ATM & Debit News articles from March 2003

ATM & Debit News archives from March 2003

7-Eleven Promotes New Card.
March 6, 2003... 7-Eleven Stores Inc. customers who load or reload the convenience-store chain's new proprietary stored-value card with at least $25 will receive a free 22-ounce Slurpee, a 32-ounce Big Gulp soft drink or a 16-ounce cup of coffee. Consumer can...

Teen Prepaid Card Interest Cited.
March 6, 2003... Young people ages 12 to 17 make nearly all their payments in cash, but 36% indicate interest in prepaid cards, according to a November Synergistics Research Corp. telephone survey of 521 teen-agers and 304 parents regarding teens' finances. In...

Terminal Makers Got A Welcome Boost In Shipments In 2002.
March 6, 2003... With few merchants interested in replacing their reliable but aging stand-alone point-of-sale terminals or in upgrading to higher-end multifunction devices, terminal sales in the U.S. and Canada over the past few years have been flat. In 2002,...

Common Protocols Adopted For ATM Communications.
March 6, 2003... Enabling ATMs of different makes and models to communicate with one another or through various network channels that support shared transactions historically has been a trying process. The machines, for example, use proprietary messaging...

Star Survey Finds Even Debit Card Users Still Write Checks At The Point Of Sale.
March 6, 2003... The national card associations, electronic funds transfer networks and debit card issuers over the years have convinced millions of consumers to use debit cards instead of checks at the point of sale. But new survey data suggest that more can...

EFunds Takes A Financial Hit During Transition.
March 6, 2003... EFunds Corp.'s attempts at a wholesale restructuring of its electronic funds transfer processing business are not yet paying off. In fact, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based processor is experiencing considerable financial pains in the process. ...

What IFX Software Can Do.
March 6, 2003... * Replaces proprietary ATM messaging software with a common set of protocols embedded in commercial ATM software. * Enables seamless messaging between such distinct banking channels as ATMs, Internet banking sites and physical branches. ...

Genpass Inks Cardtronics Deal.
March 6, 2003... Genpass Inc., a Fort Washington, Pa.-based electronic funds transfer network owner, ATM driver and transaction processor, has signed a long-term agreement to service and maintain 1,150 ATMs operated by the Houston-based Cardtronics Inc....

Valuelink Signs On Whole Foods.
March 6, 2003... First Data Corp.'s ValueLink unit has signed a contract to implement a prepaid gift card program for Whole Foods Market Inc., an Austin, Texas-based supermarket chain. The Whole Food Card is sold in fixed denominations. But shoppers also can...

Concord For Sale?
March 13, 2003... The price per share of Concord EFS Inc. stock on the New York Stock Exchange closed 17.7% lower March 10, at $8.52 per share, stoked by analysts' fears that the transaction processor was having difficulty convincing major banks to renew their...

EBT Council Has New Name.
March 13, 2003... Herndon, Va.-based NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association is renaming its EBT Council. The council, which addresses rules for electronic benefits transfer programs, is now called the Electronic Benefits and Services Council. The name change...

ATMs Becoming A Tougher Sell For Manufacturers.
March 13, 2003... Dayton, Ohio-based ATM manufacturer NCR Corp. recently lauded the shipment of its 500,000th ATM worldwide. But it may be tougher for NCR to reach the million mark, as the years of double-digit sales growth in the U.S., the world's largest ATM...

Failed ISO Still Haunts Tidel As It Seeks A Comeback.
March 13, 2003... Once a premier builder of off-premise ATMs, Tidel Technologies Inc. increasingly is being sidelined while mired in economic doldrums. Whereas the Houston-based company in 2000 ranked second in the U.S. to North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Inc....

Consumers More Impressed By Value Than Technology, Tower Report Says.
March 13, 2003... As electronic transactions continue to replace cash and other paper forms of payment at the point of sale, competition among new technologies to become a predominant form of electronic payment will grow. But whether the future of payments will...

Promotion A Sign Of MasterCard's Growth Ambitions.
March 13, 2003... Some of the largest U.S. debit card issuers this year will be making contract decisions that will affect who processes their transactions and what brands appear on their cards. MasterCard International, whose debit MasterCard has been unable to...

U.S. ATM Shipments.
March 13, 2003... Company 2002 2001 Change Diebold 13,560* 14,400* -5.8% Triton 9,867 9,621 2.6% NCR 8,900* 8,800* 1.1% Tranax 7,600 7,572 0.4% Tidel ...

ISO Chooses NYCE Brand.
March 13, 2003... The Billings, Mont.-based ATM Express Inc. independent sales organization says it will join the NYCE electronic funds transfer network. The ISO says it will use NYCE's EFT Processing Services to drive the 5,024 ATMs it has under contract in...

Receipt Numbers Reduced.
March 13, 2003... Effective July 1, receipts from all new payment terminals processing Visa cards can show no more than the last four digits of a Visa card number. Card-expiration dates also will be banned on receipts. The truncation policy is designed to reduce...

Pulse, EFunds Strike Deal.
March 20, 2003... Dispelling speculation that the Pulse electronic funds transfer network might merge or partner with another network to switch its transactions, the Houston-based organization today announced an agreement to use Scottsdale, Ariz.-based eFunds...

Video Displays Help To Propel Terminal Sales In Drive-Ups.
March 20, 2003... The deployment of video order-confirmation displays in quick-service restaurant drive-up lanes is on the rise. And the trend is having a positive effect for payment-terminal manufacturers, who traditionally have had difficulty penetrating the...

Processor Works With Utilities To Add Bill Payment.
March 20, 2003... Automated clearing house-based electronic payments and ATM-based transactions seemingly are incompatible. But one Chicago-based company is marrying the convenience of ACH-based transactions with ATMs as part of a recurring bill-payment service....

Network Adjusts Certification Policies As It Adopts Tough Encryption Rules.
March 20, 2003... Major electronic funds transfer networks are still tweaking rules to meet new Triple Data Encryption Standard, or Triple DES, protocols, even as new information emerges that some ATMs do not properly protect PINs. Incorporating the Triple DES...

MasterCard Seeks Separate Trial In Wal-Mart Dispute.
March 20, 2003... They sponsor signature-based, or offline, debit cards in the U.S., and they both have honor-all-cards rules requiring merchants who take their credit cards to take their offline debit cards as well. But when it comes to merchant evidence...

Star Rules Changes.
March 20, 2003... * Members must obtain Triple DES certification directly from vendors. The network no longer will publish a list of certified ATM equipment. * Certification will be required to complete a bi-annual security-compliance review of all ATMs...

Offline Debit Purchases Rose In 2002, But At A Lower Rate Than Past Years.
March 20, 2003... Use in the U.S. of signature-based, or offline, debit cards continues to climb at a double-digit clip. However, the pace is slowing. U.S. consumers in 2002 initiated 8.16 billion offline debit purchases with their debit MasterCards and Visa...

Visa Check Card/Debit Master Card.
March 20, 2003... Year Cards Transactions Value Issuers Visa Check Card 2002 127.8 6,479.00 $248,135 8,500 2001 117 5,304.00 $205,272 8,468 2000 100.7 4,200.00 $163,414 7,984 ...

Fed Report Cites Increased Role Of Nonbanks In U.S.
March 20, 2003... Though banks and other depository institutions traditionally have played a dominant role in the U.S. payment system, processors and other nonbank organizations in recent years have taken on an increased responsibility. Fueling this trend are...

Pay-Ease At A Glance.
March 20, 2003... Headquarters: Chicago Business: Processing bill payments on ATMs Clients: ComEd, SBC, People's Gas Source: Pay-Ease Inc. Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Cardtronics Strikes Efmark Deal.
March 20, 2003... Cardtronics Inc., a Houston-based ATM independent sales organization, has signed an agreement in which Efmark Service Co. of Chicago will provide maintenance service for about half of the 10,000 ATMs in Cardtronics' portfolio. Mike Clinard,...

Diebold Rolls Out Opteva ATMs.
March 20, 2003... North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Inc. has unveiled a new ATM family called Opteva that includes Universal Serial Bus, or USB, ports to accommodate peripheral hardware. The Opteva series has five cassettes for greater cash storage. Diebold CEO...

Iron Triangle Secures Funding.
March 27, 2003... GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, a Chicago-based private-equity firm, says it will invest up to $200 million in Iron Triangle Payment Systems LLC, a Louisville, Ky.-based company founded by Thomas A. Wimsett, retired president and CEO of National...

Regs Influencing ATM Spending.
March 27, 2003... Financial institutions are investing in ATMs primarily because of changes in ATM regulations and by prospects to gain cost savings from electronifying deposits, new survey data from Cleveland-based Midwest Research Securities Corp. suggest....

The NASDAQ Delists Tidel.
March 27, 2003... Tidel Technologies Inc. on March 26 had its stock removed from the NASDAQ small-cap stock listing. The Houston-based ATM maker has not filed a required U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission report since last June. In a statement, Tidel...

New Partnerships Are Following ATM Consolidations.
March 27, 2003... Rapid consolidation in the off-premise ATM industry is creating new partnerships to overcome logistical problems associated with setting up a nationwide ATM-service pipeline. Houston-based ATM independent sales organization Cardtronics Inc.,...

Rise In Web Use Creates New Fraud Opportunities.
March 27, 2003... The same features that draw consumers to the Web-convenience, worldwide access to large amounts of data and ease of use-also have turned cyberspace into what Celent Communications analyst Ariana-Michele Moore terms "a breeding ground for...

Slow Approach Taken For POS Devices To Meet Stricter Encryption Standards.
March 27, 2003... Deadlines to comply with stricter transaction-encryption standards are fast bearing down on ATM owners. But operators of PIN-based point-of-sale debit terminals, while also facing compliance deadlines, are not up against similar pressures. ...

Palm Desert National ATM Facts.
March 27, 2003... Headquarters: Palm Desert, Calif ATM Business: Sponsor, vault cash, manager ATMs Serviced: 6,000 Source: Palm Desert National Bank. Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Reward Policies Tie Into Debit Differently.
March 27, 2003... Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank is now enabling all existing and new customers issued debit MasterCards and MasterCard credit cards to participate in the bank's rewards program. Fifth Third launched the program last June in a limited rollout...

Triple DES POS Deadlines.
March 27, 2003... Visa 1/1/04 All newly deployed, Visa-branded POS terminals must support Triple DES. 7/1/10 All POS PIN devices to be tested by Visa for Triple DES compliance. MasterCard 4/1/03 MasterCard members' ATMs,POS PIN...

Hypercom In PayRight Deal.
March 27, 2003... Hypercom Corp., a Phoenix-based point-of-sale terminal maker, on March 19 announced a 12-month, multimillion-dollar deal to supply 10,000 T7 Plus and ICE Plus terminals to PayRight Merchant Services LLC, a Haledon, N.J.-based merchant-service...

Canadian Tire Will Use Mosaic.
March 27, 2003... Toronto-based Canadian Tire Financial Services Corp. will use Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based Mosaic Software Corp.'s software to switch its electronic funds transfer transactions, the companies announced in a joint statement. Canadian Tire...