Cardline articles from May 2003

Cardline archives from May 2003

VISA, MASTERCARD AND MERCHANTS READY FOR TRIAL.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Barring any last-minute settlements, opening statements in the long-awaited class-action antitrust trial in which millions of U.S. merchants are challenging Visa U.S.A.'s and MasterCard International's "honor-all-cards" policies are set to...

TWO PLEAD NOT GUILTY TO OFFSHORE TAX SCAM.(Lee E. Morgan, Aaron Young)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Lee E. Morgan and Aaron Young, two Portland, OR, men indicted for allegedly assisting U.S. companies and individuals in obtaining MasterCard International credit and debit cards from Leadenhall Trust, a Bahamian bank, to avoid paying federal...

VISA CANADA SAYS FOREIGN-EXCHANGE FEES ARE DISCLOSED.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Visa Canada Association President Derek Fry tossed cold water on calls for the Canadian government to investigate Visa for allegedly charging Canadians hidden foreign-exchange fees on international purchases (CardLine 4-18). Visa Canada's 26...

HYPERCOM REPORTS LOSS.(first quarter financial results)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Point-of-sale terminal maker Hypercom Corp. today reported a first-quarter net loss of $2.03 million on revenues of $55.7 million compared with a net loss of $24.4 million and revenues of $70.8 million in the year-earlier period, when Hypercom...

INTERNET SPENDING INCREASES IN FIRST QUARTER.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Consumers spent $20.9 billion on Internet transactions in the first quarter, a 23% rise from the $17 billion spent in the first quarter of 2002, according to comScore Networks on-travel sales reached $11.8 billion, up from $10.1 billion spent a...

COMDATA SIGNS CONTRACT WITH U.S. FLEET SERVICES.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Comdata Corp. will issue a cobranded MasterCard corporate fleet card to U.S. Fleet Services' customers as part of a multiyear agreement between the two companies, a Comdata spokesperson tells CardLine. Bordentown, NJ-based U.S. Fleet delivers...

IDINE NAMES SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT.(IDine Rewards Network Inc. hires David Marks)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... IDine Rewards Network Inc. has named David Marks to the newly created position of senior vice president and COO for hotels. Miami-based iDine will be launching a hotel rewards program for members in 2003's second quarter. The program will offer...

CORRECTION.(Correction Notice)
May 2, 2003... In last week's CardLine, an item about interchange changes at the NYCE electronic funds transfer network should have noted that, for nonsupermarket retailers that show $15 billion in overall sales the previous year, their acquirers starting...

MASTERCARD REACHES OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT IN DEBIT CASE.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... MasterCard International has reached an out-of-court settlement in the class-action antitrust lawsuit challenging Visa U.S.A.'s and MasterCard's "honor-all-cards" policies, U.S. District Judge John Gleeson announced this morning in open court....

VISA SEEKS OPENING ARGUMENT DELAY IN DEBIT CASE.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Visa U.S.A this morning asked U.S. District Judge John Gleeson for permission to delay its opening arguments in the class-action lawsuit challenging Visa's and MasterCard International's "honor-all-cards" policies. Visa Attorney Steve Bomse...

OPENING ARGUMENTS IN DEBIT TRIAL RESCHEDULED.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... The Visa U.S.A. antitrust trial without former co-defendant MasterCard International adjourned today at 1-15 p.m DT after U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson granted Visa's request to delay opening arguments until Wednesday. Steve Bomse, a...

MASTERCARD OUT; 12 JUORS SEATED IN DEBIT CASE.(MasterCard International settles with merchants in debit card case)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... The debit card antitrust trial opened with a surprise today when U.S. District Judge John Gleeson announced that MasterCard International had settled out of court with the merchants who had brought the case, leaving Visa U.S.A. as the sole...

ALLIANCE DATA WILL ISSUE SPIEGEL'S CARDS.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Alliance Data Systems Corp. is establishing new private-label card programs for bankrupt Spiegel Inc.'s merchant divisions-Eddie Bauer, Spiegel Catalog, and Newport News-the Downers Grove, IL-based retailer announced today. Alliance will...

DIEBOLD COO KILLED IN WEEKEND PLANE CRASH.(Wesley B. Vance)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Wesley B. Vance, chief operating officer of Diebold Inc., the North Canton, OH-based ATM maker, was killed last weekend when the private plane he was piloting crashed near Columbus, OH, Diebold reported today. Vance, 45, was named COO in 2001...

ONE-STOP BILL PAYMENT WILL WIN.(according to speakers at NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association's Payments 2003 conference)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Consolidated online bill payment will come to dominate the electronic bill payment and presentment market over payments through individual billers' Web sites because of convenience, according to an alternative payments researcher. Speaking...

MILITARY BILL-PAYMENT PROGRAM RUNNING SMOOTHLY.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... War may be hell, but U.S. soldiers in Iraq won't have to worry about falling behind on their monthly bills processed through the Military Assistance Co. division of Fort Knox National Co lizabethtown, KY-based FKNC runs the payroll deduction,...

UMB BANK JOINS PULSE.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... UMB Bank announced recently that it has joined Pulse, expanding the Houston-based electronic funds transfer network's presence in the Midwest. The Kansas City, MO-based bank deploys about 600 ATMs and operates 160 branches in six Midwest...

MASTERCARD SETTLEMENT CAN BE REVEALED IN DEBIT CASE.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... U.S. District Judge John Gleeson ruled this morning that attorneys for the merchants can tell their clients details of MasterCard International's settlement in the class-action lawsuit challenging MasterCard's and Visa U.S.A.'s...

MASTERCARD AGREES TO CUT DEBIT INTERCHANGE FEES.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... MasterCard International will pay $1 billion to more than 5 million merchants and will lower its interchange rates to settle the merchant class-action antitrust case challenging its "honor-all-cards" policies, CardLine learned this morning....

MCDONALD'S PAYROLL CARD GETS NO RESPECT IN SOME PILOT CITIES.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... McDonald's Corp.'s payroll card pilot has received a mixed reaction in the cities where it is being tested, admits Laura L rmer, treasury manager for the Oak Brook, IL-based fast-food chain. McDonald's Corp. and Bank One Corp. are piloting the...

MCDONALD'S HOPES CARD WILL CUT CHECK FEES.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... One reason McDonald's Corp., the world's largest fast-food chain, began testing a payroll card was to reduce the high cost of issuing paper checks to employees. With an annual turnover rate greater than 100%, it was thought plastic would be...

CONCORD'S FIRST-QUARTER NET INCOME UP 43%.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Concord EFS Inc., the Memphis, TN-based debit processor and network owner, saw a revenue bump this quarter, but there are signs that growth in one of the company's core business areas was slowing. Concord reported that first-quarter revenues...

HOUSEHOLD TO ISSUE STORE CARD FOR GALYAN'S.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Household International will issue a new private-label card program for recreational and sports equipment and clothing supplier Galyan's Trading Company Inc., Prospect Heights, Ill.-based Household announced today. The card, called the...

AMEX OFFERS CREATE-YOUR-OWN REDEMPTION PACKAGE.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... American Express Co. today launched an addition to its Membership Rewards program that allows enrollees to create their own redemption packages. "We're always looking to add value to the Membership Rewards program," an AmEx spokesperson says....

UNITED AIRLINES CREDIT UNION JOINS CO-OP NETWORK.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... CO-OP Network, the nation's largest credit-union EFT network, announced today that the United Airlines Employees Credit Union has joined CO-OP. Chicago-based UAECU, which was founded in 1935, has $4 billion in assets and serves 166,000 members...

TRANSFIRST SIGNS NEW CONTRACTS.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Merchant processor TransFirst LLC has been busy this spring announcing recently that its Health Services subsidiary will become the card processor for the 8,000 members of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and the...

VISA, MERCHANTS IN SETTLEMENT TALKS.
May 2, 2003... U.S. District Judge John Gleeson announced in court this morning that Visa U.S.A. and merchants are attempting to negotiate an out-of-court settlement in the class-action antitrust case challenging Visa's honor-all-cards policy. Judge Gleeson...

MBNA TRIES TO LAND AIR CANADA'S ENTIRE AEROGOLD ACCOUNT.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... MBNA Corp.'s MBNA Canada has submitted a bid to buy financially troubled Air Canada's Aerogold credit card business, Canada's most popular credit card, the National Post, the country's leading newspaper, is reporting today. An Air Canada...

SETTLEMENTS COULD GIVE ISSUERS A PIN PROMPT.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... While lawyers for Visa U.S.A. and the merchants challenging Visa's "honor-all-cards" rule are negotiating a settlement in their dispute, some observers believe Visa will have to reduce its check card interchange rates, as MasterCard...

J.P. MORGAN RETAINS NACHA CROWN.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s Treasury Services division remained the top originator of automated clearing house transactions in 2002, increasing its total by 36% to 858 million and besting the 681 million in originations by second place Bank One...

BANKFIRST AGREES TO LIMIT SUBPRIME GROWTH.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Financially troubled BankFirst Corp., of Sioux Falls, SD, has agreed to limit growth in the subprime card portfolio of its subsidiary BankFirst, according to the Federal Reserve Board. The Fed announced the agreement late Tuesday. Under the...

EFUNDS REPORTS LOWER REVENUES, PROFITS.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Payment processor and ATM manager eFunds Corp. today reported first-quarter net income of $4.6 million, down 46% from $8.5 million a year earlier, on net revenues of $130.5 million, down 3% from $134.0 million a year earlier. Scottsdale,...

TSA REPORTS 40% DROP IN SECOND-QUARTER NET.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Transaction Systems Architects Inc. yesterday reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $4 million, down 40% compared with $6.8 million for the same three-month period last year. TSA, an Omaha, NB-based provider of e-payments and e-commerce...

ALLIANCE DATA RENEWS MARINE CORPS CONTRACT.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Alliance Data Systems Corp. recently announced that it has renewed its agreement to provide bank card authorization services for U.S. Marine Corps Community Services activities at 15 Marine bases in the U.S. and Japan. Dallas-based Alliance...

VISA SETTLES; MASTERCARD RELEASES SETTLEMENT DETAILS.
May 2, 2003... Visa U.S.A. has agreed to pay $2.25 billion and lower merchant interchange fees beginning August 1 to settle a class-action antitrust lawsuit filed by merchants challenging Visa's "honor-all-cards" policy, a spokesperson for merchant attorney...

VISA ENJOINED FROM EXCLUSIVE DEBIT AGREEMENTS.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Visa U.S.A. has been enjoined through its debit card lawsuit settlement for the next few years from signing contracts with banks under which they would agree to use only the Visa payment system for debit card transactions, according to Lloyd...

VISA, MASTERCARD AGREE TO PAY MERCHANTS IMMEDIATE $50 MILLION.
May 2, 2003... Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International have agreed to pay $50 million-$25 million each-immediately to merchants as part of the card associations' settlement of a class-action antitrust lawsuit filed by retailers challenging Visa's and...

SETTLEMENT OPENS DOOR TO PIN-BASED DEBIT.(retailers' antitrust suit against Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... While the dust is still settling, speculation on the ramifications of the retailers' antitrust suit against Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International has begun. Some have said online, or personal identification number-based (online) debit, will...

APAC REPORTS LOWER EARNINGS, REVENUES.(APAC Customer Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... APAC Customer Services Inc., one of the major third-party telemarketing firms serving the card industry and other call-center clients, Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $2.12 million, down 33% from $3.16 million in the 2002 period....

GEMPLUS LED THE 2002 SMART CARD MARKET.
May 2, 2003... France-based Gemplus maintained its number one-position in the overall chip card market in 2002, with shipments of 564 million cards and a 32.4% market share, according to the latest annual chip card vendor survey conducted by Gartner...

TSYS PURCHASES LOYALTY MARKETER.(Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) recently announced that it has purchased Enhancement Services Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) recently announced that it has purchased Enhancement Services Corp. for an undisclosed price. Roswell, GA-based Enhancement Services provides targeted loyalty consulting and travel, as well as gift card and...

PAYMENTECH'S PAIR OF PETROL PACTS.(Paymentaech has processing agreements w/ Gate Petroleum and FKG Oil)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2003... Merchant acquirer Paymentech announced yesterday that it has signed agreements with two petroleum marketers. Dallas-based Paymentech has signed a processing agreement with Gate Petroleum in which Paymentech will convert Gate's paper gift-...

DETAILS OF VISA'S RATE CUTS EMERGE.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... The nation's retailers will see interchange rates slashed by more than one-third for many signature-based debit transactions on branded Visa U.S.A. debit cards. Visa, in a document obtained by CardLine, outlines its lowered signature-based rate...

SETTLEMENT IMPACT ON SMALL RETAILERS IS UNCLEAR.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... It remains unclear how merchants, especially small ones, will fare under the settlement of the retailers' antitrust case against Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International over their debit card acceptance polices, Lloyd Constantine, the...

MEIJER TO CARRY ON WITH SUITS AGAINST VISA, MASTERCARD.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Meijer Stores Limited Partnership, a chain of 156 discount stores based in Grand Rapids, MI, will proceed with its lawsuit against Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International challenging the card associations' honor-all-cards policies regarding...

CREDIT CARD PROFITABILITY FALLS.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Visa-MasterCard credit card issuers posted a collective 1.99% after-tax return on assets in 2002, down from 2.18% in 2001, according to the latest bank card profitability study by CardLine sister publication Credit Card Management magazine....

CAPITAL ONE UPGRADES IT MILESONE CARD.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Capital One Financial Corp. announced this week it has revamped its airline-travel MilesOne Rewards MasterCard platinum card, issuing new versions carrying the Visa Signature and MasterCard World brands. The new cards have added features,...

ANALYST PREDICTS HIGHER CHIP CARD SALES, LOWER PRICES.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... London-based research firm Datamonitor predicts shipments of the sophisticated smart cards used by banks, telecommunications companies and governments will grow by 16% per year through 2006, while prices continue to fall. Mobile phones, many of...

MAGTEK NAMES HART CEO.(Annmarie D. Hart appointed chief executive officer)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... MagTek Inc., a developer of card and check readers and related magnetic-stripe technology, this week announced that it has named Annmarie D. "Mimi" Hart as chairman, president and CEO. Hart succeeds Thomas McGeary, who died last December. Hart...

CAP ONE TAPS WORLD BANK FOR NEW CFO.(Capital One appoints Gary L. Perlin chief financial officer and executive vice president)
May 9, 2003... Capital One Financial Corp. filled a major hole in its executive ranks today when it named Gary L. Perlin as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Perlin will join the McLean, VA-based bank card issuer and auto lender around...

JUDGE ORDERS AUCTION OF AIR CANADA'S CARD PROGRAM.
May 9, 2003... Ontario Superior Court Justice James Farley has ordered an auction of Air Canada's Aeroplan LP loyalty card portfolio after Air Canada received a last-minute bid for it from an unnamed card issuer, believed to be MBNA Corp.'s MBNA Canada...

CIBC SAYS IT'S BUSINESS AS USUAL.(Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce )(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said in a statement that it's "business as usual" for CIBC Aerogold Visa card holders despite the fact that another company has submitted a bid to purchase the program. "CIBC is committed to our credit card...

CANADIAN CARD MARKET GROWTH OUTPACES U.S.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Canada's Visa-MasterCard market may be only one-eighteenth the size of its U.S. counterpart, but it has been growing much faster for the past six years, according to CardLine sister publication Credit Card Management magazine. In an upcoming...

IRS IDENTIFIES MORE THAN $50 MILLION IN UNCOLLECTED TAXES.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... The Internal Revenue Service said recently that so far it has identified more than $50 million in uncollected taxes through its recently completed Offshore Voluntary Compliance Initiative. The initiative, which ended April 15, targeted U.S....

COURT APPROVES ALLIANCE-SPIEGEL AGREEMENT.(Alliance Data Systems Corp. and Spiegel in private-label card program alliance)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Agreements for Alliance Data Systems Corp. to operate new private-label card programs for Spiegel Inc.'s merchant divisions-Eddie Bauer, Spiegel Catalog, and Newport News-were approved Friday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern...

DOMINO'S WILL NOT SAVE DOUGH WITH ITS PAYROLL CARD.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Comdata Corp. announced recently that it will issue an employee payroll card for Domino's Pizza employees who want it. The Domino ExpressPay card, which will be issued in phases to Domino's corporate employees, will not replace paper checks, a...

COMPUCREDIT'S FIRST-QUARTER NET SOARS 99%.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Subprime credit card marketer CompuCredit Corp. today reported first-quarter net income of $33.2 million, up 99% compared with $16.7 million for the same three-month period last year. Atlanta-based CompuCredit also reported total managed loans...

CHICAGO-AREA SUPERMARKET TESTING AUTOMATED SHOPPING.(Jewel Food Stores Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Jewel Food Stores Inc. is testing an automated shopping, payment and checkout service with Symbol Technologies Inc. at a Jewel supermarket in Barrington, IL, a wealthy Chicago suburb, Steve Mathers, Symbol marketing vice president, tells...

CARD LOYALTY PROGRAMS TAKE OFF EVEN FOR BANKRUPT AIRLINES.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Bankruptcy filings by airlines haven't grounded their card loyalty programs. Advantex Marketing International Inc. is expanding several airline miles programs this month, launching a bonus miles deal for U.S. Airways, and announcing it will add...

OCC ISSUES ORDER AGAINST SAKS BANK.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency )
May 9, 2003... The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has filed a cease-and-desist order against retailer Saks Inc. and its former credit card issuing bank, the National Bank of the Great Lakes. The OCC found that the Elmhurst, IL-based bank was late...

JCB PROMOTES TWO EXECUTIVES.
May 9, 2003... JCB International Credit Card Co. yesterday announced a company reorganization designed to help the card issuer take a leadership position in payment technologies. Tokyo-based JCB named Masahiro Omoto executive vice president and general...

CHINESE BANK AGAIN SELECTS HYPERCOM.(Industrial and Commercial Bank of China chooses preferred payment-terminal provider)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has picked Hypercom Corp. as its preferred payment-terminal provider for the second consecutive year, Phoenix-based Hypercom said in a news release. The designation is expected to generate millions of...

SOLIDUS COMPLETES PURCHASE OF INDIVOS.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Solidus Networks Inc. recently completed its acquisition of Indivos Corp., a biometrics company that developed the Pay By Touch electronic-payment service. Pay By Touch is linked to an e-wallet that displays a consumer's payment options at...

REVOLVING CREDIT GROWTH SLOWS.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Consumer revolving credit grew at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.9% in March, down from 5.9% in February, the Federal Reserve reported this afternoon. Revolving credit outstandings, seasonally adjusted, stood at $721.4 billion in...

WAR HAD LITTLE EFFECT ON CARD USAGE.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Eight-four percent of the Americans say the Iraq war did not affect their use of credit cards, according to a survey released today by the Cambridge Consumer Credit Index. Of the more than 1,000 adults 18 years old and older surveyed earlier...

COINSTAR WILL DISTRIBUTE PAYROLL DEBIT CARDS.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Coinstar Inc., which made its name with its 11,000 coin-counting "Big Green Machine" kiosks at supermarkets in 48 states, Canada and the United Kingdom, is branching out. It is now distributing prepaid and payroll debit cards through programs...

CASHWORKS OFFERS NEW PRODUCT.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... CashWorks Inc., the Houston provider of automated ATM check-cashing services, has launched a "check-to-card" product that allows payroll check values to be loaded on prepaid debit cards using CashWorks' PayPort product. PayPort uses...

ECHO POSTS PROFIT, HIGHER REVENUES.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Merchant processor Electronic Clearing House Inc. (ECHO) today reported net income of $268,000 for its second fiscal 2003 quarter ended March 31 compared with a loss of $1.91 million in the year-earlier quarter, when earnings were hit by a $2.5...

NEC COMBINES ITS ID AND CREDIT CARDS.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Japan's NEC Corp. has distributed 40,000 smart cards that function both as corporate identification cards and as Visa credit cards mployees of the computer technology company use the chip card to sign on to the company's computer network as...

NYCE PROMOTES JUDD.(James S. Judd appointed executive vice president)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... NYCE Corp., the Montvale, NJ-based electronic-payments company, has promoted James S. Judd to the position of executive vice president. Judd's responsibilities will include management of NYCE's network business, and marketing communications....

OFFLINE INTERCHANGE COULD COST LESS THAN ONLINE.
May 9, 2003... New signature-based (offline) debit interchange rates will be much closer to, and in some cases lower than, rates charged to merchant acquirers for PIN-based debit card transactions, according to a new rate survey of PIN-based electronic funds...

VISA, MASTERCARD ARGUE LOWER COURT RULING WAS WRONG.
May 9, 2003... Visa U.S.A., Visa International and MasterCard International argued this morning before a three-judge panel of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a lower court was wrong when it ruled that the card associations violated antitrust...

LACY EXPLAINS REASONS FOR CARD SALE.(Sears, Roebuck and Co. chief executive officer and chairman Alan J. Lacy)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Alan J. Lacy, Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s chairman and CEO, told stockholders today at the retailer's annual meeting in Hoffman Estates, IL, that Sears expects to either announce the sale of its MasterCard or Sears card portfolios by year-end, or...

FIRST DATA SIGNS CARD-PROCESSING CONTRACT.(with ATB Financial)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... ATB Financial, a MasterCard issuer based in Edmonton, Alberta, has signed a seven-year card-processing agreement with First Data Corp., an ATB spokesperson tells CardLine today. ATB, which issues 120,000 business, consumer and commercial cards,...

PULSE, COLLOCATION SIGN BACK-UP SWITCH AGREEMENT.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... The Houston-based Pulse electronic funds transfer network Wednesday announced the completion of an agreement with service-provider Collocation Solutions LLC. Dallas-based Collocation will provide data-center infrastructure for a secondary Pulse...

LOOMIS, FISERV FORM ALLIANCE.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... Two top electronic funds transfer service providers, Houston-based Loomis, Fargo & Co. and Brookfield, WI-based Fiserv Inc., have formed an alliance to market combined services to financial institutions. Fiserv provides back-end EFT transaction...

MBNA OFFERS BLUEFISH REWARDS CARD.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2003... MBNA Corp. and The BlueFish Concierge, a company with dual headquarters in London and Geneva, will soon launch a cobranded credit card for the wealthy in the U.S., Steve Sims, BlueFish's president and founder, tells CardLine. With the BlueFish...

AIR CANADA'S PROGRAM REPORTEDLY DRAWS BIG ISSUERS.(banks submit bids for Air Canada's card program)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2003... As tomorrow's bidding deadline approaches, three giant U.S. card issuers-Bank One Corp., MBNA Corp. and Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank-reportedly will submit bids for financially troubled Air Canada's card program, according to today's Toronto Globe...

GLOBAL PAYMENTS ORDERED TO REMAIN ON THE JOB.(judge orders Global Payments Systems Inc. to continue providing card-processing services for Air Canada)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2003... Ontario Superior Court Justice James Farley has ordered merchant processor Global Payments Inc. to continue to provide card-processing services for financially troubled Air Canada. In a May 6 handwritten decision, Farley also ordered...

CATUITY FOUNDER STEPS DOWN.(David MacSmith resigns from the board of Catuity Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2003... Detroit-based Catuity Inc.'s former chairman David MacSmith resigned from the company's board today, ending his leadership of the company he founded in Australia more than a decade ago to develop smart card-based loyalty programs. MacSmith, who...

INTERCEPT'S FIRST-QUARTER NET DROPS 54%.(InterCept Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2003... Processor InterCept Inc. reported this week net revenues of $65.2 million in the first quarter, a 62% increase from $40.2 million in the first quarter of 2001. Profits, however, dropped 54% from $3.2 million last year to $1.5 million in this...

DATES SET IN FORMER SEARS CARD BOSS'S LAWSUIT.(dates set for Kevin T. Keleghan's lawsuit against Sears, Roebuck and Co., Alan J. Lacy)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2003... Attorneys representing former Sears, Roebuck and Co. card chief Kevin T. Keleghan, Sears, and Sears Chairman and CEO Alan J. Lacy appeared in court Thursday for a status hearing in the wrongful dismal and defamation lawsuit Keleghan filed...

CITIBANK ALL SMILES AFTER DENTAL RENEWAL.(Citibank N.A. renews contract to manage, market American Dental Association's affinity card program)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2003... Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank announced today that it has renewed its agreement with the American Dental Association to manage and market its affinity card program. Citibank has managed the program for the past four years. Financial details were...

SPIEGEL'S APRIL SALES LOOK FEEBLE.(Brief Article)
May 16, 2003... Bankrupt Spiegel Inc. yesterday blamed a 31% drop in April net sales primarily on the loss of its Spiegel-run credit card programs. Downers Grove, IL-based Spiegel reported that net sales for the four weeks ended April 28 were $115.6 million,...