ATM & Debit News articles from March 2004

ATM & Debit News archives from March 2004

Target Dumping Chip On Cards.
March 4, 2004... In a blow to smart cards in the U.S., Minneapolis-based Target Corp. confirmed March 1 that it plans to phase out its chip card program over the next year. "We are doing this because of low adoption of the smart couponing program by our...

Concord's Co-CEOs Leaving.
March 4, 2004... Concord EFS Inc.'s co-CEOs, Bond R. Isaacson and Dan M. Palmer, will not be joining First Data Corp. as it consolidates its Concord purchase. Concord President Edward A Labry III and Ronald V. Congemi, president of Concord's Star network, will...

Market Improving For Makers Of Payment Terminals.
March 4, 2004... The North American market is getting kinder to the region's point-of-sale terminal makers. As a group in 2003 they experienced double-digit shipment growth in the U.S. and Canada for the second straight year after years of relatively flat...

With Deal Done, First Data Looks To Consolidate.
March 4, 2004... With First Data Corp. completing its acquisition of Concord EFS Inc. on Feb. 26, the company is now the largest merchant processor of PIN-based point-of-sale debit transactions and the owner of the largest electronic funds transfer network,...

For First Data, The Games May Be Over If It Sells Its Stake In Global Cash Access.
March 4, 2004... First Data Corp., it appears, is in a selling mode. Besides having to sell its ownership interest in the NYCE electronic funds transfer network to appease U.S. antitrust enforcers, the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based company may be about to sell...

U.S. Wireless, NBS Negotiating Synapse Deal.
March 4, 2004... U.S. Wireless Data Inc., a leading wireless transaction-processing company, is getting out of the point-of-sale gateway business. Instead, the firm is focusing its efforts on a market with more fizz-payment card acceptance at soda pop and other...

Key Global Cash Access Facts.
March 4, 2004... Headquarters: Las Vegas Majority Owner: First Data Corp. Services: ATM driving, and credit card, debit card and check processing 2003 Volume: 60 million transactions 2003 Revenue: $356.4 million Source: Moody's Investor...

First Data Processing Centers.
March 4, 2004... First Data Concord EFS Chandler, Ariz. Maitland, Fla. Denver Wilmington, Del. Hagerstown, Md. Atlanta Omaha, Neb. Maitland, Fla. Source: First Data and ATM&Debit News. Location...

Rodrigues Named To Lead Visa.
March 4, 2004... Visa International's board has named Christopher J. Rodrigues president and CEO, replacing Malcolm Williamson, who retired Feb. 29. Rodrigues was group chief executive of Bradford & Bingley, a United Kingdom-based financial-services company....

MasterCard Elects Chairman.
March 4, 2004... MasterCard International's U.S. Region board of directors has elected Richard Srednicki, executive vice president of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s Chase Manhattan Bank, as chairman. Srednicki, who is responsible for Chase's credit card business,...

MasterCard Reports Heavy Loss.
March 11, 2004... MasterCard Inc. is reporting a 2003 loss of $385.8 million compared with net income of $116.4 million in 2002, according to documents it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The card association attributes the loss mostly to...

Interlink Volume Up 39%.
March 11, 2004... Holders of Interlink PIN-based point-of-sale debit cards in January initiated 93 million purchases, up 39% from 67 million transactions in January 2002, according to Visa USA, which owns the Interlink network. The value of the transactions rose...

Market Changes, Sales Methods Give Diebold A Lift.
March 11, 2004... A key difference between suppliers of financial-institution ATMs is in their marketing strategy. And the success of their strategies often can depend on shifts in the marketplace and sales methods. In 2003, for example, North Canton,...

Check Imaging Expands Potential Buyers Of ATMs.
March 11, 2004... The expected growth in the electronic imaging of paper checks already is prompting some nontraditional ATM deployers to use the machines because of their imaging capabilities. Boston-based Fidelity Investment Services Inc., for example, is...

Target Decision Means Smart Card Growth More Likely In Closed Systems.
March 11, 2004... If smart cards are to emerge in the U.S. as payment vehicles in the open market, the move may have to begin with closed chip card systems. The nation's debit and credit card issuers, it now appears, won't be taking a lead role, and neither...

Marketer Seeks Sponsors To Avoid Card Charge.
March 11, 2004... A number of vendors are promoting prepaid cards to unbanked individuals, enabling them to take advantage of the benefits plastic has over using cash for bill payments, purchases and record keeping. Most such products, however, carry initial...

Key Fidelity ATM Facts.
March 11, 2004... Product 112 NCR Personas UseCheck Imaging For Stock Buys Locations 91 Branch Offices Source: Fidelity Investments. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com...

Star Center Not Closing Entirely.
March 11, 2004... First Data Corp. says it will not completely close Concord EFS Inc.'s Maitland, Fla., center, which serves as Concord's main Star network processing center. However, a Feb. 12 letter from Concord President Edward R. Labry III to Maitland...

Charter One Enters Wal-Marts.
March 18, 2004... Charter One Financial Inc. is adding 67 new branches in Wal-Mart stores, each of which will deploy a Charter One ATM. Wal-Mart also may deploy its own ATMs, says Andy Gaines, vice president of retail development at the Cleveland-based bank. The...

Visa Check Card Volume Up.
March 18, 2004... The number of signature-based [offline] debit purchases initiated by U.S. Visa check cardholders in 2003 totaled 7.8 billion, up 20% from 6.5 billion in 2002, according to Visa USA. Total spent in 2003 check card purchases was $304.4 billion,...

Companies Tying Debit Cards To Barter 'Cash' Access.
March 18, 2004... Each year, consumers spend hundreds of billions of dollars in cash shopping with their debit cards. Soon, many may also be able to use the cards to spend their so-called barter dollars, too. A Los Angeles-based company, Bentley Commerce...

Bank One Plans For Future With ATM Check Imaging.
March 18, 2004... Large deployers are eyeing their ATM fleets for use as check-imaging stations for customers to make deposits that are posted in real time. But continued development of standards and technology probably will delay mass rollouts of imaging ATMs...

Credit Unions Face $200 Million Cost In ATM Upgrades And Replacements.
March 18, 2004... Within the next 18 months, U.S. credit unions will face spending $200 million to replace or upgrade their ATMs as a result of imminent regulatory requirements. But the expenses should not be viewed in a negative light, suggests a recent white...

WAMU Rewards Schools With Debit Card Use.
March 18, 2004... Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. last week announced the launch of a program in which local schools are rewarded financially when the bank's participating customers initiate purchases with their Visa check cards. Bank officials say the...

Bank One ATM Goals.
March 18, 2004... ATMs Being Replaced: 3,700 Estimated Completion: Mid-2005 Imaging Capable ATMs: 70% Vendors: NCR/Diebold Source: Bank One Corp. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com...

Credit Union ATM Costs.
March 18, 2004... Total Credit Union ATMs: 20,000* Upgrade/Replacement Cost: $200 million Completion Time: 18 Months Source: Co-op Network and Savage Consulting. *10,000 credit union ATMs are in the Co-op Network. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media...

Cardtronics Sets Sights On IPO.
March 18, 2004... Houston-based Cardtronics Inc., the nation's third-largest ATM independent sales organization, says it plans to raise $115 million from an initial public offering, according to a March 10 company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange...

Visa Consolidates Processing.
March 25, 2004... Visa USA recently notified its staff of plans to combine its Visa Debit Processing Service and Inovant processing subsidiary into a single organization over the next 18 months. The goal is to make the operations more efficient and enable Visa...

Michigan Group Prefers NYCE.
March 25, 2004... The Michigan Credit Union League says it will market all of Montvale, N.J.-based NYCE Corp.'s electronic funds transfer services to the league's 467 credit-union members. The league will market NYCE's EFT network, ATM-driving services, and PIN-...

Paying Off Debt Is At Top Of List For EFT Firms In IPOs.
March 25, 2004... Investment capital is becoming a hot commodity for vendors to maintain or expand their businesses during a time of rapid consolidation. And some electronic funds transfer vendors are turning to publicly traded stock to secure the capital needed...

For The Unbanked, Prepaid Debit Eases Paying Bills.
March 25, 2004... The nation's unbanked are getting a lot more "banked." More and more companies that support prepaid cards marketed to consumers who do not have their own checking accounts are tying to the plastic bill-payment services that function like those...

Coinstar Hastens Prepaid Gambit With Purchase Of CellCards Provider.
March 25, 2004... Coinstar Inc., which recently altered its business strategy to focus more on the prepaid card market, is extending its prepaid reach from coin-counting kiosks to the checkout lanes. With the Bellevue, Wash.-based company's recent acquisition,...

Recent EFT IPOs.
March 25, 2004... Company IPO Proceeds* TNS Inc. $79.6 Cardtronics $115** Lipman $124.8 Source: Company U.S. Securities and Exchange filings. *In Millions. **Projected. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights...

In California, Rush Is On To Attract EBT Cardholders.
March 25, 2004... California soon will become the last, and perhaps the largest, state to complete a unified electronic benefits transfer system that replaces paper checks and food coupons used in government-assistance programs with PIN-based debit cards. And...

Mortgages Added To PINless Debit.
March 25, 2004... While bill-payment services are being added to more prepaid cards, a leading provider of recurring payment services is increasing the types of bills payable via PINless debit card transactions that flow through regional electronic funds...

Key Facts About Coinstar.
March 25, 2004... Headquarters: Bellevue, Wash. Coin Counting Kiosks: About 11,000 CellCards Sites: 14,000 Fee Share To Merchants: 11%* Source: Coinstar. *Based On The Revenue Generated At Merchant's Locations. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media...

ATM Cash Recycling In Market.
March 25, 2004... NCR Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. will market a cash-recycling module in certain NCR and Fujitsu ATM models, says Brad Lozier, NCR vice president of product management. The module allows cash inserted in a bunch-note acceptor to be sorted and counted...