Cardline articles from December 2003

Cardline archives from December 2003

CHASE TO ACQUIRE CITICORP EFS.(J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. will purchase Citicorp Electronic Financial Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. announced today an agreement to buy Citicorp Electronic Financial Services Inc. for $380 million. A Chase spokesperson says the deal is expected to close by the end of December. Citicorp EFS is the leading contractor for...

USUALLY SLOW THIRD QUARTER FOR CARD SOLICITATIONS EVEN SLOWER THAN USUAL.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Card issuers mailed 975.7 million acquisition letters in the third quarter, a 20% drop from the 1.22 billion mailed in 2002's third quarter, according to Synovate's Mail Monitor tracking service. This year's third quarter mailings declined 9%...

PRE-THANKSGIVING SPENDING IS NO TURKEY FOR VISA.(Visa USA reports increased card volume for week preceding Thanksgiving)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Visa USA card volume for the week preceding Thanksgiving was $19.5 billion, a 14.3% increase from the same period a year ago, according to today's Visa USA SpendTrak Report Total Visa retail card volume reached $7.3 billion, up 9%, with...

KOREA EXPECTS CARD ISSUERS TO POST HIGHER LOSSES IN 2004.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... The Bank of Korea, South Korea's central bank, Tuesday said it expects the country's nine credit card issuers to post huge losses next year because of high chargeoff and delinquency rates. Central bank officials did not say how high of a loss...

AMEX PLEDGES MILLIONS FOR SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS AT THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.(American Express Co.)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... American Express Co. yesterday pledged a minimum of $3 million to The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation to make safety improvements to the Statute of Liberty, which has been closed since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The card...

VERIFONE THUMPS ITS CHEST ABOUT THE LATEST HYPERCOM DEFECTION.(Tom Veasey joins VeriFone Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Tom Veasey, Hypercom Corp. senior vice president, jumped ship to competitor VeriFone Inc., the second Hypercom executive to do so in a month. VeriFone, the Santa Clara, CA, terminal marketer, announced Tuesday that it had hired Veasey, who will...

FUNERAL SERVICES FOR SENIOR ACXIOM EXECUTIVE.(Paul M. Williams)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
December 5, 2003... Funeral services were held today in Conway, AR, for Paul M. Williams, sales leader at Acxiom Corp., a Little Rock, AR-based marketing firm that is a key supplier of database services to card issuers. Williams was killed Sunday afternoon in a...

VISA GOBBLED UP TRANSACTIONS OVER HOLIDAY WEEKEND.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Consumers were wearing out the magnetic stripe on their Visa credit and debit cards the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving with $6.5 billion in total spending, up 12% from the same period last year, Visa USA reported Sunday. In the retail...

RETAIL E-COMMERCE SALES RISE SMARTLY; MARKET SHARE STILL TINY.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... With the holiday shopping season shifting into high gear, Internet retailers seem poised for big gains if third-quarter volume is any indication. Retail electronic-commerce volume rose 27% in the third quarter compared with 2002's third...

MBNA'S CAWLEY TO RETIRE.(Charles M. Cawley)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Charles M. Cawley, 63, the founder and chief executive of MBNA Corp., will retire Dec. 30, the Wilmington, DE-based issuer announced Friday. He will be succeeded by Bruce Hammonds, 55, currently chairman and CEO of MBNA America Bank N.A., the...

ETA PROGRAM GROWING, BUT SLOWLY.(Electronic Transfer Accounts for unbanked individuals grows at steady pace)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... A 4-year-old program that provides financial incentives to banks for offering unbanked individuals accounts so they may receive government funds electronically is chugging along. Some 570 financial institutions with 18,000 branches have opened...

SUPERMARKETS TEST LOYALTY SYSTEM.(Giant Eagle tests Copient system from NCR Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... ATM and POS hardware maker NCR Corp. has scored a hat trick this fall, expanding the adoption of its Copient system that uses supermarket reward cards to build consumer sales. Copient combines touch-screen kiosks with software to read the cards...

CATHOLIC KNIGHTS UNVEILS AFFINITY CARD.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Milwaukee-based Catholic Knights last week rolled out the We Share affinity credit card that donates 1% of the value of purchases to the Catholic parish or school of the cardholder's choice. Las Vegas-based M&I Bank FSB, a subsidiary of...

NEW ENGLAND BANKCARD RENEWS WITH FIRST DATA.(First Data Corp., New England Bankcard Association renew contract)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... One of the oldest relationships in the card industry is getting a five-year renewal. First Data Corp. today said it has extended its processing agreement with the New England Bankcard Association, which provides various credit and debit payment...

CREDIT CARD LATE FEES RISING.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... New credit card offers are including higher late fees, some up to $39, a spokesperson for Tarrytown, NY-based Synovate Mail Monitor tells CardLine today. In the third quarter, 10% of the estimated 975.7 million credit card solicitations issuers...

LONG-SHOT BID FAILS ON BANKRUPTCY BILL.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... A last-minute Senate effort to move the dormant bankruptcy-reform bill by attaching it to a broad omnibus spending package still awaiting final congressional action apparently has been shelved, CardLine sister publication The Credit Union...

MASTERCARD PLANS BIG CONTACTLESS PUSH IN 2004.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... MasterCard International plans to launch its PayPass contactless payment service in several U.S. cities early next summer, Art Kranzley, chief e-business officer, tells Cardline. MasterCard issuers in those cities will have the opportunity to...

VISA SEES 15.2% TRANSACTION INCREASE FROM 2002.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Visa USA last night reported that spending on its cards for the week ending Nov. 30 totaled $19.7 billion, a 13% increase from the same period in 2002. There were 335.8 million total transactions with Visa cards, a 15.2% increase from the same...

BANKS HESITANT TO REPLACE LEGACY SYSTEMS.(according to survey by Celent Communications Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... A recent survey by Boston-based Celent Communications Inc. predicts sluggish sales for new, open-source payment-processing hardware and software as financial institutions remain cautious about replacing legacy payment systems. A Celent survey...

HYPERCOM TERMINALS TO SUPPORT SHAZAM GIFT CARD PROGRAM.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Hypercom Corp., a Phoenix-based payment terminal manufacturer, last week announced that the Johnston, IA-based Shazam electronic funds transfer network has selected Hypercom's ICE terminals and technology to support its new gift card program...

NYCE, BANKNORTH SIGN EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... The NYCE network will continue as the exclusive electronic funds transfer switch for Banknorth Group Inc., Portland, ME. Banknorth is expanding its participation in NYCE by joining the network's Oversight Board on network pricing and policies...

WAL-MART TO DROP DEBIT MASTERCARD ACCEPTANCE.
December 5, 2003... Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, upped the pressure on the card associations today by disclosing that it will stop accepting signature-based debit MasterCard transactions Feb. 1. Bentonville, AR-based Wal-Mart's action...

ISSUERS WAIT AND SEE ON WAL-MART DECISION.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... At least one debit card issuer is taking a wait-and-see position in its efforts to decipher the implications of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s decision to stop accepting debit MasterCard transactions Feb. 1. "Our initial thinking is it's early in the...

MASTERCARD RELEASES EARNINGS.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... MasterCard International's corporate parent MasterCard Inc. reported today third-quarter net income of $74.4 million, a 4.5% drop from the $77.9 million recorded in 2002's third quarter. Revenues totaled $594.1 million, up 10% from a year...

CREDIT COUNSELING CONFUSES CONSUMERS.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Despite record-setting bankruptcy rates, most Americans have little or no knowledge of credit-counseling agencies, according to a survey released this week by the Consumer Federation of America and the InCharge Institute of America. Less than...

TRANSFIRST PLANS BUYS ... SOON.(TransFirst Holdings Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... TransFirst Holdings Inc., the Dallas-based merchant processor, is on the prowl to acquire independent sales organizations or their portfolios early next year, Thomas M. Rouse, chairman and CEO, told CardLine recently in Chicago. "There are...

CITIGROUP, STAPLES RENEW AGREEMENT.(for credit card processing services)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Citigroup Inc. has signed a long-term card-processing renewal agreement with Staples, an operator of office-supply stores worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement, Citigroup's Citi Commerce Solutions will provide processing services for all...

NCR WINS FIRST OF OMAHA ATM DEAL.(First National Bank of Omaha selects NCR Corp. for ATM contract)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Omaha, NE-based First National Bank of Omaha will deploy NCR Corp. ATMs that contain computer software using Interactive Financial Exchange messaging protocols. The IFX-based ATMs will allow the bank to share the same transaction sets on the...

EZ CASH OUTSOURCES ATM SERVICES.(NexTran Industries Inc. wins outsourcing contract from EZ Cash)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... The New York City-based EZ Cash ATM independent sales organization will outsource several ATM services to NexTran Industries Inc ew York-based-NexTran, a subsidiary of the South Korean ATM maker Chungho Comnet Co. and an affiliate of the Money...

STAR TO RAISE POS DEBIT INTERCHANGE RATES.
December 5, 2003... The Maitland, FL-based Star electronic funds transfer network, which in recent months has lost several major card-issuer contracts, on Feb. 1 will raise interchange rates, CardLine has learned. Acquirers pay interchange to card issuers and pass...

BAD-DEBT BUYER BARTMANN ACQUITTED.(William R. Bartmann, former president of Commercial Financial Services Inc., is acquitted of fraud, money laundering, conspiracy charges)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... A federal jury in Tulsa, OK, yesterday acquitted William R. Bartmann, the former president of defunct bad-debt buyer Commercial Financial Services Inc., of fraud and other charges related to CFS's collapse, according to the Associated Press and...

CREDIT-UNION PORTFOLIO SALES STRONG.(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Sales of credit-union credit card portfolios for 2003's first nine months ran well ahead of last year's pace, according to Peterborough, NH-based broker and credit-union financial advisory firm Brookwood Capital. Through Sept. 30, 43 credit...

AN ELECTRIFYING BUY FOR ALLIANCE.(Alliance Data Systems Corp. has acquired Orcom Solutions Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Dallas-based processor Alliance Data Systems Corp. announced today it has acquired Orcom Solutions Inc., a billing services firm for utilities. Conshohocken, PA-based Orcom generates about one million statements a month and has operations in...

ONLINE, IT'S ONE FOR YOU AND ONE FOR ME.(American Express Retail Index survey)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Nearly one-third, 31%, of consumers plan to make a holiday purchase online this year, up from 18% last year, according to the American Express Retail Index survey released this week. On average, online shoppers say they will spend $1,082 on...

NIGERIA, INDONESIA TOP THE U.S. IN ONLINE FRAUD.(according to survey from CyberSource Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Online merchants say that orders from Nigeria and Indonesia pose the highest risk of fraud worldwide, according to a survey of Web merchant managers from CyberSource Corp. The two countries tied with 28% of the managers citing them as the most...

EDGAR, DUNN ADDS MARKETING MAVENS.(Edgar, Dunn & Co. acquires CoBrand Dynamics)(Brief Article)
December 5, 2003... Banking consultant Edgar, Dunn & Co. announced this week it has acquired CoBrand Dynamics, a marketing intelligence shop focusing on consumer attitudes and behavior. CoBrand Dynamics' owners F. Alan Schultheis and Ronald G. Mazursky will join...

REVOLVING CREDIT GROWTH SLOWS IN OCTOBER.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Consumer revolving credit grew at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.6% in October, down from a revised 6.5% rate for September, the Federal Reserve reported this afternoon. The Fed initially pegged September's annualized growth rate at...

AMERICANS CAUTIOUS WITH HOLIDAY DEBT.(Over one-third of U.S. consumers plan to use less credit for gift purchases this holiday season, vs last year)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Over one-third of U.S. consumers plan to use less credit for gift purchases this holiday season than they did last year, while very few shoppers plans to use more credit, according to a survey released today by Cambridge Consumer Credit Index....

CHARGEOFFS HOLD STEADY.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Chargeoffs in securitized pools of card receivables stood at 6.9% of outstandings in October, unchanged from September and the lowest chargeoff rate since October 2002, according to the Standard & Poor's U.S. Credit Quality Index released...

AWARD PERKS UP STARBUCKS CARD.(Starbucks Corp., Bank One Corp. receive a Best Products of 2003 award from Business Week for its Starbucks Card Duetto Visa)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Business Week magazine today named the Starbucks Card Duetto Visa, from Starbucks Corp. and Bank One Corp., as one of its Best Products of 2003. Business Week cited the Duetto as the first prepaid cash card to double as a credit card. Purchases...

PAY BY CELL PHONE? ONLY IF IT'S EASIER.(Nokia conducts pay by cell phone service test in Dallas area)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Consumers keep their mobile phones handy in case they receive a call, which makes phones a convenient payment device, Tom Zalewski of Finland-based handset manufacturer Nokia, tells CardLine. But Nokia's tests show consumers will only switch to...

TESORO GASSES UP JUNIPER MASTERCARD.(Tesoro Petroleum Corp. selects Juniper bank to offer cobranded MasterCard)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Juniper Bank has enticed Tesoro Petroleum Corp. to drop its proprietary credit card and offer a cobranded MasterCard with several creative customer reward features. The platinum card will offer cardholders a 3% rebate for purchases at Tesoro...

PAYMENTECH DELIVERS TO DOMINOS.(Paymentech L.P. again wins card-processing business of Domino's Pizza )(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Merchant acquirer Paymentech L.P. again won the card-processing business of Domino's Pizza under a multiyear deal announced this week. Paymentech will handle processing for 570 company-owned stores and 2,700 franchises in the United States....

HALF OF WAL-MART'S STORES PAY LOWER DEBIT RATES.
December 12, 2003... When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Dec. 3 announced it will stop accepting signature-based debit MasterCard transactions starting in February, company officials cited MasterCard's "higher transaction fees when compared to other debit cards." Half of...

FDC CALLS CONCORD DEAL UNCERTAIN.(First Data Corp. doesn't expect planned acquisition of Concord EFS Inc. to be completed by year-end)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... First Data Corp. reported late Friday that it did not expect its planned acquisition of Concord EFS Inc. to be completed by year-end, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Greenwood Village, CO-based First...

KMART SUES CAPITAL ONE.(Kmart Holding Corp. is suing subsidiaries of Capital One Financial Corp)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Discount retailer Kmart Holding Corp. is suing subsidiaries of Capital One Financial Corp. over the Capital One-issued Kmart MasterCard. Troy, MI-based Kmart, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last May, claims breach of contract, among...

CANADA's CHARGEOFFS RISE.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... The credit quality of Canadian credit card portfolios weakened during the third quarter, with chargeoffs jumping 15% to 3.08% of balances from 2.68% in the year-earlier period, according to the Moody's Investors Service Canadian Credit Card...

WELLS FARGO LAUNCHES INTERNET PAYMENT SERVICE.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. today launched a payment-processing service aimed at U.S.-based Internet merchants with annual sales over $10 million and international aspirations. The Global Payment Gateway combines features that online...

MOSAIC, ECLASSICSYSTEMS TEAM UP.(Mosaic Software Inc., eClassicSystems Inc. announce partnership)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Two ATM software companies are creating a new partnership. Mosaic Software Inc., the Deerfield Beach, FL-based marketer of Postilion ATM transaction-switching software, is partnering with eClassicSystems Inc., which markets ATM management...

ELAN BUYS NORTH VALLEY'S PORTFOLIO.(Elan Financial Services will purchase credit card portfolio from North Valley Bancorp)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Elan Financial Services, the card unit of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, is buying the credit card portfolio of Redding, CA-based North Valley Bancorp. The portfolio has about $2 million in receivables, according to Peterborough, NH-based...

TSYS NAMES SECOND CEO IN ITS 20-YEAR HISTORY.(Total System Services Inc named Philip W. Tomlinson CEO, replacing Richard W. Ussery)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Card processor Total System Services Inc.'s board of directors this afternoon announced that it has named Philip W. Tomlinson CEO, replacing Richard W. Ussery, who will remain chairman and an active member of the TSYS's management team. The...

VISA SAYS CARD SPENDING VOLUME WAS $21.9 BILLION LAST WEEK.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Visa USA yesterday reported weekly sales volume of $21.9 billion in the week ending Dec. 7, a 13.3% increase from the same period a year ago. There were 355.6 million Visa card transactions in the week, a 15.3% increase, according to Visa's...

DING-DONG! AVON IS CALLING WITH ITS OWN CREDIT CARD OFFER.(Bank One Corp. and Avon Products Inc. announce that Bank One will issue Avon Platinum Visa)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Bank One Corp. and Avon Products Inc. today announced that Bank One will issue the Avon Platinum Visa, a card that will reward both the cardholder and the Avon representative, an Avon spokesperson tells CardLine today. Cardholders will receive...

METAVANTE BUYS COMPANY THAT PRODUCES HEALTH-INSURANCE ID CARDS.(Metavante Corp. purchased Printing For Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Metavante Corp. today announced that it purchased for an undisclosed price Printing For Systems Inc., a Madison, CT, company that produced 48 million identification cards last year for health-insurance providers. A Metavante spokesperson tells...

CITIBANK SPENDS 37 CENTS TO MAIL CENTS.(Citibank mails rebate checks to consumers who were part of class that sued over timing of crediting payments to card accounts)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Citibank recently began mailing rebate checks to consumers who were part of the class that sued over the timing of crediting payments to card accounts. In 2000, Citi agreed to pay $15.5 million to 30 million cardholders to settle the case....

MASTERCARD BROADENS TRAVEL HORIZONS.(MasterCard International expands high-end travel deals its issuers can offer to entice cardholders)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... MasterCard International is expanding the high-end travel deals its issuers can offer to entice cardholders, the Purchase, NY-based association announced recently. The Global Premium MasterCard Collection is an assortment of offers from various...

DATACARD EXEC TO LEAD SMART CARD GROUP.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Bob Beer, vice president of Minnetonka, MN-based Datacard Group, has been elected chairman of GlobalPlatform, an international consortium that sets standards for multifunction smart cards. Jim Lee, senior vice president of emerging technologies...

CLARIFICATION.(Correction Notice)
December 12, 2003... A Wells Fargo & Co. executive says she spoke in error when she told CardLine that the company's Global Payment Gateway would support MasterCard International's SecureCode Internet-authentication service along with Visa International's Verified...

SAM'S CLUB DECIDES VISA AND MASTERCARD WON'T FIT IN ITS STORES.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... While most of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club warehouses accept only PIN-based debit cards along with Discover and the Sam's private-label credit card, 74 of the 500 Sam's Clubs have been testing acceptance of either Visa or MasterCard credit...

SUITORS ARE LINING UP TO WIN LG CARD'S HAND.(Korea Development Bank, GE Capital, HSBC Holdings PLC, Newbridge Capital Ltd. are among rumored bidders for LG Card Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Three companies, a government-owned Korean bank, and a possible consortium of small Korean banks have expressed interest in financially troubled LG Card Co. Ltd., Korea's largest credit card issuer. Asian Banker Interactive, an online...

LIPMAN WINS TERMINAL ORDER FROM CHINESE BANK.(Lipman Electronics Engineering Ltd. wins point-of-sale terminal contract from ICBC Bank)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Israel-based Lipman Electronics Engineering Ltd. says it has won an order worth about $2 million to supply point-of-sale terminals to ICBC Bank, one of the four big commercial banks in China. Lipman says it will ship thousands of terminals,...

MASTERCARD ORDERS PAY-WITH-A-WAVE CHIPS.(Amtel Corp. wins contract from MasterCard International)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... In a step toward a mass rollout of contactless chip-based payment cards in the United States, MasterCard International has selected San Jose, CA-based Atmel Corp. as one of the suppliers of chips for those cards. Atmel announced today it will...

OSI EMERGES FROM CHAPTER 11.(Outsourcing Solutions Inc. emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Outsourcing Solutions Inc. announced yesterday that it has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The St. Louis-based receivables-management firm's growth plan includes a new multi-year, $90 million credit facility from Merrill Lynch...

IDINE CHANGES NAME AS IT EXPANDS ITS FOCUS.(Idine Rewards Network Inc. changes name to Rewards Network Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Idine Rewards Network Inc. today announced that it has changed its name to Rewards Network Inc. to reflect the company's broader business strategy. Idine, which was launched a dining-rewards program in 1984, this year added a hotel rewards...

PEPPERCOIN AGREES TO PROCESS PAYMENTS FOR BLUE NOTE RECORDS.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Micropayments processor Peppercoin Inc. announced this week it will process payments for Blue Note Records, a popular jazz label, offering a song for 99 cents. Waltham, MA-based Peppercoin also announced that its service is available for other...

CLARIFICATION.(Correction Notice)
December 12, 2003... First Data Corp.'s planned health care card will offer a payment function that allows it to debit money from a cardholder's flexible spending account, First Data executives said. The magnetic-stripe, multi-purpose healthcare card will store...

CONCORD SHARES RISE AMID RUMORS OF A DEAL.(Shares of Concord EFS Inc rose this morning amid rumors that First Data Corp. wants to settle its dispute with U.S. Department of Justice)
December 12, 2003... Shares of Concord EFS Inc., the Memphis, TN-based merchant processor and EFT network owner, rose this morning amid rumors that First Data Corp. wants to settle its dispute with the U.S. Department of Justice concerning FDC's proposed purchase...

COLLEGE-AGE ADULTS LOAD ON THE CARD DEBT.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... College-age adults added to their credit card debt in 2003 compared with 2002, bucking a trend in which older adults are cutting their card debt, according to survey released today by Myvesta.org Inc., a Rockville, MD, consumer-education...

MICROPAYMENT COMPANIES BEGIN MAKING OFFERS.(PayPal Inc introduces new, low-cost processing fees for online digital-music merchants)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Several processors of Web-based micropayments have been jockeying recently to convince merchants that consumers will take to the concept. PayPal Inc. announced this week new, low-cost processing fees for online digital-music merchants. PayPal...

CARDHOLDERS LOVE E-MAIL COMMUNICATIONS FROM ISSUERS.(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Cardholders are much happier receiving communications from their card issuer over the Internet, and Internet communication is much cheaper for the issuers, according to a recently released study. Bigfoot Interactive, a New York City research...

NEW ATM PROTOCOLS FROM IFX.(IFX Version 1.5 is a new, open-source language aimed at ATM and POS software vendors )(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... The Interactive Financial Exchange Forum, or IFX Forum, has published its computer software messaging protocols for ATM and PIN-based point-of-sale transactions. Called IFX Version 1.5, the new, open-source language allows ATM and POS software...

ISO RENEWS WITH GLOBAL PAYMENTS.(Century Bankcard Services renews contract with Global Payments Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Global Payments Inc., the Atlanta-based merchant processor, yesterday announced that Century Bankcard Services has renewed its multi-year agreement with Global. The agreement calls for end-to-end processing services, technical support for...

BELK CHECKS IN WITH CERTEGY.(Certegy Inc. will provide check warranty services to Belk Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 12, 2003... Certegy Inc. today signed a multi-year agreement to provide check warranty services to Belk Inc., the nation's largest privately held department-store chain. Charlotte, NC-based Belk operates 221 stores in 13 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic...

VISA STRIKES FIRST IN LOOMING DEBIT-INTERCHANGE WAR.
December 19, 2003... Visa USA and MasterCard International may be on the verge of another interchange war. Both card associations yesterday released bulletins to processors and member financial institutions explaining changes in the interchange policies for their...

INTERCEPT DOES AN ABOUT-FACE.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... InterCept Inc., the Atlanta-based card processor, is doing an about-face for now. John W. Collins, the card processor's chairman and CEO, today announced that he has decided not to pursue a possible offer to take InterCept private. "After...

OCC, METRIS MODIFY AGREEMENT.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)
December 19, 2003... Financially troubled Metris Companies Inc. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have modified their operating agreement, but an OCC spokesperson says, "it's nothing onerous." Metris, which is based in Minnetonka, MN, disclosed the...

JUSTICE, FIRST DATA ARE PUTTING IN LONG HOURS TO MAKE A DEAL.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... First Data Corp. and the U.S. Justice Department are negotiating around-the-clock to reach an out-of-court settlement in the Justice Department lawsuit before the trial opens Monday. First Data and DOJ officials met late last night in an...

AMEX CANADA WILL HIRE NEW WORKERS AT RESERVATION CENTER.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... Amex Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of American Express Co., is planning to hire 185 people over the next five years as part of an expansion of its corporate travel-reservation center in Halifax. Center personnel handle in-bound calls from...

PSCU WILL PROCESS CARDS FOR PENNSYLVANIA CREDIT UNION.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... PSCU Financial Services, the nation's largest credit union service organization, today signed an agreement to process credit card accounts for Benchmark Federal Credit Union of West Chester, PA. According to the agreement's terms, PSCU will...

TSYS HIRES MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... Total System Services Inc. today named Kelley C. Knutson managing director of TSYS Europe. Knutson joins TSYS from Clear Money Ltd., which hired him as CEO in 2001. Clear Money is the largest aggregator of electronic-bill presentment and...

FIRST DATA WILL DIVEST NYCE, BUY CONCORD.
December 19, 2003... First Data Corp. this morning announced it has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice concerning the Greenwood Village, CO-based processor's planned acquisition of Memphis, TN-based Concord EFS Inc. The DOJ had sued to block...

DELAY MAKES CONCORD CHEAPER FOR FIRST DATA.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... First Data Corp.'s agreement with the Department of Justice today has changed the terms of the processor's deal to buy Concord EFS Inc. Under the new terms, Concord shareholders will get fewer First Data shares, receiving 0.365 shares of First...

CONTACTLESS PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES.(joint initiative between Philips Semiconductors and Sony Corp. )(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... Philips Semiconductors of the Netherlands and Japan's Sony Corp. say they are making progress on a joint initiative that could enable consumers to make payments with chip cards through such devices as computers, TV sets and mobile phones. The...

RETENTION ELBOWS ASIDE ACQUISITION.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2003... Card issuers are devoting more of their resources to retaining customers rather than on acquiring new ones, says Bill Reike, director of products and industry marketing for Convergys, which handles inbound and outbound call-center duties for...