Cardline articles from November 2004

Cardline archives from November 2004

DISCOVER SIGNS AGEEMENT WITH POSTAL SERVICE FOR LOWER FIRST-CLASS MAILING RATES.
November 5, 2004... Discover Financial Services, issuer of the Discover card, has signed a three-year agreement with the U.S. Postal Service that will result in lower first-class mailing rates for the card issuer if certain incentives are met. At the same time,...

COMMERCIAL CARDS CONTINUE TO GAIN GROUND.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Commercial cards of all types accounted for 9.6% of $1.56 trillion in Visa-MasterCard U.S. charge volume in 2003, up from 5.4% of $650 billion of volume 1997, according to Mercator Advisory Group figures MasterCard International cited Thursday...

HYPERCOM NET INCOME DOWN 81%.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Hypercom Corp. today reported net income of $584,000 from continuing operations for the three months ended Sept. 30, down 81% from $3 million in net income the Phoenix-based payment-terminal maker generated in the third quarter last year....

NCR PREDICTS IMPROVING SALES BASED ON THIRD-QUARTER FINANCIALS.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... NCR Corp. is predicting a healthy rise in ATM replacements in 2005 after dramatic improvements this year. The ATM manufacturer reports that its net income in the third quarter increased by 145%, to $44 million from $18 million during the third...

OBERTHUR AND RUSSIA'S NOVACARD INK DEAL.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Oberthur Card Systems and NovaCard, the first Russian card company approved to manufacture Visa and MasteCard International payment cards, have formed an alliance to serve the growing Russian card market. The open-ended alliance combines...

BILL ME LATER, THE CREDIT CARD ALTERNATIVE, GETS SEATS ON TWO AIRLINES.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... America West Airlines and Continental Airlines now include Bill Me Later as payment alternative to credit cards when consumers purchase tickets online, says Mark Lavelle, vice president of business development at I4 Commerce Inc., which offers...

GLOBAL PAYMENTS RENEWS AGREEMENT.(Electronic Exchange Systems)(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Merchant processor Global Payments Inc. has renewed its relationship with Electronic Exchange Systems, a Newport Beach, CA, independent sales organization. The multi-year agreement requires Atlanta-based Global to provide a variety of acquiring...

MASTERCARD DOLLAR VOLUME UP 10%.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... MasterCard International, the Purchase, NY-based card association, this afternoon reported third-quarter global gross dollar volume of $365.9 billion, a 10% increase over the same three-month period last year. During the third quarter,...

DEBIT MASTERCARD PURCHASES UP 11.8%.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... During the first nine months of this year, U.S. holders of signature-based (offline) debit MasterCards initiated 1.6 billion purchases, up 11.8% from 1.43 billion during the same period last year, MasterCard announced today. The number of debit...

EURONET OBTAINS $40 MILLION IN FINANCING.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Transaction processor Euronet Worldwide Inc. last week said it had obtained a $40 million revolving credit facility from Bank of America Corp. Leawood, KS-based Euronet plans to use the two-year facility for repayment of existing debt,...

GIFT CARDS, THEY'RE NOT JUST FOR HOLIDAYS AND BIRTHDAYS ANYMORE.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Gift cards are gaining currency for giving beyond the traditional birthday and winter holiday season, though the trend is still in its formative its stages, according to the Stored Value Systems Inc.'s annual gift card survey. In 2004, 11% of...

TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL SUES FOUR CARD MARKETERS.(Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Act)(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has sued four credit card marketers and two individuals, charging that they violated provisions of the Lone Star State's Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Act. The civil lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges that...

METAVANTE WILL PROVIDE MERCHANT PROCESSING FOR CHESAPEAKE BANK.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Metavante Corp. today announced that it will provide merchant processing for Chesapeake Bank, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Financial Shares Inc. The deal calls for Metavante, the financial technology subsidiary of Marshall & Ilsley Corp., to...

FIRST NATIONAL RENEWS MERCHANT-PROCESSING AGREEMENT WITH BOSSELMAN.(First National Merchant Solutions)(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... First National Merchant Solutions, a subsidiary of First National Bank of Omaha, recently announced that it signed a new five-year agreement with Bosselman Inc., a Grand Island, NE, company that owns truck plazas and Pump 'n' Pantry convenience...

REGIONAL BANK AMSOUTH AGREES TO SELL ITS CARD PORTFOLIO TO MBNA.
November 5, 2004... AmSouth Bancorporation yesterday announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its credit card portfolio to MBNA Corp. AmSouth, which is based in Birmingham, said it expects to report a pre-tax net gain of approximately $170...

WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY GETS FIRST FIELD TEST IN TRANSIT.(Near Field Communication Technology)
November 5, 2004... The backers of a new wireless technology called Near Field Communication today announced plans for an initial field test and touted NFC as a way to open up a broad range of new mobile, Internet and person-to-person services, including payments....

SMART CARD VENDORS PREDICT STRONG GROWTH IN 2005.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Wrapping up a strong 2004, smart card vendors predict another good year in 2005, led by healthy demand in the mobile-phone and banking sectors and new demand in government identity projects. In the industry's core product, the...

CHARGEOFFS INCREASED IN AUGUST, BUT ARE DOWN FROM A YEAR EARLIER.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Chargeoffs on securitized pools of card receivables reversed course in August, increasing 12 basis points to 6.13% of receivables from 6.01% in July, according to the Fitch Ratings Credit Card Chargeoff Index released today. However, the loss...

COMDATA BUYS PROVIDER OF STORED-VALUE AND LOYALTY PROGRAMS.(Datamark Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Comdata Corp., owner of prepaid card services provider Stored Value Systems Inc., Monday reported that it has purchased Datamark Technologies Inc. Princeton, NJ-based Datamark provides hardware, software and support services for stored-value...

VERISIGN ANNOUNCES ENHANCED SECURITY SEAL FOR ONLINE PURCHASES.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... VeriSign Inc. today announced an enhanced VeriSign Secured Seal that will allow companies to display a recognized trust mark to help maximize online sales. The seal indicates the merchant site has premium security such as Secure Socket Layer...

PSCU SIGNS CARD-PROCESSING AGREEMENTS WITH TWO SOUTH CAROLINA CREDIT UNIONS.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... PSCU Financial Services, the nation's largest credit-union service organization, today announced the signing of credit and debit card processing agreements with two South Carolina credit unions. St. Petersburg, FL-based PSCU renewed its...

VISA TO REDUCE CHECK CARD INTERCHANGE RATES ..(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Visa USA is planning to initiate major changes in interchange rates that will result in acquirers and presumably merchants, paying less for signature-based Visa check card retail purchases. In a memo to members this week, William Sheedy, Visa...

BUT WILL INCREASE INTERLINK RATES.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... When Visa USA's new interchange rate schedule takes effect in April, acquirers generally will pay more for PIN-based Interlink purchases. High-volume, Threshold I Interlink acquirers will pay 0.45% plus 8 cents, capped at 28 cents., a 27.2%...

VISA RATE CHANGES ALSO WILL AFFECT PLUS ISSUERS, ATMS.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Card issuers with low Plus volumes will pay more in ATM switch fees, but all Plus issuers will pay acquirers of basic-function ATMs less in interchange under new Visa USA Plus ATM network rates that take effect next October. The changes in Plus...

CAPITAL ONE GETS SET TO BUY U.K.-BASED HOME-EQUITY LENDER.(HFS Group)(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Capital One Financial Corp. today broadened its presence in the United Kingdom, where the company is already a major credit card issuer, by signing a definitive agreement to purchase HFS Group, a U.K.-based home-equity lender, for $117 million....

COMPUCREDIT REPORTS THIRD-QUARTER FINANCIALS.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Subprime card marketer CompuCredit Corp. yesterday reported third-quarter net income of $39 million, down 32% from $57.5 million for the same three-month period last year. Total managed receivables for the quarter were $1.96 billion, down 22%...

VISA PUSHES CARD REWARDS PROGRAMS.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Visa USA today announced several programs designed to stimulate member promotion of its rewards cards as Visa expands its competition with American Express Co. Rewards cards generate an average of 50% greater monthly spend per card than...

CO-OP NETWORK'S ROSE ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Robert Rose, CEO of CO-OP Network, the nation's largest credit union-owned ATM-EFT network, yesterday announced that he plans to retire in June in order to spend more time with his family and to teach at the college level xecutives of CO-OP,...

MASTERCARD INTRODUCES CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS WITH EUROPEAN FLAVOR.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... MasterCard International has unveiled a version of its PayPass pay-with-a-wave product integrated with the contact-based EMV smart cards starting to roll out across Europe. The product is called OneSmart PayPass and it works with a...

JOSEPH TAKES OVER AT NOVA.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Pamela A. Joseph has been named the new chairman, president and chief executive of Atlanta-based Nova Information Systems Inc., the wholly owned processing subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp. Joseph replaces Edward Grzedzinski, who left to pursue other...

VISA BELIEVES MARKET WILL FAVOR PIN, SIGNATURE DEBIT SYMMETRY.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Visa USA believes that better symmetry between the acquirer-paid interchange rates applied to PIN-based Interlink and signature-based check card purchases will be embraced by both issuers and merchants, William Sheedy, Visa executive vice...

FIRST DATA DEPLOYS 9,000 INTERNET PROTOCOL POS TERMINALS IN FAST-FOOD RESTAURANTS.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... First Data Corp. has deployed 9,000 card-accepting Internet Protocol point-of-sale terminals in quick-service restaurants nationwide since January, Gregory Holmes, senior vice president of First Data, tells CardLine. Holmes says about 4,000...

VISA UNVEILS NEW INTERCHANGE REIMBURSMENT.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Visa introduced yesterday increases in the interchange reimbursement fee for its Signature line of cards and its new Visa Traditional Rewards cards. The average increase of the reimbursement will be 6.5%, Visa reported, though that may vary...

ACH PAYMENTS EXCEED 2 BILLION PAYMENTS IN THIRD QUARTER.(Automated Clearing House)(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Financial institutions originated 2.086 billion automated clearinghouse payments in the third quarter, NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association recently reported. The increase, 24.6% higher than last year's third quarter, was the first time 2...

Q3 REVENUE INCREASE AT IPAYMENT.(Brief Article)
November 5, 2004... Ipayment Inc., the Nashville, TN-based card processor, today reported third-quarter net income of $6.4 million, up 26% from $5.1 million in 2003's third quarter. Revenues increased 56% to $93.4 million from $59.8 million a year earlier. Charge...

MASTERCARD, VISA GRUMBLE ABOUT AMEX-BRANDED MBNA CARDS.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... The launch this morning by American Express Co. and MBNA Corp. of the first cards under their much-balleyhooed partnership drew sharp comments from the bank card associations. MasterCard International released a statement noting that AmEx may...

INTERLINK VOLUME MORE THAN DOUBLES.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Transaction volume in Visa USA's Interlink PIN-debit network more than doubled during the third quarter ended Sept. 30, CardLine has learned. Much of the growth was the result of several financial institutions migrating to Interlink from First...

PAYPAL EXPLORES MOBILE COMMERCE.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... PayPal Inc. has joined the international firms exploring mobile commerce and is seeking a senior product manager to oversee its expansion into the field, according to job postings at the online payments provider. The manager will guide...

ONE IN FIVE VISA CARDS EXPECTED TO HAVE CHIPS.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Visa International expects that about 20% of its global card base will be smart cards by the end of 2005, Denny Jensen, senior vice president of chip implementation, told a conference today in Paris. Speaking at an annual meeting with Visa...

VISA IS BULLISH ON CONTACTLESS.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Visa International is seeing "keen interest" in contactless payment cards from member institutions around the world and responding to it, Denny Jensen, senior vice president of chip implementation, told a vendor conference today in Paris....

PROCESSORS BEAT THE MARKET.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... The stocks of the major publicly traded transaction processors generated a mean return of 3.13% in October, following the gang-busters 7.69% return the group posted in September, according to Barrington Research's Electronic Transaction...

REVOLVING CREDIT REBOUNDS IN SEPTEMBER.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... After declining at a revised annualized rate of 3.3% in August, consumer revolving credit rebounded in September to post a 10% annualized growth rate, the Federal Reserve reported this afternoon. The latest monthly figures show a continuation...

MBNA, AMEX ALLIANCE BEGINS WITH A 300,000 CARD BLAST.
November 12, 2004... MBNA Corp. and American Express Co. today launched the first of the credit cards planned for their partnership, marketing the cards as MBNA Affinity Rewards American Express to over 1,000 affinity groups. Over 300,000 cards already have been...

AMEX ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE ITS BRAND.(American Express Co)
November 12, 2004... American Express Co. today launched an advertising campaign to promote its brand in the United States in order to capitalize on the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows bank card issuers here to form partnerships with AmEx. The campaign,...

HSBC, CHINESE BANK SET UP JOINT UNIT TO STUDY ISSUING CREDIT CARDS IN CHINA ...(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... HSBC Holdings plc and China's Bank of Communications have set up a joint unit to look at China's credit card market, an HSBC spokesperson tells CardLine today. The joint unit is residing within the Bank of Communications. "It's not a separate...

AND HSBC-NORTH AMERICA SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH KMART.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Kmart Holding Corp. has well-known brands, a new president and CEO, and now a new private-label credit card. HSBC-North America, formerly known as Household International, today announced the launch of the Kmart Rewards credit card. The card...

CITIBANK INCREASES STAKE IN BRAZLIAN ISSUER.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Citibank Brazil, Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A., and Unibanco, owners of Sao Paulo, Brazil-based card issuer Credicard Group, today announced a restructuring of Credicard in which Citibank and Banco Itau will up their stake in the company....

NEW CHIP AND PIN CARD NUMBERS RELEASED.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Some 30.8 million cardholders in the United Kingdom had at least one new chip and PIN card in their wallets at end of October. The cards are designed to eliminate debit and credit card fraud by having cardholders type in a four-digit number...

MASTERCARD 'TOGETHER WHEREVER' FOR THE HOLIDAYS.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... MasterCard International is touting togetherness in its holiday promotion this year. The Purchase, NY-based card association launched its "Together Wherever" campaign last week that offers MasterCard cardholders the chance to win one of ten...

PSCU NAMES CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, A NEW POSITION.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... PSCU Financial Services, the nation's largest credit-union service organization, has named Brian Crawford, chief strategy officer, a new position. Crawford's role will be to explore long-term strategies, potential acquisitions and other...

CREDIT CARD ISSUERS TIGHTEN STANDARDS.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Most credit card issuers haven't changed their underwriting standards this year, but those that have generally tightened rather than eased them, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reported today. In its tenth annual Survey of Credit...

VISA LAUNCHES CARD CAMPAIGN TARGETING UTILITIES.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Visa USA this afternoon announced plans to launch a campaign to expand payment card acceptance by residential utilities ffective April 2, a new, lower interchange-reimbursement fee schedule for consumer card transactions will be adopted for...

MASTERCARD ANNOUNCES DISMISSAL OF 9 CONSUMER CLASS-ACTION LAWSUITS.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... MasterCard International announced with a sigh of relief today that nine state courts have dismissed consumer class-action lawsuits filed against the Purchase, NY, card association. Courts in California and Tennessee, however, significantly...

MERRICK BUYS 22 ISO CONTRACTS FROM PROVIDENT BANK.(Independent Sales Organizations')(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Merrick Bank, a subsidiary of MasterCard and Visa issuer CardWorks, purchased 22 independent sales organizations' contracts from Provident Bank for an undisclosed price, David Watson, Merrick's chairman, tells CardLine today. The deal with...

AMPCO CONTINUES TO PARK ITS BUSINESS WITH FIRST NATIONAL MERCHANT SOLUTIONS.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Parking-system management company Ampco System Parking decided to continue parking its business with merchant acquirer First National Merchant Solutions for another three years, both companies announced yesterday. Ampco, a First National client...

DOES IT MATCH MY TIARA.(MasterCard International introduced last week in Singapore the Jewel Card case for its Platinum cardholders)(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... MasterCard International introduced last week in Singapore the Jewel Card case for its Platinum cardholders. The cases come with diamonds, sapphires and rubies in a white gold setting and are designed to hold credit cards. Consumers can choose...

AMEX IS PUSHING MUSIC DOWNLOADS.(American Express Co)(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... American Express Co. and Microsoft Network (MSN) today launched a promotion to encourage AmEx cardholders to use their cards to purchase music downloads from MSN. American Express charge card holders, Delta SkyMiles and Blue from American...

FED RATE INCREASE MEANS HIGHER INTEREST ON CARDS.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee today raised its target for the federal funds rate 25 basis points to 2%. It was the fourth quarter-point increase since June. In raising the rate, the committee cited the "robust underlying...

U.K. GOVERNMENT SAYS MASTERCARD'S INTERCHANGE FEES ARE "UNDULY HIGH".(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... The United Kingdom's Office of Fair Trading today issued a proposed finding that MasterCard International's MasterCard U.K. Members Forum charged "unduly high interchange fees," and that those charges eventually were passed on to consumers. The...

VISA INTRODUCES BATTERY-POWERED CARD.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Visa International today introduced the world's first battery-powered credit card, which is as thin as a regular card, but in one way more powerful. When a cardholder presses a button on the card, he can use it as a flashlight in dimly lighted...

VISA REPLACING DEBIT CARD ACCOUNT NUMBERS AFTER SECURITY BREACH.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Visa USA is replacing an undisclosed number of debit account numbers at an undisclosed number of banks after a U.S. merchant reported to the association it had suffered a security breach. The breach meant that some Visa card information was...

ISSUERS HAVE UNTIL TODAY TO SHOW THEIR INTEREST IN A CARD FOR NEW YORK CITY.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Today is the deadline for card issuers to respond to a request for information from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Office of Contract Services concerning a cobranded credit card for the Big Apple, although interest in the idea appears...

CAPITAL ONE CONTINUES LAYING OFF WORKERS.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Capital One Financial Corp. continues to slash its workforce to control costs. The McLean, VA, issuer announced yesterday that it will eliminate approximately 750 positions in Richmond, VA, and Federal Way, WA, near Seattle. The majority of the...

CELL PHONE PAYMENTS BLOOMING IN BOSTON.
November 12, 2004... A new payments style may be blossoming in Boston where consumers can use their cell phone to pay for flowers at the KaBloom Ltd. store in the South Station train stop. KaBloom has partnered with MobileLime, a Newton, MA-based technology...

CROSS COUNTRY BANK SETTLES PENNSYLVANIA LAWSUIT.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Cross Country Bank Inc., a Wilmington, DE-based subprime card issuer, will pay $450,000 in fines and costs to the state of Pennsylvania for alleged deceptive marketing and illegal debt-collection practices under a consent agreement filed...

ONLINE FRAUD IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE THIS YEAR.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Crooks will pocket $2.6 billion from online fraud this year, up about $700 million, or 37%, from $1.9 billion in losses suffered last year, according to CyberSource Corp.'s sixth-annual survey of online fraud. The rate of fraud as a percent of...

CHINA UNIONPAY AGREEMENT EXPANDS AMEX'S REACH.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... American Express Co. has signed an agreement with China UnionPay, giving AmEx cardholders greater access to ATMs and merchants in China. China Union Pay is co-owned by China's major card issuers, and the deal means that they will acquire...

ALLIANCE DATA WILL HELP TREK PEDDLE ITS BIKES.
November 12, 2004... Trek Bicycle Corp., manufacturer of the bikes that Lance Armstrong rode to a record six consecutive Tour de France championships, has signed a five-year agreement with Alliance Data Systems Corp., David Smith, Trek's director of financial...

TARGET'S PRE-TAX CARD PROFITS RISE 12%.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Discount retailer Target Corp. today reported pre-tax earnings of $120 million from its continuing credit card operations in the third quarter ended Oct. 30, up 12% from $107 million a year earlier. Following the recent sales of its Marshall...

ONE-TIME ITEMS CUT FAIR ISAAC PROFIT.(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Scoring and risk-management technology provider Fair Isaac Corp. late Wednesday reported net income of $14.4 million for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, down 55% from $31.7 million for the year-earlier quarter, even though revenues...

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS PROBING TSYS.(Total System Services Inc.,)(Brief Article)
November 12, 2004... Synovus Financial Corp., which owns 81% of card processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), has disclosed that TSYS is the subject of a probe by the United States Department of Justice. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of...

CHARGEOFFS DROP IN SEPTEMBER.
November 19, 2004... Chargeoffs on securitized pools of receivables fell to 5.63% of receivables in September, down from 6.63% in September 2003, according to the Moody's Investors Service Credit Card Indexes. It was the tenth consecutive month of year-over-year...

MORE COMPANIES INDICATE THEY MAY SWITCH TO COMMERCIAL PAYMENT CARDS.
November 19, 2004... Visa USA this week released the results of its second-annual Cash Management Survey in which executives indicated they may switch to commercial payment cards from checks. The poll found that more than half of chief financial officers,...

S1 BUYS MOSAIC SOFTWARE HOLDINGS FOR $37 MILLION.(Mosaic Software Holdings Ltd.)(Brief Article)
November 19, 2004... Atlanta-based S1 Corp., a provider of front-office and Internet-based software for financial institutions, will acquire United Kingdom-based Mosaic Software Holdings Ltd. for $37 million in cash. The acquisition will make S1 a player in the...

CERTEGY OFFERS REWARDS PROGRAM FOR DEBIT CARDS.(Certegy Card Services)(Brief Article)
November 19, 2004... Certegy Card Services, a provider or card-processing services for community banks and credit unions, yesterday announced the launch of Premier DebitSM, a rewards program for debit cards. "Financial institutions have traditionally used rewards...

VERIFONE, MCAFEE ARE DEVELOPING POINT-OF-SALE VIRUS PROTECTION.(Network Associates Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 19, 2004... Terminal maker VeriFone Inc. and McAfee Inc. say they are jointly developing a point-of-sale terminal virus-protection software program, although a VeriFone executive says no such attacks of this type have occurred. The software will be...

APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION.(R. Neil Williams )(Brief Article)
November 19, 2004... Equifax, the Atlanta-based credit bureau, today named Robert J. Webb, chief technology officer, replacing Owen Flynn. Flynn will assume another position in the company reporting to Tom Chapman, Equifax's chairman and CEO. Webb joins Equifax...

CANADIAN BANKRUPTCY DROPS.(Brief Article)
November 19, 2004... Consumer bankruptcies in Canada dropped 1.9% to 7,075 in September from 7,209 in September 2003, according to BankruptcyCanada.com. Year-to-date filings totaled 63,842, down 0.8% from 63,334 for the same period last year. Business bankruptcies...

CORRECTION.(Correction Notice)
November 19, 2004... Today's CardLine item about Target Corp.'s earnings should have said that Target received an aggregate price of $1.65 billion for its Mervyn's private-label card portfolio, 257 Mervyn's stores and four distribution centers, not just the card...

DISCOVER TO BUY PULSE FOR $311 MILLION.(Brief Article)
November 19, 2004... Discover Financial Services, issuer of the Discover card, announced this morning that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the Pulse EFT Association for approximately $311 million. The deal, which is expected to close in 60 days, is...

DISCOVER TO BECOME THIRD SIGNATURE-DEBIT BRAND.(Discover Financial Services)
November 19, 2004... Upon completion of its planned $311 million acquisition of the Pulse EFT Association announced this morning, Riverwoods, IL-based Discover Financial Services would become the nation's third brand sponsor of signature-based debit cards, David W...

MASTERCARD, VISA SAY THEY WILL FIGHT AMEX LAWSUIT.(MasterCard International Inc., American Express Co., Visa U.S.A. Inc.)
November 19, 2004... MasterCard International and Visa USA pledged to fight the lawsuit filed today by American Express Co. that seeks undisclosed monetary damages for business lost due to the associations' U.S xclusionary policies. MasterCard General Counsel Noah...

PUBLIC BROADCASTING WILL AIR DOCUMENTARY ON THE CREDIT CARD INDUSTRY.
November 19, 2004... The New York Times and Frontline, Public Broadcasting Services' investigative unit, will air an hour-long documentary on the credit card industry later this month. The program, "Secret History of the Credit Card," will be broadcast Nov. 23,...

RESEARCHER EXPECTS ONLINE BILL PAYMENTS' MARKET SHARE TO MORE THAN DOUBLE BY 2007.(Brief Article)
November 19, 2004... Some 29% of U.S. consumer bill payments will be done online by 2007, up from 13% this year, according to a new report from Boston-based research and consulting firm Celent Communications. At the same time, checks' share of bill payments will...