Cardline articles from May 2005

Cardline archives from May 2005

MBNA FORMS JOINT VENTURE WITH A MEXICAN BANK.(Ixe Banco S.A. )(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... MBNA Corp. today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Ixe Banco S.A., a Mexican bank, to form a joint venture that will issue credit cards throughout Mexico. The joint venture will be named Ixe-MBNA Sofol, and MBNA and Ixe...

VERIFONE BEGINS TRADING ON THE NYSE.(VeriFone Holdings Inc. joins New York Stock Exchange )(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... VeriFone Holdings Inc. joined the New York Stock Exchange today and received a warm reception from investors. The San Jose, CA-based company, a point-of-sale terminal maker, had lowered its asking price to $10 per share from $12 to $14 per...

VISA SAYS 56,000 MERCHANTS USE VERFIED BY VISA WORLDWIDE.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Visa USA says 56,000 merchants worldwide are using Verified by Visa, the cardholder-authentication service that protects Visa cards against unauthorized use online. Globally, 360 million Visa cards are eligible for Verified by Visa, or VbV,...

CHEVRONTEXACO OFFERS BREAK ON CARD-PROCESSING FEES.(ChevronTexaco Credit Card Enterprises offers discount)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... ChevronTexaco Credit Card Enterprises is discounting credit and debit card processing fees for retailers and marketers and introducing reward programs for new cardholders and service stations this summer. Purchases made with Visa, MasterCard,...

ELAN BUYS CARD PORTFOLIO.(acquires Lakeshore Community Credit Union )(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Elan Financial Services has purchased the credit card portfolio of Lakeshore Community Credit Union in Avon Lake, OH, for an undisclosed price, both parties announced yesterday. At the time of the purchase, Lakeshore had $365,000 worth of...

GLOBAL DEBIT CASH TEMPORARILY SHUTS DOWN.(shortage of card supplies)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Debit card issuer and money-transfer company Global Debit Cash Card Inc. recently announced that it has temporarily suspended its operations. A shortage of card supplies is responsible for the temporary shutdown, Arnold F. Sock, Global's...

NCR SURPASSES FIRST-QUARTER EXPECTATIONS.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... ATM manufacturer NCR Corp. exceeded analysts' expectations for first quarter of 2005 in terms of income. NCR reported a net profit of $30 million compared with a loss of $5 million for the same three-month period last year. Revenue for the...

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, ESSO CANADA OFFER RECIPROCAL REWARDS.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Visa issuer RBC Royal Bank of Canada and Esso Canada, the oil and gas company, have signed an agreement to allow members of the RBC Rewards and Esso Extra programs to transfer blocks of points between the two loyalty programs. Under the new...

BANKRUPTCY LAW NOT AFFECTING ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES.(Bankruptcy Reform Act)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Even with bankruptcy filings at an all-time high in March following the passage of the Bankruptcy Reform Act, there has been little change in U.S. credit card asset-backed securities, according to NY-based Fitch Ratings. There was a possibility...

KANSAS CITY FED WILL HOLD CONFERENCE ON INTERCHANGE.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City will hold an international conference later this week on debit and credit card interchange rates, Stuart Weiner, vice president and director of payment system research, tells CardLine today. "It's an...

COMPANY IS MANUFACTURING PAYPASS FOR BANKS IN U.S. AND EUROPE.(MasterCard PayPass contactless cards by Perfect Plastic Printing Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Perfect Plastic Printing Corp. has been manufacturing MasterCard PayPass contactless cards for banks in the United States and Europe for the past few weeks in advance of planned rollouts, Matt Smoczynski, Perfect Plastic's director of...

JUNIPER WILL ISSUE CARDS FOR WEST MARINE.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Juniper Bank has signed a card-issuing agreement with West Marine, Inc., the Watsonville, CA, retailer of boating supplies and accessories, Wade Jones, Juniper's senior director of marketing, tells CardLine today. The West Marine MasterCard is...

CITI OFFERS FRAUD HELP FOR CARDHOLDERS.(CitiBusiness Credit Cards)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... CitiBusiness Credit Cards recently announced that it is offering Citi Identity Theft Solutions and Fraud Early Warning for its small business cardholders, according to a news release. Citi's Fraud Early Warning notifies small business owners of...

FUNDSXPRESS MOVES TO NEW PLATFORM.(FundsXpress Financial Network Inc. enhanced service)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... FundsXpress Financial Network has upgraded its electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) service to CheckFree's new Web platform, WebSM. By May 9, all FundsXpress EBPP clients will have been migrated to WebSM from the previous version of...

MASTERCARD'S GROSS DOLLAR VOLUME UP 10.9% IN THE FIRST QUARTER.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... MasterCard International today reported gross dollar volume worldwide, which includes purchases and cash volume, of $379.6 billion for the first quarter of 2005, up 10.9% compared with the same three-month period last year. Gross domestic...

FIRST DATA GETS A HOTEL ROOM.(Agilysys Inc. uses GlobalChoice dynamic currency conversion program)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Agilysys Inc., which provides front-desk software for hotels, is including First Data Corp.'s GlobalChoice dynamic currency conversion program in Agilysys' Lodging Management System software, a First Data spokesperson tells CardLine. With...

PSCU WILL ISSUE CARDS FOR HAWAIIAN CREDIT UNION.(PSCU Financial Services contract with Pearl Harbor Federal Credit Union)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... PSCU Financial Services, which says it is the world's largest credit union service organization, today announced that it signed an agreement with Pearl Harbor Federal Credit Union. The agreement calls for PSCU to issue and process the credit...

CO-OP NETWORK WILL DISBURSE A RECORD $10.3 MILLION.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Co-Op Network, the Ontario, CA, EFT network for credit unions, is distributing this month $10.3 million to its member owners, Robert Rose, Co-Op's CEO, tells CardLine today. The size of the check is based on the credit union's transaction...

MBNA CLOSES DEAL FOR NEXSTAR.(acquisition of Nexstar Financial Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... MBNA Corp. today announced that it had closed its purchase of Nexstar Financial Corp., a St. Charles, MO, home-equity lender. The deal, announced in April, enables MBNA, which is based in Wilmington, DE, to continue its expansion beyond...

CITI CARDS OPENS CALL CENTER.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Citi Cards, the card-issuing arm of Citigroup Inc., last week opened a 170,000-square-foot call center in Greensboro, NC. The facility is part of a $35 million expansion by Citi Cards in the Greensboro that has increased the number of Citi Card...

HSBC ISSUES CREDIT CARD FOR eCOST.COM.(HSBC Retail Services)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... eCost.com Inc., a Torrance, CA-based online discount retailer, has launched the eCost.com private-label credit card in association with HSBC Retail Services, a U.S. issuer of merchant-branded credit cards. eCost.com says customers can apply on...

DINERS CLUB BEGINS ISSUING MASTERCARD-BRANDED CARDS IN THE U.S.(Diners Club North America)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Diners Club North America, issuer of the Diners Club card in the United States and Canada, this month began issuing MasterCard International-branded Diners Club cards to cardholders in the U.S., a spokesperson for Citigroup Inc., Diners Club's...

BANAMEX ENHANCES DEBIT CARD PROTECTION.(Banco Nacional de Mexico)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Banco Nacional de Mexico (Banamex) has introduced an enhanced fraud protection program for its debit cards to bring them into line with the protection program it operates for its credit cards. The Mexico City-based subsidiary of Citigroup Inc....

DIEBOLD OFFERS TALKING ATMS.(ScanSoft Inc. helps in developing speech-enabled automated teller machines)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Diebold Inc. has teamed up with Peabody, MA-based speech technology firm ScanSoft to provide speech-enabled ATMs. North Canton, OH-based Diebold says it is using ScanSoft's RealSpeak text-to-speech conversion technology in the latest version of...

AMEX GETS ON BOARD WITH CELEBRITY CRUISES.(cruise line offers American Express Co.'s credit cards)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Celebrity Cruises, the Miami-based cruise line, today announced that it is offering a cobranded American Express Co. card issued by MBNA Corp. The card, Celebrity Rewards, allows cardholders to earn double points on Celebrity cruise purchases....

eFUNDS REPORTS FIRST-QUARTER NET INCOME OF $13.2 MILLION.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... eFunds Corp., a provider of risk management, electronic payments and transaction software, today reported net income of $13.2 million for the first quarter of 2005, up 40% from $9.4 million for same three-month period last year. First-quarter...

SMART CARD ALLIANCE BACKS GOVERNMENT'S ePASSPORT PLANS.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, told the Association of Corporate Travel Executives' global conference that the smart card industry supports the United States government's plans for higher security in the new...

AMEX NAMES NEW CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER.(American Express Co. appoints Stephen Squeri)
May 6, 2005... American Express Co. has named Stephen Squeri, 46, executive vice president and chief information officer. Squeri succeeds Glen Salow, who accepted the position of executive vice president of technologies and operations at American Express...

While the Fed Complains About a Lack of information.(Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has been frustrated in its attempts to gather pricing data on interchange fees in the United States from major-interest groups, including card issuers, payment networks, processors and merchants, Stuart...

BETTER MARKETING WILL IMPROVE CARD GROWTH IN THE U.S.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Steven Freiberg, chairman and CEO of Citigroup Inc.'s Citi Cards North America, and Catherine West, president of U.S. Card and director of Capitol One Financial Corp., both said that better marketing, loyalty programs, debit, and emerging...

EXPERIAN BUYS LOWERMYBILLS.COM.(Experian Information Solutions Inc. acquires LowerMyBills.com)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Credit reporting agency Experian has purchased the online company, LowerMyBills.com, Ed Ojdana, group president of Experian Interactive, tells CardLine today. Experian Interactive, which is based in Costa Mesa, CA, paid $330 million for the...

BANK OF MONTREAL LAUNCHES BUSINESS CARD.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... BMO Bank of Montreal has launched a cobranded Mosaik MasterCard with Retail BC aimed at businesses in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Retail BC Mosaik MasterCard for Business is available to the 3,200 member companies of Retail...

LEADING GAMING ISO REPORTS RECORD INCREASE IN REVENUE.(independent sales organization Global Cash Access Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Global Cash Access Inc., a leading supplier of ATMs and cash services to the gaming industry, reported the highest quarterly total revenue ever recorded by the company. Total revenues were $109.7 million for the first quarter of 2005, up 12.6%...

FAIR ISAAC RELEASES FRAUD DETECTION SOFTWARE.(Brief Article)
May 6, 2005... Fair Isaac Corp. is releasing new debit card fraud detection software that can examine data gathered from both PIN-debit and signature-debit payment channels, the company says. Called Falcon One, the new software suite is designed for use with...

MASTERCARD SAYS INTERCHANGE WORKS, BUT MERCHANTS WANT A SAY.(Interchange Fees in Credit and Debit Card Industries)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... MasterCard International General Counsel Noah J. Hanft, who yesterday blasted the National Retail Federation for calling the interchange a hidden tax, said today that "the four-party payment system, with interchange at its core, has been a home...

TWO MORE NATIONAL CHAINS TO ACCEPT MASTERCARD PAYPASS.(CVS H.C. Inc., Doctor's Associates Inc., MasterCard International Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... CVS drug stores and the Subway sandwich shop chain have agreed to accept the contactless MasterCard PayPass product, a MasterCard spokesperson tells CardLine. CVS had earlier agreed to accept the tap-and-go American Express Co.'s ExpressPay...

REVOLVING CREDIT GREW SLIGHTLY IN MARCH.(consumer credit)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... The Federal Reserve Board this afternoon reported that March's revolving consumer credit, which is mostly credit card debt, was $800.5 billion, up slightly from February's revolving credit of $800.1 billion. Revolving credit grew at an...

COMPUCREDIT REPORTS MUCH IMPROVED NET INCOME.(sales and earnings)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... CompuCredit Corp. yesterday reported higher first-quarter net income on lower chargeoffs and delinquencies. The Atlanta-based subprime issuer reported net income of $49.2 million for the first quarter of 2005 compared with $17.7 million for the...

CERIDIAN WILL RECOMMEND VISA DEBIT CARD TO ITS CLIENTS.(Ceridian Benefits Services, Evolution Benefits Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Ceridian Benefit Services, the Minneapolis-based company that handles benefits programs for other firms, says it will recommend that its clients' employees use Evolution Benefits debit Visa to manage their Flexible Spending Accounts. The...

eFUNDS SAYS IT WILL PURCHASE NATIONAL CHECK PROTECTION SERVICES.(National Check Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... eFunds Corp., a provider of risk management, electronic payments and transaction software, is acquiring substantially all of the assets of National Check Services, Inc., and its affiliates. National Check is one of the nation's largest...

RBS LYNK OFFERS WIRELESS PAYMENT TERMINAL FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS.(MobileLynk)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... With summer flea markets, street fairs and outdoor concerts just around the corner, mobile vendors are eager to capitalize on the warm weather to sell everything from fine art to hot dogs. Atlanta-based payment processor RBS Lynk Inc. has made...

CLOSED-LOOP GIFT CARDS DOMINATE THE MARKET, BUT THEY ARE FACING A CHALLENGE.(markets)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... A Mercator Advisory Group Inc. study of the prepaid payment card business shows that closed-loop gift cards remain the dominant prepaid card. But the Mercator study also suggests that these proprietary prepaid cards will lose their dominance to...

CARDS REVENUE AHEAD OF MERCHANDISING AT SEARS CANADA.(sales and earnings)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... The following article first appeared in the April 26 edition of CardLine. Cardline is re-publishing it because part of the article later was discovered missing. Sears Canada posted a net loss, excluding non-comparable items, for the first...

CORRECTION.(Correction Notice)
May 13, 2005... In CardLine's April 22 edition, it incorrectly reported that revenue for Allliance Data Systems Corp.'s Credit Services decreased 7%. It actually increased 7%. CardLine regrets the error. Copyright 2005 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights...

NEW CHASE LOGO TAKES WING IN TV AD CAMPAIGN.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... With the acquisition of Bank One and the rebranding of Bank One's branches and cards, JPMorgan Chase plans to reintroduce itself to consumers, the New York-based financial institution announced today. The marketing campaign focuses on the...

HSBC OUT IN THE COLD AFTER SEARS, KMART MERGER.(HSBC's Household Bank, Sears, Roebuck and Co., Kmart Holding Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... The recent merger of Sears Roebuck & Co. and Kmart Corp. has elbowed Kmart's former card issuer, HSBC's Household Bank, out of the equation. Sears Holdings Corp. chose Citibank USA, which had previously issued its proprietary card and gold...

RETAILERS STILL FRUSTRATED WITH INTERCHANGE.(interchange fees in credit and debit card Industries)
May 13, 2005... Last week's conference on interchange in Santa Fe, NM, gave merchants a chance to vent their anger over credit card costs. The Kansas City Federal Reserve Board's "Interchange Fees in Credit and Debit Card Industries" conference brought...

AMEX FOCUSING ON PREPAID CARDS.(American Express Co.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... American Express today announced its partnership with New York's Duane Reade drug stores to sell American Express Gift Cards at all 249 of its metropolitan New York locations. The announcement comes days after Sean O'Toole, vice president and...

FAST-FOOD CHAINS ON FAST TRACK TO PREPAID CARDS.(card authorization networks)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Major quick-service restaurant chains are planning to introduce their own prepaid gift and spending cards this year, Karen Larsen, vice president of global marketing and business development at ValueLink, the prepaid unit within transaction...

HERNANDEZ JOINS FIRST DATA.(Bill Hernandez)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Greenwood, CO-based First Data Corp. has hired Bill Hernandez as executive vice president, strategic financial services in the card issuing services group, the payment processor announced today. Hernandez will be responsible for bringing in new...

CO-OP NETWORK NAMES VICE PRESIDENTS.(Kathy Herziger, Carol Kosaka, Connie Trudgeon )(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Co-Op Network, the nation's largest credit union EFT network, recently promoted three members of its executive staff to vice president. Co-Op, which is based in Ontario, CA, named Kathy Herziger vice president of product development; Carol...

CORRECTION.(Correction Notice)
May 13, 2005... CardLine's May 6 edition incorrectly reported that eFunds Corp. sold its ATM portfolio to TRM Corp. for $17 million. eFunds sold the portfolio for $150 million. CardLine regrets the error. Copyright 2005 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights...

U.S. BANCORP BUYS GENPASS.(acquisitions )(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... U.S. Bancorp today purchased Genpass Inc., the ATM transaction processor and electronic funds network owner, for an undisclosed price. Sources told CardLine's sister publication, ATM&Debit News, in March that Genpass, whose majority investor is...

CONTINUES DOUBLE-DIGIT REVENUE GROWTH.(MasterCard Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... MasterCard Inc. reported first quarter revenue of $658 million, a 10% increase over the same period last year, adjusted for the impact of currency fluctuation. Net income for the quarter rose 26% to $93 million from $74 million the year before....

HYPERCOM'S NET LOSS WIDENS IN FIRST QUARTER.(sales and earnings)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Hypercom Corp., a point-of-sales terminal manufacturer, today reported a wider net loss of $9.6 million in the first quarter of 2005, compared with a $3 million loss in the prior year's quarter. The company attributes the loss to charges of...

METAVANTE TO PURCHASE PROCESSOR.(Med-i-Bank Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Milwaukee-based Metavante Corp., the processor subsidiary of Marshall & Ilsley Corp., is acquiring Med-i-Bank Inc., a processor of employee benefits debit card transactions. Metavante will purchase MBI for $145 million and will use Marshall...

SPIN-OFF OF DISCOVER MEANS SPIRAL FOR MORGAN STANLEY.(Discover Financial Services)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... While Morgan Stanley's bottom line is expected to be negatively effected by the spin-off of Discover Financial Services, the company will work to build up its other businesses to compensate for any loss, said Chairman and Chief Executive Phil...

MASTERCARD SHUTS DOWN 1,400 SPOOFED SITES.(MasterCard International Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Almost a year ago MasterCard International announced it was taking action to protect its cardholders from spoofed Web sites. The Purchase, NY-based payments company announced today that it shut down nearly 1,400 fraudulent sites and 750 sites...

SCOTIABANK REWARD PROGRAM SIGNS FIRST SPONSORSHIP.(Bank of Nova Scotia, Richmond Hill Soccer Club)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Scotiabank signed its first sponsorship deal for its new ScotiaStar Network credit card reward program. The Canadian bank launched ScotiaStar last October. Scotiabank is sponsoring Richmond Hill Soccer Club's 160 member teams for the 2005...

COMPETITION LEADING SOME BANKS TO EASE LENDING STANDARD.(banks survey )(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... About 10% of large banks surveyed for the Federal Reserve's senior loan officer survey last month indicated that they had eased lending standards on credit cards and non-credit-card consumer loans due to more aggressive competition from other...

VISA SIGNATURE IS STARTING TO LEAVE ITS MARK ...(Visa U.S.A. Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Consumer spending on the Visa Signature card, Visa USA's high-end card for the wealthy, surpassed $100 billion during the past 12 months, a spokesperson for Visa tells CardLine today. Spending on Signature from April 1, 2004, to March 31, 2005,...

AS MASTERCARD SAYS 'HEY BIG SPENDER'.(MasterCard International Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Credit card companies are always trying to lure high-spending cardholders to their brand, and MasterCard International latest effort to do so includes new advertising. The World MasterCard campaign will extend over television, print and online...

TSYS NEGOTIATING TO PROCESS CAPITAL ONE'S NORTH AMERICAN CARDS.(Capital One Financial Corp., Processor Total System Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Processor Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, today disclosed that it has reached an agreement in principle with Capital One Financial Corp., the nation's fifth-largest issuer. If the two companies reach a final agreement, Columbus, GA-based...

AMEX LAYS OUT GROWTH STRATEGY, BUT CHENAULT WON'T COMMENT ON DISCOVER.(American Express Co., Kenneth Chenault )(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... American Express Co. Chairman and CEO Kenneth Chenault told analysts yesterday that the issuer can grow its cards business organically, through expanded opportunities and acquisitions. Chenault, however, did not directly answer a question...

CONTACTLESS READER FOR GAS STATION EARNS CERTIFICATION.(American Express Co.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... American Express Co. has certified for its Expresspay payment device a contactless smart card reader for pumps at gas stations, according to Gilbarco Veeder-Root, a maker of fuel-dispenser equipment based in Greensboro, N.C. Earlier this year,...

AOL SAYS AQUI FOR ITS SPANISH-LANGUAGE PREPAID CARD.(America Online Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... America Online has launched AOL Latino Internet Prepagado, a prepaid card-based service to help Spanish speakers without credit cards or debit accounts gain access to the Internet. New users can buy starter kits that include installation CDs,...

FIRST DATA OFFERING CUSTOMIZED STATEMENTING.(Strategic Communications Solution)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... To help improve the relationships private-label and other payment card issuers have with their customers, First Data Corp. recently began offering what it calls a Strategic Communications Solution that enables institutions to use monthly...

CARD DEALS CAUSE MORE TURBULENCE FOR FINANCIALLY TROUBLED DELTA.(Delta Air Lines Inc.)
May 13, 2005... Delta Air Lines Inc., which recently indicated that it may file for bankruptcy after reporting a first-quarter loss of $1.1 billion, says that it is facing significant challenges from card companies. In an U.S. Securities and Exchange...

FED PREDICTS A 15% DECLINE IN CHECK-CLEARING VOLUME.(Federal Reserve Board)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... The Federal Reserve projects a 15% decline in its check-clearing volume this year due to the continued drop in check use and a reduction in its check-processing sites. In its annual report, "Budget Review 2005," the Fed notes it closed 13 of...

HOUSE COMMITTEE LOOKS AT HELPING CONSUMERS OBTAIN CREDIT.(Committee on Financial Services)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Nearly 70% of American households own their homes, 73% own at least one general-purpose credit card, and 66% have auto loans and leases. But, despite the expansion in credit there is a large segment of the population, estimated to be around 50...

FIRST DATA WINS BELIZE CONTRACT.(Provident Bank & Trust of Belize Ltd.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... First Data Corp. has signed a payment-processing agreement with Provident Bank & Trust of Belize Ltd. Processing services for the Belize City-based bank will be provided by Processing Center, S.A. (Procesa), First Data's Panama-based Latin...

FIRST DATA BUYS MONEY-TRANSFER BUSINESS.(Vigo Remittance Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... First Data Corp. expanded its presence in the lucrative money-transfer business today by purchasing Vigo Remittance Corp., a Sunrise, FL, company for an undisclosed price. Vigo was founded in 1985 to provide money-transfer services for...

GE WILL ACQUIRE MINORITY STAKE IN PANAMA ISSUER.(GE Consumer Finance, BAC International Bank)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... GE Consumer Finance is about to acquire a 49.99% stake in a credit card issuer that is one of the largest banks in Central America. The privately held BAC International Bank Inc., based in Panama City, Panama, has 178 branches located in...

GIFT CARD PURCHASES GREW 12% IN 2004.(markets)(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Purchases of gift cards grew nearly 12% in 2004, according to a report by the TowerGroup, a Needham, MA.-based independent research unit of MasterCard International. Prepaid card issuers would not release exact numbers, but based on background...

OPTIMAL BUYS NEW JERSEY MERCHANT PROCESSOR.(Optimal Payments, United Bank Card )(Brief Article)
May 13, 2005... Optimal Payments, a subsidiary of Montreal-based Optimal Group Inc., has paid $44 million for a merchant- processing portfolio from New Jersey-based United Bank Card (UBC). The acquisition fits in with Optimal's strategy of growing its...

RETAILER SUES VISA OVER "NO SURCHARGE RULE".(Animal Land, Inc. files class action lawsuit against Visa USA Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 20, 2005... A retailer has filed an antitrust class action lawsuit against Visa USA, claiming that its "no surcharge rule" is anticompetitive and inflates the costs of retail goods and services. Animal Land, Inc., an Atlanta-based pet supply store, filed...

INTELIDATA WARNS ABOUT FUTURE AS LOSSES GROW.(InteliData Technologies Corp. pessimistic about its future after facing loss)(Brief Article)
May 20, 2005... InteliData Technologies Corp., a Reston, VA-based electronic bill payment and presentment software provider, warns that it is unlikely to stay in business because of increasing losses and difficulties in creating cash flow. The company says...

PAY BY TOUCH ANNOUNCES TWO DEALS.(StoreNext Retail Technologies LLC, VeriFone)(Brief Article)
May 20, 2005... Hoping to persuade more consumers to put their finger on the pulse of biometric payments, San Francisco-based Pay By Touch Inc. has signed an agreement with StoreNext Retail Technologies LLC to bring the Pay By Touch biometric-payment system to...

ALTERNA SELECTS MBNA CANADA FOR CREDIT CARDS.(Alterna Savings and Credit Union Ltd. and Alterna Bank signs contract with MBNA Canada Bank)(Brief Article)
May 20, 2005... Alterna Savings and Credit Union Limited and its subsidiary Alterna Bank have selected MBNA Canada as the issuer of their cobranded MasterCards in parts of Canada where Alterna cannot issue them. Alterna Saving and Credit Union Ltd. can issue...

SMALL BUSINESSES SEEK BETTER PAYMENT METHODS.(survey)(Brief Article)
May 20, 2005... Receiving and collecting payments was identified as the most challenging cash-management issue by more than half of the respondents to a recent Visa survey. The Visa Small Business Cash Management Survey was conducted by Survey.com in March and...

JEWELER SELECTS ALLIANCE DATA FOR PRIVATE-LABEL CARD.(Crescent Jewelers Inc. signs credit card management contract)(Brief Article)
May 20, 2005... Crescent Jewelers, an Oakland, CA-based chain of 122 stores, will use Alliance Data Systems Corp. of Dallas to manage a new private-label credit card. The CJ Platinum Card replaces installment contracts underwritten by Crescent Jewelers that...

CYBER-AGENTS CATCHING ON AT CALL CENTERS.(institutions using new technologies)(Brief Article)
May 20, 2005... Offshoring call center operations has been a popular cost-cutting method for many financial institutions in recent years. Now new technologies that allow certain call center tasks to be performed without agents are catching on as banks and...

CONSUMERS EXPECT TO SLOW DEBT PAYMENTS.(survey)(Brief Article)
May 20, 2005... Consumers intend to increase their debt load this year according to the May Cambridge Consumer Credit Index, with the composite rising to its highest level since the index was created in 2001. The increase will come from consumers slowing...

AMEX TO FOCUS ON GIFT CARD ISSUANCE, NOT PROCESSING.(American Express Co.'s marketing)(Brief Article)
May 20, 2005... Though American Express Co. continues to provide back-office processing support for proprietary, closed-system gift cards offered by Best Buy and Westfield Group malls, the service will not be a core business moving forward. Instead, AmEx plans...