Cardline articles from August 2004

Cardline archives from August 2004

TARGET AGREES TO SELL MERVYN'S CARD PORTFOLIO TO GE CONSUMER FINANCE AS PART OF A LARGER SALE OF THE STORE CHAIN.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Target Corp. reported late yesterday that it will sell the private-label card portfolio of its retail subsidiary Mervyn's to GE Consumer Finance for about $475 million. The deal comes a month after Target, which is based in Minneapolis, sold...

METAVANTE COMPLETES PURCHASE OF NYCE; LONG-TIME NYCE CEO WILL LEAVE THE COMPANY.
August 6, 2004... Metavante Corp. today announced that it has completed its purchase of the NYCE electronic funds transfer network from First Data Corp. and that NYCE's long-time president and CEO Dennis Lynch will leave the company in September to "pursue other...

CHARGEOFF RATES FOR SECURITIZED BANK CARD RECEIVABLES DROP TO LOWEST LEVEL IN TWO YEARS.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Chargeoff rates on securitized pools of bank card receivables dropped 40 basis points to 6.6% of receivables in June from 7.0% in May, according to Standard & Poor's U.S. Credit Card Quality Index. That was the lowest rate in almost two years...

HYPERCOM BLAMES SECOND-QUARTER NET LOSS ON PAYMENT DELAY.
August 6, 2004... A delay in a payment from the Brazilian Health Ministry led terminal maker Hypercom Corp. today to report a second-quarter net loss on higher revenues. Hypercom executives said they took a $12.9 million, non-recurring charge to earnings because...

FEW MERCHANTS TAKE THE A LA CARTE ACCEPTANCE OPTION, VISA SAYS.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Only a tiny number of U.S. merchants have chosen to exercise their new option to refuse accepting signature-based debit cards or credit cards if they accept the other, according to a Visa USA executive. "It's no more than 20," Senior Vice...

MERRILL LYNCH'S VISA + CARD IS FOR PEOPLE WITH LOTS OF MONEY TO SPEND.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... The Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.'s Merrill + Visa credit card, is strictly for people with deep pockets. Black in color like American Express Co.'s more famous Centurion Card, which is also for the super wealthy, there are three levels of benefits...

HOUSEHOLD CREDIT SERVICES OPENS CARD-PROCESSING FACILITY.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Household Credit Services earlier this month opened a new credit card-processing facility at its headquarters in South Salinas, CA. The $13 million, 76,000-square-foot plant will issue and process more than 23 million cards annually. It will...

FED WILL CLOSE NINE MORE CHECK-PROCESSING FACILITIES.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... The Federal Reserve System announced this afternoon that it's closing nine check-processing facilities and laying off 6% of the centers' staffs through 2005 and 2006 because the growth in electronic payments continues to reduce check writing....

ATM MANUFACTURER WINCOR NIXDORF WINS MAJOR POSTAL SERVICE CONTRACT.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Wincor Nixdorf, the German-based ATM maker, has garnered a sizeable contract from the U.S. Postal Service for the deployment of 2,500 specially integrated ATMs in postal locations. The financials were not disclosed. Wincor's ProCash 1500 ATM...

MBNA KICKS OFF MASTERCARD PAYPASS ISSUANCE.(MBNA Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Wilmington, DE-based MBNA Corp. has begun offering a Philadelphia Eagles credit card containing a MasterCard PayPass chip, in what appears to be the first offer of the contactless payment technology outside of tests. The card's contactless chip...

MASTERCARD CREDIT VOLUME GROWS 6% IN U.S.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... MasterCard International today reported gross domestic volume of $134.2 billion on its U.S. credit cards in the second quarter, up 6.4% from 2003's second quarter. Purchase volume rose 8.3% to $106.7 billion while cash volume fell 0.3% to $27.5...

U.S. DEBIT MASTERCARD TRANSACTION VOLUME UP 11.7%.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... During the first six months of this year, U.S. holders of debit MasterCards initiated 1.04 billion signature-based purchases, up 11.7% from 931 billion transactions during the first half of 2003, MasterCard International reports today. Value of...

MOODY'S RATES M&I COLLEGE-CARD RECEIVABLES.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Moody's Investors Service today issued a Aaa rating, its highest for $110 million Class A Fixed Rate Asset Notes issued by the newly formed Clout Financial Credit Card Master Note Trust. The trust is backed by $123.8 million in Visa and...

DEBIT-CARD ONLY ACCEPTING AIRCRAFT CARRIER REPORTS INCREASE IN SHIP SALES.
August 6, 2004... The U.S.S. Harry Truman, which is the first Navy aircraft carrier to accept only debit cards on board, reported a 20% increase in store and vending-machine sales during the boat's recent two months at sea, Commander John King, the Truman's...

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP WILL BUY LYNK SYSTEMS FOR $525 MILLION.
August 6, 2004... Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc today announced it will purchase Lynk Systems Inc., an Atlanta-based merchant acquirer, for $525 million, giving the Edinburgh-based bank more of a toehold in the United States. "RBS is the world's third-largest...

RBS ANNOUNCES THAT IT WILL ISSUE A CREDIT CARD FOR THE KROGER CO.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc today announced that it will begin issuing a credit card for customers of The Kroger Co., one of the nation's largest supermarket and drugstore chains. An RBS spokesperson tells CardLine that the bank will begin...

TSYS WILL PURCHASE PREPAID CARD COMPANY.(Total System Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) expanded into the prepaid card arena today, acquiring processor Clarity Payment Solutions Inc. for $53 million ew York City-based Clarity uses the Visa, MasterCard and electronic funds transfer networks to...

EUROPEAN COMMISSION RULES THAT VISA DISCRIMINATED AGAINST MORGAN STANLEY.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... The European Commission today accused Visa International of breaching the European Union's competition rules by refusing to admit Morgan Stanley, parent company of the Discover card, to its network in Europe. Morgan Stanley filed a complaint...

PRUDENTIAL TAKES ITS STAKE IN EGG OFF THE BLOCK.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Prudential plc, which for the past seven months had been trying to sell its 79% share in Egg plc, the United Kingdom-based online bank and card issuer, announced this morning in London that it's decided to take the company off the sales block....

AMERICAN BANK NOTE HOLOGRAPHICS' PROFIT NEARLY TRIPLES.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Hologram maker American Bank Note Holographics Monday reported second-quarter net income of $344,000, up 187% from $120,000 in the year-earlier quarter. Revenues grew 15% to $4.91 million from $4.28 million in the 2003 period. In a statement,...

DIAL FOR DOLLARS WITH NEW HITACHI ATM.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Japan-based Hitachi has developed an ATM that communicates with the type of contactless smart card chip that Japan's largest mobile phone carrier, NTT DoCoMo, recently began embedding in the back of handsets. (CardLine, 7-14) The ATM will allow...

EFUNDS REPORTS SECOND-QUARTER GAIN IN REVENUE AND EARNINGS.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... EFunds Corp., the Scottsdale, AZ-based electronic funds transfer transaction processor and ATM operator, today reported a revenue gain of 6% to $140.7 million in the second quarter from $132.9 million in the same three-month period last year...

COMPUCREDIT REPORTS DROP IN EARNINGS.
August 6, 2004... CompuCredit Corp., an Atlanta- based subprime marketer, today reported second-quarter GAAP net income of $13.8 million, down 22% from $17.7 million in the first quarter and down 33% from $20.7 million in the year-earlier period. Despite the...

WESTERN UNION AND CONTINENTAL TARGET CASH-PAYING CUSTOMERS IN THE U.K.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... People flying from the United Kingdom to the United States or anywhere in the world on Continental Airlines Inc. can pay for their tickets with a disappearing commodity- cash- thanks to an agreement between Continental and Western Union...

KROGER'S CARD-ISSUING CONTRACT WITH U.S. BANCORP EXPIRED IN JULY.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc will issue a credit card for The Kroger Co. because the supermarket chain's contract with U.S. Bancorp has expired. Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp's agreement to issue a card for Kroger ended in July, a U.S....

MBNA CANADA BUYS BUILDING AND WILL EXPAND OPERATIONS.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... MBNA Canada, a subsidiary of MBNA Corp., today announced that it has purchased a 122,000-square-foot building that will allow the company to expand. The card issuer bought the former Gloucester City Hall, an eight-story building in the...

NCR AND CARDTRONICS INK A DEAL.(NCR Corp)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... NCR Corp., the Dayton, OH, ATM manufacturer, announced Tuesday that it has won an ATM service contract with Cardtronics Inc., which is the nation's largest ATM independent sales organization with about 25,000 off-premise ATMs under contract....

INFICORP PICKS UP TWO MORE CREDIT-UNION PORTFOLIOS.(Colorado United Credit Union, Denver)(Springfield Teachers Credit Union, Springfield, MA)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Atlanta-based InfiCorp has agreed to buy two more credit-union credit card portfolios, Thomson Media's Credit Union Journal Daily reported this week. They are - Colorado United Credit Union, Denver, which has a $5.8 million portfolio; and the...

CORRECTION.(Correction Notice)
August 6, 2004... Advanta Corp. yesterday raised the upper end of its guidance to $1.70 from a $1.60 per fully diluted share. CardLine apologizes for the error. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com...

AMEX IN EXPANSION MODE.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... American Express Co. will continue to broaden the breadth of its merchant base and international card ventures, two top AmEx executives said yesterday at an investor meeting at AmEx's New York City headquarters. Commenting about AmEx's...

AMEX KEEPING AN EYE ON REGULATORS' MOVES.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... While American Express Co. for more than a decade has been gradually lowering its discount rates, its acceptance costs still generally are the industry's highest. With bank and antitrust regulators in the European Union, Australia and the...

SOLID FINANCIALS FOR TWO COLLECTIONS FIRMS.(Encore Capital Group Inc)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Bad-debt buyers and collections firms Asta Funding Inc. and Encore Capital Group Inc. reported strong quarterly results this week. Asta yesterday reported a record profit of $5.61 million for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, up 121% from...

PAY-WITH-A-WAVE SCORES WITH SEATTLE SEAHAWKS.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... The National Football League's Seattle Seahawks will again offer the contactless PowerPay tag this season that fans can tap on readers for concession-stand purchases after a trial last season that the team judged a success, John Rizzardini,...

CSC MAKES U.S. PUSH FOR CARD-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.(Computer Sciences Corp)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Computer Sciences Corp., which owns the popular Hogan mainframe software system that helps banks to manage various programs in-house, including deposit and credit accounts, is focusing its marketing attention on the top-20 U.S. debit card...

DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT RBS' KROGER CARD.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc will begin issuing its 1-2-3 Rewards MasterCard for customers of The Kroger Co. beginning this fall, Kathy Kelly, president of personal finance for the Cincinnati-based supermarket chain, tells CardLine. The new...

IPAYMENT REPORTS GAINS.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2004... Merchant processor iPayment Inc. late Wednesday reported second-quarter revenues of $89.4 million, up 65% from $54.3 million in the 2003 period ashville, TN-based iPayment reported net income allocable to common shareholders of $5.68 million...

ANALYSTS ARE CAUTIOUS ON CONTACTLESS PAYMENT.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Results of a survey released today of 762 U.S. consumers by Atlanta-based Synergistics Research Corp. find that one in five consider tap-and-go payment devices an improvement over conventional debit and credit cards, with one in 10 seeing it as...

REVOLVING CREDIT'S MODEST GROWTH CONTINUES.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Consumer revolving credit grew at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2.5% in June, the Federal Reserve reported this afternoon. The Fed estimates June ended with $743.5 billion in revolving credit receivables, up 2.4% from $726.1 billion...

19.3% TOTAL GROWTH FOR VISA USA IN Q2.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... In the four quarters ending June 30, San Francisco-based Visa USA has seen a 16.4% increase in charge volume to $1.24 trillion. Visa said Thursday that in the second quarter, total volume on Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards...

SLOWDOWN IN OFFLINE DEBIT TRANSACTION GROWTH RETURNS.(ATM & Debit News)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Growth in the number of purchases initiated with signature-based, or offline, debit MasterCard and Visa check cards slowed a bit during the first six months of this year, to 18.5% from 21% growth during the first six months of 2003. The 2003...

DEBT-LADEN CONSUMERS TARGETED FOR FRAUD.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... The most typical fraud cases in 2003 involved con artists offering advance-fee loans where consumers paid a fee for a "guaranteed" loan or credit card and never received anything, the Federal Trade Commission reported Thursday. Some 4.5 million...

METRIS CFO RESIGNS, REPLACEMENT NAMED.(John Witham)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Subprime credit card issuer Metris Companies Inc. announced late Thursday that its chief financial officer for about two years, John Witham, has resigned. "He indicated for personal reasons, to pursue other opportunities," a Metris spokesperson...

FULL PHOTO CARD A FIRST FROM OMAHA.(First National Bank of Omaha)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... First National Bank of Omaha recently introduced the One of a Card Visa credit card that allows cardholders to personalize the entire card with a photo. A cardholder must visit the oneofacard.com Web site and upload an image to be imprinted on...

GE CONSUMER FINANCE BUYS DILLARD'S CARD PORTFOLIO FOR $1.25 BILLION.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... GE Consumer Finance Sunday announced that it purchased substantially all of the assets of Dillard's Inc.'s Dillard National Bank, which includes the Little Rock, AR, retailer's credit card portfolio. In a deal that "came together over the...

MORE U.K. CARDHOLDERS ARE VIEWING AND PAYING CARD BILLS ONLINE.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... The Association for Payment Clearing Services' Consumer Payment Survey for 2003 found that the Internet coupled with high-tech banking has dramatically affected the way United Kingdom consumers shop, view and pay their bills. The research,...

WASHINGTON CREDIT UNION SELLS CARD PORTFOLIO TO INFICORP.(InfiCorp Holdings Inc)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Atlanta-based InfiCorp Holdings Inc. has purchased the $9.5 million credit card portfolio of Vancouver, WA-based People's Community Credit Union, broker Brookwood Capital of Peterborough, NH, announced today. People's had 5,400 card accounts as...

FAMILY CARD ACCOUNT EXPANDS ITS EXTENDED FAMILY.(StarTrust Federal Credit Union)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... StarTrust Federal Credit Union in Houston became the latest credit union to offer the MasterCard Family Account to its members, according to an announcement today. StarTrust implemented the card program through TNB Card Services, which is owned...

CO-OP NETWORK SNAGS NEW YORK CREDIT UNION.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Ontario, CA-based The Co-op, a network of credit unions, recently announced that the New York-based Municipal Credit Union is joining its EFT network. The Municipal Credit Union serves municipal employees in New York City and has 300,000...

NCR, TRANSOFT PARTNER.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Dayton, OH-based NCR Corp ntered into an agreement with Transoft International Inc. to use its vault-cash management software in NCR's ATMs, according to a recent announcement CR will offer Transoft's OptiCash, OptiVault and OptiNet software...

RETAIL DECISIONS NAMES DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Retail Decisions, the Hazlet, NJ, risk-management company, today announced that it appointed Phaedra Saylor as director of business development. Saylor's role will consist of developing and managing strategic partnerships and reseller channels...

RATE HIKE UNLIKELY TO PRODUCE CREDIT CARD DRAMA.
August 13, 2004... As expected, the Federal Reserve Board's Open Market Committee this afternoon raised the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 1.5%, but the increase in the key short-term funding benchmark, the second in less than two months, probably will...

BRITISH GOVERNMENT IS INVESTIGATING MBNA AND SEVEN OTHER ISSUERS.(Office of Fair Trading)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... The Office of Fair Trading, a government agency in the United Kingdom, is conducting an informal investigation of eight credit card issuers, including MBNA Corp.'s MBNA Europe, about the amount of late fees the issuers charge consumers. An OFT...

MASTERCARD'S SECOND-QUARTER EARNINGS DOUBLE.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Aided by lower legal expenses, MasterCard International reported that second-quarter earnings doubled to $65.7 million from $32.3 million a year earlier. Revenues for the period increased 16% to $647 million, compared with $557 million in 2003....

MERRICK BANK BEATS ITS GOAL.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Merrick Bank, a subsidiary of CardWorks, a non-prime issuer of credit cards, today reported that its credit card receivables have exceeded $500 million, surpassing the company's previously announced goal of a half billion dollars. "One of...

U.S. BANK SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... U.S. Bank has added a banking function to the magnetic stripe on Northern Kentucky University's student identification card that will allow graduates and undergraduates to conduct cashless transactions on and off campus, Jim Marshall, U.S....

WHY CARD TRANSACTIONS ARE GROWING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Card transactions are growing on university campuses because banks have decided to be a service to the schools, Lowell Adkins, executive director of the National Association of Campus Card Users, tells CardLine today. Formerly when students...

FIRST ANNAPOLIS NAMES TWO NEW PARTNERS.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... First Annapolis Consulting Inc., the Linthicum, MD, management-consulting firm that specializes in the credit card industry and mergers and acquisitions, recently promoted two executives to partner. Bob Lime, who advised Circuit City Stores...

LIVE ONLINE OLYMPICS' BROADCASTS IN THE U.S. WILL BE RESTRICTED TO VISA CARDHOLDERS.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Olympics fans in the U.S. who want to see the events live online will have to type in the first six digits of their Visa card, CardLine has learned. Cardholders, however, will not be charged to view the Summer Olympics, which officially open...

BEARINGPOINT WINS $12 MILLION CONTRACT PROTOTYPE OF TRANSPORATION WORKERS' ID.(Transportation Security Administration )(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has awarded a $12 million contract for the prototype phase of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential to BearingPoint Inc., TSA officials announced Tuesday. The seven-month contract...

EQUIFAX INTRODUCES CREDIT SCORING IN A CHANGING U.K. MARKET.(Equifax Plc)
August 13, 2004... London-based Equifax Plc recently launched Equifax Credit Rating, a personal credit-scoring online product, that's designed to capture residents' growing interest in credit scores, which has been sparked in part by consumer debt in the United...

BARCLAYCARD HOPES MANCHESTER UNITED COBRANDED CARD WILL KICK START GROWTH IN MALAYSIA.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Barclaycard, Europe's largest credit card issuer, today signed an agreement with Public Bank in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that gives the financial institution the right to introduce the Manchester United MasterCard, a cobranded product named...

WITH ACH TRANSACTIONS GROWING, TCF BANK JOINS NACHA.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... TCF National Bank, a subsidiary of TCF Financial Corp., says it has joined NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association as NACHA's 20th financial-institution member because the bank experiencing a dramatic growth in automated clearinghouse...

NYCE MAKES GAINS SINCE ITS SALE.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... The NYCE network is already making some debit card issuer gains since being acquired by Metavante Inc. in July. Metavante's parent, Milwaukee-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp., will use NYCE as a preferred switch for shared network transactions on...

CREDIT UNION JOINS CO-OP NETWORK.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... The Ontario, CA-based Co-op Network of credit unions yesterday announced that the Coastal Federal Credit Union of Raleigh, NC, has become a member. The credit union also will use Co-op to drive its 44 ATMs and process its debit card...

CITI TO LAY OFF NEARLY 1,600 WORKERS IN SEARS CARD SHUFFLE.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Citigroup Inc. Tuesday told 1,590 workers at Sears credit card customer-service facilities in Iowa and California that they will lose their jobs next year. The notices involve 450 call-center workers in West Des Moines, Iowa, and 1,140 in...

GE CONSUMER FINANCE BUYS RUSSIAN CARD ISSUER.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... GE Consumer Finance announced yesterday that it had reached an agreement to purchase DeltaBank, Russia's largest Visa issuer, from Delta Capital Management, whose majority investors are the Delta Russia Fund and the U.S.-Russia Investment Fund....

ADVANTA SELECTS "THE APPRENTICE" WINNER AS ITS SPOKESPERSON.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Small-business credit card issuer Advanta Corp. today announced that it signed William "Bill" Rancic, winner of the popular television show, "The Apprentice," as Advanta's company spokesperson. Brian Tierney, Advanta's vice chairman, tells...

TARGET'S CARD PROFITS GROW.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Trendy discount retailer Target Corp. today reported pre-tax credit card earnings of $120 million for its fiscal second quarter ended July 31, up 13% from $107 million a year earlier. Target ended the quarter with $4.72 billion in receivables...

MBNA WILL ISSUE CARDS FOR SOVEREIGN BANK.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... MBNA Corp. will issue credit cards for Sovereign Bank, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Sovereign Bancorp Inc., after purchasing Soverign's portfolio from First National Bank of Omaha for an undisclosed price. First National Bank of Omaha...

VISA ADDS A NEW WRINKLE TO SPONSORHIP OF SPORTS EVENTS.
August 13, 2004... Visa's decision to restrict online access in the U.S. to live Olympic events is a new wrinkle in the sports sponsorship field, but not a complete surprise, Abraham Madkour, executive editor of Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal, tells...

FISERV ADDS THREE BANKS TO SETTLEMENT SERVICES.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... Fiserv Inc. has signed three new banks to provide settlement services for the Fiserv Clearing Network, the company announced yesterday. The newest settlement partners are Bank of the West in San Francisco, Midwest Independent Bank in Jefferson...

JCB FORMS COBRAND PARTNERSHIP.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2004... JCB Co. Ltd., Japan's largest card issuer, has formed a strategic alliance with Taiwan's Macoto Bank and Japan Asia Airways in which Macoto is issuing the cobranded JCB-JAA credit card, JCB reported this week. JAA, a subsidiary of Japan...

CORRECTIONS.(Correction Notice)
August 13, 2004... CardLine today's issue incorrectly stated the location of a Citigroup credit card call center. The facility is in Greensboro, NC. CardLine's Aug. 9 edition had an incorrect receivables figure for GE Consumer Finance. GE had $25.8 billion in...

CYBERSOURCE FILES PATENT-INFRINGEMENT LAWSUIT AGAINST RETAIL DECISIONS.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2004... CyberSource Corp. reported today it filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Retail Decisions Inc. (ReD) and parent company Retail Decisions plc. CyberSource claims that ReD's eBitGuard product uses technology that CyberSource received a...

MBNA BUYS TECHNOLOGY CREDIT UNION'S $34 MILLION CARD PORTFOLIO.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2004... Technology Credit Union of San Jose, CA, has sold its $34 million credit card portfolio to MBNA Corp. for an undisclosed price in a deal facilitated by Kessler Financial Services, Steven Fuld, Kessler's senior vice president and director of its...

STUDY SAYS SOLD CREDIT UNION CARD PORTFOLIOS PERFORM BETTER.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2004... AssetExchange, a Portland, OR, credit card brokerage firm, this week released the results of a study concerning the performance of credit-union card portfolios. The report, which is based on information from the National Credit Union...

HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS FILES FOR AN IPO.(initial public offering)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2004... Heartland Payment Systems Inc. has filed a shelf registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of its common stock. The Princeton, NJ, merchant processor and acquirer did not say in its...

CHECK-RELATED SERVICES POWER ECHO'S REVENUE GROWTH.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2004... Merchant processor Electronic Clearing House Inc. (ECHO) this week reported net income of $651,000 for its fiscal 2004 third quarter ended June 30, more than double the $308,000 in the year-earlier quarter. Revenues increased 15% to $12.2...

NO MORE CHECK-CASHING HURDLES; AP STAFF COVERING THE OLYMPICS GET STORED-VALUE CARDS.(Associated Press)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2004... Some Associated Press staff covering the Summer Olympic Games, which begin today in Athens, will pay for their business expenses with a special, Visa-branded stored-value card. Card Services, an affiliate of the New York State Credit Union...

KEYCORP INTRODUCES EASIER AND SAFER CARD ACCEPTANCE FOR CANADIAN CABS.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2004... Keycorp Canada Inc. and Digital Dispatch Systems Inc. have developed SmartPay, a point-of-sale system for taxis that enables Canadian cab drivers to accept credit and debit cards. Debit cards can be accepted over Interac, Canada's national...

PROCESSOR SUES VISA AND MASTERCARD.
August 20, 2004... A defunct card processor for Internet merchants this afternoon filed suit against MasterCard International and Visa USA for alleged violations of state and federal antitrust laws. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island,...

MASTERCARD CHANGES KEY RULES AFFECTING MERCHANTS AND INTERCHANGE DECISIONS.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2004... MasterCard International announced last week two major policy changes in the way it conducts business. In the first key change, MasterCard's management in the United States will make decisions concerning the Purchase, NY-based card...

DISCOVER AND PAY BY TOUCH SIGN AN AGREEMENT TO FOSTER BIOMETRIC PAYMENTS.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2004... Discover Financial Services and Pay By Touch today announced that they have formed a strategic alliance to drive adoption of biometric payments and to increase use of the Discover card. The deal means the two firms will share costs and...

SO FAR, SUMMER OLYMPICS' TICKET SALES AREN'T RAKING IN THE GOLD.
August 20, 2004... Athens may be shaping up as a place that few people want to be as millions of tickets for events at the Summer Olympic Games go unsold, according to sales reports today on the official Website of the games. More than half the tickets were...