ATM & Debit News articles from January 2004

ATM & Debit News archives from January 2004

Coinstar Foresees A Prepaid Future.
January 8, 2004... Coinstar Inc., which has coin-counting machines located in thousands of U.S. grocery stores, is expanding its services to include multiple prepaid products. See page 3. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

Bank Sells 600,000 Prepaid Cards.
January 8, 2004... Charter One Financial Inc. says it sold 600,000 prepaid MasterCards during November and December, triple its expected holiday sales of about 200,000 cards, which carry no fees or shipping and handling charges. Approximately 50,000 cards were...

2004 Brings New Debit Laws.
January 8, 2004... Several new debit-related laws will make their debut in 2004. The federal Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act in October will require financial institutions to begin accepting substitute checks made from checks that are digitally imaged and...

Incidents May Be Low, But ATM Fraud Is Gaining Attention.
January 8, 2004... Statistically, the number of incidents of organized fraud at ATMs is very low. Of the estimated 10.8 billion ATM transactions U.S. consumers conduct annually, only a few thousand are are believed to be fraudulent. However, the public is...

Networks Viewing 'Free' ATM Access As A Money Maker.
January 8, 2004... Most electronic funds transfer networks now offer member institutions access to selective-surcharge alliances in which participants agree not to surcharge each others' cardholders but still can surcharge other institutions' customers. And this...

With Wal-Mart Suit Now Behind Them, Visa, MasterCard Look To The Future.
January 8, 2004... Visa USA's and MasterCard International's agreements last spring to settle the merchants' class-action lawsuit, which led the associations to lower the interchange rates for their signature-based, or offline, debit cards, did little to alter...

Coinstar Machines Increasing Functions As Company Adds Prepaid Services.
January 8, 2004... Coinstar Inc., whose self-service coin-counting machines are available at over 10,000 supermarkets nationwide, is expanding its scope. And prepaid services will play an important part in helping the company reach its growth objectives. ...

Jan.-Sept. Offline Debit Stats.
January 8, 2004... Cards Trans. Volume Visa check card 2003 142.5 5,688.7 $220,005 2002 126.0 4,703.0 $179,285 2001 112.0 3,800.0 $142,500 Debit MasterCard 2003 51.5 1,430.9 $59,600 ...

Ingenico Disputes Patent Claim.
January 8, 2004... Ingenico S.A., a leading payment-terminal maker, is disputing claims that its eN-Touch 1000 terminal infringes in NCR Corp.'s recently issued patent and vows to defend itself. Ingenico says the terminal does not transmit an electronic credit...

FDC To Buy Australia ATM Owner.
January 8, 2004... First Data Corp. has agreed to buy Cashcard Australia Ltd., a Sydney-based ATM owner, operator and service provider, for an undisclosed price. First Data will acquire all of Cashcard's stock from shareholders if they and Australian regulators...

Morgan Chase To Buy Bank One.
January 15, 2004... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Jan. 14 said it plans to purchase Bank One Corp. for $58 billion. The combined company would be one of the nation's largest debit card issuers and ATM deployers. The acquisition, in fact, could benefit MasterCard...

Gift Cards Net 8% Of Retail Sales.
January 15, 2004... Gift card sales totaled an estimated $17.2 billion during the November to December holiday season, accounting for about 8% of retail sales, Rosalind Wells, chief economist of the National Retail Federation, announced this week at the...

PIN-Debit Growth Remains High Over The Holidays.
January 15, 2004... Because of gift giving during the holidays, consumers use their payment cards in December more often than during other months. And while most debit card users sign the transaction slip, they increasingly are using their PINs instead. Last...

Triple DES May Not Cause Demise Of Older ATMs.
January 15, 2004... There apparently are enough older-model ATMs still deployed that third-party companies can make a business offering upgrades for the machines to comply with an impending stricter standard for encrypting PINs. The so-called Triple Data...

Canadian Cabs Keying In On PIN Use Through SmartPay Wireless Terminals.
January 15, 2004... In Canada, where debit card transactions are strictly PIN based, cab companies tend not to accept debit cards because the purchases require real-time PIN authorizations from card issuers. Though debit card use is highly popular in Canada, many...

Holiday Season POS PIN Use.
January 15, 2004... 2002 Network 12/03 12/02 Change Change* Star 349.5 286.2 22.10% 25.80% Interlink 104.5 75.7 38.00% 33.50% Pulse 61.3 42.5 44.20% 21.00% NYCE 58.6...

Illinois Law Urges Banks To Support Security Measure.
January 15, 2004... A new Illinois law is asking financial institutions in the state to link their ATMs with local police emergency services. And if the institutions do not do so voluntarily, state lawmakers could make the security measure mandatory, according to...

Noncompliant ATMs.
January 15, 2004... Manufacturer Product Lines Diebold 5000, 9000, 1060, 1061, 1063, 1070i, CSP, CSP100. NCR 5070, 5081, 5084, 5085, 5088 Fujitsu 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000 Source: ATM&Debit News. Chart depicts ATMs that...

Key Digital Dispatch Facts.
January 15, 2004... * Formed in 1978 * Services 120 North American cab companies * Has installed over 65,000 wireless mobile data devices and over 145 wireless data systems in 34 countries * Payment terminal called SmartPay Source: Digital...

AFFN Signs Fifth Third Deal.
January 15, 2004... The Armed Forces Financial Network, a Tampa, Fla.-based electronic funds transfer network for U.S. military personnel and their families, will use Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions for transaction-processing services. AFFN's 86 million...

Concord Sets Shareholder Vote.
January 15, 2004... Shareholders of Memphis, Tenn.-based Concord EFS Inc. by Jan. 16 will get a detailed prospectus and a final meeting time to vote on the proposed buyout of Concord by Greenwood Village, Colo.-based First Data Corp., according to Concord. No date...

TCF Cites Debit-Revenue Dip.
January 22, 2004... Wayzata, Minn.-based TCF Financial Corp. is reporting fourth-quarter debit card revenue of $12.1 million, down 7.6% from $13.1 million for the same period in 2002. TCF, the nation's 16th-ranked signature-based [offline] debit card issuer, said...

Bank One/Chase Names Execs.
January 22, 2004... When the Bank One Corp./J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. merger is complete, William Campbell, currently chief of Card Services at Bank One, will become chairman of the merged entity's card division. Richard J. Srednicki, currently executive vice...

Chase/Bank One Deal Could Affect Network Affiliations.
January 22, 2004... For months it has been widely rumored that Chicago-based Bank One Corp. had decided to drop the Star electronic funds transfer network as its main ATM and PIN-based point-of-sale debit switch. Such an action would follow similar moves by...

Legal Brief Alludes To Bank One's Plans To Drop Star.
January 22, 2004... Chicago-based Bank One Corp.'s choice of PIN-based debit networks may finally be known. A one-line passage in a legal brief submitted by First Data Corp. last month seems to confirm that Bank One planned to drop its Star affiliation in favor of...

EFT Networks Enabling More Billers To Accept ATM Cards Without PINs.
January 22, 2004... Financial institutions are used to getting interchange revenue when their debit cardholders use PINs to initiate purchases. Increasingly, though, their cardholders are generating interchange revenue even when not using their PINs, and not...

MasterCard Again Sets Rates That Match Visa's Rates.
January 22, 2004... Historically, MasterCard has set interchange rates for its signature-based, or offline, debit MasterCard higher than those applied to Visa USA's check cards. These days, though, MasterCard appears more set on meeting Visa's rates than beating...

How Visa's POS Rates Compare (Based on $40 Purchase).
January 22, 2004... VISA CHECK CARD New Current Cost Prior Cost* Cost To 8/03 Retail Threshold I 43 cents 49.2 cents 60 cents Threshold II 48.2 cents 49.2 cents 60 cents Threshold III ...

How MasterCard's POS Rates Compare (Based on $40 Purchase).
January 22, 2004... DEBIT MASTERCARD New Current Cost Prior Cost* Cost To 8/03 Retail Tier I 43 cents 48.8 cents 66 cents Tier II 48.2 cents 48.8 cents 66 cents Tier III 53 cents...

Star's Pinless-Debit Growth.
January 22, 2004... 2003 2002 Change Payments* 8.9 2.5 256% Billers 70 97 39% Source: Star. *In millions. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com...

Hypercom, Diebold Strike Deal.
January 22, 2004... Payment-terminal maker Hypercom Corp. and Diebold Inc. Jan. 20 announced a strategic partnership in which Diebold will distribute the Hypercom HFT 505 outdoor payment card terminal in pharmacy drive-up lanes. Diebold is a leading provider of...

NCR Expects A Good Quarter.
January 22, 2004... NCR Corp. says it expects its total revenues from its financial self-service unit, which includes the firm's ATM-related business, for the fourth quarter to be between $1.62 billion and $1.64 billion, which would represent 3% to 4% growth from...

Full Court Upholds Ruling.
January 29, 2004... The full 2nd U.S. Circuit of Appeals has rejected without comment MasterCard International's, Visa International's and Visa USA's request to review a decision by a three-judge panel of the court that upheld a U.S. District Court ruling that the...

Regions To Buy Union Planters.
January 29, 2004... Cordova, Tenn.-based Union Planters Corp. and Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Financial Corp. say they plan to merge in a $6 billion deal that calls for Regions to purchase Union Planters' stock. The merged organization would have 1,700 ATMs in...

NYCE Hits Star With Lawsuit Over POS Routing Rule.
January 29, 2004... For much of last year, the Star and NYCE electronic funds transfer networks were on the verge of merging. But with First Data Corp. agreeing last month to sell its controlling interest in NYCE so that it can acquire Star's parent, Concord EFS...

Internet Debit Still Going Slow Even With AFFN Support.
January 29, 2004... For years, electronic funds transfer networks and third-party providers have espoused hope that consumers some day will be able to initiate real-time, PIN-based debit purchases on the Internet. Yet only one company and one EFT network have been...

In A U.S. First, City Tells Cabs They Must Take Debit And Credit Cards.
January 29, 2004... After numerous deadline extensions, a Chicago ordinance went into effect Jan. 16 requiring the city's 6,700 licensed taxicabs to accept electronically authorized signature-based [offline] debit and credit card transactions. Chicago is the first...

Approved Payment Vendors.
January 29, 2004... * Aircharge * C&C Enterprise * CX2 Technologies/BITSPointInc./SmartLINK Card Services Inc. * Finite Technology Inc. * Gleike Taximeters * IPS Inc. * Mobile Knowledge * Next Day Funding * Taxitronic *...

Prepaid Cards Assuming A Bigger Role With Court-Ordered Child Support.
January 29, 2004... Mandatory use by employees of direct-deposit or payroll debit card programs is far from the norm. Indeed, many employers only now are considering offering prepaid cards to replace paper paychecks, and few require payroll funds to be...

U.S. Bank's ReliaCard States.
January 29, 2004... State Cases Washington 350,000 Minnesota 237,000 Iowa 110,000 Colorado 100,000 Source: ATM&Debit News. Chart lists states that support U.S. Bank's prepaid ReliaCard product to assist...

Diebold Names Evans President.
January 29, 2004... North Canton, Ohio-based ATM manufacturer Diebold Inc. has named Eric C. Evans president and chief operating officer. He replaces Wesley Vance, the company's COO, who died in an airplane crash in April. Evans, who will be responsible for...

Hanco's Hannon Passes Away.
January 29, 2004... ATM-industry veteran Tom Hannon died Jan. 24 after a short illness in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. Hannon, who was 61, was chairman of the Hanco Group, a leading ATM independent sales organization. Hannon sold Peachtree City, Ga.-based...