ATM & Debit News articles from October 2005

ATM & Debit News archives from October 2005

Chase Continues Star Use.
October 6, 2005... First Data Corp. and JP Morgan Chase & Co. will integrate their companies' jointly owned Chase Merchant Services and Paymentech merchant acquiring businesses. The new firm will operate under the name Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, with Chase...

Metavante Acquiring Link2Gov.
October 6, 2005... Metavante Corp. is purchasing Link2Gov Corp., which provides credit and debit card payment services to local, state and federal governments. Metavante did not disclose the purchase price. The deal between Metavante and Link2Gov will allow...

Co-Op Tests ATM Check Image.
October 6, 2005... The Co-Op network of credit unions claims to be the first PIN-debit network to switch a check image made at an ATM to deposit into a bank account. The check image was electronically created at a California Center Credit Union ATM and involved...

BofA Ends Its Debit-Based Remittances.
October 6, 2005... As the fastest-growing minority population in the U.S., the Hispanic community has banks vying for its business. Approximately 65% of Hispanics, or about 8 million people, send money home, according to Kebbie Sebastian, vice president of...

Debit Rewards Making A Mark With Issuers.
October 6, 2005... Visa U.S.A. recently recorded the highest debit reward ever using the association's Visa Extras debit rewards platform. A business debit cardholder gathered 1 million points and purchased a stadium sky box for all of the firm's employees to use...

Innovus Keeps Its ISO Business Afloat After Hurricane Katrina Bug-Out.
October 6, 2005... When explaining how the ATM company Innovus Inc. survived the wrath of Hurricane Katrina, President and CEO J. Michael Brown offers a single-word explanation - preparation. "We planned for this event," Brown says, in a phone conversation...

Visa Expects Debit To Replace Cash.
October 6, 2005... When Visa U.S.A. launched its Visa check card in 1995, fewer than 2% of Americans used any type of debit card. There were about 32 million Visa-branded debit cards in use at the time. Today, Visa claims some 167 million people in the U.S....

Cingular Brands Prepaid Cards.
October 6, 2005... Next Estate Communications is partnering with Cingular Wireless to Cingular-branded prepaid debit cards carrying the Visa mark. The Cingular prepaid card will be available for sale at all Cingular agent locations, says a Next Estate...

Comdata Uses Allpoint.
October 6, 2005... Comdata Corp. will offer its payroll prepaid debit card customers access to Allpoint's surcharge-free network of more than 32,000 ATMs, the company announced. Comdata payroll cards are branded Comchek eCash. Financial details were unavailable....

Pulse: Offline Fraud Higher.
October 13, 2005... A survey by the Houston-based Pulse EFT network suggests there is considerably more fraud when consumers sign for a debit card purchase than when they enter a PIN. The survey of 48 financial institution members of varying sizes that together...

PayPass Cards In Production.
October 13, 2005... Smart card manufacturer Axalto is providing more than 2 million MasterCard PayPass contactless debit cards to KeyBank, Francois Lasnier, vice president of Axalto Banking, says. "It's a big number. It shows a strong commitment from KeyBank,"...

Software Firms Become Fewer In Flurry Of Buys.
October 13, 2005... Recent acquisitions among transaction-switching software firms are changing the landscape of the industry. In the past, numerous players dotted the field. These companies typically offered their own switching software for ATM transactions...

Chase Migrates Bank One Cards To Interlink.
October 13, 2005... The growth rate for PIN-debit transactions is the highest of any payment card type. The use of PIN-based debit for point-of-sale transactions is projected to grow by 29.3% by the end of 2005 compared to the end of 2004, according to ATM&Debit...

Banks Taking The Slow Path Toward Wide Use Of ATM Check Imaging.
October 13, 2005... Pilots are as far as large banks seem ready to go when it comes to scanning checks at ATMs. While many banks tout advantages of check imaging at ATMs, such as quicker funds availability and cost savings, they have yet to embark on large-scale...

Metavante Hopes Taxes Paid NYCEly.
October 13, 2005... Past efforts to use PIN-debit network switches for Web-based transactions have failed to draw much use as merchants saw these efforts as too complicated. A central problem for the use of PIN-debit for Web-based transactions is keeping the PIN...

Open Solutions To Use Elan.
October 13, 2005... Open Solutions Inc. has signed a contract with Elan Financial Services for Elan to supply ATM and debit card processing services to Open Solutions' financial institution clients. Glastonbury Conn.-based Open Solutions will promote Elan credit...

Diebold Expands Board.
October 13, 2005... Diebold Inc. has elected Alan J. Weber to the company's board of directors upping the ATM manufacturer's board membership to 11. Weber fills W.R. Tinkman Jr.'s spot. Tinkman left the board to accept the position of U.S. ambassador to Germany....

State Rules Against Simon.
October 20, 2005... A state judge in New Hampshire ruled on Monday that Simon Property Group's Visa-branded gift cards sold at Simon malls in the state violated the state's consumer protection laws. A Merrimack Superior Court judge agreed with New Hampshire...

WOW! Teams With Genpass.
October 20, 2005... Wow! Card Services has joined with Genpass Inc. to provide surcharge-free access to its cardholders. Las Vegas-based WOW!, a prepaid debit card provider, will offer its cardholders surcharge-free access to MoneyPass ATMs nationwide. MoneyPass...

ATM Surcharges On The Rise Among Large Banks.
October 20, 2005... More consumers today are refusing to pay to access their money from ATMs. But the trend has not stopped some of the largest bank-ATM owners from spiking surcharges for noncustomer ATM users. Surcharges keep rising, recent studies indicate....

Prepaid Debit Issuers Explore New Markets.
October 20, 2005... Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Bank represents one of the best examples of how traditional debit card issuers are dealing with evolving prospects in the prepaid debit card business. Wachovia, for several years has offered a payroll debit...

BofA To Offer Credit Cards Via ATMs In Quest For More Uses On The Machines.
October 20, 2005... Financial institutions are trying, with varying degrees of success, to encourage cardholders to use their ATMs for more than just cash withdrawals. The latest of these efforts are small pilot programs to image checks at ATMs. Now,...

Visa Links Products To Transactions.
October 20, 2005... Despite estimates that prepaid debit cards attached to employer health benefit plans are seeing triple-digit growth, verification of qualified products at the point-of-sale has been a roadblock to wide use of the cards. This year, one of the...

Relay Capital Buys First Cash Card.
October 20, 2005... Relay Capital Corp., a Scottsdale, Ariz-based prepaid debit card marketer, will buy First Cash Card, a Canadian prepaid debit card firm. Details were not disclosed. The company says the purchase will let Relay issue prepaid debit cards in the...

Efmark Expands Branches.
October 20, 2005... Efmark Premium armored, a Westmont, Ill.- ATM service provider will add 11 branches to its portfolio, upping the total number of Efmark locations to 57. Some of the branches are still in development. Eight are open, with three more scheduled to...

Survey: Debit Replacing Checks.
October 27, 2005... A study by the American Bankers Association shows debit cards are overtaking paper checks and cash for purchases and bill payments. Cash and checks account for only 45% of consumers' monthly payments, down from 57% in 2001. Six years ago, debit...

Interac Sets Chip Deadlines.
October 27, 2005... Canada's Interac Association, the country's national ATM and debit network, recently announced deadlines for Canadian ATMs and point-of-sale terminals to accept debit cards that carry smart card chips. Mag-stripe-based transactions will not be...

Diebold Slump Prompts Staff, Structural Changes.
October 27, 2005... It has been a bad year for Diebold Inc., and major changes are afoot at the largest ATM maker in the U.S.. Diebold's problems stem in large part from banks buying new ATMs at a slower pace after a robust year for ATM replacements in 2004....

Legal Showdown Looms Over Simon Gift Cards.
October 27, 2005... Gift cards carrying the brands of such major networks as Visa, MasterCard and American Express offer issuers an attractive new revenue stream. Unlike traditional debit cards linked to checking accounts, buyers of prepaid gift cards do not...

More Banks Seal Deals With Walgreens For Drugstore ATM Deployments.
October 27, 2005... While thousands of merchants prefer independent sales organizations to manage their ATMs, the Walgreens drugstore chain seems to love high-profile banks as ATM partners. Walgreens in the past year has announced a flurry of contracts with...

Simon Says: Shoppers Turn To Gift Cards.
October 27, 2005... Indoor malls crawl with consumers during busy shopping periods, particularly during the Christmas holidays. These shoppers may be looking for merchandise to purchase as gifts. But many also appear to be looking for a quick and convenient way to...

Next Estate Joins NASCAR Team.
October 27, 2005... Next Estate Communications Inc. and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing Inc., NASCAR, have signed a cobranding contract on Next Estate's Visa-branded, Green Dot prepaid debit cards, the two firms announced last week. Next Estate...

TSA Reports 13% Revenue Rise.
October 27, 2005... Transaction Systems Architects, the parent of ACI Worldwide, which produces the Base24 EFT transaction software, reported fourth-quarter fiscal year revenues of $79 million compared to revenues of $69.7 million during the same time for a 13%...