Wal-Mart.
February 5, 2004... Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions, the processing unit of Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank, last year said it wanted to broaden merchant acceptance of Fifth Third's Jeanie electronic funds transfer network. It succeeded in doing so when...

Family Dollar Takes PINs.
February 5, 2004... About 4,800 Family Dollar stores now accept PIN-based debit cards and are using Memphis, Tenn.-based Concord EFS Inc. to process those transactions, according to a Concord announcement. Family Dollar also is including Concord's Star network...

More Consumers Prefer Debit Cards Over Credit Cards.
February 5, 2004... When reaching into their wallets at the point of sale, more consumers now prefer to grab a debit card rather than a credit card. But consumers' preference for debit cards is doing little to reduce their revolving credit card debt, new survey...

Networks See A Bright Future For Payroll Cards.
February 5, 2004... Debit card issuers, electronic funds transfer networks and third-party vendors are gearing up for expected explosive growth in the use of payroll debit cards as employers look to reduce costs associated with issuing paper checks. Some networks,...

ATM Triple DES Network Deadlines Move Closer Without Certifications.
February 5, 2004... Most ATM deployers will need to decide in the coming months whether to replace or upgrade tens of thousands of machines with enhanced PIN-encryption standards. However, a lack of ATM network certification programs could make it difficult for...

Genpass Projects A Big Decline In ATM Surcharging.
February 5, 2004... Genpass Inc. officials are convinced that making ATMs surcharge free is the wave of the future, despite the growth in ATM surcharging over the past decade. Bipin Shah, Genpass president and a veteran electronic funds transfer network...

Triple DES ATM Certifications.
February 5, 2004... Visa: Using outside labs to certify PIN pads. MasterCard: Has no certification program. Star: Requires deployers to get vendor certifications. Source: Visa, MasterCard, Star and ATM&Debit News. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc....

Diebold, NCR See ATM Growth.
February 5, 2004... Dayton, Ohio-based NCR Corp.'s financial self-service unit, which includes ATMs and ATM-related products, is reporting a 13.3% increase in revenues for the fourth quarter, to $392 million from $346 million during 2002's fourth quarter. For all...

Bank One Replacing ATMs.
February 12, 2004... Chicago-based Bank One Corp. says it will invest more than $55 million this year to open 30 new branches and replace 550 ATMs in the Chicago area, bringing Bank One's total number of local branches to 250 and the number of Chicago ATMs to...

DOJ Probing Western Union.
February 12, 2004... The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation of First Data Corp.'s Western Union Financial Services Inc. subsidiary. In a statement, First Data said the investigation is not expected to disrupt its pending purchase of...

Lipman Uses IPO To Raise Funds; Is VeriFone Next?
February 12, 2004... Public versus private? That question in recent months has been foremost on the minds of executives at two of the leading suppliers of stand-alone point-of-sale payment terminals. One of the companies, Israel-based Lipman Electronic...

First Data To Have Little Say On Who Buys NYCE Shares.
February 12, 2004... First Data Corp. is working a deal to sell its 64% stake in the NYCE network. But the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based transaction-processing giant apparently will have little say over the final sale. In fact, it potentially could be forced to...

Processors And Networks Look To Gain Clients With Preferred-Provider Deals.
February 12, 2004... In recent months, Star, the nation's largest PIN-debit network, has faced member defections by some of the largest debit card issuers, including Wachovia Corp, Wells Fargo & Co., U.S. Bancorp and FleetBoston. Bank One Corp. indicated in a...

Hypercom To Offer IP Converter For Legacy Terminals.
February 12, 2004... For years, payment-terminal makers have tried to convince merchants and processors to replace their aging terminals with more advanced ones that support multiple functions, such as loyalty programs. Many merchants, though, have balked, saying...

Key Lipman IPO Facts.
February 12, 2004... Launch Date Jan. 29 Initial Price $41.60/share Shares Sold 3 million Gross Proceeds $124.8 million Listing Exchange NASDAQ NM Source: Lipman Electronic Engineering Ltd. Copyright...

Recent Preferred-Provider Deals.
February 12, 2004... Concord EFS * Washington Bankers Association * Western Independent Bankers Association * Bankers Bank of Kansas Genpass * New York Bankers Association * Member Data Services Source: ATM&Debit News. Deals include...

Tonguette Joins ICBA Bancard.
February 12, 2004... Electronic funds transfer network pioneer Del R. Tonguette has joined ICBA Bancard Inc. to direct the Arlington, Va.-based organization's debit-services business. ICBA Bancard is a for-profit subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of...

Hypercom Financials Improving.
February 12, 2004... Hypercom Corp., the Phoenix-based payment-terminal maker, reports fourth-quarter net income of $8.7 million, which includes a $7 million one-time gain from the sale of some business units. That compares with $1.2 million in net income for the...

NYCE Starts Transfer Service.
February 19, 2004... The Montvale, N.J.-based NYCE electronic funds transfer network has begun switching account-to-account money transfers between NYCE-connected financial institutions. The so-called A2A transactions recently were initiated at ATMs by customers of...

Surcharge-Free ATM Growth Sets Off An ISO Revenue Shift.
February 19, 2004... The recent growth of surcharge-free ATM networks suggests that surcharges alone may not provide the revenue needed to support off-premise ATM programs for much longer. Faced with this potential, independent sales organizations and off-premise...

Canada's Debit System Not A Good Fit For U.S.: Study.
February 19, 2004... The U.S. PIN-debit market may be growing, but so, too, it appears is the debate as to whether the PIN-debit system used in this country is appropriate. Some experts have suggested that Canada's system might be better, while others contend such...

Visa, MasterCard Both Show Gains As They Take Debit Growth Overseas.
February 19, 2004... Debit card issuance and acceptance continue to grow at double-digit rates in the U.S. But debit programs also are picking up steam outside the nation's borders. Spearheading debit's international expansion are-who else?-Visa International...

MasterCard And Visa Products Are Growing Globally, Too.
February 19, 2004... MasterCard Maestro 9/03 9/02 Change Cards* 473.1 405.8 16.6% Issuing Nations >93 83 NA POS Volume NA NA NA ...

Where NYCE Cards Are Used.
February 19, 2004... Sector 2003 2002 Food Retailers 53% 54% Drug Stores 10% 9% Gas/Service Stations 9% 8% Discount/General Merchandise 3% 6% Department...

New Sectors Taking PIN Debit, But Food Retailers Still Reign.
February 19, 2004... More and more new retail sectors are adding PIN-based debit cards as a payment option. But food retailers, which were one of the first merchant sectors to enable customers to use their ATM cards to initiate purchases, continue to represent the...

Key Facts About NetBank.
February 19, 2004... Recent ISO Acquisitions: Financial Technologies Inc. (4,300 ATMs) Electronic Cash Systems Inc. (1,000 ATMs) Total Portfolio: 5,300 ATMs Portfolio Name: NetBank Payment Systems Source: NetBank. Copyright 2004 Thomson...

Cashcard Buy Gets Agency Nod.
February 19, 2004... The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has told First Data Corp. that it will not oppose First Data's proposed purchase of Cashcard Australia Ltd., the country's leading merchant-ATM deployer. "We are pleased to pass this...

Mosiac Added 42 Clients In 2003.
February 19, 2004... Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based Mosaic Software Inc., says it added 42 users of its Postilion EFT transaction-switching software in 2003. About 62% of those new clients were in North America, and about 30 of the new customers are using Postilion to...

Concord Net Income Up 16.2%.
February 26, 2004... Memphis, Tenn.-based Concord EFS Inc. says it generated $2.2 billion in revenue last year, up 15.8% from $1.9 billion in 2002, driven by a 16% increase in transaction volume. Concord's $349.5 million in net income last year was up 16.2% from...

NYCE Now Enabling Money Transfers Between Members.
February 26, 2004... Debit card use at the point of sale may be growing in popularity, yet the use of cards to support funds transfers between accounts at different banks only now is beginning to emerge. But how banks, and consumers, use such systems remains to be...

Vendors Benefiting As More Banks Are Buying New ATMs.
February 26, 2004... More financial institutions are replacing aging ATMs instead of buying upgrades or used machines as new ATM requirements close in, the results of ATM&Debit News' annual U.S. ATM-shipment survey suggest. Overall, manufacturers shipped...

Issuers Reviewing Marketing Programs As Their Interchange Revenue Drops.
February 26, 2004... Every U.S. issuer of signature-based debit cards has felt the financial sting stemming from last spring's settlements in the merchant class-action lawsuit, in which Visa USA and MasterCard International agreed to temporarily reduce their...

Star Rolls Out More Interchange-Based Check Services.
February 26, 2004... U.S. debit networks may still experience double-digit growth in card usage, but many consumers-including debit cardholders-still write checks. To capture some of these transactions, Maitland, Fla.-based Star, the nation's leading electronic...

ATM Consolidations Spur Joint Effort With Software Firms.
February 26, 2004... Rapid consolidation of ATM deployers-both independent sales organizations and financial institutions-is providing opportunity, as well as uneasiness, for companies that market ATM-management software. Indeed, merged organizations extract...

U.S. ATM Shipments.
February 26, 2004... Company 2003 2002 Change Diebold 15,590* 3,560* 15.0% Triton 11,190 9,867 13.4% NCR 9,400* 8,900* 6.0% Tranax 9,000 7,600 18.4% NexTran 3,000 2,947...

How Some Banks Fared.
February 26, 2004... 4th Quarter Card Institution Interchange Loss Brand Fifth Third Bank $8.0 million MasterCard U.S. Bancorp $4.9 million Visa TCF Financial $1.0 million Visa Provident ...

MasterCard Buys TowerGroup.
February 26, 2004... MasterCard Advisors, a consulting and research subsidiary of MasterCard International, is acquiring TowerGroup, a research and advisory firm that had been owned since 1999 by Reuters, a global information company. Terms were not disclosed....

Fiserv Reports 57% Growth.
February 26, 2004... Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield, Wis.-based transaction processor, says its Accel/Exchange point-of-sale and ATM network volume grew 57% last year, to 221.7 million transactions from 141 million in 2002. POS-transaction volume grew by 66% while ATM...