Cardline articles from December 2004

Cardline archives from December 2004

MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL URGES CONSUMERS TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT GIFT CARDS.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... With holiday shopping about to begin in earnest the day after Thanksgiving, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly is urging consumers to ask plenty of questions before they purchase a gift card. Reilly said consumers should be aware of gift...

MASTERCARD REPORTS INCREASE IN MERCHANTS USING SECURECODE.(MasterCard International Inc., Digital River Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... MasterCard International announced this week that another 13,000 online merchants are using its SecureCode authentication technology, a 56% jump in participating merchants worldwide. The increase comes through a deal with Digital River Inc., a...

VISA INTERNATIONAL PREDICTS BIG GAIN IN E-COMMERCE SALES VOLUME.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Visa International reported yesterday that it expects its 2004 global e-commerce sales volume to exceed $150 billion, up 56% from 2003's $96 billion. "Consumers are increasingly confident about the Internet as a global retail channel,...

FAST-FOOD MCDONALD'S IS OFFERING HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ACCESS.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... McDonald's Corp. is offering a two-hour session of high-speed wireless access (Wi-Fi) at 32 of its restaurants in Texas for a $2.95 charge to the consumer's credit card, Wayport Inc., the provider of the wireless systems in the program,...

DIEBOLD INTRODUCES VECTRA, AN INTUITIVE ATM.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... While the interface between ATMs and their users has not changed in a basic way for decades, North Canton, OH-based Diebold Inc. displayed a so-called "concept" ATM at the recent Bank Administration's Retail Delivery Show in Las Vegas recently...

TRM COMPLETES PURCHASE OF ATM PORTFOLIO.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... TRM Corp. has completed its purchase of eFunds Corp.'s off-premise ATM portfolio. TRM announced Monday that its $150 million purchase of about 17,200 ATM contracts in retail locations was completed through a loan arranged by Banc of America...

ASTA FUNDING'S QUARTERLY, YEARLY PROFIT GROWS.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Bad-debt buyer and collections firm Asta Funding Inc. reported Tuesday net income of $6.51 million for its fourth fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, up 52% from $4.29 million a year earlier. Revenues increased 32% to $14.8 million from $11.2...

CLARIFICATION.(Correction Notice)
December 3, 2004... CardLine implied in today's issue that 120 million individuals live in the United Kingdom. The article meant to say that the Association for Payment Clearing Services' member banks have issued 110 million to 120 million chip-and-PIN cards...

PAY BY TOUCH TO ACQUIRE DEVELOPER OF A VIRTUAL PIN PAD FOR DEBIT CARD INTERNET SALES.(ATM Direct)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Pay By Touch, a San Francisco-based company whose fingerprint-biometrics payment product is being used at Piggly Wiggly, Roundy's, Pick'n Save and other stores, today announced plans to acquire ATM Direct for an undisclosed price. ATM Direct,...

COMPUCREDIT TO BUY FLEET RECEIVABLES.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Subprime card marketer CompuCredit Corp. today said it has formed a consortium to buy $1.1 billion in card receivables from Bank of America Corp. The acquisition will enlarge CompuCredit's serviced portfolio by about 56%. The receivables are...

VISA REPORTS STRONG SALES VOLUME DAY IN MOST AREAS AFTER THANKSGIVING.(Visa U.S.A. Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Visa USA has debunked a long-accepted myth that the day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year. It's the second busiest, but it's no turkey either. The San Francisco-based card association reported that sales volume Friday...

RUSSIA MAY INVESTIGATE VISA.(Russia's Federal Antitrust Service investigates Visa International)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Russia's Federal Antitrust Service will soon make a decision concerning whether it will prepare case against Visa International, Andrei Kashevarov, the head of FAS, recently told reporters in Moscow. According to Novosti, the Russian news and...

STUDY 48 CREDIT UNIONS THROUGH THE THIRD QUARTER HAVE SOLD THEIR CARD PORTFOLIOS.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... According to a new study released by Brookwood Capital, a Peterborough, NH, firm that brokers credit-union card portfolios, a total of 48 credit unions have sold their card programs through the third quarter.If sales continue at this pace, they...

COMPANY PROPOSES MARRIAGE OF TRANSIT AND PAYMENT CARDS.(C&C Enterprise Co. Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... New York-based Smart Systems says it will promote to U.S. transit agencies a system developed in South Korea that allows transit riders to pay fares with credit or debit cards. The company has formed a partnership with C&C Enterprise Co. Ltd....

METAVANTE EXPANDS CONTRACT WITH LOS ANGELES PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEM.(Los Angeles County, California. Metropolitan Transportation Authority)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Metavante Corp. today announced that it will provide credit and debit card acquiring, processing and settlement for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority when the agency completes replacement of all of its existing...

CITIGROUP INTRODUCES CARD WITH TRANSIT CHIP.(Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... In the first major U.S. test of combining transit fare payment with a credit card, Citigroup Inc. this week began mailing customers in the Washington, DC, area a platinum card they can also use to pay transit and parking fees, CardLine has...

HOME-EQUITY LOANS TO REDUCE CREDIT CARD LOAN GROWTH, ANALYST PREDICTS.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The growing popularity of low-cost, home-equity loans will reduce growth in higher-cost credit card loans, according to Morgan Stanley equity analyst Kenneth Posner. "For the U.S. credit card industry as a whole, we now look for receivables...

VISA REVAMPS SMART CARD PROGRAM.(Visa International)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Visa International announced this week a change in its program aimed at keeping a lid on smart card prices. Instead of developing Visa-approved products with chip suppliers and setting a maximum price for "white plastic" cards containing those...

CARD PENETRATION AMONG CREDIT-UNION MEMBERS DROPS IN THIRD QUARTER.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... AssetExchange, a Portland, OR, credit card consulting firm for financial institutions, yesterday released its third-quarter analysis of credit-union credit card trends. The study found that credit card penetration among credit-union members...

QUEEN'S BANK ISSUES MASTERCARD-BRANDED CHARGE CARD FOR THE WEALTHY.
December 3, 2004... Coutts & Co., a private London bank where Queen Elizabeth II does her banking, has begun issuing Coutts World, a MasterCard-branded charge card for the very wealthy. "You have to be a client of the bank to get the card," a spokesperson tells...

DUNKIN' DONUTS DIPS INTO STORED-VALUE CARDS.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Dunkin' Donuts, which sells more coffee, doughnuts and muffins than any other quick-service restaurant in the country, today began selling a reloadable stored-value card at its stores in some New England states and on the company's Web site, a...

ADVANTA ANTICIPATES 2005 PRE-TAX EARNINGS.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Advanta Corp. said it expects 2005 pre-tax earnings for Advanta Business Cards, its main unit, of between $90 million and $95 million. In a conference call with analysts yesterday, Chairman and CEO Dennis Alter said Advanta will continue with...

VISA ENHANCES INTERLINK CHARGEBACK RIGHTS, DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROTECTION.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Visa USA this month is enhancing the chargeback rights and dispute resolution protections for Interlink, Visa's PIN-based point-of-sale debit network. Under the changes, which went into effect yesterday, cardholders who are dissatisfied with...

PAYMENTECH WILL OFFER PAYPAL AS A PAYMENT OPTION.(Paymentech Merchant Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Merchant acquirer Paymentech L.P. will offer PayPal Inc. as a payment option to Paymentech's merchants for card-not-present transactions beginning in January, Scott Cruickshank, Paymentech's chief marketing officer, tells CardLine today. The...

A BUSY INAUGURAL MORNING FOR THE CREDIT BUREAUS' FREE REPORT SERVICE.(The Web site operated by the nation's three major credit-reporting agencies to distribute free credit reports went live)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... The Web site operated by the nation's three major credit-reporting agencies to distribute free credit reports went live this morning for consumers in 13 Western states, apparently without any major problems. Driven by heavy media publicity,...

EMERGING NATIONS FUELING ATM DEPLOYMENTS.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Emerging nations are fueling most of the growth in ATM deployments as growth globally is generally slowing, according to a new study by the London-based Retail Banking Research consultancy. The study, released today, shows that the global ATM...

INFICORP AGREES TO BUY CREDIT-UNION CARD PROGRAM.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... InfiCorp has agreed to purchase Cornerstone Credit Union's card portfolio for an undisclosed price in a deal arranged by Brookwood Capital, the Peterborough, NH, firm that provides consulting services for credit card issuers. As of Sept. 30,...

ALLIANCE DATA RENEWS AGREEMENT.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Alliance Data Systems Corp. has renewed an agreement to provide private-label card services for New York & Co., a retailer formerly known as Lerner New York. In an agreement announced yesterday, Alliance Data will continue to provide a card...

DEBT COLLECTION IMPROVES.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Collectible consumer debt accounts rose in October to their highest level for the month in three years, according to the Settlement-in-Full Index (SIFI) compiled by SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. The SIFI composite index level of 56% in October...

MONOGRAM CREDIT CARD BANK SETTLES CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT.
December 3, 2004... Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia, which is owned by GE Consumer Finance, has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed against it and two big retailers, The Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's Companies Inc. The lawsuit filed in November 2003...

CHARGEOFFS DROP IN SEPTEMBER.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Chargeoffs on pools of securitized card receivables fell 40 basis points to 5.73% of receivables in September from 6.13% in August, a 25-month low, according to the Fitch Credit Card Index. That was 76 basis points below year-ago levels....

LOYALTY VENDOR SIGNS DEALS IN ASIA.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Banks in Malaysia and Taiwan are converting their payment cards to smart cards and France-based Welcome this week announced two deals aimed at adding Welcome's XLS loyalty software to those chip cards. The company says Malayan Bank Berhad,...

CREDIT CARDS TAKE OVER THE E-COMMERCE MARKET IN GERMANY AND EUROPE.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... A new study by Pago eTransaction Services GmbH found that the credit card has established itself as the most important payment method for e-commerce in Germany and Europe, Rudiger Trautmann, the company's CEO, said in a 126-page study titled...

VISA EUROPE LAUNCHES V PAY CARD.(Visa EU Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Visa Europe launched this week a pan-European debit product designed to accommodate the technical needs of many of its issuers and meet forthcoming requirements set by payments regulators. The V Pay card is an EMV computer chip and debit...

AMERICAN EXPRESS CERTIFIES OTI CONTACTLESS READER.(On Track Innovations Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... On Track Innovations Ltd. announced today that its Saturn 5000 reader had been certified for use in the American Express Co xpressPay contactless payment program xpressPay uses a smart card chip and antenna embedded in a plastic card, keyfob or...

SEPTEMBER SETS RECORD FOR SLOWEST MONTH FOR ACQUISTION LETTERS.(Brief Article)
December 3, 2004... Credit card issuers slowed their solicitation campaigns this summer, and September set a record as the slowest month for acquisition letters, according to the Mintel's Comperemedia tracking service. Issuers sent 310 million new direct-mail...

FED SEEKS COMMENT CONCERNING CREDIT CARDS.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The Federal Reserve Board today announced it is seeking comment on how the Truth in Lending Act might be amended to improve disclosure to consumers applying for credit or charge cards. "We're trying to get an idea of which direction we should...

VISA CANADA SETS KEY DATE FOR SMART CARD CONVERSION.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Visa Canada has set October 2010 as the date by which Visa members must convert to smart cards or accept liability for fraud losses. The Canadian unit of Visa last year outlined a smart card road map, but this recent announcement for the first...

FASTER TRANSACTIONS BOOST CASE FOR CHIP.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... While fraud reduction is the primary reason to convert to smart cards, British merchants are also seeing payback from moving consumers through checkout lines more quickly, says Allen Wright, director of chip initiatives and emerging...

PAYPAL GETS A LEADER WITH THE TITLE OF PRESIDENT.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Meg Whitman, president and CEO of eBay Inc., has named Jeff Jordan, former senior vice president of eBay North America, president of PayPal Inc. as part of a reshuffling of senior management announced yesterday. Jordan replaces Matt Bannick,...

ASIA PAYMENT SYSTEMS SIGNS AGREEMENT.(Shanghai CRC Telecommunication Co. Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Processor Asia Payment Systems Inc. said it has finalized an exclusive agreement with Shanghai CRC Telecommunication Co. Ltd., which provides long distance, networking and data transmission services in 500 Chinese cities covering 8 million...

NCR APPROVES STOCK SPLIT.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... NCR Corp., the Dayton, OH-based ATM maker and software provider, yesterday announced that its board of directors has approved a two-for-one stock split, which will be payable in a 100% stock dividend on Jan. 21. Stockholders of record as of the...

KANSAS CITY FED PLANS INTERCHANGE CONFERENCE.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has scheduled a conference in May about interchange fees, one of the most controversial issues in card-based payments. "It's a big issue here as well as internationally," Terri Bradford, payment systems...

SYNOVATE CHANGES METHODOLGY CONCERNING CARD SOLICITATIONS.
December 10, 2004... Two vendors that track the direct-mail credit card mailings by issuers are reporting drastically divergent findings, causing one to send a letter to clients explaining its methodology and expand its survey base. Synovate's Mail Monitor reports...

COMMERCIAL CHECK VOLUME DECLINES 5% IN THE THIRD QUARTER.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The volume of commercial checks fell 5.5% to approximately 3.4 billion pieces in the third quarter, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. At the same time, automated clearinghouse commercial volume increased 4.2% to 1.6 billion transactions, the...

MELLON FINANCIAL AND MEDIBANK SIGN LETTER OF INTENT.(Medibank Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Mellon Financial Corp. and Medibank Inc., or MBI, today announced the signing of a letter of intent to offer health plans and third-party administrators a Mellon health-savings account accessible with the MBI Benefits Card. Rob Butler, MBI...

PAYMENTECH JOINS THE GENERATION OF CARD-ACCEPTING PEPSI VENDING MACHINES.(Pepsi-Cola North America)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Merchant acquirer Paymentech L.P. today announced that it had signed a multi-year agreement to process credit and debit card payments in several hundred vending machines owned by Pepsi-Cola North America, the $4 billion beverage unit of PepsiCo...

BARCLAYS COMPLETES PURCHASE OF JUNIPER FINANCIAL CORP.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... London-based Barclays PLC, parent company of Barclaycard, recently announced that it has completed its purchase of credit card issuer Juniper Financial Corp. for $293 million from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Juniper's senior...

VERIFONE AGREES TO BUY GO SOFTWARE INC.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Software marketer Return On Investment Corp. (ROI) is selling GO Software Inc. to VeriFone Inc., expanding the San Jose, CA, terminal maker's product offerings, a VeriFone spokesperson tells CardLine today. VeriFone has agreed to pay $13...

MONERIS TEAMS WITH PAYROLL-SERVICES PROVIDER.(Moneris Solutions Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Big merchant acquirer Moneris Solutions today said it will enhance its services for small-business clients by offering Web-based services from SurePayroll Inc. to automate the processing of payrolls. Skokie, IL-based SurePayroll claims to be...

REVOLVING CREDIT GROWTH HITS THE BRAKES ...(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... After a torrid September, consumer revolving credit grew at a lukewarm 1.8% seasonally adjusted annualized rate in October, the Federal Reserve reported this afternoon. A month ago, the Fed said revolving credit grew at a 10% annual rate in...

BUT HOLIDAY CARD PAYMENTS SHOW STRENGTH.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... While some retailers express fears that the 2004 holiday shopping season could be mediocre, those concerns aren't being borne out by payment statistics from the bank card associations, at least not yet. In its new Holiday SpendTrack report,...

MERRILL LYNCH SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH MARQUIS JET.(Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith Inc., Marquis Jet Partners)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., the New York City financial-services company that offers the Merrill + and Merrill Signature Visa cards, today announced that it signed a partnership agreement with Marquis Jet and will offer the...

ICICI BECOMES THE FIRST INDIAN BANK TO LAUNCH A CREDIT CARD PROGRAM IN THE U.K.(ICICI Banking Corporation Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The United Kingdom-based subsidiary of ICICI Bank, India's second-largest financial institution, has launched a credit card program in the U.K., becoming the first Indian bank to do so. ICICI Bank UK Ltd.'s credit card program is targeting...

CHIP CARDS MAY HAVE LONGER LIFESPANS.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Royal Bank of Canada plans to lengthen its card-reissuance cycle from three to four years once the Toronto-based issuer converts its portfolio to smart cards, William Giles, director of emerging technologies, tells CardLine. Replacing the card...

HYPERCOM RECEIVES LARGE ORDER FOR SAUDI ARABIA.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Payment terminal manufacturer Hypercom Corp. announced today that it has received the largest one-time order ever in the company's history for the Middle East. Alhamrani Universal, Hypercom Corp.'s distributor in the United Kingdom, has ordered...

RESPONSE RATE AT THE HEART OF THE FEUD BETWEEN SYNOVATE AND COMPEREMEDIA.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The fight between Synovate's Mail Monitor and Mintel's Comperemedia goes beyond the differences the competitors have over the number of credit card offers mailed by issuers (CardLine 12-6). It also involves the response rate. Chicago-based...

AMEX AND CHINA'S LARGEST BANK LAUNCH COBRANDED CREDIT CARD.(American Express Co.)
December 10, 2004... American Express Co. and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's largest bank and card issuer, have launched a cobranded, dual-currency credit card, Kenneth Chenault, AmEx's chairman and CEO, told reporters this morning during a...

MASTERCARD'S PICTURE TELLS CONTACTLESS STORY.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... MasterCard International today unveiled a graphic that informs consumers where they can pay with contactless products like MasterCard PayPass and how to tap the card or device. MasterCard says it is offering the symbol as a universal identifier...

PENNSYLVANIA LIQUOR BOARD RINGS UP SALES WITH ITS NEW GIFT CARD.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, a state monopoly that owns the commonwealth's 637 liquor stores, has sold $337,000 worth of its reloadable gift cards since launching the product Nov. 1, a spokesperson tells CardLine today. "The number of...

CHASE ROLLS OUT COBRANDED SPRINT CARD.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co., Sprint Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Inc. and Sprint Corp. today launched Sprint Rewards Visa, a cobranded credit card that Sprint hopes will ring up more customer loyalty. Cardholders earn two points for every dollar spent on Sprint products and services....

CHARGEOFF RATE DECLINES AGAIN.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The quality of securitized pools of credit card receivables continued to improve in October, with the chargeoff rate falling to 5.99% of receivables, down from 6.53% a year earlier, according to Moody's Investors Service's Credit Card Credit...

CITI'S INTERNATIONAL CARDS ARE POSITIONED FOR GROWTH.(Citigroup Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... The international card unit of Citigroup Inc.'s Global Consumer group is well-positioned for growth, with global coverage in countries that comprise 86% of the world's Gross Domestic Product outside North America, Faith Massingale, head of...

VISA EUROPE LAUNCHES CONTACTLESS PAYMENT CARD FOR MICRO TRANSACTIONS.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Visa Europe launched last week an EMV compliant, contactless payment card designed to speed lower-value transactions. Visa is targeting the card for use at merchants where cash is king, including fast food, public transportation, convenience...

CREDIT CARD DEBT RISES AS INDIVIDUALS USE CARDS MORE FOR EVERYDAY PURCHASES.
December 10, 2004... The average amount of credit card debt carried by Americans rose 14.5% to $2,627 this year, up from $2,294 in 2003, according to the annual Credit Card Survey of Myvesta, a Rockville, MD-based nonprofit consumer education organization....

SALVATION ARMY BELL RINGERS ARE USING WIRELESS PAYMENT TERMINALS FOR DONATIONS.
December 10, 2004... Salvation Army bell ringers in the Phoenix area are using handheld wireless payment terminals to accept donations made with credit and debit cards in an attempt to close a huge deficit the organization is facing this year in the region, Sandi...

I-S-CUBED MELTS.
December 10, 2004... San Jose, CA-based I-S-Cubed Inc. has ceased operations. The firm, begun in 2000 to market remote key management for ATMs, ceased operating last week after its largest investors "were not interested in taking it any further," says I-S-Cubed...

ALLIANCE DATA REMAINS A PART OF CREW'S CREW.
December 10, 2004... Alliance Data Systems Corp. Tuesday announced it re-signed upscale retailer J. Crew to an extended agreement. Alliance will continue to provide private-label credit card services for Crew for seven years. Terms of the deal weren't released....

DELINQUENCIES ON HOME-EQUITY LOANS, WHICH ARE OFTEN USED TO PAY OFF CARD DEBT, FALL.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Delinquency and default rates on pools of securitized home-equity loans fell in August as new issuance increased 77% to $28.3 billion from $16 billion in August 2003, according to Moody's Investors Service's Home Equity Index Composite....

EURONET SIGNS ATM OUTSOURCING AGREEMENT IN INDIA.(Euronet Worldwide Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Electronic payments provider Euronet Worldwide Inc. today announced that it signed a multi-year ATM outsourcing deal with an international bank in Mumbai, India. According to the agreement, Leawood, KS, Euronet will take over operation of 245...

CYOTA SAYS ITS FRAUDACTION REDUCES PHISHING ATTACKS.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2004... Cyota Inc. recently reported the results of FraudAction, its anti-phishing service. The service, which is deployed through Cyota's so-called Anti-Fraud Command Center, handled hundreds of distinct phishing attacks in a month, and Cyota shut...

TWS SYSTEMS TO PROVIDE FRAUD PROTECTION FOR TCF BANK.
December 10, 2004... TWS Systems Inc. of Clearwater, FL, announced yesterday that Minneapolis-based TCF Bank will use TWS' AlertManager fraud-prevention software and the firm's Omega image-management software for TCF's check-imaging program for ATM deposits....

CORRECTIONS.(Correction Notice)
December 10, 2004... In this week's issue, the name of Gary Hoffman, chief executive of Barclaycard, was misspelled. Also in yesterday's issue, the headline on the story about Synovate, methodology was misspelled. CardLine apologizes for the errors. Also,...

MERCHANTS RATE NIGERIA, NEW YORK AS RISKIEST AREAS FOR E-COMMERCE.
December 17, 2004... E-commerce merchants rate Nigeria as the worst country and New York as the worst U.S.-Canadian city for payment fraud, according to a survey by fraud-detection and prevention technology provider CyberSource Corp. CyberSource, in a news release,...

CONVERSION TO CHIP AND PIN WILL VARY A LOT IN EUROPE.
December 17, 2004... European countries are moving at vastly different speeds to meet Europay-MasterCard-Visa chip-based fraud-fighting regulations that take effect Jan. 1, Martin Croot, Hypercom Corp. sales director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, tells...

U.K. CHIP AND PIN PROGRAM ISSUES ADVISORY TO DISPEL MYTHS.
December 17, 2004... The Chip and PIN Programme, which was organized by the Association for Payment Clearing Services and the British Retail Consortium, has issued an advisory to dispel the myths surrounding Chip and PIN, which is designed to reduce or eliminate...

SMALL BANK'S TERMINALS ARE A BIG HELP TO FINANCIALLY CHALLENGED SALVATION ARMY.
December 17, 2004... Arizona Business Bank supplied Salvation Army bell ringers in Phoenix with six Lipman Nurit 8000 handheld wireless payment terminals so the organization could accept donations made with credit and debit cards to reduce a huge deficit, Carol...

MCDONALD'S IS TESTING A STORED-VALUE CARD IN THREE MARKETS.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... McDonald's Corp., the world's largest restaurant chain, recently announced that it was launching a stored-value card in three markets with plans for a national rollout next year. Oak Brook, IL-based McDonald's planned launch of a stored-value...

BERMUDA PROCESSOR LAUNCHES E-COMMERCE PROGRAM IN EUROPE.(First Atlantic Commerce Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... First Atlantic Commerce Ltd., a Hamilton, Bermuda-based processor, has rolled out cGate, its e-commerce payment solution, in Europe months after the card associations, and Visa Europe certified First Atlantic for online transactions, Andrea...

CHARGEOFF AND DELINQUENCY RATES CLIMB, BUT CREDIT PERFORMANCE REMAINS STRONG.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Despite increases in chargeoffs and delinquencies in October, the overall credit performance of pools of securitized credit card receivables remained strong, according to the Standard & Poor's Bank Card Credit Card Quality Index released today....

CITIBANK AGREES TO ISSUE AMERICAN EXPRESS CARDS.(Citibank N.A. (New York, New York))(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... American Express Co. announced late this afternoon that it has signed an agreement with Citibank, the largest credit card issuer in the United States , to issue a cobranded AmEx card over the AmEx global merchant network. "American Express...

AMERICAN EXPRESS LOSING SOME ALLIANCES IN EUROPE.(Deutsche Bank Italia, Continente Bank)(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... American Express Co. has dropped its card-issuing relationships with Deutsche Bank Italia in Italy and Continente Bank in Spain, reducing the number of European countries where AmEx has an active card-issuing deal with a bank, CardLine has...

THEATER OWNERS LEAGUE PREDICTS BROADWAY GIFT CARD WILL HAVE A LONG RUN.(League of American Theaters and Producers)
December 17, 2004... The League of American Theater Owners and Producers Inc. has begun offering The Broadway Gift Card that individuals can purchase online or in New York to see a Broadway show, a spokesperson tells CardLine today. Individuals can buy the...

TNB AND REWARDSNOW OFFERS DEBIT AND CREDIT CARD REWARDS FOR SMALL BUSINESS.(TNB Card Services)(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... TNB Card Services and RewardsNow have teamed up to offer TNB's credit-union members a rewards program for small businesses, Duane Kimball, CEO of RewardsNow, tells CardLine today. Credit unions that sign up for the program can offer small...