Cardline articles from July 2004

Cardline archives from July 2004

PAYPAL, GE OFFER CONSUMER CREDIT LINE.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... PayPal Inc. and GE Consumer Finance today launched PayPal Buyer Credit, a line of credit that can be used by U.S. PayPal customers to fund purchases on eBay or any other site that accepts PayPal. PayPal is a subsidiary of online auction service...

CREDIT UNION 24 DOLES OUT $2 MILLION IN REWARDS TO MEMBERS.(member participants in its POS Platinum Rewards Program)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Credit Union 24 Inc., a Tallahassee, FL-based electronic funds transfer network whose membership includes some 400 credit unions, this week announced it has paid more than $2 million to member participants in its POS Platinum Rewards Program....

EQUIFAX ADDS ALERT FEATURE TO CONSUMER PRODUCTS.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Equifax Inc. this week added a free automated e-mail alert to its Credit Watch credit-report monitoring products that informs consumers when spending on one of their credit cards has crossed a designated threshold. The consumer can set his...

PENNSYLVANIA AG SUES CROSS COUNTRY.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert is seeking an injunction against Cross Country Bank Inc., a Wilmington, DE-based subprime card issuer, and its collections agency, Glen Mills, PA-based Applied Card Systems Inc., for alleged deceptive...

CHIP AND PIN YIELDS MORE THAN PIN MONEY FOR DIONE.(sales)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... United Kingdom-based based payment terminal provider Dione Plc today announced a profit of PN1.4 million ($2.49 million) for fiscal 2003, rebounding from a loss of PN3.5 million in 2002. Revenues grew 46%, from PN12.2 million to PN17.8 million...

KEYBANK GAMBLING ON CASINOS.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Cleveland-based KeyBank is getting into the casino ATM business. KeyBank yesterday said it formed a partnership with Calabasas, CA.-based Coast ATM Corp. to place the machines in casinos, shopping malls and office buildings. Coast ATM will...

S&P GIVES PAYMENT FIRMS A HIGHER PROFILE.(Standard & Poor's Corp)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Standard & Poor's, creator of several stock-market indexes, this week said it will add Dallas-based payment processor and retail card issuer Alliance Data Systems Corp. to its S&P MidCap 400 index. Alliance Data will replace Gilead Sciences...

MASTERCARD'S MAESTRO GROWS NICELY.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... There were more than 524 million cards worldwide carrying the Maestro brand at the end of the first quarter, up 12.5% from the year-earlier period, MasterCard International reported today. Maestro is MasterCard's online (PIN-based) debit...

FOUR MORE CREDIT UNIONS FOR TNB.(TNB Card Services Acquries)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... TNB Card Services reported today it has bought the credit card portfolios of four credit unions with a total of about 3,000 card accounts. The four are Bath, OH-based A-C Credit Union with 2,700 members and $10 million in assets; Park City...

AUSTRALIA'S KEYCORP ENTERS THE COSMOS WITH SMART CARD ORDER.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Taiwanese issuer Cosmos Bank has ordered another 500,000 smart cards from Keycorp Ltd., the provider of EMV compliant cards and point-of-sale terminals, Keycorp announced recently. Since 2001, Chatswood, Australia-based Keycorp has delivered...

CAP ONE'S SCRAMBLING MAY HAVE CRACKED MBNA'S PLANS FOR EGG.(Capital One Financial Corpne.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... A British newspaper reported Sunday that Capital One Financial Corp. may have edged out MBNA Corp. to buy British Internet bank and credit card issuer Egg plc. Citing anonymous sources, The Sunday Telegraph reported McLean, VA-based Capital One...

CHINESE MERCHANTS REBEL AGAINST CARD FEES.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Merchant protests against the fees they pay for accepting payment cards are spreading across China. In a recent example, nearly 400 restaurants and hotels in Zhejiang province issued an ultimatum to banks threatening to stop accepting cards if...

CARDS MASTER BURGER PAYMENTS.(Symbol Technologies Inc., new device)(Burgermaster restaurants)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... A 52-year-old family-owned, drive-in hamburger chain based in Seattle will introduce new devices tomorrow that use wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology to speed ordering and encourage plastic payments. Carhops at Burgermaster restaurants will...

IT'S WIMBLEDON GREEN AND CHICAGO BLUES IN NEWEST AMERICAN EXPRESS PROMOTIONS.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... New York-based American Express Co. introduced several international fund-raising promotions for charities recently. In London today, AmEx launched a floating tennis court on the Thames River with tennis legends John McEnroe and Monica Seles....

CREDIT CARD DELINQUENCIES EDGE AWAY FROM RECORD ...
July 2, 2004... Visa-MasterCard credit card issuers got some moderately good news this morning as the Federal Reserve Board's Open Market Committee begins a two-day meeting that many economists believe will result in higher interest rates. Seasonally adjusted...

BUT CARD-BOND CHARGEOFF RATES CLIMB IN MAY.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... The chargeoff rate on pools of securitized bank card receivables increased 20 basis points to 7% of receivables in May from 6.8% in April, according to Standard & Poor's Credit Card Quality Index. However, it was the ninth consecutive month...

VISA'S E-COMMERCE CARD USE KEEPS GOING UP.(Visa U.S.A. Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Electronic-commerce volume on Visa-branded credit and debit cards in the U.S. reached $22.3 billion in the first quarter, driven in part by the adoption of card-authentication technologies such as Verified by Visa, Visa USA reports today....

CHINESE SMART CARD COMPANY GOES PUBLIC.(Eastcompeace)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... One of the leading companies in China's fast-growing smart card industry began trading its shares publicly last week, seeking new funds for expansion astcompeace expected to bring in $29 million from the sale of 25 million shares, CardLine's...

GRANT PAYMENTS RECEIVED VIA THE ACH.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... The University of Florida will expand its acceptance of grant payments through a payment code system provided by New York-based Electronic Payments Network Inc., the company announced last week. The university was issued a Universal Payment...

MARITZ: REWARDS SWAY BRAND, PURCHASE CHOICES.(rewards programs survey)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Rewards programs exert a strong influence over many consumers, according to newly released data from an October 2003 survey from Maritz Research, a unit of Maritz Loyalty Marketing, Fenton, MO. Sixty percent of consumers say a credit card...

GENPASS ADDS MORE PAYROLL CARD CLIENTS.(Hartford Healthcare Credit Union, Hartford Healthcare Corp., contract)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Genpass Inc., the Fort Washington, PA-based manager of the MoneyPass surcharge-free ATM network and a leading ATM driver, on Monday announced two new participants in its PayCard payroll card program. Hartford Healthcare Corp. and the Hartford...

FED RAISES INTEREST RATES.(Federal Reserve Board)
July 2, 2004... The Federal Reserve today raised the federal funds rate to 1.25%, the first increase in four years. In announcing the rate hike, the Fed said that "robust" underlying growth in productivity is providing ongoing support to economic activity. The...

U.S. BANCORP WINS DOT PURCHASING CARD CONTRACT.(U.S. Department of Transportation)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, the largest bank issuer of commercial cards, Tuesday said it had won the U.S. Department of Transportation's purchasing card contract. U.S. Bank expects the contract to produce about $150 million in annual charge...

BANK OF AMERICA BUYS DAIMLERCHRYSLER'S CARD PORTFOLIO.(DaimlerChrysler Services North America L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... DaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC, the automobile manufacturer's financial arm, has sold its Visa credit card portfolio to Bank of America for an undisclosed price, a DaimlerChrysler spokesperson tells CardLine today. The company...

CERTEGY WILL PROVIDE CHECK VERIFICATION FOR SAKS FIFTH AVENUE.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Certegy Inc. has signed an agreement to provide check-authorization services for Saks Inc.'s Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises, which includes 62 Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 54 Off 5th stores, Mary Waggoner, Certegy's vice president of investor...

SOME ISSUERS ARE CREATING MORE EXOTIC REWARDS PROGRAMS.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Rewards card offers flooded mailboxes in April, accounting for 55% of the 325 million offers mailed, according to a Tuesday report from Mintel's Comperemedia. The Chicago-based media monitoring service notes that issuers are creating two very...

PAY BY TOUCH RAISES $25 MILLION.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Biometrics provider Pay By Touch announced this month it had secured $25 million in ongoing financing in its second investment round. Major investors in the San Francisco-based firm were Mobius Venture Capital and the Gordon P. Getty Family...

VERIFONE GETS A NEW CFO.(Chief Financial Officer )(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Payment terminal provider VeriFone Inc. today named Barry Zwarenstein senior vice president and CFO. He will begin his new job tomorrow, succeeding Don Campion who will be leaving Santa Clara, CA-based VeriFone at the end of July. Before...

VIAD SPINS OFF MONEYGRAM.(MoneyGram International Inc.)
July 2, 2004... The fast-growing money-transfer industry got a new, independent player late Wednesday when Viad Corp., whose chief businesses are convention services and event marketing, spun off Minneapolis-based MoneyGram International Inc. in a tax-free...

DAILY SPENDING LIMITS MAY BE HURTING ISSUER INCOME.(Barbara Span)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Daily limits on how much debit cardholders can spend at the point of sale may be causing issuers to miss revenue opportunities. Many debit cardholders are running up against their issuers' withdrawal limits, forcing them to use alternative...

CHASE AND BANK ONE CREATE CARD AND ATM POWERHOUSE.(J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and Bank One Corp merger)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank One Corp. today announced that they have completed their merger. The corporate marriage creates one the world's largest credit card issuers. At the end of the first quarter, Bank One, the world's biggest Visa...

U.K. PORTFOLIOS EXPERIENCE CREDIT-QUALITY PROBLEMS.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... Bank card portfolios in the United Kingdom are beginning to experience some of the credit-quality problems encountered by U.S. issuers. Chargeoff rates on securitized pools of card receivables in the U.K. dropped to 4.09% of receivables during...

BRITISH GOVERNMENT PROPOSES MINIMUM-PAYMENT WARNINGS.
July 2, 2004... The British government has proposed that monthly credit card statements carry warnings about making minimum monthly payments. Language on the bills would advise cardholders that making a payment of the least amount required would increase the...

E*TRADE, CARDTRONICS COMPLETE DEAL.(E*TRADE Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2004... E*Trade Financial Corp. of New York City announced today that it has completed the sale of its entire ATM contract portfolio of 13,100 machines to Cardtronics Inc., the Houston-based ATM independent sales organization *Trade owned 2,300 of the...

SMART CARD ALLIANCE LEADER JOHN BURKE DIES.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
July 2, 2004... John Burke, general counsel of the Smart Card Alliance and a founder of the Smart Card Forum that preceded it, died last week. He was 58. Burke was managing partner of the Boston law firm of Foley Hoag and opened its Washington, DC, office in...

FEDS ISSUE PROPOSED RULE ON FACT ACT OPT-OUTS.(Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003)
July 9, 2004... Five federal financial-institution regulatory agencies today issued their proposed rule to implement the affiliate-sharing provisions of the new Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, the update to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that...

ZING GOES MALAYSIA'S NEW CONTACTLESS CARD.(Hong Leong Bank Bhd. introduces MasterCard Touch 'n Go Zing Card)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Hong Leong Bank in Malaysia says it is the first bank in the world to offer a contactless, pay-with-a-tap card in MasterCard International's slimmed-down SideCard format. The bank this week launched the MasterCard Touch 'n Go Zing Card, which...

BRITISH CREDIT CARD LOANS TOTALED $100.5 BILLION IN MAY.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... The Bank of England, the United Kingdom's central bank, reported earlier this week that individual credit card debt as of May 31 totaled PN54.9 billion ($100.5 billion), a spokesperson tells CardLine today leven years ago to the month, the full...

VISA'S EU REGION INCORPORATES.(Visa International)(European Union)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Visa International's European Union region, which is based in London, has incorporated, and yesterday it began its new life as Visa Europe Ltd. The transformation means that Visa Europe, which is owned by 4,500 banks, no longer has to get...

THREE CREDIT UNIONS SELL CARD PORTFOLIOS.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Three credit unions sold their card portfolios in deals handled by AssetExchange, the Portland, OR, brokerage firm, reported yesterday. The credit unions are - Southbridge Credit Union of Southbridge, MA; Mutual Savings Credit Union of...

INCURRENT SOLUTIONS AND CARDWORKS SIGN AN AGREEMENT.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Incurrent Solutions Inc., a creator and builder of branded Web sites for card issuers, recently signed CardWorks L.P. to its InSite Content Manager product, allowing for online bill payment and statement presentment. Terms of the deal weren't...

ROTO-ROOTER ENDORSES GLOBAL PAYMENTS.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... The Roto-Rooter Franchise Association has endorsed merchant processor Global Payments Inc. as a provider of its franchisees' payment card- and check-processing services. The terms of the agreement permit Global Payments to provide comprehensive...

FED APPROVES CAPITAL ONE'S APPLICATION TO BECOME A BANK HOLDING COMPANY.(Federal Reserve Board)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... The Federal Reserve System this afternoon approved Capital One Financial Corp.'s application to become a bank holding company. Capital One, which is based in McLean, VA, first must amend the charter of its subsidiary, Capital One Bank of Glen...

THE OCC GETS HOOKED IN PHISHING SCAM.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued a warning about a Web site that falsely claims it is operated by the OCC. The fraudulent site-www.occnetonline.com-claims to be an online banking site. It attempts to get users to...

MEMBERWORKS AGREES TO PAY $950,000 FINE.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... MemberWorks Inc., a Stamford, CT-based marketer of membership programs and services, last week said it will pay $950,000 in fees and costs in a settlement with the Florida Attorney General's office over alleged deceptive practices. The company...

NEW YORK JUDGE FINDS CROSS COUNTRY ENGAGED IN DECEPTIVE PRACTICES.(Applied Credit Services)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph R. Cannizzaro has ruled that subprime card issuer Cross Country Bank and its collections affiliate, Applied Credit Services, engaged in fraud, false advertising, deceptive business practices, and used...

BANK ONE ADDS ANOTHER CASINO TO ITS DECK OF CARDS.(MGM Mirage Resorts)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Bank One and MGM Mirage Resorts today announced that they have launched the MGM Mirage Rewards Visa card, the second rewards card Bank One has introduced with a major casino in just over three months. The MGM card is designed to drive traffic...

SMARTCLIXX SIGNS CONTRACT WITH LARGE RETAILER.(TJX Companies Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Stored value card and gift card software house SmartClixx LLC announced last week it is providing its systems to The TJX Companies Inc., a $13.3 billion international retailer. SmartClixx targets the world's largest retailers that want to run...

KENNETH GUENTHER JOINS CERTEGY'S BOARD.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Certegy Inc. announced Thursday that it has named Kenneth A. Guenther, former president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America, to its board of directors. Guenther was named ICBA president and CEO in 1982, and he retired in...

CHASE AWARDS HUGE CARD-PROCESSING CONTRACT TO TSYS.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(Total System Services Inc.)
July 9, 2004... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which last week completed its merger with Bank One Corp., announced early this evening that it has awarded a closely watched card-processing contract to Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) over rival First Data Corp....

ABA HAS RESERVATIONS ABOUT REGULATORS' OPT-OUT PROPOSAL.(American Bankers Association)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... The American Bankers Association tells CardLine today that it opposes language in a draft regulation submitted last week to implement the affiliate-sharing opt-out requirements for financial-services firms under the Fair and Accurate Credit...

U.K. CARD EXPENDITURES WILL EXCEED CASH TRANSACTIONS THIS YEAR.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Expenditures on debit and credit cards will exceed cash payments in the United Kingdom by the end of the year, the Association for Payment Clearing Services forecast today during a London news conference. But Paul Rodford, head of policy for...

TIDEL SETTLES SHAREHOLDER LAWSUIT, BUT DENIES WRONGDOING.(Tidel Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Tidel Technologies Inc., once a leading manufacturer of cash dispensers, Tuesday agreed to pay $3 million to settle a shareholder lawsuit. Stockholders alleged that the firm issued misleading financial statements. The settlement funds will come...

MERCHANT PROCESSOR TO EXPAND IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Most new card operations centers seem to be located in the Sunbelt, but merchant processor Pipeline Data Inc. Monday said it will establish its U.S. call-center operations in St. Lawrence County, NY orthern Merchant Services, a subsidiary of...

GE CONSUMER FINANCE TO ISSUE CARD FOR LINENS 'N THINGS IN CANADA.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Retail card issuer GE Consumer Finance and Linens 'n Things today announced the launch of a private-label credit card for Linens 'n Things Canada planned for later this month. GE Consumer Finance issues the Linen 'n Things card in the U.S. "The...

ICMA WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS.(International Card Manufacturers Association)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... The International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA), a global non-profit association for plastic card manufacturers, has announced the addition of 11 new members. The seven new principal members, all card manufacturers, are - Saudi...

PERSONNEL.(MasterCard International Inc. recruits Natalie Lockwood )(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... MasterCard International has promoted Natalie Lockwood to vice president of marketing for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA). Lockwood had been marketing director for Australia and New Zealand overseeing the launch of the "Priceless"...

WALL STREET GIVES THUMBS UP TO THE WINNER AND LOSER IN THE CHASE CARD-PROCESSING DEAL.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(Total System Services Inc.)
July 9, 2004... Wall Street today held up as winners the arms of rivals Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) and First Data Corp. following Wednesday's announcement by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. that it would shift its card-processing business to TSYS from First...

CHASE'S DECISION BOOSTS TSYS' IMAGE.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(Total System Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s decision to shift its credit card processing from First Data Corp. to Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) has some observers pondering possible fundamental changes in the processing arena. While the dust settles, some...

REVOLVING CREDIT GREW AT A 2.6% ANNUALIZED RATE IN MAY.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Consumer revolving credit, of which more than 80% is on credit cards, grew at an annualized rate of 2.6% in May, the Federal Reserve reported this afternoon. Meanwhile, non-revolving credit grew 6.2%. At the end of May, seasonally adjusted...

FEWER AMERICANS WILL CHARGE THEIR SUMMER VACATIONS TO THEIR CREDIT CARDS.(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... More Americans plan to take a vacation this year, but fewer of them will charge their getaway to a credit card, Cambridge Consumer Credit Index is reporting today. Cambridge polled 809 adults by telephone late last month and learned that 50% of...

SOUTH KOREANS PUT AWAY THEIR CARDS.(Credit card usage)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Credit card usage in South Korea plummeted nearly 50% during the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2003. The country's credit card industry estimated that in 2004's initial six months, card use was $94.8 billion, down 46%...

VERIFONE GETS BIG ORDER.(Alpha Bank)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Payment terminal manufacturer VeriFone Inc. announced yesterday that Alpha Bank, the official bank of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, has ordered more than 1,300 Omni 3750 terminals. Printec S.A., an exclusive distributor of...

PROVIDIAN WILL CLOSE SAN ANTONIO OFFICE.(Providian Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 9, 2004... Providian Financial Corp. said Wednesday that it is closing its San Antonio, TX, office. The facility employs 220 people, most of whom work in customer service. San Francisco-based Providian said the shutdown is part of a consolidation of...

CHASE WILL CLOSE BACK-OFFICE FACILITY IN DELAWARE.(J.P. Morgan Chase)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is closing down its White Clay back-office facility in Newark, DE, eliminating about 6oo positions over the next six months. The remainder of the employees will be transferred to other locations within Delaware. The...

CHASE EXECUTIVES RESIGN FROM MASTERCARD'S BOARD.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Two card executives from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. yesterday resigned from the MasterCard International global and North American boards, less than a week after completion of Chase's acquisition of Bank One Corp. The Chase executives-Richard...

BARCLAYCARD-MASTERCARD PILOT TESTS HUMAN BEHAVIOR.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Barclaycard, the United Kingdom's largest issuer, and MasterCard International are testing a pocket-sized security device for online card purchases, but it's not for the reason you may think. "We know the technology works," a Barclaycard...

ONCE YOU DRIVE TO THE MALL, THIS CARD IS DESIGNED TO DRIVE YOU INTO ITS STORES.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... U.S. Bank and WildCard Systems Inc., which last month began rolling out a prepaid gift card at 54 shopping malls owned by The Macerich Company, expect to sell 600,000 to 800,000 of the cards, John Focht, U.S. Bank's vice president of prepaid...

REWARDS NETWORK OPTS FOR A NORTHERN EXPOSURE.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Rewards Network Inc., a Chicago-based provider of credit card loyalty programs for restaurants and travel-related merchants, announced yesterday that it has expanded its dining rewards program to Canada. The business is working with eating...

PSCU RENEWS CARD-PROCESSING CONTRACT WITH TENNESSE CREDIT UNION.(PSCU Financial Services)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... PSCU Financial Services, the nation's largest credit-union service organization, today announced Tennessee Credit Union in Nashville, has renewed its card-processing agreement. The new agreement is for five years. The credit union has 11,000...

MASTERCARD AND VISA STOP SERVICING RUSSIAN BANKS.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... MasterCard International and Visa International have stopped servicing credit cards issued by three Russian banks because of financial concerns, according to wire-service reports. MasterCard stopped servicing Creditrustbank, Paveletsky Bank and...

CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS DRIVE ACH GROWTH.(automated clearinghouse )(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Electronic check volume under the ARC code exploded 791% in the second quarter over year-earlier levels to hit 208.8 million transactions, Nacha-The Electronic Payments Association reported today. A Nacha spokesperson tells CardLine the...

HSBC GRABS MARKS & SPENCER'S 2.7 MILLION CARD ACCOUNTS.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... HSBC Holdings Plc. announced today it would pay PN763 million ($1.4 billion) for the banking unit of British retailer Marks & Spencer Group Plc. The unit includes 2.7 million credit card customers and PN2.5 billion ($4.7 billion) in...

VISA DROPS GOLIN, PICKS FLEISHMAN.(Golin-Harris International, Fleishman-Hillard Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Visa USA has dropped its corporate communications firm of the last two years and plans to complete the transition to a replacement by the end of the month, CardLine has learned. Visa will replace Golin-Harris International with...

BILL ME LATER SIGNS HIGH-END MERCHANTS.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Online retailer Odimo.com and its merchant subsidiaries Diamond.com, Ashford.com and WorldofWatches.com have begun accepting I4 Commerce Inc.'s Bill Me Later payment system, Timonium, MD-based I4 Commerce announced today. Bill Me Later is a...

TNB STAYS ON A ROLL.(TNB Card Services )(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Dallas-based TNB Card Services announced today it had signed as new processing clients four credit unions with a total of 7,000 credit card accounts. The new clients are University & Community Federal Credit Union in Stillwater, OK, with $53...

GEMPLUS WINS NINE CLIENTS.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Gemplus International S.A. announced today it would provide EMV compliant smart cards to nine new customers worldwide. The clients are Maybank, HSBC, and Standard Chartered Bank in Malaysia; AK Bank in Turkey; Sociedade Interbancaria de...

ATM EXCHANGE CONVERSION KIT EARNS VISA OK.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Cincinnati-based The ATM Exchange Inc. has earned technical approval from Visa International for its 3DES Plus Triple Data Encryption Security conversion kit for ATMs. The kit is designed for use in older NCR Corp. and Diebold Inc. automated...

BANK OF AMERICA TO BUY NPC.(National Processing Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Bank of America announced today it will pay $1.4 billion, or $26.60 a share, to buy National Processing Inc. (NPC). In a news release, BofA said NPC will be combined with BofA's Merchant Services unit to create the second-largest merchant...

BANK OF AMERICA WON'T ASSUME NPC'S UNITED AIR LINES RISK.(National Processing Inc. )(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Bank of America Corp.'s plan to buy National Processing Inc. (NPC) for $1.4 billion does not include the chargeback liability that NPC faces from its client United Air Lines, CardLine has learned. That risk, valued at $800 million at the end of...

NPC DEAL BOLSTERS BOFA'S ACQUIRING PRESENCE.(National Processing Inc., Bank of America )
July 16, 2004... Bank of America Corp.'s plan to buy National Processing Inc. (NPC) for $1.4 billion will place BofA solidly in the No. 2 position in the merchant-acquiring market, though it will still be far behind leader First Data Corp. The Charlotte,...

FAIR ISAAC STOCK TUMBLES FOLLOWING WARNINGS.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Wall Street today is punishing Fair Isaac Corp. after the risk-management technology company announced lower-than-expected preliminary results for the fiscal third quarter and revised its fourth-quarter guidance downward late Monday. The...

ATM CROOK DRAWS JAIL TERM.(Daniel Antolini)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... The former owner of an armored car company was sentenced Monday to 84 months in prison for stealing cash from ATMs he was supposed to replenish in one of the biggest bank thefts ever, reports Thomson Media's Credit Union Journal Daily. Daniel...

VISA CARDS COULD GIVE TRANSIT PROGRAMS A LIFT.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2004... Visa International sees potential for a convergence of Visa credit and debit cards with the growing number of chip cards being issued by transit agencies around the world, Sue Gordon-Lathrop, vice president of emerging consumer environments,...