Cardline articles from April 2009

Cardline archives from April 2009

TWO BILLS AFFECTING CARD INDUSTRY NEAR COMMITTEE VOTES.(Credit Card Accountability and Disclosure Act of 2009)(Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009)(Law overview)
April 3, 2009... Two legislative bills that could force major changes in credit card industry practices sooner than previously expected face committee votes next week, reports American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. The Senate Banking Committee could...

MASTERCARD LAUNCHES CONTACTLESS STICKER FOR MOBILE PHONES.
April 3, 2009... MasterCard Inc. is trying to prime the market for mobile financial services by offering contactless payments stickers consumers can attach to their wireless handsets. The announcement follows one last week by Visa Inc. and First Data Corp.,...

CHASE MAKES DEAL TO ACCEPT REVOLUTION CARD.
April 3, 2009... Alternative-payment network Revolution Money Inc. is hoping a 10-year deal with JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s merchant-processing unit will bring it closer to fulfilling its acceptance promise, especially with online merchants. Chase Paymentech...

MERCHANTS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN FOR INTERCHANGE REGULATION ...
April 3, 2009... The Merchants Payments Coalition today announced the launch of a grass-roots print, radio, TV and online advertising campaign designed to convince consumers to urge members of Congress to support interchange-rate reform legislation. The...

... AND PAYMENTS INDUSTRY LAUNCHES A COUNTERATTACK.
April 3, 2009... The Electronic Payments Coalition today announced the launch of a Web site explaining why the merchants' assault on interchange rates is unfair. The group also is seeking to convince consumers to contact members of Congress to prevent passage...

DISCOVER SMALL-BUSINESS WATCH REPORTS GROWING OPTIMISM.
April 3, 2009... More small-business owners believe financial conditions are improving, according to a monthly survey Discover Financial Services sponsors. The findings show the highest economic confidence among small businesses since August 2008....

AMEX MAY SELL STAKE IN CHINESE BANK.
April 3, 2009... As part of its continuing plan to raise capital, American Express Co. last week said it is considering selling its stake in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, reports American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. Reports had surfaced in...

BRIEFS.
April 3, 2009... Point-of-sale terminal maker Ingenico S.A. has named Pierre-Antoine Vacheron executive vice president of finance and administration. Palisades Federal Credit Union Dallas-based has announced that TNB Card Services Inc. will manage its $5...

FIRST DATA STICKERS A 'BRIDGE' TO NFC, CHIP VENDOR SAYS.
April 3, 2009... A three-year contactless technology deal formally announced this week could represent another step toward wider consumer acceptance of Near Field Communication technology. The deal calls for First Data Corp.. to use chips and related materials...

ANTONINI'S DEPARTURE SURPRISED ONE ANALYST.
April 3, 2009... Jack M. Antonini's departure this month as CEO of Cardtronics Inc., the world's largest non-bank operator of ATMs, surprised one analyst who gave Antonini high marks for his six-year tenure. "The departure appears to signal some disagreement...

CHASE NIXES FEE AFTER CARDHOLDERS PROTEST.
April 3, 2009... JPMorgan Chase & Co. is backpedaling on a $10 monthly fee it began charging some cardholders in January, according to American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. The fee has generated a wave of consumer complaints, news coverage and...

CANADA-U.S. EXTRADITION CASE REVEALS DETAILS OF U.S. CARD THEFTS.
April 3, 2009... An Israeli computer hacker arrested in Canada last year on charges of stealing some $1.5 million from Canadian banks may have coordinated the card-based thefts of more than $10 million from financial institutions in the United States, according...

CONFIDENCE INDEX HOLDS STEADY IN MARCH.
April 3, 2009... After a sharp decline in February, the Consumer Confidence Index remained largely unchanged in March, The Conference Board, a research organization, announced today. The March index stands at 26, up from 25.3 in February. The baseline for the...

ISO WRITES IPHONE PROCESSING APPLICATION.
April 3, 2009... Merchant Warehouse Inc., a Boston-based independent sales organization, has developed its own free point-of-sale terminal software for use on Apple Inc.'s iPhone. Called MerchantWare Mobile, the software accepts credit and debit payments in...

CHECKS STILL REIGN AS FRAUDULENT TENDER, SURVEY SHOWS.
April 3, 2009... Seventy-one percent of businesses and other organizations experienced actual or attempted payments fraud in 2008, according to results of a January survey of 5,300 members of the Association for Financial Professionals. That is the same...

LITTLE DISCUSSION IN INDUSTRY ABOUT ISO, AGENT COMPENSATION.
April 3, 2009... The general lack of industry discussion about compensation packages that processors and acquirers pay to independent sales organizations and sales agents can make understanding them and what constitutes a fair agreement difficult for some ISOs...

BRIEFS.
April 3, 2009... Point-of-sale terminal maker Hypercom Corp. has named Thomas B. Sabol as chief financial officer of the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company beginning April 20. Fiserv Inc. has hired Lance Drummond as executive vice president. Drummond...

NYCE PAYMENTS NETWORK'S PARENT COMPANY SOLD.(Fidelity National Information Services Inc.)(Metavante Technologies Inc.)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Fidelity National Information Services Inc. this morning announced it is purchasing Metavante Technologies Inc., owner of the NYCE Payments Network LLC, for $2.94 billion. The deal gives Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fidelity National a debit card...

SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE APPROVES SWEEPING CARD-INDUSTRY BILL.
April 3, 2009... The Senate Banking Committee yesterday narrowly approved legislation for sweeping credit card industry reforms, according to American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. The 12-11 vote in favor of the Credit Card Accountability...

PCI UNDER FIRE FROM CONGRESS AND RETAILERS.
April 3, 2009... A House of Representatives subcommittee yesterday questioned the effectiveness of the Payment Card Industry data security standard in a hearing on cybercrime. The PCI standard sets security requirements for companies that handle payment card...

LENDERS REDUCE LIMITS FOR 30 MILLION CARDHOLDERS.(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... A new study by Fair Isaac Corp., the Minnesota-based developer of the FICO credit score, reveals that lenders reduced credit limits for more than 30 million cardholders between April and October last year. Most of the adjustments, those made on...

RECESSION WILL IMPACT PREPAID CARD'S SUCCESS, REPORT SAYS.(Report)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Prepaid card industry stakeholders believe the recession will have a negative impact on private-label prepaid cards but will benefit network-branded cards, according to a report by Aite Group LLC. The Boston-based research and advisory firm...

AMEX WILL HAVE A SLOW REBOUND, ANALYSTS SAY.
April 3, 2009... Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. resumed coverage of American Express Co. on Wednesday, rating its stock "underweight" and predicting the issuer's profits would take a long time to rebound, reports American Banker, a CardLine sister...

FIRSTCITY FINANCIAL REPORTS $34.8 MILLION Q4 NET LOSS.(FirstCity Financial Corp.)(Financial report)
April 3, 2009... FirstCity Financial Corp., a commercial debt buyer, yesterday reported a net loss of $34.8 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a $1.4 million loss during the same quarter in 2007. For the year, the Waco, Texas-based...

VIVOTECH, EAGLE EYE SIGN NFC COUPONING DEAL.(Eagle Eye Solutions)( VivoTech Inc. )(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Eagle Eye Solutions, a United Kingdom-based mobile voucher firm, has struck a mobile-couponing technology deal with United States-based contactless vendor VivoTech Inc. officials from both firms tell CardLine sister publication CardLine Global....

BRIEFS.
April 3, 2009... Fiserv Inc. named Lance Drummond executive vice president for strategic growth initiatives. Drummond will join Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv ON April 6 from Bank of America, where he recently led online bank and ATM operations. Drummond will...

HOUSE PANEL APPROVES CARDHOLDERS' BILL OF RIGHTS.
April 3, 2009... The House Financial Services financial institutions subcommittee today approved the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., contains many of the same provisions contained in new card-industry...

FIDELITY POSITIONED AGAINST FUTURE COMPETITORS WITH METAVANTE PURCHASE...(Fidelity National Information Services Inc.)(Metavante Technologies Inc.)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Buying its next-largest competitor in core processing will make Fidelity National Information Services Inc. a giant in banking technology and position it against the even larger companies it expects to enter the market, reports CardLine sister...

...AND METAVANTE INTEGRATION MAY CUT COSTS, STREAMLINE PRODUCTS.(Metavante Technologies Inc.)(Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Fidelity and Metavante contend they will be able to generate significant savings by joining forces as technology spending has been pushed to the back burner at many banks, reports CardLine sister publication American Banker. The Jacksonville,...

CREDIT CARD DELINQUENCIES INCREASE IN Q4.
April 3, 2009... Credit card delinquencies rose to 4.52% of total loans during the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from 4.2% in the previous quarter, according to a report by the American Bankers Association. The credit card delinquency rate was 4.38% for the...

OBSERVERS EXPECT SPIKE IN TALF BOND ISSUANCE.
April 3, 2009... Some financial industry observers expect the issuance of credit card-backed bonds will pick up substantially in the coming months, though lenders are weighing the costs of alternative funding sources, according to a report in American Banker, a...

NCO GROUP REPORTS FULL-YEAR, Q4 LOSSES.(NCO Group Inc.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
April 3, 2009... Accounts receivable management giant NCO Group Inc. yesterday reported a net loss of $337.1 million for 2008, compared with a $31.7 million loss in 2007, and a net loss of $286.6 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Results for the...

MASTERCARD CUTS EUROPEAN INTERCHANGE RATES.
April 3, 2009... MasterCard Worldwide has agreed to slash its interchange rates on cross-border debit and credit card transactions in Europe, at least temporarily, and make other concessions to the European Commission, according to an announcement yesterday....

DEBIT GROWTH SLOWING, FIRST DATA SAYS.
April 3, 2009... While debit card transaction growth continues to outpace that of credit cards at First Data Corp., the gap is narrowing, Michael Capellas, the processor's CEO and chairman, told analysts this week during an earnings conference call. The number...

BRIEFS.
April 3, 2009... JCB International Co., Ltd., the wholly owned subsidiary of JCB Co. Ltd. (JCB), announced this week the appointment of Koremitsu Sannomiya as president and chief operating officer. Sannomiya succeeds Kenji Seto, who has served in the position...

CONSUMERS FAVOR OPT-IN OVERDRAFT PROTECTION, SURVEY SUGGESTS.(Survey)
April 3, 2009... Most U.S. consumers, 83%, want to choose whether overdraft protection is included on their debit card purchases and ATM transactions so they can avoid potential overdraft fees, according to a recent survey sponsored by the Center for...

SMALL-BUSINESS OWNERS SHOW LITTLE OPTIMISM ABOUT FINANCIAL SITUATION.
April 3, 2009... Small-business owners' overall optimism regarding their financial situation and future expectations about their finances has decreased to minus 4 on the Wells Fargo & Co. and Gallup Inc. Small Business Index, down 14 points from 10 in November,...

WELLS FARGO EXTENDS FIRST DATA PROCESSING ALLIANCE.
April 3, 2009... First Data Corp. will continue to process payment transactions for Wells Fargo Merchant Services LLC, a joint venture First Data and Wells formed in 1993, according to Michael Capellas, First Data CEO and chairman. During a conference call with...

BRIEFS.
April 3, 2009... Payment Processing Inc. has integrated its PayMover gateway into Dinerware Inc.'s touchscreen point-of-sale systems for restaurants. Payment Processing is a provider of payment products and services, and Dinerware is a provider of POS systems...

INVESTMENT FIRM TAKES MAJORITY INTEREST IN FIFTH THIRD PROCESSING.
April 3, 2009... Advent International Corp. has signed an agreement with Fifth Third Bancorp that gives the investment firm a 51% stake in Fifth Third's processing business through the establishment of a joint venture, according to Boston-based Advent. Fifth...

GLOBAL PAYMENTS SEES Q3 LOSS, REVENUE GAIN.(Financial report)
April 10, 2009... Global Payments Inc., an Atlanta-based payment processor, reported yesterday a $106.8 million net loss for the third quarter ending February 28, a reversal from the company's $40.1 million net income for the 2008 third quarter. Revenue,...

TOP BANKS SHOW ACH INCREASES.
April 10, 2009... JPMorgan Chase & Co. retained its position as the top originator of automated clearinghouse transactions, but other big players moved, reports American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. Wells Fargo & Co., which was the No. 3 originator in...

UNDERBANKED FIND PREPAID CARDS USEFUL, SURVEY DATA SUGGEST.
April 10, 2009... Underbanked consumers, or individuals with limited access to financial services, cite a number of advantages that branded prepaid cards have over carrying cash and cashing checks, according to survey results released today by the Network...

INVESTORS INFUSE REVOLUTION MONEY WITH $42 MILLION.
April 10, 2009... Several investors, including an undisclosed Goldman Sachs affiliate, AOL co-founder Steve Case and Citigroup Inc., have invested $42 million in Revolution Money Inc., which offers merchants a relatively low-cost customer-payment option....

MOBILE PREPAID PRODUCT TARGETS FIRST-GENERATION IMMIGRANTS.
April 10, 2009... Denarii Payments Inc., an Atlanta-based company focused on stored-value products, is targeting Atlanta-area first-generation Hispanic immigrants with a mobile prepaid product similar to a bank checking account. Officially launched in February,...

DISCOVER LAUNCHES NEW AD CAMPAIGN TO PROP UP REWARDS.
April 10, 2009... Discover Financial Services is touting a new advertising campaign, including television and Internet broadband to promote a 5% cash-back bonus on purchases Discover cardholders make at home-improvement stores. The 15-second television spot is...

PIVOTAL PAYMENTS ACQUIRES CANADIAN MERCHANT-SERVICE PROVIDER.(Pivotal Payments Corp.)(Tangarine Payment Solutions Corp.)(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Merchant-service provider Pivotal Payments Corp. has acquired Tangarine Payment Solutions Corp., an Ontario-based merchant-service provider, for $18 million, the companies announced late last month. Under the agreement, Tangarine will become a...

BRIEFS.
April 10, 2009... MasterCard Worldwide has appointed Vicky S. Bindra as president of the Asia-Pacific/Middle East/Africa region effective June 1. Independent sales organization United Bank Card Inc. has revised its free-terminal program by removing...

MAESTRO PIN DEBIT SLATED FOR CANADA.
April 10, 2009... MasterCard Canada is holding discussions with an undisclosed number of the country's banks in an attempt to persuade them to offer a Maestro-branded card that would compete in Canada's PIN-debit market, which is expected to become much more...

PEW STUDY INVESTIGATES CARD INDUSTRY PRACTICES.
April 10, 2009... Nearly every U.S. credit card has at least one feature the Federal Reserve and other regulators would deem "unfair and deceptive" under new rules finalized last year, according to a new Pew Charitable Trusts study. The Philadelphia-based...

INTERNET CRIME COMPLAINTS UP 11% IN 2008, AGENCY REPORTS.(Report)(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Dollar losses from reported Internet-based crimes reported to iC3, the U.S. Internet Crime Complaint Center, reached a record $265 million in 2008, up nearly 11% from $239 million the previous year, according to a report the center released...

ISOS DRIVING GLOBAL PAYMENTS U.S. GROWTH.
April 10, 2009... Transactions made at independent sales organizations processing with Global Payments Inc. grew 15% in the processor's third quarter ended Feb. 28, Paul R. Garcia, chairman and CEO of the Atlanta-based processor, told analysts this week during a...

BAD ECONOMY PROMPTS LESS SPENDING BY YOUNG ADULTS: SURVEY.
April 10, 2009... The weak economy is making most young adults more financially conservative, according to a new report by investment firm Charles Schwab Corp. In a survey of 1,252 adults between the ages of 23 and 28 conducted on behalf of Schwab in January,...

DISCOVER PLANS TO PROMOTE CASH BACK FEATURE EACH QUARTER.
April 10, 2009... Discover Financial Services, which earlier this month launched a new advertising campaign to promote its 5% cash-back rewards program at home improvement stores, plans to focus on a different category for each quarter, Larisa Drake, vice...

INTERNATIONAL MERCHANTS NEXT ON APRIVA'S LIST.
April 10, 2009... Global demand for wireless point-of-sale terminals and service is spurring Apriva, which operates a wireless POS terminal network, to start an international division, Paul Coppinger, a co-founder, tells ISO&Agent Weekly. "We're going...

U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS INTRODUCE GLOBAL ACH SYSTEM.
April 10, 2009... The Federal Reserve banks plan to let American banks send payments directly to nonbanks in other countries as they prepare for a new form of international payment using the automated clearinghouse network. The Fed also has formed partnerships...

BRIEFS.(Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. appoints J. Christopher Lee)(USAePay appoints Martin Drake )(The Strawhecker Group appoints Tara Houck )(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Debt buyer Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. announced it has terminated the employment of J. Christopher Lee, vice president of strategy and analysis, effective Wednesday, as part of a company-wide effort to streamline its management structure...

CHASE EXEC SAYS CARD UNIT WILL NOT PROFIT THIS YEAR.
April 10, 2009... Do not expect a profit from JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Card Services unit this year, Jamie Dimon, Chase CEO, says in a 29-page letter to shareholders released yesterday. "We do not expect 2009 to be a good year for the credit card business," he...

TRM REPORTS MUCH-WIDER ANNUAL LOSS.(Financial report)
April 10, 2009... ATM independent sales organization TRM Corp. recorded a net loss of $26.1 million for 2008, considerably more than the $8.4 million net loss a year earlier. Last year's loss included a noncash good-will impairment charge of $19.8 million, the...

AMEX STOCK PRICE FALLS DESPITE BETTER CREDIT OUTLOOK.
April 10, 2009... Shares of American Express Co. fell Tuesday despite an analyst upgrading his outlook for the company's stock, reports American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. "While we expect the news flow for [AmEx] to remain negative, the case for...

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA ADOPTS SECURE VAULT PAYMENT.
April 10, 2009... NACHA, which oversees the U.S. automated clearinghouse system, this week announced that the University of Georgia has adopted its Secure Vault Payments technology as an option for paying tuition online. The association hopes Secure Vault...

REVOLVING CREDIT DOWN IN FEBRUARY.(Report)
April 10, 2009... U.S. revolving credit, 98% of which is credit card debt, decreased slightly in February, to $955.7 billion from $963.5 billion the previous month, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report on consumer credit released yesterday. Total...

NEW PAYMENTS PRODUCT "BILLS PARENTS".(IdeaEdge Inc.)
April 10, 2009... The San Diego payments technology vendor IdeaEdge Inc. is preparing to introduce BillMyParents, a service that would let children shop online and then route the bill to a parent for approval, according to a report in American Banker, a CardLine...

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE ROSE IN MARCH.
April 10, 2009... The number of consumers who said they believe the economy is improving nearly doubled last month from February, according to new survey data Discover Financial Services released today. The Riverwoods, Ill.-based company's U.S. Spending Monitor...

NAUTILUS HYOSUNG SHIPS 29,000 ATMS WORLDWIDE IN 2008.
April 10, 2009... Nautilus Hyosung Inc. shipped 29,000 ATMs worldwide in 2008, the South Korea-based ATM manufacturer said Tuesday. Nautilus Hyosung did not provide comparison shipment figures for 2007, but the company attributed last year's total to the success...

BRIEFS.
April 10, 2009... Hypercom Corp. has received Class A certification for its Optimum T4205 payment terminal from Elavon Inc. Alliance Data Systems Corp. has signed a multiyear contract-renewal agreement with retailer Pacific Sunwear to continue providing...

VISA LAUNCHES FIRST 'COMMERCIAL' NFC SERVICE.
April 10, 2009... Visa Inc. says it is moving beyond the trial stage with contactless mobile payment with the launch today of a "commercial" service by Malaysia's largest mobile operator Maxis Communications Bhd that enables consumers to buy phones off the shelf...

VERIFONE RENEWS CEO BERGERON'S CONTRACT.(VeriFone Holdings Inc. )(Douglas G. Bergeron)(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... The VeriFone Holdings Inc. board of directors has renewed CEO Douglas G. Bergeron's contract through Oct. 31, 2012, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Bergeron will be paid $700,000 annually, the same as his...

NCR REACHES 10,000 ENVELOPE-FREE ATM MILESTONE.
April 10, 2009... NCR Corp. says it has deployed 10,000 envelope-free ATMs with U.S. financial institutions since 1998. Based on financial institutions' acceptance rate of the "intelligent-deposit" ATMs, the Dayton, Ohio-based manufacturer boldly predicts the...

MASTERCARD TO CHANGE HOW IT REPORTS REVENUES TO SEC.
April 10, 2009... In a recent 8K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, MasterCard Inc. says it will modify the way it presents details of the company's major revenue categories included within the Management's Discussion and Analysis of...

MORE CONSUMERS ANXIOUS ABOUT PAYMENT CARD SECURITY.
April 10, 2009... More consumers are concerned about the misuse of their credit and debit card details than were two years ago, suggest the results of a Unisys Corp. survey. The survey it conducted in February of 1,004 adults found that 68% either were very...

80% IN WEB PIN-DEBIT PILOT WOULD USE THE TECHNOLOGY.(Acculynk Inc.)(Survey)
April 10, 2009... Though Acculynk Inc.'s Internet PIN-debit pilot is just a few weeks old, consumers are becoming comfortable with the technology at a rate exceeding the company's expectations. A survey Javelin Strategy & Research conducted reveals 80% of...

FIDELITY TO SPEED BILL PAYMENTS WITH YODLEE, WESTERN UNION.
April 10, 2009... Bank processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc. will offer its customers online expedited bill-payment capabilities through new partnerships with Yodlee Inc. and Western Union Co., Fidelity National announced yesterday. Fidelity...

COMDATA DEAL REPLACES CHECKS WITH CARD NUMBER.
April 10, 2009... Comdata Corp. says its deal with Regal Software Technologies LLC announced this week enables businesses to pay their bills via a unique MasterCard Worldwide account number instead of issuing a paper check. Atlanta-based Regal sells business...

BRIEFS.(Coinstar E-Payment Services)(Susser Holdings Corp.)(Total System Services Inc.)(TSYS Acquiring Solutions)(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Coinstar E-Payment Services, a subsidiary of Coinstar Inc., says the Stripes convenience-store chain operated by Susser Holdings Corp. now carries Coinstar's full range of Pay As You Go prepaid products and services at more than 500 locations...

CREDIT MANAGER'S INDEX: RECESSION MAY HAVE HIT BOTTOM.
April 10, 2009... The seasonally adjusted Credit Manager's Index for March rose slightly to 43 from 42.5 in February and 40 in January. Index increases the last two months broke a string of consecutive declines that began in August 2008, according to a report by...

CARD PERSONALIZATION CAN GENERATE 'TOP OF WALLET' USE IN TOUGH ECONOMY.
April 10, 2009... Customized cards encourage consumers to pull those cards out first when making payments, contends Adam Elgar, president of Serverside Group LLC, a United Kingdom-based company that provides card-personalization services to such banks as Capital...

ACQUISITIONS HELP INCREASE IPAYMENT'S 2008 REVENUE 5% YEAR OVER YEAR.(iPayment Inc.)(Cambridge Payment Systems )(Brief article)
April 10, 2009... Processor and independent sales organization iPayment Inc. this week announced net income for 2008 of $14.3 million, up 164.8% from $5.4 million in 2007. Annual revenue increased 4.7% to $794.8 million in 2008 from $759.1 million in 2007,...

BRIEFS.
April 10, 2009... ASK-intTAG, a joint venture of France-based contactless card maker ASK and United States-based printer WS Packaging Group Inc., has leased 15,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Vermont to produce contactless chip-and-antenna components....

ACH GROWTH TAPERING OFF DURING RECESSION.
April 10, 2009... ACH GROWTH TAPERING OFF DURING RECESSION: Growth of automated clearinghouse transaction volume fell to single digits last year as the recession slowed payments activities and electronic check formats matured, reports American Banker, a CardLine...

DISCOVER PLANS TO LAY OFF 500 EMPLOYEES NEXT MONTH.
April 17, 2009... Discover Financial Services plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 500 people next month, CardLine has learned. The layoffs are "in order to better align the Company's cost structure with the current economic environment," a Discover...

HYBRID CARDS AMONG THE LATEST PAYMENTS INNOVATIONS.
April 17, 2009... Hybrid cards are among the latest payments innovations that target low-income consumers and individuals who need a few extra dollars to meet their financial obligations until payday, says Ken Paterson, director of the Credit Advisory Service at...

STUDY CONFIRMS CREDIT CARD SPENDING DOWN, OTHER TENDERS UP.
April 17, 2009... The percentage of consumers polled in September who said they had used credit cards within the previous month was down 23 points from a year earlier, according to a new report by Javelin Strategy & Research. In an online survey of a random...

ENVELOPE-FREE ATMS INCREASE DEPOSITS.
April 17, 2009... Envelope-free ATMs increase bank deposits at the machines, which is bringing smiles to financial institutions, contends a top executive at NCR Corp., which has sold 10,000 of the machines to U.S. Financial institutions since 1998. Depending on...