Cardline articles from August 2005

Cardline archives from August 2005

STARBUCKS CARD JOLTS COMPANY'S REVENUE EVERY JANUARY.(Starbucks Coffee Co.'s stored-value card sales drops)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Sales dropped 21% on Starbucks Coffee Co.'s stored-value card in the company's fiscal third quarter, but the decline fits the card's annual sales pattern. The Seattle-based coffee merchant reported this week that net sales on the card fell from...

WITHDRAWAL LIMITS RISE WITH INCREASED PIN-DEBIT USE.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Increased use of PIN-debit cards is prompting financial institutions to re-evaluate limits on ATM cash withdrawals and PIN-debit point-of-sale purchases. "We are seeing more banks raise limits, especially at the point of sale," Teri Koenke,...

GFI WILL HELP DESJARDINS MIGRATE TO SMART CARDS.(GFI Solutions signs contract with Desjardins Group)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... GFI Solutions has signed a contract with Desjardins Group to help the Canadian financial institution migrate its electronic payment systems to the EMV chip card standard. The contract, worth "several million dollars," is renewable for three...

TNS AGREES TO INSTALL BROADBAND FOR CONVENIENCE STORE CHAIN.(Transaction Network Services Inc., Fas Mart Convenience Stores)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Transaction Network Services Inc., which provides upfront authorization for credit card transactions, is providing broadband services to convenience store operator Fas Mart. The service will enable Fas Mart to consolidate credit card...

EURONET REPORTS DROP IN SECOND-QUARTER NET INCOME.(Euronet Worldwide Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Euronet Worldwide Inc., the Leawood, KS, electronic payments provider, recently reported second-quarter net income of $3.9 million, down 11% from $4.4 million for the same three-month period last year. Second-quarter net income included a...

SOME PHISHING ATTEMPTS ARE SO BAD, THEY SMELL.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Some phishing emails are so clever and well made they fool even the most sophisticated criminal investigator. On the other hand, you have the phishing crooks that are unclear on the concept. Javelin Strategy & Research announced in its July...

TSA COMPLETES PURCHASE OF S2 SYSTEMS.(Transaction Systems Architects Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Transaction Systems Architects Inc. has completed its $35 million cash purchase of S2 Systems. Transaction Systems, the Omaha, NE, parent of debit transaction-authorization software provider ACI Worldwide, intends to integrate S2...

PUTNAM SAYS THE PRICE ISN'T RIGHT FOR WAMU'S PURCHASE OF PROVIDIAN.(Putnam Investments Inc. mulls over the acquisition of Providian Financial Corp. by Washington Mutual Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Putnam Investments LLC, a major Providian Financial Corp. stockholder, said it will fight the card issuer's planned $6.45 billion purchase by Washington Mutual Inc., the Seattle-based thrift. Providian, which is based in San Francisco, and...

PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES BUYS GOVERNMENT COLLECTIONS FIRM.(Alatax Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Bad debt buyer Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc. announced today that it has acquired Alatax Inc., a government debt collections firm, for $17.5 million. Steven D. Fredrickson, chairman, president and CEO of PRA, says the Alatax acquisition...

NCR SELECTS NEW CEO.(William Nuti, chief executive officer)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... After a four-month search, ATM manufacturer NCR Corp. has hired a Symbol Technologies Inc. executive, William Nuti, as NCR's new CEO. Nuti, who is scheduled to begin his new job Monday, replaces Mark Hurd, who left the company in March to...

WACHOVIA SIGNS LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH DYNAMIC CARD SOLUTIONS.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Wachovia Corp. has licensed Dynamic Card Solutions' software, which will allow the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina Greensboro to issue student identification cards to incoming freshman on the spot....

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES ID THEFT BILL.(Congress. Senate's Committee on the Judiciary)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee became the first congressional panel to act on the highly publicized data protection issue when it unanimously approved legislation last week to set national standards to protect consumer information. The...

EDENTIFY HIRES MASTERCARD VETERAN.(Thomas J. Harkins)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Edentify, a U.S. identity fraud-prevention firm, has hired Thomas J. Harkins as its chief operating officer. Harkins will head the Bethlehem, PA-based company's business and product development efforts. His first task will be to sign up more...

WELLS FARGO LAUNCHES ONLINE ACCOUNT ALERT.(Wells Fargo & Co.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Wells Fargo & Company has launched a free service, which allows its bank account and credit card customers to receive online alerts about recent transactions. The alerts, which are sent to customers' e-mail addresses, can help them stay on top...

MASTERCARD CARDHOLDERS DIG OUT THE DEBIT, COMPANY REPORTS REVENUE RISE.(sales and earnings of MasterCard International Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... MasterCard International reported today its gross dollar volume worldwide rose 12.3% in the second quarter to $408.4 billion, driven primarily by off-line debit card use. Broken down, credit card volume rose 8.3% from the same period a year ago...

AMEX AGREES TO SELL TAX BUSINESS TO H&R BLOCK.(H and R Block Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... American Express Co. continues to divest itself of its non-core card operations, moving closer to becoming purely a card issuer and a payments company. Yesterday, H&R Block Inc., the nation's largest tax-preparation company, announced that it...

CASH-BACK PROGRAM LETS PIN DEBIT USERS REAP REWARDS TOO.(AmSouth Bancorp, loyalty program)
August 5, 2005... AmSouth Bancorp today announced the launch of a free rewards initiative that allows Visa check card holders to earn 1% to 30% cash back when shopping at participating retail stores or from merchant Web sites accessed via...

MASTERCARD SMART DATA PROGRAM LOOKS LIKE SMART MOVE AS ACTIVITY DOUBLES.(MasterCard International Inc.'s number of customers increased)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Since 1999, the number of customers using Smart Data Online and Smart Data Express, MasterCard International's proprietary, Web-based reporting and expense-management products, has doubled each year, MasterCard says. As of June 30, 66,000...

ISO GOES INSIDE FOR GIFTCARD PROGRAM.(independent sales organization, First American Payment Systems LP brings its outsourced gift card program inside)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... First American Payment Systems LP, the Fort Worth, TX-based independent sales organization and third-party processor, has taken its gift card program inside, Neil L. Randel, the company's president and CEO, tells CardLine. "We outsourced it for...

FIRST DATA STUDIES GIFT CARDS AS CUSTOMER INCENTIVES.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Attracting customers is not the typical motive for issuing gift cards, but it represents a new market for gift card growth, says a new study by First Data Prepaid Services. In April, the newly formed division of Greenwood Village, CO-based...

MASTERCARD MAKES STRIDES IN LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN.(sales and earnings of MasterCard International Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... MasterCard International saw double-digit growth in Latin America and the Caribbean in the second quarter. Figures released today by the card association show about $22.8 billion in gross dollar volume was completed with MasterCard products in...

HIBERNIA BANK SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE SALE TO CAPITAL ONE.(Capital One Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Hibernia Corp. stockholders at a special shareholders meeting this morning voted overwhelmingly in favor of the corporation's purchase by card issuer Capital One Financial Corp. for $5.35 billion in cash and stock. "Ninety-four percent of the...

EFUNDS REPORTS 50% INCREASE IN SECOND-QUARTER NET INCOME.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... eFunds Corp., a provider of electronic payments, today reported second-quarter net income of $14.1 million, up 50% from $9.4 million during the same three-month period last year. Net revenue was $116.3 million, up 10% from $106.1 million for...

HSBC AND COMPUSA RENEW CARD RELATIONSHIP.(HSBC North America Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... The retail-services business of HSBC-North America has renewed an agreement to manage the private-label card program for retailer CompUSA Inc., an HSBC spokesperson tells CardLine today. CompUSA is a Dallas-based technology retailer that has...

CITI CARDS WILL MOVE INTO NEW FACILITY IN IOWA.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Citi Cards, the card-issuing arm of Citigroup Inc., will move into a new plant in Urbandale, IA, company officials said recently. The 170,000-square-foot facility, which is slated to open in January, will be used for remittance processing,...

QUIDDITY LAUNCHES CREDIT CARD ADVICE SITE.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Quiddity, a design consultancy based in Boston, has launched CreditBus (http://creditbus.com), a Web blog that supplies information on credit card offers. The site also provides a central location for credit card, identity theft and debt...

BANKS FAILURE TO SCAN SECURITY CODES EXPOSES THEM TO FRAUD.(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... By failing to scan the security codes on debit and ATM cards, U.S. banks are exposing themselves to fraud risks, says Avivah Litan, a financial security analyst with Stamford, CT-based Gartner, Inc. Only about half of U.S. banks check the Track...

RBS LYNK SERVICE PROMISES FASTER ATM TRANSACTIONS.(RBS Lynk Inc., ATM USA LLC launches new transaction-processing service)(Brief Article)
August 5, 2005... Payment processor RBS Lynk Inc. and ATM distributor ATM USA LLC have launched an Internet Protocol-based ATM transaction-processing service. RBS Lynk is managing the back-end transaction processing for the service, and ATM USA is handling...

REVOLVING CREDIT GREW AT AN 11.5% ANNUAL RATE IN JUNE.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Revolving credit, which is mostly spending on credit cards, in June grew at its fastest rate since October, a spokesperson for the Federal Reserve tells CardLine this afternoon. Revolving credit rose at annual rate of 11.5% compared with 1.4%...

CREDITORS INTERCHANGE BUYS COMMERCIAL RECEIVABLES FIRM.(Abrams and Swartz Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Creditors Interchange, a collections company with several credit card issuer clients, has announced the acquisition of Abrams & Swartz Inc., a commercial receivables company. The acquisition is the first for Buffalo, NY-based Creditors...

PAYPASS WILL BE ON THE MENU AT MORE MCDONALD'S RESTAURANTS.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... McDonald's Corp. will expand acceptance of MasterCard International's PayPass tap-and-go card to 13,600 U.S. restaurants by the end of this year, a MasterCard spokesperson tells CardLine today. PayPass is now accepted at 7,500 McDonald's...

INFICORP PURCHASES SIX CREDIT UNION CARD PORTFOLIOS.(InfiCorp Holdings Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... InfiCorp Holdings Inc. has purchased more than $41 million in credit card receivables from six credit unions, Atlanta-based InfiCorp announced today. InfiCorp also formed agent agreements with the credit unions and will continue to issue cards...

DOVE LANDS IN HITACHI'S NEST.(Hitachi Consulting acquires Dove Consulting)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Dove Consulting, known in the payments industry for its strategic studies and surveys for banks, processors, electronic funds transfer networks and ATM deployers, is now part of Hitachi Consulting Inc., a Dallas-based subsidiary of the global...

AMERICAN BANK NOTE APPOINTS NEW AUDITORS.(American Bank Note Holographics Inc., PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP )(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... American Bank Note Holographics Inc., which makes holograms for MasterCard International, American Express Co., Visa and most major credit card manufacturers, has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as its independent auditors....

DEBIT IS GIVING CREDIT AN EDUCATION IN BACK-TO-SCHOOL BUYING.(survey of debit cards usage in school purchasings)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... More than twice as many moms and dads will use their debit cards instead of credit cards for back-to-school purchases, Cambridge Consumer Credit Index is reporting today. Cambridge's survey found that this year 27% of shoppers, up from 6% last...

CREDIT MANAGERS REPORT ECONOMIC GROWTH.(National Association of Credit Management)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... An uptick in the National Association of Credit Management's Credit Manager's Index points to signs of steady economic growth, the group reports. The association uses the index, released monthly, as a bellwether to help judge the health of...

WOULD YOU LIKE A DVD WITH YOUR QUARTER POUNDER.(McDonald's Corp.'s DVD rental service)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... McDonald's Corp. has rented about 2.5 million movie DVDs through its redbox kiosk since its 2004 launch in the Denver area, the fast-food giant has confirmed. Consumers older than 18 use a credit or debit card and pay $1 per night plus tax for...

MASTERCARD INC.'S SECOND-QUARTER NET INCOME UP 82%.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... MasterCard Inc., parent company of MasterCard International, Friday reported second-quarter net income of $120 million, up 82% from the same three-month period last year. Revenues grew 19% to $772 million compared with 2004's second quarter....

TSYS SIGNS PROCESSING AGREEMENT WITH CAPITAL ONE.(Total System Services Inc., Capital One Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) will provide processing services for consumer and small business credit cards for Capital One Financial Corp. in a five-year deal the two companies announced today. Capital One currently processes its $46.4...

RETAIL DECISIONS SIGNS FIVE-YEAR LICENSING AGREEMENT.(Fifth Third Processing Solutions)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Retail Decisions plc, the fraud-prevention and payment-processing company, today announced that it has signed a five-year agreement to license its Prism fraud-detection software to Fifth Third Processing Solutions, the electronic-payment...

VERIFONE COMPLETES ROLLOUT OF MULTIFUNCTION TERMINAL.(installation of point-of-sale terminals Valero Energy Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Payment terminal manufacturer VeriFone Holdings Inc. has completed the installation of more than 2,000 Topaz/Sapphire-branded integrated point-of-sale terminals in 1,000 Valero Energy Corp. retail stores in seven states, a VeriFone spokesperson...

FITCH UPGRADES U.S. CREDIT CARD ABS ISSUANCE TRUSTS.(Fitch Ratings Inc.'s asset-backed securities rankings)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... New York-based Fitch Ratings Inc. has upgraded its ratings for four US credit card asset-backed securities issuance trusts. It now gives Chase Issuance Trust, which was formerly known as Bank One Issuance Trust, a "positive" rating. Chase...

DEXIT DOUBLES REVENUES.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Dexit, the Toronto-based e-cash firm, said its revenues doubled from C$788,000 (U.S.$657,000) in the first quarter of 2005 to C$1.6 million in the second quarter. Net losses fell from C$2.3 million in the first quarter of 2005 to C$1.7 million,...

ATM FRAUD NOT THE SAME AS ID THEFT, ATM GROUP SAYS.(Global ATM Security Alliance)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... The Global ATM Security Alliance, an international ATM industry body, said it wants to clear up public misconceptions, which confuse ATM fraud with ID theft. "ATM fraud is not the same as ID theft," Mike Lee, GASA's CEO, tells CardLine. "But...

BARCLAYS AGREES TO INVEST $455 MILLION IN U.S. AIRWAYS/AMERICA AIR WEST MERGER.(Barclays PLC)
August 12, 2005... Barclays PLC, parent company of credit card issuer Barclaycard, yesterday agreed to invest $455 million in U.S. Airways, provided the airline emerges from bankruptcy to complete its announced merger with America West Airlines. In exchange for...

PRODUCT DELAYS HARM HYPERCOM REVENUES.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Second-quarter revenues increased 1.5% at Phoenix-based Hypercom Corp., a distributor of point-of-sale terminals and other payment devices, the company has reported. Hypercom reported second-quarter revenues of $64 million, up from $63.1...

DIEBOLD CFO RESIGNS - COMPANY SEEKS SUCCESOR.(chief financial officer Gregory T. Geswein)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... ATM manufacturer Diebold Inc. announced today that Gregory T. Geswein, senior vice president and chief financial officer, has resigned, effective August 12. After serving as CFO for more than five years, Geswein is leaving the company to become...

GLOBAL AXCESS TO ACQUIRE PORTFOLIO OF 1,500 ATMs.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Global Axcess Corp., an electronic financial transaction processing company, today announced that it signed a formal letter of intent to acquire an independent ATM company, which owns and operates more than 1,500 ATM sites located primarily on...

CONSUMERS CONCERNED ABOUT ID THEFT, BUT STILL NOT CHECKING CREDIT REPORTS.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Twenty-five percent of consumers under age 30 report at least one incident of having their financial information stolen, according to a personal credit index survey by Experian Interactive and The Gallup Organization. That percentage tops all...

SUNTRUST BANK RENEWS EFT SOFTWARE CONTRACT.(electronic funds transfer software, Transaction System Architects Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... SunTrust Banks Inc. renewed a contract to use Transaction System Architects as the bank's electronic funds transfer transaction authorization software provider. SunTrust owns 2,800 ATMs and issues at least 3.1 million debit cards, according to...

COINSTAR TRADES PENNYS FOR MERCHANDISE.(marketing strategy, offering gift cards)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Coinstar Inc., the coin-counting kiosk operator, is offering gift cards from Starbucks Corp., Hollywood Video and Pier 1 Imports at select stores in 18 metro areas. Consumers who trade in their coins for a gift card are not charged any...

FIRST DATA'S ENCORUS FALLS VICTIM TO SIMPAY'S COLLAPSE.(First Data Corp. ends financing Encorus Technologies)
August 12, 2005... First Data Corp. today announced that it has closed its checkbook on Encorus, a provider of mobile-payments software, mobile merchant-acquisition services and transaction processing. First Data's decision to drop its investment in Encorus and...

PAYPAL, BANK OF AMERICA ARE INVESTIGATING MASSIVE FRAUD.(identity theft investigations)
August 12, 2005... PayPal Inc. and Bank of America Corp. say they are investigating claims by Sunbelt Software, an IT security company, that it has uncovered an online ID theft ring that has penetrated 50 U.S. and foreign banks and thousands of computers. "We're...

PHILADELPHIA RESTAURANT SUES OVER "NO SURCHARGE RULE".(518 Restaurant Corp. files lawsuit against American Express Co., Discover Financial Services, MasterCard International and Visa U.S.A. Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... A Philadelphia restaurant has sued the four major card brands over their "no surcharge rule" that prohibits merchants from charging consumers a fee for card acceptance. The antitrust lawsuit, filed yesterday by 518 Restaurant Corp. in U.S....

CARDTRONICS SIGNS TWO AGREEMENTS.(acquires Neo Concepts Inc., branding deal with Chase ATMs)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Cardtronics Inc., the Houston-based ATM owner/operator, today announced two deals. Cardtronics said it purchased the ATM business of Neo Concepts Inc., a Chicago-based independent sales organization for an undisclosed price. Neo Concepts'...

RBS LYNK GETS INTO THE PICTURE WITH CALIFORNIA PHOTOGRAPHERS.(contract with Professional Photographers of California)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... RBS Lynk will provide payment processing for Professional Photographers of California (PPC). The organization has joined RBS Lynk's OneLynk Alliance program, which offers association members processing services including credit, debit, EBT,...

AMERICAN EXPRESS GOES HIP CHICAGO STYLE.(launching In:Chicago credit card for young adults)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... American Express Co. announced yesterday it will issue the In:Chicago credit card, which is geared to young adults who live in Chicago. The card will provide a variety of rewards tied to the city's social hot spots, such as clubs, restaurants...

MCDONALD'S SCHEDULES GIFT CARD ROLLOUT.(Arch Card)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... McDonald's Corp. will roll out the Arch Card, a reloadable gift card, at its more than 13,000 U.S. restaurants by the end of the year, a company spokesperson tells CardLine today. McDonald's customers will be able to purchase the gift card in...

CITIZENS TRUST BANK OFFERS BUSINESS DEBIT CARD.(Citizens Bancshares Corp. launches business debit cards)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Citizens Bancshares Corp., parent company of Citizens Trust Bank, today announced that it has introduced a line of business debit cards. The CTBusiness debit card is a MasterCard-branded product that can be used at the point of sale or at an...

CORRECTION.(Correction Notice)
August 12, 2005... Yesterday's CardLine referred to America West Airlines as America Air West Airlines in the article's headline and once in the body of the story. CardLine apologizes for the error. (c) 2005 CardLine and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved....

DISCOVER'S CASHBACK BONUS GIVES IT A NICHE IN ONLINE BILL PAYMENTS.(marketing strategies of Discover Financial Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... When a person pays his bills, the money doesn't go out and return like a boomerang. But Discover says its cardholders can get some of their money back when they sign up for the issuer's new Auto Bill Pay service. "Cardholders earn rewards'...

TARGET'S CARD RECEIVABLES GREW 15% IN THE SECOND QUARTER.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Target Corp. reported in its second quarter ending July 30, card receivables of $5.4 billion-up 15% from $4.7 billion in the same period a year ago. The Minneapolis-based retailer reported its credit card program generated total revenues of...

DELTA IS ENCOUNTERING TURBULENCE AS IT TRIES TO LAND A NEW PROCESSOR ..(Delta Air Lines Inc., credit card processing contract negotiations)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Financially troubled Delta Air Lines Inc. has delayed the filing of its second-quarter financial report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission because the Atlanta-based airline is trying to negotiate a new contract with a credit card...

BUT NORTHWEST AND ITS PROCESSOR MAKE A SMOOTH LANDING.(Northwest Airlines Corp. extends contract with card processor)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Northwest Airlines Corp. said Tuesday in its second-quarter filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it has extended its card-processing and cobranded card agreements until Dec. 31, 2008. If Northwest Airlines and its...

M&A ACTIVITY HEALTHY IN ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE MANAGEMENT.(mergers and acquisitions)
August 12, 2005... Mergers- and-acquisitions activity in the credit and collections business trails the pace set a year ago but remains brisk with 26 transactions completed in the first half of the year totaling more than $350 million in estimated deal value,...

MINT, PLASTIC PLUS TEAM FOR PREPAID MASTERCARDS IN CANADA.(Mint Technology Corp., Plastic Now Inc.,)
August 12, 2005... Mint Technology Corp., a manager of card programs, has signed a distribution agreement with Plastic Now Inc. to market prepaid MasterCard cards in Canada. Under the agreement, Calgary, Alberta-based Plastic Now will initially buy and distribute...

BOTTOMLINE TECHNOLOGIES GROWS REVENUE AND INCOME.(Bottomline Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2005... Bottomline Technologies, the Portsmouth, NH-based e-payments firm, increased revenues in its fourth quarter ending June 30 to $26.3 million from $22.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. Net income rose to $2.2 million in the fourth quarter...

POLARIS SURFACES WITH A NEW HSBC AGREEMENT.(Polaris Industries Inc., HSBC Bank)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... HSBC Bank of Nevada N.A., HSBC's credit card bank, will return $49.8 million to Polaris Industries Inc. as part of a new multiyear contract between the companies, Richard Edwards of Polaris investor relations tells CardLine today. The new...

MASTERCARD ISSUER CANADIAN TIRE ROLLS UP RECEIVABLES.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. says its credit card and personal-loan receivables grew 19.8% in the second quarter, to C$3.1 billion ($2.6 billion) from C$2.6 billion ($2.2 billion) in the same period last year. Canadian Tire issues MasterCards...

PAYPAL, EBAY CUSTOMERS AFFECTED BY ONLINE ID SCAM.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Online auction firm eBay Inc. has confirmed to CardLine that some of its customers were affected by the online identity-theft scam reported by Florida-based information-technology security firm Sunbelt Software. CardLine reported Wednesday that...

SONIC TESTING A WAY TO MAKE PAYMENT OF FAST FOOD FASTER.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Sonic, the fast-food restaurant chain, wants to make its drive-up service as fast as the eatery's name implies. The company is testing in select markets debit and credit card readers at its individual drive-up stalls, a spokesperson tells...

NCR CERTIFIES RBS LYNK SOFTWARE FOR INDEPENDENT GROCERS.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... NCR Corp. has certified RBS Lynk's Integra communications software for use by independent grocers that have implemented the NCR Advanced Checkout Solution software. Integra provides high-speed connections to RBS Lynk's payment-processing system...

TRANSACTION PROCESSING VOLUME GREW 13% AT FISERV.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Fiserv Inc.'s electronic funds transfer transaction processing volume grew 13% in the first half of 2005, to 2.28 billion transactions from 2.02 billion during the first half of 2004, according to the company. The Fiserv processing volume...

GLOBAL PAYMENTS RENEWS HEALTHCARD AGREEMENT.(HealthCard Systems LLC)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Transaction processor Global Payments Inc. today announced that it has extended its long-term relationship with HealthCard Systems LLC. Global Payments will provide front-end and back-end transaction processing and authorization of credit and...

INTERNATIONAL CARD MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION ADMITS NEW MEMBERS.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... The International Card Manufacturers Association, a global, nonprofit association for plastic card manufacturers, today announced that six companies have joined the organization. CardSuisse AG, a card manufacturer based in Zug, Switzerland,...

U.S. PREPAID CARD MARKET GROWS 21% IN THE LAST YEAR.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... The U.S. prepaid card market, including open and closed-loop cards, grew by almost 21% from $110.7 billion in 2003 to $133.9 billion in 2004, according to a study from Waltham, MA-based Mercator Advisory Group, Inc. The total of all spending on...

INDEX FINDS MILD CONDITIONS FOR COLLECTORS.(collections business statistics)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Conditions in the collections business remain moderate, according to SunTrust Robinson Humphrey's Settlement-in-Full Index. The monthly index is designed to offer investors and bad-debt buyers an overview of the strength of the debt collection...

WACHOVIA LAUNCHES MONEY-TRANSFER CARD.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Wachovia Corp. is planning to roll out in the Washington D.C. area next month a card that enables immigrants to send money home via ATMs, a spokesperson for the Charlotte, NC-based bank tells CardLine. The Dinero Directo foreign remittance card...

BANK TAKES OVER ITS ATM PROCESSING.(New York Community Bank brings ATM driving and transaction switching in-house)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... New York Community Bank, which is based in New York City, is taking its ATM driving and transaction switching in-house. The bank announced today that it has installed on its 160 ATMs S1 Corp.'s Postilion transaction-switching software, produced...

NBS REPORTS WIDER THIRD-QUARTER LOSS.(NBS Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... NBS Technologies Inc., the Toronto-based provider of smart card manufacturing and personalization equipment, today reported a wider third-quarter net loss. NBS reported a C$5.1 million (U.S. $4.3 million) loss for the three-month period ending...

FOUR CREDIT UNIONS SELL THEIR CARD PORTFOLIOS TO TNB CARD SERVICES.(Great Plains Federal Credit Union, SourceOne Federal Credit Union, Hereford Texas Federal Credit Union, Thiokol Ordnance Federal Credit Union )(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Four credit unions in three states have sold their credit card portfolios to TNB Card Services, Dallas-based TNB said today. TNB signed agent agreements with the credit unions and will continue to issue credit cards on their behalf. The credit...

CYOTA CLAIMS SIGNIFICANT ONLINE FRAUD REDUCTION.(eVision online fraud-prevention system)
August 19, 2005... Cyota Inc. announced today that its eVision online fraud-prevention system cut online banking, credit and debit card fraud incidents at five U.S. and UK banks by 65% to 80% during its first year of use eVision analyzes and scores all online...

CITIZENS TRUST OFFERS VISA-BRANDED GIFT CARD.(Brief Article)
August 19, 2005... Citizens Trust Bank today announced that it is offering the GiftVantage Visa gift card. GiftVantage is available in denominations up to $500, and the card can be redeemed anywhere Visa cards are accepted, Jaques Lee, Citizen's senior vice...

DELTA LANDS AMENDED AGREEMENT WITH CURRENT PROCESSOR.(Delta Air Lines Inc.)
August 19, 2005... Financially troubled Delta Air Lines amended its card-processing contract with the airline's current processor after failing so far to reach an agreement with a new processor. Delta said the contract with its current, unnamed processor was...