Cardline articles from January 2006

Cardline archives from January 2006

2006 LOOKS BRIGHT FOR CONTACTLESS DEBIT CARDS.
January 6, 2006... The coming year is shaping up as a very active year for contactless debit cards. Millions of contactless payment cards or keychain fobs are already in circulation, and millions more are expected to be distributed in the U.S. next year. Wayne...

GIFT CARD SALES TO INCREASE.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... The sale of gift cards will reach $18.4 billion this holiday season, a 6.6% increase over the $17.34 billion sold in the 2004 holiday season, according to research from the National Retail Federation, a Washington, DC-based trade association....

GIFT CARDS SECURED WITH CARD VALIDATION CODE.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Durango, CO-based payment processor Mercury Payment Systems LLC says it has improved the security of its gift cards with the addition of card validation value codes. A card validation value (CVV) is a code that is printed on the back of a...

REPORT SAYS CHECK IMAGING CAN GENERATE ATM REVENUES.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Check imaging will help banks cut their ATM costs and generate new revenues, according to a report from Atlanta, GA-based consultancy Speer & Associates. "Processing paper check deposits at ATMs is a major expense for banks," Mike Harris, a...

PASSFACES RELEASES FACE RECOGNITION SOFTWARE.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Passfaces Corp., an Annapolis, MD-based online security company, has launched an authentication program that uses pictures of faces to verify the identity of online banking users. "Human beings instinctively recognize faces," Paul Barrett,...

NEW EDGE NETWORKS ESTABLISHES DIRECT CONNECTION WITH AMEX.(American Express, New Edge Networks Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... New Edge Networks Inc., a Vancouver, WA-based payments network provider, has established a direct connection with American Express. The agreement with American Express means that merchants using New Edge Networks' high-speed payments network...

VERIFONE DEVELOPS INTERNET-CONNECTED PAYMENT TERMINAL.(VeriFone Holdings Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... VeriFone Holdings Inc. has developed a payment terminal that can be controlled over an Internet connection using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). SNMP is a communications standard, which allows point-of-sale terminals to be managed...

BRIEFS.(Info Touch Technologies Corp. receives equity investment from Center for Financial Services Innovation)(VE Networks Inc. launches 'TrustMe-Live' software)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Burnaby, British Columbia-based Info Touch Technologies Corp., a banking kiosk supplier, has received a US$150,000 equity investment from the Chicago, IL-based Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI). CSFI encourages the development of...

BARCLAYS' US AIRWAYS CREDIT CARD TAKES OFF DESPITE EFFORTS TO KEEP IT GROUNDED.(Barclays Bank )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Barclays Bank and US Airways launched today a frequent flier credit card in the latest broadside in the partners' dogfight with Bank of America Corp. and its existing affinity card with the airline. The new US Airways Dividend Miles World Card...

VISA USA INTRODUCES NEW LOGO AND CARD DESIGN.
January 6, 2006... Visa's new logo and card redesign made their debut today on American shores, but cardholders won't see changes to their cards for a while. It's the first modification to the blue, white and gold logo in 30 years, and the alteration reflects...

RECURRING BILLS OFFER ISSUERS GROWTH POTENTIAL, REPORT FINDS.
January 6, 2006... Though growth rates for U.S. credit card receivables have been at or below 5% the past few years, recurring bill payments and micropayments offer issuers fertile ground to grow their charge volumes, according to a report released today by...

BOFA'S ACQUSITION OF MBNA NOT ALL ROSY, ANALYST SAYS.
January 6, 2006... Bank of America's January 1 acquisition of MBNA Corp. for $34 billion is bittersweet, according to analyst Chris Wolfe of New York City-based Fitch Ratings. Wolfe says the merger will create both benefits and challenges for what is now the...

NATIONAL CITY MAY ABSORB $30 MILLION IN WRITE-OFFS.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Cleveland-based National City Corp. says it expects to suffer a fourth-quarter increase in charge-offs stemming from the spike in personal bankruptcy filings. The Midwest bank estimates it may have to write off up to $30 million - a number that...

FIRST DATA AGREES TO BUY GERMANY'S LARGEST CARD PROCESSOR.(First Data International, Gesellschaft fur Zahlungssysteme)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... First Data International, the overseas' arm of First Data Corp., has signed an agreement to purchase Gesellschaft fur Zahlungssysteme, or GZS, which claims it is Germany's largest card processor, a First Data spokesperson says. "We are very...

METAVANTE SEALS DEAL WITH LIGHTHOUSE1.(Metavante Corp.'s MBI Benefits subsidiary inks a deal with Lighthouse1 OnDemand)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Metavante Corp.'s MBI Benefits tax-deferred health accounts transaction processing subsidiary announced a deal with the Web-based Lighthouse1 OnDemand software provider. Lighthouse provides automated management of employer health benefits...

BRIEFS.(Capital One Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Capital One Financial Corp. made news on and off the gridiron this weekend. The McLean, VA-based issuer reported yesterday that the University of Nebraska's Herbie the Husker won its college football Mascot of the Year competition. Over 17...

ECONOMISTS: SLOWER FED INTEREST JUMPS GOOD FOR ISSUERS.
January 6, 2006... Credit card issuers will benefit from the likely Federal Reserve slowdown on interest rate hikes, not only because their cost of borrowing money will settle down, but also because their customers who carry large debts will be better able to pay...

ATM SERVICERS MERGE.
January 6, 2006... Efmark Premium Armored and Bantek West are merging, the providers of ATM services for financial institutions announced today. Westmont, IL-based Efmark provides cash-management services and monitoring, equipment and software maintenance to more...

MASTERCARD EXEC: PIN WILL SURPASS SIGNATURE.(personal identification numbers, Richard G. Lyons, MasterCard International Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Trends indicate that PIN debit will surpass signature debit in consumer usage as more merchants deploy card terminals that accept personal identification numbers, Richard G. Lyons, MasterCard's senior vice president of global prepaid and debit...

BofA DISCLOSES MBNA MERGER SAVINGS, DEPARTING EXEC STOCK SALES.
January 6, 2006... Bank of America, which on Sunday completed its $35 billion purchase of card issuer MBNA Corp., says it will achieve aftertax expense efficiencies of $850 million by the end of 2007. In addition, Bank of America said its anticipates an aftertax...

TIB SELLS ITS PROCESSING PORTFOLIO TO NOVA.(TIB Financial Corp., Nova Information Systems)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... TIB Financial Corp. announced today its subsidiary, TIB Bank, has sold its payment-processing portfolio to Nova Information Systems, a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, for $7.25 million. Edward V. Lett, president and CEO of TIB Financial, said...

ONLINE SALES UP 24% OVER LAST YEAR.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Non-travel, online spending totaled $82.3 billion in 2005, up 24% from $66.5 billion last year, and up 56% from $52.9 billion in 2003, according to comScore Networks. Industry insiders interviewed by CardLine estimate that cards are used for...

LAST-MINUTE SHOPPERS BROKE VISA RECORD.(Visa U.S.A. Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... A couple of days before Christmas, Visa USA's VisaNet processing arm recorded the most Visa-branded card transactions ever on a single day. Visa reports a record 179 million transactions through VisaNet on Dec. 23, up 22% from the same...

BARCLAYS DROPS JUNIPER NAME.(Juniper Financial Corp. )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... The Juniper Financial Corp. name has been dropped by Barclays PLC a little over a year after the United Kingdom-based bank bought Juniper. The new name is Barclaycard, the same name Barclays uses for its European credit card operation. A...

BRIEFS.(Radiant Systems Inc. acquires Synchronics Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Radiant Systems Inc., a provider of point of sale, self-serve and back-office technology to the hospitality, retail and petroleum industries, yesterday announced it has completed its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Synchronics...

ASTA BUYS $2.1 BILLION OF BAD DEBT AS BANKRUPTCY LAW FRIGHTENS CARD ISSUERS INTO HOLDING FIRE SALES.(Asta Funding Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Asta Funding Inc., the New Jersey-based debt buyer, announced yesterday it bought $2.1 billion of debt for $102 million-spending on one deal almost as much as it did all last year. The purchase signals a pickup in the debt sales market related...

SALE OF ATMS PUTS DIEBOLD IN THE HUNT WITH CHASE.(automated teller machines)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... ATM manufacturer Diebold Inc. today announced a deal to sell more than 1,300 of its Opteva ATMs to J.P Morgan Chase & Co. for deployment both at bank branches and off-premise locations. The value of the deal was not disclosed. Chase, which...

PAYMENT PROCESSOR ACIES ANNOUNCES HIGH MERCHANT ACCOUNT GROWTH.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Acies Corp., a financial services company, today announced its merchant account base grew by 138% through the 12-month period ending Nov. 30, 2005. In addition, Acies says its merchant accounts grew by 87% for the first eight months of the 2006...

LABRY TO HEAD FIRST DATA'S DOMESTIC MERCHANT SERVICES UNIT.(Edward A Labry III)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... First Data Corp. yesterday announced that Edward A Labry III, president of the company's prepaid services unit, will assume the additional task of leading the transaction processor's domestic merchant services unit. As a result of the move,...

BANK OF AMERICA IMAGE AUTHENTICATION NOW IN THE NORTHEAST.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Bank of America has expanded its online banking authentication feature to customers in the Northeast. BofA's free SiteKey service prompts customers to choose from one of thousands of images and write a brief phrase or choose three challenge...

NCR COMPLETES ITS PURCHASE OF TIDEL.(Tidel Engineering)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... ATM manufacturer NCR Corp. announced today the completion of its purchase of off-premise ATM maker Tidel Engineering, a subsidiary of Tidel Technology Inc., for $10.1 million and the assumption of an undisclosed amount of debt. NCR intends to...

BRIEFS.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2006... Payment technology vendor MagTek Inc. today announced the launch of the Excella STX, a single-feed check reader and dual-sided scanner. The STX offers merchants a small footprint and the ability to use one piece of equipment to read check MICR...

MORE PAIN FOR FIRST DATA'S CARD ISSUING SERVICES.(First Data Corp. closes its facility)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... First Data Corp.'s troubled Card Issuing Services unit will close a facility in Macon, GA, that prints and mails credit card statements and lay off the plant's 300 workers. The closing was disclosed Thursday. By shutting the plant, Card Issuing...

VOYAGER SETS SAIL FOR SMALLER VEHICLE FLEETS.(Voyager Fleet Systems acquire Advent Business Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Voyager Fleet Systems, a U.S. Bank company that issues fuel purchase cards to commercial, state- and federal-owned vehicle fleets, yesterday announced that it has purchased Advent Business Systems Inc. The deal, which closed Monday, will help...

ONLINE GIFT CARD SALES INCREASING.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Online gift card sales continued to rise in 2005 in the U.S., following a 50% year-on-year rise in 2004, Sucharita Mulpuru, senior retail analyst at consultancy Forrester Research, tells CardLine. In a survey carried out last year, Forrester...

CHASE CARD SERVICES GETS NEW HEAD OF RISK MANAGEMENT.(Chase Card Services appoints Marge Hannum )(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Rich Srednicki, CEO of Chase Card Services, this morning announced that Marge Hannum has been named credit executive for Chase Card Services, succeeding Peter Dormont, who will retire at the end of the next month. Dormont has been a firm...

BANK ONE WILL EXPAND ATMS IN MICHIGAN.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Bank One Corp. today announced it will expand the number of ATMs it owns in Michigan with the opening of new bank branches there. Bank One, which was purchased by JP Morgan Chase & Co., will open 11 standalone branches and 23 branches at Meijer...

CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY RUNS OUT OF CONTACTLESS TICKETS TO RIDE.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Chicago commuters hoping to avoid public-transit fare hikes by purchasing contactless smart cards had an unpleasant surprise this week: stores selling the cards ran out of them. The Chicago Tribune reported today that "scores" of grocery stores...

BRIEFS.(Merchant Link LLC appoints Christopher Justice)(Global Cash Access announces six new contracts)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Merchant Link LLC, a payments gateway that primarily serves the hospitality industry, today named Christopher Justice president. Justice was senior vice president of advanced solutions at First Data Corp. Silver Spring, MD-based Merchant Link...

DISCOVER PREPARING FOR OFFLINE DEBIT ANNOUNCEMENT.(Discover Financial Services Inc.)
January 13, 2006... Morgan Stanley's Discover Financial Services LLC, issuer of the Discover card, soon will announce plans regarding the launch of a signature-based, or offline, debit card program tied to demand-deposit accounts. "My expectation would be that we...

BANK OF AMERICA WILL DELIVER FOR THE POST OFFICE.(BA Merchant Services signs with Postal Service)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... BA Merchant Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America, signed a contract to process credit and signature debit cards for the U.S. Postal Service, a BofA spokesperson tells CardLine today. Neither BofA nor the U.S. Postal Service...

FISERV PURCHASES CAREGAIN.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Fiserv Inc. announced today the purchase of CareGain Inc., a software provider for health insurance providers and third-party administrators of employee health plans. The purchase is described by Fiserv as a "key element" in its health-related...

SAGE BUYS NASHVILLE ISO.(Sage Group PLC acquires Verus Financial Management Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Sage Group plc, a United Kingdom-based provider of accounting and business management software, today announced that it has purchased Verus Financial Management Inc. for $325 million. Verus, a Nashville-based independent sales organization,...

JEAN COUTU OFFERS GIFT CARDS FOR AIR MILES POINTS.(Jean Coutu Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... The Jean Coutu Group, the Canadian drugstore chain, will allow Air Miles reward cardholders to redeem their Air Miles for Jean Coutu gift cards. "The offer starts January 28," a spokesperson for Longueuil, Quebec-based Jean Coutu, tells...

A SELF-SERVICE KIOSK WILL TRY TO MELT LINES AT CALIFORNIA DAIRY QUEEN.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... RoboServer Systems Corp., which develops self-service and point-of-sale software for restaurants, will pilot its self-service kiosk at a Dairy Queen ice cream store in Oceanside, CA, the Las Vegas company says. RoboServer will install the unit,...

BRIEFS.(TNB Card Services issues credit card processing standards)(Blockbuster Inc. launches online gift voucher )(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... TNB Card Services, a credit union-owned company that provides credit card processing for credit unions, today announced that it has issued a marketing guide. The TNB 2006 Marketing Guide is designed to help credit unions grow their card...

CONSUMER CREDIT DECLINES FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE MONTH.
January 13, 2006... Consumer credit dipped two straight months in October and November, the first consecutive month decline in 14 years, the Federal Reserve reported yesterday. Economists say the drop is merely an adjustment to soaring debt levels and will only...

DELINQUENCY RATES ON CREDIT CARD LOANS DROP, BUT THERE ARE MORE TROUBLES AHEAD.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Despite having to contend with higher gas prices and three consecutive Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, consumers managed to pay their credit card bills on time at a higher rate in the third quarter than in the second. As a result, the...

AMERIDEBT OFF THE AIR AND OUT OF BUSINESS.(Federal Trade Commission sues for deceiving customers)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... AmeriDebt Inc., a Germantown, MD-based credit counseling agency, settled Monday in what the Federal Trade Commission calls the largest-ever case of deceptive credit counseling. The settlement shuts down the company, which advertised heavily on...

ETELECHARGE TAPS INTO THE VIETNAMESE BUSINESS MARKET.(eTelecharge.com Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... eTelecharge.com Inc., a processor of online credit card transactions, is working with Vietnamese business owners to tap into the Vietnamese merchant market and to help Vietnamese veterans of what Americans call the Vietnam War. e Telecharge...

FOR PAYMENTS ON THE WEB, CREDIT CARDS ARE THE TICKET.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Credit cards are the main method used by U.S. consumers for payments on the Internet, according to the 2005/2006 consumer payment preferences study by the American Bankers Association and Dove Consulting, which is based in Boston. The study is...

MAINSTREET SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH FISERV.(America Group to work with BillMatrix Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... The Main Street America Group property and casualty insurance company has signed up to use Fiserv Corp.'s BillMatrix Corp. bill-payment subsidiary. Main Street, which has about 500,000 policy holders, will offer its customers credit card, debit...

BRIEFS.(Blockbuster Inc. introduces online gift voucher )(Genesis Financial Solutions Inc. purchases 250,000 bankcards)(Robert W. Bartlett promoted by J and B Software Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Blockbuster Inc. has launched an online gift voucher to complement its existing gift card product range. The Dallas, TX-based movie rental chain, which has around 9,000 stores in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia, says the Blockbuster...

PUSHED BY THE NEW LAW, PERSONAL BANKRUPTCY FILINGS SET A NEW RECORD.
January 13, 2006... More than 2 million individuals filed for bankruptcy in 2005, a new record. The total soared 31.6% over 2004 thanks to a rush to file before a tough new law took effect last October, according to a report by Lundquist Consulting Inc., a...

VISA REPORTS FISCAL 2005 FINANCIALS.
January 13, 2006... Visa USA today reported a 2005 net income of $265 million, which doesn't include USA's ownership of Visa International. Including the card association's 38% stake in Visa International, Visa's USA'S net income rose to $360 million due to a...

CHASE ROLLS OUT BLINK IN ORLANDO AND DALLAS.(Chase Bank International introduces blink cards )(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Chase Bank U.S.A. today announced that it is rolling out its contactless "blink" cards in Orlando and in the Dallas-Fort Worth areas. Chase Bank, a division of JP Morgan Chase & Co., says it is issuing more than 800,000 new blink cards to the...

TEXAS RANGERS ADD BLINK TO THE TEAM'S LINEUP.(Chase Bank of Texas)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... It's several weeks before spring training begins, but the Texas Rangers already have added the blink card to the team's lineup. Chase Bank will issue the Texas Rangers Ultimate Fan Rewards MasterCard for the major league baseball team in time...

MASTERCARD OFFERS DISCOUNTS ON MERCHANT FEES FOR SECURECODE USERS.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... MasterCard International is launching a global incentive and education program to encourage online merchants to use SecureCode, its Internet card authentication system. The purpose of the initiative is to help online retailers protect customer...

PAY BY TOUCH TOUCHES MORE GROCERY STORES.(fingerscan authentication service at Hornbacher's Foods stores)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Pay By Touch, the San Francisco, CA-based biometric payment system operator, has launched its fingerscan authentication service at grocery stores in Fargo, ND, and in Moorhead, MN. "The four Hornbacher's grocery stores in Fargo and the...

BRIEFS.(flu cross infection survey)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Many Canadians apparently think twice before touching ATM key pads during flu season. A Purell Protection Poll released today by Toronto-based Decima Research Inc. ranks ATMs third on Canadians' list of perceived worst germ transfer points. In...

BIOMETRIC COMPANIES AGREE TO MERGE, AIMING TO PUT A NEW FACE ON A FRAGMENTED INDUSTRY.(Viisage Technology Inc. merges with Identix Inc.)
January 13, 2006... Two of the larger U.S. biometrics companies announced plans to merge today, a deal that would create a major power in an emerging industry that is largely made up of smaller firms. Viisage Technology Inc. will give stock currently valued at...

VISA REPORTS INCREASES IN HOLIDAY SPENDING.(Visa International, growth)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Holiday spending on Visa credit and debit cards increased US$34 billion in 2005 to $291 billion, a 13% jump, Visa International said today. Debit card spending increased 22% to $123.6 billion. Visa says its cardholders made more than half their...

REPORT: STORED VALUE CARDS CAN BE USED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING.
January 13, 2006... Stored value cards provide a significant potential for money laundering, according to a joint report released yesterday by nine federal financial and law enforcement agencies. The 72-page document, "U.S. Money Laundering Threat Assessment,"...

PEOPLE'S BANK TAPE LOST WITH DATA ON 90,000 CONSUMERS.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... People's Bank revealed today the loss of a computer tape containing personal data on 90,000 customers. The tape went missing the week before Christmas while being transported via United Parcel Service to the credit reporting agency TransUnion...

PIPELINE DATA WILL PROVIDE CARD PROCESSING FOR TOW TRUCK OPERATORS.(Pipeline Data Inc. signs contract with towXchange Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Pipeline Data Inc. announced earlier this week that it has signed an agreement with towXchange Inc., which will allow tow truck drivers to accept payment cards using cell phones. TowXchange does business as TowPartners, a national association...

NOVA CERTIFIES SOME LIPMAN TERMINALS FOR USE IN THE U.S. AND EUROPE.(Nova Information Systems Inc. certifies Lipman Electronic Engineering's payment systems)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2006... Payment terminal maker Lipman Electronic Engineering Ltd. this week announced that Nova Information Systems has certified Lipman's payment terminals for use in the U.S. and Europe. Nova, an Atlanta-based processor, approved Lipman's Nurit...

BRIEFS.(HSBC Finance Corp. appoints Cindy Baier)(Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. appoints David A. Schwarzbachvice)(Nova Information Systems Inc. appoints Roger K. Alexander to euroConex Techologies Ltd.)
January 13, 2006... HSBC Finance Corp. today named Cindy Baier managing director of HSBC Retail Services, its cobranded retail card group. Baier will lead day-to-day operations at the division and report to CEO Joe Hoff. Baier was president and chief operating...

MASTERCARD PREDICTS CREATION OF FOUNDATION WILL RESULT IN LOSS FOR FIRST YEAR AS PUBLIC COMPANY..
January 20, 2006... MasterCard International is projecting "a significant net loss" in the first year after its planned initial public offering of stock, according to a 270-page prospectus prepared by MasterCard and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange...

...BUT MASTERCARD'S BIGGEST SHAREHOLDERS WILL GET LARGE PAYOUTS.
January 20, 2006... MasterCard International's three largest shareholders are major issuers and each is in line to receive millions from the association's initial public offering, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. MasterCard...

IRS REVOKES TAX-EXEMPT STATUS OF CREDIT-COUNSELING AGENCIES.
January 20, 2006... More than 30 credit-counseling firms are not entitled to tax-exempt status, the Internal Revenue Services concluded after spending two years auditing an estimated 60 counseling agencies. The companies involved account for more than half of the...

REPORT TOUTS BENEFITS OF SMART CARDS IN PARKING.(contactless smart cards usage forecast)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... The growing use of contactless smart cards in mass transit and for small purchases could pave the way for more motorists to pay for parking with smart cards, says a report issued today by the Smart Card Alliance, a trade association based in...

BANK OF AMERICA IS BEST FOR FIGHTING ONLINE IDENTITY FRAUD.(market research)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... Bank of America is the top U.S. bank in terms of its efforts to prevent online identity fraud, according to Pleasanton, CA, research firm Javelin Strategy & Research. As defined by the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft is the stealing of...

WACHOVIA BOOSTS DEBIT CARD PROGRAMS.(Wachovia Bank of North Carolina N.A., marketing)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... Wachovia Bank hopes a new boost to its debit rewards program also will increase its depositor base. Wachovia, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, in early January began offering 5,000 bonus points under its Visa Extras debit rewards program. The...

BRIEFS.(Symbol Technologies Inc. promotes Sal Iannuzzi)(First Data Corp.'s Star funds signs agreement with Fulton Financial Corp.)(Brown Shoe Company Inc. contracts NCR Corp.)
January 20, 2006... Point-of-sale terminal maker Symbol Technologies Inc. yesterday named Sal Iannuzzi president and CEO. The 52-year-old Iannuzzi had been interim president and CEO since William Nuti resigned to take the CEO job at ATM manufacturer NCR...

COUNSELING NOT KEEPING CONSUMERS FROM BANKRUPTCY.
January 20, 2006... Changes in federal bankruptcy law made last year do not appear to be stemming the number of people filing for bankruptcy protection. Money Management International (MMI), a major credit-counseling group, says only 4.5% of the 14,907 people it...

US BANCORP SEES CARD-RELATED REVENUE RISE.
January 20, 2006... U.S. Bancorp today reported 2005 fourth-quarter credit and debit card revenue of $197 million, up 7.1% compared with $184 million in 2004's fourth quarter. Credit and debit card revenue for all of 2005 was $713 million, up 9.9% compared with...

PASSMARK NAMES JOHNSTONE CEO.(PassMark Security Inc. appoints Lin Johnstone, chief executive officer)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... PassMark Security Inc., the Menlo Park, CA, online identity theft prevention company, today announced it has named Lin Johnstone CEO. Johnstone, 53, replaces acting CEO and company cofounder Bill Harris. Harris will remain PassMark's chairman....

CHASE, READER'S DIGEST HAMMER OUT A NEW CARD.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. along with Reader's Digest Association Inc. offers Chase Home Improvements Rewards cards)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... J.P. Morgan Chase today launched with the Reader's Digest Association the Chase Home Improvements Rewards card. Cardholders earn three points for every dollar spent on home improvement-related purchases and one point for every dollar spent on...

VENDORS GO INTO PR OVERDRIVE AT RETAIL'S BIG SHOW.(public relations)(point-of-sale vendors shows products and services at 'The Big Show' )(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... The National Retail Federation's Big Show in New York City this week generated a slew of news from point-of-sale vendors catering to merchants. VeriFone Holdings Inc. reported that Wakefern Food Corp., a distribution arm of ShopRite...

PROCESSING A BRIGHT SPOT FOR FIFTH THIRD.(growth and earnings of Fifth Third Bancorp and its subsidiary Fifth Third Processing Solutions)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... Fifth Third Bancorp reported today faster revenue growth for its transaction-processing subsidiary, Fifth Third Processing Solutions, than for the company as a whole. Fifth Third reported its total income grew 2% to $1.5 billion in 2005...

ONE IN THREE ONLINE CONSUMERS CONCERNED ABOUT SECURITY.(consumer online shopping survey)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... Consumer confidence in online shopping was up in 2005, with 38% of shoppers surveyed spending more online last year than in 2004, according to a recent survey commissioned by the Business Software Alliance. More than two out of three...

BRIEFS.(CyberSource Corp. posts a fraud report on its website)(TouchMedia contracts Peppercoin Inc.)(Bank of Hawaii contracts First Data Corp.)
January 20, 2006... CyberSource Corp. today posted its 7th Annual Online Fraud Report on its Web site for free access. In a preliminary report in November, CyberSource found that online merchants selling $5 million to $25 million annually reported fraud losses...

BANKRUPTCIES SLAM CHASE'S CARD RESULTS.
January 20, 2006... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s Card Services division today reported lower fourth-quarter results due to an increase in bankruptcies tied to the new federal bankruptcy law that took effect in October. Fourth-quarter operating earnings were $302...

GE, AMERICAN EXPRESS TEAM TO ISSUE CARD.(GE Consumer Finance issues American Express Co.)(Brief Article)
January 20, 2006... GE Consumer Finance, the consumer-lending unit of General Electric Co., announced today it would issue American Express Co. cards in the United States. First up is a credit card for retailer Dillard's Inc. that will carry the AmEx brand and be...