Cardline articles from July 2006

Cardline archives from July 2006

FED REPORT GIVES MIXED ANSWER TO CARDS AND CONSUMER DEBT.(Federal Reserve Board)
July 7, 2006... The Federal Reserve issued a report today saying banks' credit card marketing practices are not to blame for the long-term rise in bankruptcies. But consumer advocates quickly jumped on the report, saying its numbers indicate rising credit card...

PREPAID ISSUERS HOPE FOR A BIG WIN IN COURT.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... A regulatory ruling freeing thrifts from state gift card laws in certain circumstances strengthens the case that bank-issued gift cards should be exempt from state laws, says an attorney in a pending federal court lawsuit. Paul Shaw of the...

NINE OUT OF 10 HOUSEHOLDS USE ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... About 90% of households in the United States used some form of electronic payment in 2004, up from 78% in 1995, according to a report released last week by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Fed conducts the survey of...

GOOGLE CHECKOUT MAY SEEK MORE ADS THAN PAYMENTS.
July 7, 2006... Google Inc. is crossing its fingers that consumers will line up for Google Checkout, the search engine's new online payment system that launched yesterday. But Google also is seeking to use Checkout to attract more merchants to advertise on its...

EU OBJECTION TO MASTERCARD INTERCHANGE BOLSTERS U.S. COMPLAINTS, ATTORNEY SAYS.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The European Commission formally objected to MasterCard Worldwide's interchange pricing for merchants accepting MasterCard- and Maestro-branded cards in European Union countries. MasterCard confirmed in a statement today that it received a...

EMC WILL PAY $2.1 BILLION FOR RSA.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... EMC Corp. announced late yesterday it would buy RSA Security for $2.1 billion (CardLine 6/30). EMC will pay $28 per share for RSA, or a 22% premium over yesterday's close of RSA stock of $22.88. RSA provides authentication, encryption and...

CHASE COMPLETES DEBIT MOVE TO VISA.(Visa U.S.A. Inc. acquires debit card portfolio of J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. )(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... New York City-based JPMorgan Chase has completed the migration of most of its debit card portfolio to Visa USA, and to Visa's Interlink PIN-debit point-of-sale network and Plus ATM network. The bank, in its re-issuance of 1.8 million debit...

BRIEFS.(Groupe INGENICO acquires MoneyLine SA)(Elan Financial Services acquires AurGroup Financial Credit Union )(Star Network signs contract with LaSalle Bank)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Payment terminal manufacturer Ingenico SA will purchase MoneyLine SA, a provider of terminals for multilane retailers. Both firms are based in France.... Elan Financial Services bought the $9.5 million credit card portfolio of the AurGroup...

COMPUCREDIT, COLUMBUS BANK WILL PAY $11 MILLION TO NEW YORKERS.(Attorney General Eliot Spitzer accuses Columbus Bank and Trust Co.)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... A credit card issuer that targets subprime consumers and a debt collector agreed to pay $11 million in restitution to New Yorkers after New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer accused the bank of failing to disclose activation fees of up to...

SURVEY FINDS GROWING DEMAND FOR ACCOUNT ACTIVITY ALERTS.(online financial information)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Use of financial account activity alerts nearly doubled in the past two years among consumers with online access, according to a new report by Javelin Strategy & Research. In 2004, some 13% of households with online access surveyed reported...

CHASE USES ATMS TO PROMOTE US OPEN.
July 7, 2006... JPMorgan Chase & Co. today began using its 1,789 ATMs in the New York metro area as instant win machines, with plans to distribute more than 5,000 free tickets to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. The freebies will be printed on the back of the...

CONSUMERS PREFER THEIR REWARDS ON DEBIT.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... More than 60% of consumers surveyed said they prefer using debit cards over credit cards because debit is more like "real money." The study by New York City-based market research firm, TNS North America, found that 38% of debit card users...

ACI PREDICTS BIG GROWTH IN ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS.(online payment services growth and forecast)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The number of electronic payments globally is growing dramatically, seeing a possible 83% increase from almost 210 billion in 2004 to 384 billion in 2009, according to a study commissioned by Omaha, Neb.-based payment software vendor ACI...

BANK OF AMERICA ROUNDS UP LITTLE LEAGUE INITIATIVE.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Bank of America announced recently it would make a donation to the Little League Urban Initiative equal to 5% of all Keep the Change transfers from June 27 until August 26. Every purchase made with a BofA debit card by a cardholder enrolled in...

BRIEFS.(American Express Co. appoints David Yowan, promotes Paul H. Hough)(Way Systems Inc. appointed Bruce R. Shirey and Ben Pumphrey)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... American Express Co. named David Yowan senior vice president and corporate treasurer, replacing Paul H. Hough who becomes senior vice president of network partners, consumer and small business and merchant services.... Way Systems Inc....

FIRST DATA, VISA SETTLE FIRST DATA NET SUIT.
July 7, 2006... First Data Corp. and Visa USA announced today they had settled their four-year-old lawsuit over the First Data Net processing network. In the joint statement, Visa pledged to "provide financial support to pursue mutual business opportunities...

FIRST DATA, VISA DEAL MAY BE YESTERDAY'S NEWS.
July 7, 2006... The settlement of several four-year-old suits and countersuits today between Visa USA and First Data Corp. over the First Data Net network may represent the end of a concept that never quite took off. First Data Net launched in April 2002 as a...

STELLAR GAINS FOR PROCESSOR STOCKS.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The stocks of 13 major electronic transaction processors generated a mean return of nearly 23% for their investors through the first half of the year, according to a report from Barrington Research Associates. "The group return has been nothing...

HYPERCOM WILL SELL UK LEASES.(Forrester UK Holdings LLC)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Hypercom Corp. on Monday reported it would sell its business in the United Kingdom that leases point-of-sale equipment for $12.25 million to Forrester UK Holdings LLC. The business includes lease agreements with merchants and other businesses,...

ANALYST: CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS ON STEEP GROWTH CURVE.
July 7, 2006... Over 40 million contactless payment cards, mini-cards, and fobs will ship globally in 2006, says ABI Research, an Oyster Bay, N.Y.-based consultancy. ABI estimates that 10 million contactless cards were issued in the U.S. during 2005. "From a...

SUIT SAYS CREDIT BUREAUS SHOULD REQUIRE LIMIT REPORTING.
July 7, 2006... A South Carolina consumer has filed a trio of federal class-action lawsuits accusing the three national credit bureaus of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by not requiring credit card companies to report their customers' credit limits,...

CANADIANS TO USE CREDIT CARDS FOR 50% OF TRAVEL SPENDING.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Canadians plan to spend an average of C$2,500 (US$2,246) on their summer holiday this year, according to a survey by Toronto-based Scotiabank. The amount is largely unchanged from last year's figure of C$2,467 (US$2,222), but this year 50% of...

BRIEFS.(Tio Networks Corp. offers accidental death insurance services)
July 7, 2006... Tio Networks Corp. is offering accidental death benefit insurance at its kiosks in On The Run and Tigermarket convenience stores in Texas and Tennessee. The insurance is from Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Co.... Pemco Technologies added the...

INSTALL FRAUD DETECTION NOW: CUNA MUTUAL.(Cuna Mutual Group Inc. limits credit card fraud)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Reacting to a rise in debit and credit card fraud losses, CUNA Mutual Group Inc. is telling its credit union clients they must deploy stricter fraud-detection systems in order to keep their insurance coverage. CUNA Mutual is a Madison,...

MASTERCARD CELEBRATES A PRICELESS 40TH B-DAY.
July 7, 2006... MasterCard Inc. celebrated its 40th birthday last week with a 24-page advertising insert in Advertising Age magazine. The insert offers numerous mentions of the award-winning Priceless advertising campaign that was developed by the McCann...

ASTA BUYS DEBT AS INVESTORS SELL ITS STOCK.(Asta Funding Inc.,)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... What's bad for over-extended consumers is good for Asta Funding Inc., a public debt buyer that is making the most of the rising wave of credit card delinquencies. The Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based company bought $3.5 billion in face value debt...

FIRST DATA'S PAYROLL PACKAGE APPEALS TO ADP.(Automatic Data Processing Inc.)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... The Money Network subsidiary of First Data Corp. won the payroll card business of Automatic Data Processing Inc. by being able to offer everything from card issuing to processing, Gary Lott, general manager of the TotalPay card program at ADP,...

EBAY SHAKE-UP BOUNCES PAYPAL PRESIDENT.(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... PayPal President Jeff Jordan will step down this fall and be replaced by Rajiv Dutta, an executive with PayPal parent eBay Inc. PayPal is the payment arm of San Jose, Calif.-based online auction house eBay. Dutta has been with eBay since 1998...

MAYBE 7 WILL BE THE CHARM FOR COMPUCREDIT.(CompuCredit Corp. to acquire CardWorks L.P.)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... CompuCredit Corp. filed on June 30 another amendment to its planned purchase of CardWorks L.P., a secured card issuer and processor through its subsidiaries Merrick Bank Corp. and Cardholder Management Services LLC. The seventh amendment filed...

PLASTIC ONLY FOR DVD KIOSK HOUSE.(DVDPlay Inc.'s self service kiosks accepts credit cards )(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... As plastic replaces paper as the leading payment form some businesses are adopting a plastic-only business model. And finding consumer acceptance. For instance, Los Gatos, Calif.-based DVDPlay Inc. accepts only credit cards at its self-service...

BRIEFS.(First Annapolis Consulting Inc. appoints Frank Martien)(North Fork Bancorporation Inc. and NCR Corp. launches new ATM )(Alliance Data Systems signs contract with Friedman's Jewelers)(Brief article)
July 7, 2006... Frank Martien was named a partner at consultant First Annapolis Consulting Inc.... The MasterCard Worldwide Win 500 Flights sweepstakes runs from July 1 through August 31. Cardholders earn double entries for tap-and-go purchases with a PayPass...

HYPERCOM SUIT DISMISSED.
July 14, 2006... Hypercom Corp. reported today that a Phoenix court dismissed a class action lawsuit against the firm over its restatement of its financial statements for the first three quarters of 2004. The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona on...

CHARGEBACK RULES UNFAIR TO CARDHOLDERS, SAYS LAW PROFESSOR.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... MasterCard Inc. and Visa USA rules on chargebacks make cardholders outsiders to the process and "damages the transparency and legitimacy of self-regulation" of the payment card industry, according to a study by a law professor at Thomas...

BOFA PITCHES CARD TO BASEBALL FANS.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Bank of America begin pitching its new credit card to baseball fans today during Major League Baseball's All-Star Week in Pittsburgh. With the MLB Extra Bases rewards credit card, cardholders can earn enough points to throw out the ceremonial...

BETTER FIGHTS TO FIGHT FOR VISA, FIRST DATA.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... The settlement of the four-year-old legal battle between Visa USA and First Data Corp. could put a damper on innovation in network processing but may be a smart move for the two firms, according to several industry experts. First Data and Visa...

ATMS PROVE A VALUE ADD FOR METRORAIL.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... The 37 ATMs in the Metrorail train system serving the Washington, D.C., area generated about $90,000 a month to the public transit agency since they were installed one year ago, according to a Metrorail budget filing. The ATMs in 35 stations...

PAYPAL TESTS VIRTUAL DEBIT CARD.
July 14, 2006... PayPal, Inc. is testing a MasterCard-branded virtual debit card that could expand the number of merchants accepting its payments. JPMorgan Chase & Co. issues the card, and First Data Corp. is the transaction processor, a PayPal spokesperson...

DIEBOLD CREATES ATM SOFTWARE UPDATE SYSTEM.
July 14, 2006... North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Inc. is offering what it describes as a more streamlined system to update software on Diebold ATMs running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system. Diebold announced that its Software Update Notification...

BRIEFS.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... NACHA is distributing through its Web site education and training materials that explain its pending rule on business check conversion. The rule takes effect Sept. 15.... The Score International LoyaltyShare Clearinghouse launched this week...

COLLECTION SALARIES RISE MODESTLY.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Salaries in collections departments and agencies increased from 2.97% to 4.48% between March 2005 and the start of July this year, according to information tracked by Salary.com and analyzed by CardLine sister publication Collections & Credit...

LONGS DRUGS CHOOSES METAVANTE'S FSA SERVICE.(flexible spending accounts)(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Metavante Corp. today announced a deal with Longs Drugs drugstore chain in which Longs will use Metavante's automated substantiation product for purchases made with debit cards attached to flexible spending accounts. The service enables...

GE OFFERS CREDIT WITH TRAINING WHEELS.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Some 50,000 cardholders are now on GE Consumer Finance's "road to credit," but the issuer still categorizes as a "pilot" its program for providing low-limit private label credit cards to those with little or blemished credit. Indeed, GE is...

IDENTITY FRAUD COSTS UK AN ESTIMATED $3.1 BILLION.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Identity fraud in the United Kingdom cost the country's economy $3.1 billion in 2005, with debit and credit card losses accounting for almost a third of that amount, according to a study by the UK Home Office's Identity Fraud Steering...

TNB SIGNS FIVE CUS FOR CARD SERVICES.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Dallas-based TNB Card Services announced today it signed five credit unions in four states to provide credit card processing. The five are Louvers Federal Credit Union of Newark, Del., with more than 10,000 members and assets of $165 million;...

CHECK 21 GENERATES GROWING NETWORK, NEW SOFTWARE.
July 14, 2006... Pay By Touch today announced a new edition of its product Paycheck Secure to make it easier for retailers to convert checks to electronic images, as permitted under the Check 21 law. Meanwhile SVPCO has announced record volumes through its...

AMEX SENDS BLACK CARD INTO SPACE.
July 14, 2006... American Express put some jet fuel into its partnership with Bank of America's MBNA Corp., launching last week the Virgin Atlantic credit card in the United Kingdom with the airline and MBNA Europe Bank. The credit card comes in two colors, a...

BRIEFS.
July 14, 2006... CompuCredit Corp. is using the Pegasystems Inc.'s business process management system for a 1,000-seat call center.... Utix Group was granted a patent for its prepaid, magnetic stripe payment process for one-time admission to events.... The...

PAYPASS SUBWAY TRIAL STARTS IN NEW YORK.
July 14, 2006... Can contactless technology stand up to a New York City subway rush hour? A six-month trial to see how well MasterCard PayPass cards work in the New York subway system started today, backed by MasterCard Inc., Citibank and its Citi Cards...

TSYS ACQUIRES CARD TECH.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) today acquired Card Tech Ltd., a United Kingdom-based developer of card-management software, in an all-cash transaction worth $54.5 million. In a statement, TSYS says Card Tech will help it expand its...

INSIDERS SELLING VERIFONE SHARES.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... The largest investor and top executives of VeriFone Holdings Inc. are selling large blocks of shares as the terminal vendor's stock trades near 52-week highs and regulators seek more information about a planned takeover of a rival firm. GTCR...

VISA WARNS OF STORING PINS AND STRIPE DATA.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Visa USA is using its second Data Security Alert to warn merchants against storing magnetic stripe data and cardholder PINs, a rule violation that led to a breach of debit card information earlier this year. The alert, dated June 27 but...

PCI CHANGES BY END OF SUMMER?(Payment Card Industry)(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Rumored changes to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI) have been gurgling for months, with articles citing the networks and industry analysts about expected loosening or tightening of rules covering the way merchants and...

COLLECTOR: NO DATA BREACH LAW THIS YEAR.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Congress is unlikely to pass a data-security law before it adjourns in November, predicted Jenifer Loon, director of government affairs for debt-collection trade group ACA International, yesterday at the ACA's annual conference in San Diego....

CONSUMER CREDIT RISES $6.6 BILLION.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Revolving consumer credit rose to $812.5 billion in May, up $6.6 billion from $805.9 billion in April, according to the G 19 Consumer Credit report yesterday from the Federal Reserve. Revolving credit, which includes much of the outstanding...

BRIEFS.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... The $2.4 billion Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union joined Co-Op Financial Services. Randolph-Brooks has 244,000 members and 22 branches across South Central Texas.... Fastcase Inc., a provider of online legal research, is using Peppercoin...

SENATE HEARING ON INTERCHANGE RESCHEDULED FOR JULY 19.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has rescheduled its hearing on card interchange policies to next Wednesday, July 19, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. A witness list wasn't available today but may be on Friday or next Monday, a committee...

MASTERCARD, BASEBALL FAN SCORE ON ALL-STAR HOME RUN.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Philadelphia Phillies star Ryan Howard won the Home Run Derby during Major League Baseball's All Star Game festivities, and scored runs for both MasterCard and a fan. MasterCard Worldwide, the Home Run Derby sponsor, awarded Bert Brooks a...

CU COOPERATIVE WILL USE 7-ELEVEN'S VCOM.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... The Financial Services Centers Cooperative plans to allow members of client credit unions to use 7-Eleven Stores' Vcom multifunction ATMs for financial transactions. The cooperative has signed a deal with 7-Eleven that will allow such...

ONLINE GAMBLING PROHIBITION MAY BE A SURER BET THAN IN THE PAST.
July 14, 2006... The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday passed legislation prohibiting the processing of transactions used for online gambling. It is the third time in 10 years that one of the houses of Congress has passed an anti-online gaming bill and the...

COLLECTORS SEEK TO CHANGE IMAGE.(American Collectors Association)(debt collectors)(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Polishing the image and ethics of debt collectors are top priorities of the collector trade group ACA International, incoming president Michael Shoop said this week at the group's annual conference in San Diego, Calif. "We do important work and...

PAYPAL COULD GET LUCKY WITH TEXT2BUY.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... A cell phone, a PayPal account and a magazine could bring good fortune to shoppers and advertisers next month as the September issue of Lucky magazine hits newsstands. Consumers will be able to use their phones to buy products from 18...

BRIEFS.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Bank of America renewed affinity relationships with the National Education Association, Ducks Unlimited and the American Automobile Association. More than 150,000 Ducks members have BofA cards and the partnership has generated more than $60...

VISA TO RELEASE OPERATING RULES.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Visa USA announced today it would make its operating regulations public September 1 to select merchants and third-party agents. The regulations will be made available under a non-disclosure agreement, Visa reported. Merchants have long...

HYPERCOM AND SYMBOL TEAM TO REACH BIG BOXES WORLDWIDE.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Payment technology providers Symbol Technologies Inc. and Hypercom Corp., today announced a strategic relationship that could expand both the product set and the geographic reach of the two partners. Holtsville, N.Y.-based Symbol in 2005...

INSURANCE CARRIERS TEST CARDS FOR EMERGENCY CLAIMS.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Insurance companies are increasingly turning to using debit cards to provide emergency assistance following the massive dislocation caused by Hurricane Katrina last year, according to a new report from consulting firm BearingPoint. Cards have...

NETWORKS CONFIRM PCI WILL CHANGE.(Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... A MasterCard Inc. spokesperson yesterday told CardLine sister publication, CardLine Europe, to expect updates to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI) rules within the next eight weeks. Confirming rumors, the spokesperson says,...

BEAUTIFUL SAN FRANCISCO'S UGLY SIDE.
July 14, 2006... San Francisco is touted as one of the most beautiful places in the country because of its majestic hills and the romantic view of San Francisco Bay, but there's a flipside for the people who live there. San Francisco's residents also are the...

COLLECTOR SUES BROWNSVILLE OVER LINEBARGER.(Municipal Services Bureau)(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... An Austin Texas-based debt collection agency has sued the city of Brownsville for violating proper procurement practices in awarding a collection contract to a powerful competitor. Municipal Services Bureau, which has been collecting delinquent...

YOU'LL HAVE TO BUY YOUR DONUT-GIFT CARD OFFER IS PHONY.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... The Dunkin' Donuts restaurant chain is warning of a company making phony promises of $25 Dunkin' Donuts gift cards to individuals who fill out e-mail surveys. The Canton, Mass.-based company has posted a notice on its Web site saying, "Dunkin'...

BRIEFS.(Brief article)
July 14, 2006... Francois Riviere, 53, has been named chief financial officer at France-based Oberthur Card Systems, which says it is the leading global supplier of Visa and MasterCard cards.... The Federal Trade Commission is advising consumers to use credit...

DISCOVER TEAMS WITH FIRST DATA.(several pilot programs)
July 21, 2006... First Data Corp. and Discover Card will integrate their processing networks to expand merchant acceptance of the Discover card, the two partners announced today. First Data's Merchant Alliance Services division will provide merchant acquiring...

FIRST DATA, DISCOVER THINK SMALL IN TODAY'S DEAL.
July 21, 2006... Small merchants represent the light at the end of the tunnel for Discover Network and First Data Corp. as the two attempt to recreate themselves in an evolving industry, some insiders say. The division of Discover Financial Services and First...

SECOND-QUARTER BANKRUPTCIES RISE 39%.(statistics on bankruptcy filings)(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... Personal bankruptcy filings in the second quarter were up 39% from the first quarter, but down 69% compared to the second quarter a year ago, reports Lundquist Consulting, Burlingame, Calif., which collects the data. Filings for the quarter...

AETNA HEALTH BEGINS VISA PREPAID CARD.(Vital Savings on Health program)(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... Aetna's health care benefits division announced this week it would distribute a Visa-branded prepaid debit card for use with an Aetna medical expense discount plan. The card will be offered to employers who do not offer health insurance...

VISA LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN VOLUME GROWS 45%.(financial report)(Financial report)(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... Visa International is reporting that overall purchase volume in the Latin America and Caribbean region during the first quarter ended March 31 reached US$91 billion, up 45% from the same period last year. Credit products accounted for $61...

MOST CANADIANS CAREFUL WHEN USING ATM.(Automated teller machines)(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... Nearly two-thirds of Canadians are aware of the need to be cautious when using an ATM, but relatively few plan to avoid using the machines despite recent reports of ATM fraud, according to a spring survey conducted for ATM manufacturer NCR...

CANADA TARGETED BY PREPAID, SECURED CARD VENDORS.(Smart Card Marketing Systems Inc)(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... Smart Card Marketing Systems Inc. announced Wednesday it will distribute a cobranded MasterCard secured card for NCSC New Card Secured Canada Inc. The deal calls for distributing as many as 5,000 cards in Canada and 1,000 in the U.S. Smart Card...

BRIEFS.(Bank of America)(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... Fairfax County Federal Credit Union in Fairfax, Va., is converting its 11,000 signature, PIN and ATM debit cards to PSCU Financial Services' DebitAdvantage platform under a five-year contract extension with PSCU.... Georgia began sending out...

INCOME UP, LOSSES DOWN IN CITI'S SECOND QUARTER.(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... The U.S. card division of Citigroup Inc. reported today net income of $878 million, up over 19% from $735 million in the same period a year ago. Net revenues for the division in the second quarter tallied $3.25 billion, down slightly from $3.26...

COLLECTIONS INDUSTRY SUFFERS SLIGHT SAG.(capitalization of public debt)(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... The health of the U.S. collections business took a slight downturn in May because of an uptick in U.S. employment and Wall Street's continued disenchantment with debt-buyer stocks, according to the Kaulkin Ginsberg Index of the accounts...

DEBIT MEETS CONSUMERS' NEED FOR SELF-CONTROL.(Consumer Behavior and Payment Choice)(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... Spending control is an important reason why consumers are using debit cards more, according to a June study from Marc Anthony Fusaro, an associate professor of economics at East Carolina University. In his study "Debit vs Credit: A Study of...

COLLEGE KIDS DON'T GET CREDIT FOR THIS KIND OF DEBT.(Department of Education and American Council on Education)(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... In 2003-04, 56% of all dependent undergraduates owned at least one credit card that was issued in their name and was billed to them. Nearly one out of four undergraduates carried a balance on their credit card from month to month, with the...

FIFTH THIRD ADDS THREE MERCHANT-PROCESSING CONTRACTS.
July 21, 2006... Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions today announced the signing of three new merchant-processing contracts. Boston-based Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp., which franchises and operates 200 restaurants in the United States, Puerto Rico, South...

MACY'S REPLACES FIELDS WITH REWARDS CARD.(Loyalty programs (Marketing))(Brief article)
July 21, 2006... Federated Department Stores Inc. is replacing the Marshall Field's card with a Macy's card as it rebrands Field's stores with the Macy's name. Consumers that have used their Marshall Field's Regards rewards card in the last 12 months will...