Cardline articles from October 2008

Cardline archives from October 2008

CHASE-WAMU REBRANDING COULD BE SLOW, BUT ADVANTAGE GOES TO VISA: ANALYST.
October 3, 2008... JPMorgan Chase & Co., which yesterday acquired Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc.'s retail banking business for $1.9 billion after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shut down WaMu, plans to reissue cards with the Chase brand as it reissues...

WACHOVIA DEAL NEARLY QUADRUPLES CITI'S DEBIT CARD PORTFOLIO.
October 3, 2008... Citigroup Inc. will nearly quadruple the number of signature-debit cards it issues with today's purchase of Wachovia Corp. At the end of 2007, Wachovia issued 10.4 million Visa-branded debit cards, which cardholders in December used to initiate...

CITI'S WACHOVIA DEAL CREATES THIRD-LARGEST BANK ATM NETWORK.
October 3, 2008... New York-based Citigroup Inc.'s purchase of Wachovia Corp. doubles the size of Citi's ATM network. Citibank now operates the nation's third-largest bank-ATM network with 8,577 machines, ranking behind Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America...

VISA AND MASTERCARD MAY SETTLE WITH DISCOVER FOR $4 BILLION.
October 3, 2008... Discover Financial Services may accept a settlement of up to $4 billion from Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. in a dispute over alleged efforts to keep banks from working with rivals, according to industry analysts. On the other hand, Visa and...

CLUB VIVANET TO PROCESS CARDS ON EXPERT FINANCIAL PLATFORM.(Brief article)
October 3, 2008... Club Vivanet Inc., a provider of prepaid cards, online tickets and telecommunications services, announced plans last week to begin offering self-processed cobranded prepaid cards starting in January. Cape Coral, Fla.-based Club Vivanet says it...

MOBILE-PAYMENT ADOPTION TO GROW AMONG YOUNG ADULTS.
October 3, 2008... In 10 years, nearly 50% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 35 will use mobile payments, contends a study from Mercatus LLC, a Boston-based financial-services consultancy. Between 2013 and 2018, about 15% of consumers ages 18 to 30 will use...

NYCE OFFERS SUM PARTICIPANTS ACCESS TO MONEYPASS ATMS.
October 3, 2008... NYCE Payments Network LLC Monday announced it has signed an agreement with the MoneyPass ATM Network to offer financial institutions participating in NYCE's SUM selective surcharge-free ATM program the option of adding access to MoneyPass...

BRIEFS.
October 3, 2008... Billeo Inc., which makes Web-browser software consumers use to keep passwords and payment information for online shopping, says Truste, an online privacy-certification organization, has certified the Billeo toolbar as part of Truste's Trusted...

CORRECTION.(Correction notice)
October 3, 2008... Today's CardLine misidentified the Bruce Cundiff's company affiliation. Cundiff is director of payments research and consulting for Pleasanton, Calif.-based Javelin Strategy & Research.

CARD ISSUERS' FUNDING COSTS RISE IN LIQUIDITY CRISIS.(Brief article)
October 3, 2008... Continued economic deterioration and uncertainty over the $700 billion bailout Congress is still debating this week do not bode well for card issuers' results as the third quarter winds down today, Sanjay Sakhrani, an analyst with New...

ANALYSTS: CUTTING CARDHOLDER CREDIT COULD BE RISKY BUSINESS.
October 3, 2008... As the credit crunch deepens, many credit card issuers are collapsing cardholders' credit lines to minimize the risk of further losses, but they are not switching into panic mode, analysts say. "Credit card issuers are not dramatically changing...

WAMU PURCHASE NEARLY DOUBLES CHASE'S ATM NETWORK.
October 3, 2008... JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $1.9 billion purchase Thursday of Seattle-based Washington Mutual nearly doubles the size of Chase's ATM network, giving the bank a stronger presence in the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast, Kate Monahan, an analyst...

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE WAS RISING BEFORE FINANCIAL TUMULT.
October 3, 2008... The Consumer Confidence Index rose slightly in September, The Conference Board, a research organization, announced today. The September index stands at 59.8, up from 58.5 in August. July marked the first time in 2008 the index increased from...

CIRCUMSTANCE WILL DICTATE CONTACTLESS METHOD, EXEC SAYS.
October 3, 2008... A consumer's environment likely will determine the kind of contactless device he or she uses at the point of sale, Cathleen Conforti, senior vice president and global PayPass product manager at MasterCard Worldwide, tells CardLine sister...

PAYMENT PROVIDER OFFERS PREPAID CARDS FOR FANTASY SPORTS.
October 3, 2008... The Bancorp Bank Payment Solutions Group, a payment-product provider, announced Monday it would provide the banking services and prepaid cards offered through LeagueSafe LLC's Web site to fantasy sports leagues. League participants would pay...

EBAY WANTS PAYPAL AND CARDS ONLY; NO CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS.
October 3, 2008... EBay Inc. has announced that beginning in late October it will stop accepting checks and money orders for payment on its online auction site. Buyers must use eBay's PayPal or pay with a credit or debit card through a seller's merchant credit...

PROMINENCE IN NICHE COMMUNITY HELPS ISOS DIFFERENTIATE.(independent sales organizations gain specialized knowledge)(Brief article)
October 3, 2008... Becoming a member of a niche merchant community can help independent sales organizations gain specialized knowledge that sets them apart from competitors, says Lane Gordon, managing partner of Boston-based Merchantportfolios.com. Niche merchant...

BRIEFS.
October 3, 2008... Alliance Data Systems Corp. has signed a multiyear agreement with Gander Mountain to provide private-label credit card and database-marketing services for the sporting-goods retailer. Hypercom Corp. has appointed Lloyd Baylard vice...

CORRECTION.(Correction notice)
October 3, 2008... Today's CardLine contained an error. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has not decided whether to convert Washington Mutual Inc.'s debit card portfolio to Visa Inc. from MasterCard Worldwide.

TIGHT CREDIT COULD DELAY FED'S CARD-INDUSTRY RULES ANALYST.
October 3, 2008... If tight credit conditions persist during the fourth quarter, putting further pressure on consumer lending, it could affect the Federal Reserve's proposed new rules for credit card issuers, one analyst says. "If the Fed sees that it is not...

DIEBOLD BECOMES CURRENT WITH SEC FILINGS; 2008 GUIDANCE RISES.
October 3, 2008... Diebold Inc. says it is now current with key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings and will resume normal reporting in the third quarter. The North Canton, Ohio-based ATM manufacturer yesterday filed its 10-K form with the SEC for...

NEW YORK PASSES LAW TO STOP CREDITORS FROM FREEZING ACCOUNTS.
October 3, 2008... New York Gov. David A. Paterson last week signed legislation intended to close a loophole in existing law that has enabled debt collectors and credit card companies to freeze bank accounts containing income exempt from debt collection. Income...

CHASE INHERITS WEAK WAMU CREDIT PORTFOLIO.
October 3, 2008... Whether JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s takeover of Washington Mutual Inc.'s credit card portfolio will change existing terms of WaMu credit card contracts remains uncertain, a Chase Card Services spokesperson tells CardLine. But Chase will continue its...

BIOMETRIC PAYROLL SYSTEM ATTRACTS 5 MILLION ENROLLEES.(biometric payroll-authorization system)(Brief article)
October 3, 2008... Phoenix Check Cashing Inc. said Monday more than 5 million consumers have enrolled in its biometric payroll-authorization system. Consumers who enroll in the Herndon, Va.-based company's BioPay Paycheck Secure system must consent to be...

COMMUNITY BANK HIRES METAVANTE FOR PREPAID PROCESSING.
October 3, 2008... Metavante Corp. announced today it has signed an agreement to provide prepaid card processing to Community Bank Products, a division of FirstBank, which is based in Lexington, Tenn. Community Bank Products provides Visa-branded gift cards and...

ISOS ADJUSTING TO ECONOMIC CHALLENGES, OBSERVERS SAY.
October 3, 2008... Margins for independent sales organizations are dwindling because of the strained U.S. economy, presenters said last week at the Western States Acquirers Association Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. "The margins are shrinking," said Jim Fink,...

BRIEFS.
October 3, 2008... Gift card provider ideaEdge Inc. says it will ask its shareholders to approve changing the company's name to Socialwise Inc. to reflect its strategy of selling gifts on social networking Web sites. Banco Popular says it is providing a...

PUBLIC TO PICK FANCIER HOLIDAY GIFT CARDS WITH LOWER BALANCES.
October 3, 2008... Prepaid gift cards will be popular gifts this holiday season, but consumers will buy cards with lower balances and fancier packaging, predicts Iconoculture Inc., a market research firm specializing on consumer trends. Tim Henderson, senior...

HALF OF WORLD'S EXECS USE COMMERCIAL PAYMENT CARDS, VISA SAYS.
October 3, 2008... North America and Asia lead the world in the use of commercial payment cards for business-to-business transactions, while Europe and Latin America lag behind some other regions, according to survey results Visa Inc. released today. The survey...

CHASE-WAMU LIKELY TO REMIX CREDIT PORTFOLIO, ANALYSTS SAY.
October 3, 2008... JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s strength in credit cards and its experience with integration make Washington Mutual Inc.'s distribution platform a rich opportunity, observers say, but problems in WaMu's acquired $28 billion card portfolio will pose...

CONSULTANT: PCI UPDATE LETS 'BARELY COMPLIANT' CATCH UP.(Payment Card Industry)(Brief article)
October 3, 2008... The lack of major changes in version 1.2 of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which the PCI Security Standards Council released yesterday, gives entities that barely comply a chance to "catch up," according to one PCI-security...

MOST NEW ACCOUNTS FOR ACQUIRERS ARE REFERRALS, STUDY FINDS.(Report)(Brief article)
October 3, 2008... Forty-percent of new accounts that merchants sign up for with independent sales organizations and acquirers are business referrals from trade associations, vendors, accountants and friends, according to an Aite Group LLC report. Fifteen percent...

ANALYSTS: VISA PREPAID RELOADING PLANS FACE MANY ROADBLOCKS.
October 3, 2008... Analysts are skeptical about Visa Inc.'s plans to enable consumers to reload Visa prepaid cards at ATMs that accept envelope-free deposits (CardLine, 9/25). Ed Bachelder, Hitachi Consulting Corp. director, says the service could appeal to...

EMPLOYEE-MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE VENDOR ADDS MOBILE PAYMENTS.
October 3, 2008... Agilis Systems LLC, a St. Louis-based company that makes employee-management software that operates on mobile devices, has added Charge Anywhere's payment processing to its software, says Charge Anywhere, a South Plainfield, N.J.-based...

I2C SIGNS AGREEMENT TO PROCESS MEXICAN PREPAID CARDS.
October 3, 2008... Prepaid processor i2c Inc. announced Wednesday the signing of an agreement to provide prepaid processing for general purpose reloadable cards, gift cards, and payroll and food-voucher cards for Diestel, a Mexican prepaid card company. Diestel's...

MERCHANTS GROUP SAYS MASTERCARD IS DODGING EUROPEAN RULING.
October 3, 2008... EuroCommerce, a merchant-advocacy group based in Belgium, says MasterCard Inc. is trying to circumvent the ruling by the European Commission last December that rejected the company's cross-border interchange-rate policy. MasterCard planned to...

BRIEFS.
October 3, 2008... Ecount, a prepaid card company Citigroup Inc. acquired in March 2007, has changed its name to Citi Prepaid Services, the company announced Wednesday. 3Delta Systems Inc., an online-payments company, says it has joined NACHA's Council for...

GE CANCELS ITS PLAN TO SELL LINE.
October 3, 2008... General Electric Co. has shelved plans to sell its private-label credit card business. "Our plan is we're going to run that," Keith Sherin, GE chief financial officer, said Thursday during a conference call with analysts. "Right now we don't...

PCI COMPLIANCE COSTS ISOS TIME AND REVENUE, SAY OBSERVERS.
October 3, 2008... Ensuring merchants are compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is time-consuming and costly for independent sales organizations, panelists said during a presentation this week at the Western States Acquirers Association...

OBERTHUR TO TAKE COMPANY PRIVATE.(Oberthur acquired XPonCard)(Oberthur acquired Safran Group)
October 3, 2008... France-based Oberthur Technologies, the world's second-largest smart card producer based on revenue, expects to delist its shares and take the company private following a buyout offer from its parent, FranAs.ois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire. The...

BRIEFS.(Omni Prepaid Group LLC introduced Web applications)(Seastone LC introduced specialty gift card packaging)(M2 Global Ltd. has acquired First Pay Ltd.)(Brief article)
October 3, 2008... Omni Prepaid Group LLC is offering OmniBuild, an application that enables consumers to personalize Visa-branded gift cards, on its GiftCards.com and GiftCardsCorp.com Web sites. Seastone LC, which offers specialty gift card packaging, has...

CITI MAY REAP RETAIL CROSS-SELLING REWARDS IN WACHOVIA DEAL.
October 3, 2008... Citigroup Inc.'s $2.1 billion acquisition of Wachovia Corp. could be a boon for its card-issuing business, analysts say. The deal provides Citi with a small, but robust, credit card portfolio and a growing debit card portfolio from Wachovia,...

MERGER OF WELLS FARGO AND WACHOVIA FAR FROM CERTAIN.
October 10, 2008... If Wells Fargo & Co. and Wachovia Corp. merge as announced this morning, the deal would nearly double the size of Wells' ATM network and would give the San Francisco-based bank a coast-to-coast presence in 39 states. The agreement also would...

MONITISE AMERICAS PLANS TO LAUNCH P-TO-P MOBILE PAYMENTS IN 1Q.
October 10, 2008... Monitise Americas, a joint mobile banking company launched by Monitise Plc. and Metavante Corp., plans to begin offering person-to-person mobile payments in the first quarter of next year, Lisa Stanton, Monitise Americas CEO told CardLine...

TWO ATM ISOS TO TEST ISSUING AMAZON.COM PREPAID GIFT CARD.
October 10, 2008... Two ATM independent sales organizations have reached agreements with Better ATM Services Inc., a Mesa, Ariz.-based vendor, to sell Amazon.com prepaid gift cards. Better ATM licenses software that enables ATMs to dispense the prepaid gift cards....

MASTERCARD HOPES REWARDS BOOST DEBIT CARD USE.
October 10, 2008... MasterCard Worldwide, whose efforts to capture debit card market share from Visa Inc. have suffered a series of recent setbacks, is hoping to win over issuers with rewards that will be widely available and financed by merchants. The company...

EBAY BUYS BILL ME LATER FOR $820 MILLION.
October 10, 2008... EBay Inc. today announced it will acquire online-payments company Bill Me Later Inc. for approximately $820 million. EBay expects to close the deal this quarter. EBay anticipates Bill Me Later, which enables consumers to get credit toward...

USERS RELOAD NFC PHONES 800 TIMES IN TRANSIT-FARE TEST.(Near Field Communications)(Brief article)
October 10, 2008... Nearly 200 San Francisco transit riders reloaded their NFC phones 800 times in a recent four-month test, says Santa Clara, Calif.-based Near Field Communications provider Vivotech. The riders took nearly 9,000 trips during the trial between...

DESPITE ECONOMIC WOES, ISO GROWTH SUSTAINS GLOBAL PAYMENTS.
October 10, 2008... Consumer spending at merchants processing with Global Payments Inc. is slowing, but the Atlanta-based payments processor continues to see growth globally, says Paul R. Garcia, chairman, president and CEO. Last week, Global Payments said its net...

BRIEFS.
October 10, 2008... Dallas-based TNB Card Services Inc. says it added $2 million in outstanding balances to its agent issuing portfolio through the purchase of the credit card portfolio of Zia Credit Union in Los Alamos, New Mexico JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s...

CREDIT CRISIS PRESENTS RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEBIT.
October 10, 2008... Debit card providers should focus on keeping consumer trust and encouraging consumer use of debit cards in the wake of the current credit crisis, a panel of debit-network executives said today at SourceMedia's ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in...

CITI TO PILOT ATM DEPOSITS AT 7-ELEVEN STORES.
October 10, 2008... Citigroup Inc. plans soon to begin a pilot during which customers can make surcharge-free deposits at certain ATMs located in 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores, Mark Gilder, Citibank ATM and remittance business manager, consumer banking...

MASTERCARD WANTS TO KEEP WAMU'S DEBIT CARD PORTFOLIO.
October 10, 2008... MasterCard Worldwide will fight to keep Washington Mutual's debit card portfolio under its brand, Richard G. Lyons, executive vice president and global product group executive, debit and prepaid, told attendees yesterday at SourceMedia's ATM,...

WELLS AND WACHOVIA TOGETHER HAVE 28 MILLION DEBIT CARDS.
October 10, 2008... A merger of Wells Fargo and Wachovia would create a debit card giant. In the debit card market, Wells is the second-largest issuer, with 17.5 million cards on issue as of the end of 2007, according to PaymentsSource.com. Wachovia is the fifth...

BOFA SAYS CREDIT CARD BUSINESS FACES TROUBLE AHEAD.
October 10, 2008... Bank of America Corp. says trouble may be ahead for its credit card portfolio. "Largely due to increased unemployment and increased bankruptcies, this portfolio is also experiencing rising delinquencies and losses," Kenneth D. Lewis, chairman,...

ALTERNATIVE PAYMENTS MAKE GAINS IN E-COMMERCE MARKET.
October 10, 2008... Alternative-payment providers such as PayPal Inc. and Amazon Payments continue to pose a threat to traditional payment methods, according to a study by Boston-based financial research and consulting firm Celent LLC. Though payment cards...

CLAIRMAIL TESTING LAST-MINUTE MOBILE BILL-PAYMENT OPTIONS.
October 10, 2008... Clairmail Inc. is testing a "snooze alarm" for bill payments initiated from mobile phones. The Novato, Calif.-based mobile banking and payment processor offers a mobile bill-payment service it markets as Mobile Lockbox to financial institutions...

Q2 CREDIT CARD DELINQUENCIES RISE UP SLIGHTLY IN Q2.
October 10, 2008... Credit card delinquencies rose just three basis points during the second quarter ended June 30, to 4.54% of total loans from 4.51% in the previous quarter, according to a report by the American Bankers Association. The credit card delinquency...

BRIEFS.
October 10, 2008... Computers Unlimited, which makes software for gas and welding-supply and home-medical businesses, says it will incorporate in its software payment-processing services from Element Payment Services Inc., an independent sales organization. ...

EXPERT FORESEES RENEWED INTERCHANGE LEGISLATION IN 2009.
October 10, 2008... Legislation to reduce credit and debit card interchange rates stalled this year in Congress, but one legal expert says interchange regulation could get rolled into an omnibus banking bill next year. Speaking yesterday at SourceMedia's ATM,...

PCI COMPLIANCE UP AMONG LARGEST MERCHANTS: VISA.
October 10, 2008... Reported compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard inched up again from April through August among the largest merchants accepting Visa cards, Visa Inc. announced today. Acquirers for Level 1 merchants (merchants that...

TAKING CARD NETWORKS PUBLIC GETS MIXED INDUSTRY REVIEWS.
October 10, 2008... Visa and MasterCard becoming public companies was both the best and worst thing to happen in the payments industry, according to panel of payment-network executives at SourceMedia's ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in Chandler, Ariz., yesterday. Jim...

CITI EXEC: THANKYOU NETWORK CUTS CUSTOMER CHURN.
October 10, 2008... Citigroup Inc. has reduced overall customer attrition by about 50% since the 2004 introduction of ThankYou Rewards, which provides customers points for each credit and debit transaction they conduct. Nancy Gordon, executive vice president of...

MURPHY OIL TO GIVE REVOLUTIONCARD USERS GAS DISCOUNTS.
October 10, 2008... Revolution Money Inc. today announced that Murphy Oil USA Inc. will give consumers a 3-cent discount per gallon of gasoline when they use the RevolutionCard credit card for payment. El Dorado, Ark.-based Murphy Oil, which operates nearly 1,000...

WELLS FARGO WOULD ADD CARD PRESENCE WITH WACHOVIA PURCHASE.
October 10, 2008... The planned merger that Wells Fargo & Co. and Wachovia Corp. announced this morning would expand Wells' card presence to the Eastern seaboard and the Southeast, says Megan Bramlette, managing associate with Westbury, NY.-based Auriemma...

CREDIT MANAGER'S INDEX FALLS TO HISTORIC LOW.
October 10, 2008... The seasonally adjusted Credit Manager's Index for September fell 3.3 percentage points from the previous month to a record low of 47.4%, according to a report by the National Association of Credit Management. The index, a gauge of economic...

FRENCH VENDOR SUPPLIES PAYMENT STICKERS FOR U.S. LAUNCH.
October 10, 2008... At least one "large" payment card issuer plans to roll out contactless stickers for mobile phones in the United States by the end of the year, according to an executive at France-based Inside Contactless, supplier of the stickers. The vendor,...

BRIEFS.
October 10, 2008... Payments processor First Data Corp. today named Robert P. DeRodes as its chief technology officer. Merchant acquirer Cyngery Data LLC announced today it is reselling the payroll services of PayChoice, a unit of the PAI Group Inc., to small...

OPTIMAL GROUP SELLS PAYMENT-PROCESSING BUSINESS.(Optimal Group Inc. sold its payment-processing business to Card One Plus Ltd.)(Brief article)
October 10, 2008... The Optimal Group Inc. is one step closer to getting out of the payment-processing business. Montreal-based Optimal Group says this week it sold its card-not-present transaction-processing business, Optimal Payments, to Card One Plus Ltd., a...

CASH NOT GOING ANYWHERE, BUT DEBIT'S FUTURE IS BRIGHT: ATMIA CEO.(Brief article)
October 10, 2008... Despite payments companies' best efforts to replace it, cash as a payment method will be around for a long time, Michael Lee, CEO of the ATM Industry Association, told CardLine this week during an interview at SourceMedia's ATM, Debit & Prepaid...

MOBILE BANKING ADDS NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR RISK AND FRAUD.
October 10, 2008... As consumer use of financial mobile-banking services increases, so does the opportunity for financial institution risk and fraud, according to Steve Solberg, senior product manager for fraud at Fortent, a New York-based risk and compliance...

REVOLVING CREDIT DOWN SLIGHTLY IN AUGUST.(Report)(Brief article)
October 10, 2008... U.S. revolving credit, 98% of which is credit card debt, fell slightly in August, to $969 billion from $969.6 billion the previous month, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report on consumer credit released this week. Total seasonally...

BANK FREEDOM RUNS 33,000 TELEVISION COMMERCIALS.
October 10, 2008... Bank Freedom, a subsidiary of Prepaid Card Holdings Inc., a prepaid card provider, announced Oct. 3 that it has run 33,000 commercials for its prepaid MasterCards over three weeks in September. The company, which is based in Irvine, Calif.,...

THE MEMBERS GROUP BRINGS CARD-FRAUD PREVENTION IN-HOUSE.
October 10, 2008... The Members Group, a credit-union services organization, announced Thursday it has finished bringing its credit and debit card fraud-protection services in-house. Its fraud-detection center handles credit and debit card fraud prevention and...

BANK PARENT PAYS CUSTOMERS TO AVOID PAPER TRANSACTIONS.
October 10, 2008... Citizens Financial Group Inc. is paying customers of its Citizens Bank and Charter One Bank retail-banking units 10 cents for each payment they make electronically, up to $10 per month, the Providence, R.I.-based company announced Wednesday....

WELLS IS THIRD-LARGEST ATM NETWORK, WITH OR WITHOUT MERGER.
October 10, 2008... If the merger of Wells Fargo and Wachovia goes through, San Francisco-based Wells would remain the third-largest ATM network with 12,227 ATMs, according to PaymentsSource.com, a CardLine sister Web site. Wells operates 6,950 ATMs, and...

BRIEFS.
October 10, 2008... Wireless-payment company Apriva has certified Hypercom Corp.'s Optimum T4210 and T4220 payment terminals on the Apriva Intelligence Gateway. EProcessing Network LLC has added the Ingenico i6550 point-of-sale terminal to its list of devices...

CLARIFICATION.(Correction notice)
October 10, 2008... An item in today's CardLine contained misleading information. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s blink contactless cards do not compete with MasterCard's PayPass contactless technology. Chases uses blink as its contactless brand, but its cards can be...

GLOBAL PAYMENTS SEES 30% Q1 REVENUE, INCOME GROWTH.(Financial report)
October 10, 2008... Global Payments Inc., an Atlanta-based transaction processor, said yesterday its net income for the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31 grew by 31.8%, to $57.5 million from $43.6 million during the same quarter a year ago. Revenue grew by 30.5%,...

SPARKBASE TEAMS WITH INSPIRON TO OFFER TEXT MESSAGING TO ISOS.
October 10, 2008... SparkBase LLC, a stored-value processing company, announced today it has signed an agreement with Inspiron Logistics Corp., a text-messaging company, that will enable SparkBase to offer Short Message Service products to merchants and...

INSTALL AN ENVELOPE-FREE ATM, AND SAVE A TREE.
October 10, 2008... Wells Fargo & Co. is deploying 277 envelope-free ATMs in the Los Angeles area to serve customers and save trees. The San Francisco-based bank plans to install the ATMs throughout the city and suburbs, Alicia Moore, head of Wells Fargo ATM...

BRIEFS.
October 10, 2008... ECommLink Inc., a prepaid debit processor, has named T. Jack Williams CEO....Alliance Data Systems Corp. announced today it has secured $1.4 billion in new funding for its private-label credit card portfolio....CitiGroup Inc. has signed an...

VISA: U.S. MOBILE BANKING ABOUT INFORMATION, NOT PAYMENTS.
October 10, 2008... Mobile banking will be important for providing information about transactions in the United States and in other countries with developed payment infrastructures, Elizabeth Buse, Visa Inc. global head of product, said today during a keynote...

GOVERNMENT PUTS WACHOVIA DEAL ON A FAST TRACK.
October 17, 2008... The Federal Trade Commission today cleared the way for quick approval of Wells Fargo & Co.'s $11.7 billion merger with Wachovia Corp. After discussions between Wells Fargo and Citigroup Inc., which had a competing offer to buy Wachovia, broke...