Cardline articles from September 2007

Cardline archives from September 2007

$1.4 BILLION IN CHARGED-OFF CARD DEBT HITS MARKET.
September 7, 2007... An unidentified bank put more than $1 billion worth of charged-off credit card debt up for auction this week, hoping to make more money from debt buyers than from its own collection efforts, according to the broker handling the deal. The...

CONSUMERS MORE SATISFIED WITH CREDIT UNIONS', NOT-FOR-PROFITS' CARDS, SURVEY FINDS.
September 7, 2007... Cards issued by not-for-profits, credit unions and merchant-owned banks got higher marks from consumers than those issued by for-profit banks in a survey published this week by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, a division of...

GE STAYS IN GAS CARD GAME WITH PURCHASE OF CHEVRON PORTFOLIO.
September 7, 2007... GE Money is gaining 3 million gas card accounts and is staying in the fuel card business with its purchase of Chevron and Texaco-branded private-label cards from Chevron Corp. subsidiaries Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Chevron Credit Bank N.A.,...

TRAVELEX ADOPTS PLANET PAYMENT CONVERSION SERVICE.(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... Travelex Americas, the North America unit of Travelex UK Ltd., a United Kingdom-based foreign-exchange company, has started using a multicurrency conversion and processing service at its 125 U.S. locations, according to Planet Payment, a Long...

INTERAC FACILITATES DEBIT TUITION PAYMENTS IN CANADA.
September 7, 2007... University of British Columbia students can pay their tuition using PIN-based debit cards through a Web site set up by the Interac Association, Canada's debit network. University officials signed an agreement with Interac after ending a...

ATM COMPANY SIGNS ISO DEAL FOR STORE LOCATIONS.
September 7, 2007... Under agreements announced yesterday with TRM Corp. and Innovus Inc., two large independent sales organizations, ATM Plus, an ATM-management company, will identify banks that want to place their ATMs in drug and convenience stores and other...

COINSTAR EXPANDS IN U.K. MARKET.(signs deal with PayPoint PLC)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... Coinstar Inc. of Bellevue, Wash., announced today that it has partnered with PayPoint PLC., a payments company based in Hertfordshire, England, to offer gift cards for 17,000 retailers in the United Kingdom. The Coinstar program has a display...

BRIEFS.
September 7, 2007... J. David Siembieda has been appointed to serve a second term as chairman of the Electronic Transaction Association's Membership Committee . Siembieda is the president and CEO of CrossCheck Inc., a Rohnert Park, Calif.-based check-approval...

CHEVRON SELLS COMMERCIAL FUEL CARD PROGRAM ...
September 7, 2007... Chevron U.S.A. has sold its branded commercial private-label fuel credit card program to Fleetcor, the Atlanta-based fleet card company announced today. The deal took effect Aug. 29, Bill Schmit, president of Fleetcor's major oil division,...

... AND EXTENDS CREDIT CARD-PROCESSING FEE REDUCTIONS.
September 7, 2007... Chevron Corp. is extending to Sept. 30 its temporary reduction in credit and debit card processing fees to Chevron and Texaco marketers and retailers, according to a company statement. The fee-reduction program has been in effect since May 1....

PENNSYLVANIA SAVINGS BANK OFFERS FREE ATM ACCESS.
September 7, 2007... Malvern Federal Savings Bank is offering free access to 1.75 million ATMs worldwide to new and existing customers who open a Premier Rewards checking account with a $1,000 deposit. Paoli, Pa.-based Malvern, a Visa check card issuer, will...

MALL RETAILERS WILL SELL DISCOVER GIFT CARDS.
September 7, 2007... Discover Financial Services, of Riverwods, Ill., announced today an agreement in which its prepaid gift cards are now available in retail locations for the first time. Under the agreement, General Growth Properties Inc., a Chicago-based mall...

PENNSYLVANIA RESIDENTS GET FREE ATM ACCESS WITH BENEFITS DEBIT CARDS.
September 7, 2007... Pennsylvania residents who receive commonwealth-issued benefits via debit cards, such as child support and unemployment compensation, now can withdraw the funds surcharge free from 74 Alliance One ATMs located throughout the state. Columbus,...

MOBILE BANKING WILL EVOLVE TO SUPPORT PAYMENTS, REPORT PREDICTS.
September 7, 2007... Banks should revisit offering mobile-banking services because the technology for devices and networks has improved and more consumers are using mobile devices to browse the Internet and to send text messages, according to Boston-based Aite...

FIRST DATA WINS APPROVAL FOR GERMANY DEBIT PROCESSING.
September 7, 2007... First Data International, a division of Greenwood Village, Colo.-based payments processor First Data Corp., has won approval to process debit card transactions in Germany, the company says in a statement today. The approval applies to...

BRIEFS.
September 7, 2007... San Jose, Calif.-based payment-terminal manufacturer VeriFone Holdings Inc. promoted two executives in its Asia Pacific Region. William C. Nichols was named senior vice president, and Lazy Yanay, formerly managing director for Asia Pacific, was...

CABBIES IN TWO CITIES STRIKE OVER CARD ACCEPTANCE.
September 7, 2007... Taxi drivers went on strike in New York City and Philadelphia today to protest mandatory credit and debit card acceptance and the placement of global positioning system units in their cabs. Organizations representing drivers in both cities say...

CREDIT INDEX NEARLY FLAT IN AUGUST.(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... The Credit Manager's Index, a gauge of economic factors affecting credit and collection professionals, was up only slightly in August, to a score of 55.1 from 55 in July, according to the National Association of Credit Management. Any score...

NORTH CAROLINA SWITCHES FROM PAPER TO PLASTIC FOR CHILD-SUPPORT PAYMENTS.(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in April began issuing debit cards to parents who receive monthly child-support funds via paper checks. The department expects to fully implement the ncKIDScards program statewide by...

COMPANY LAUNCHES CUSTOM GIFT CARD KIOSK.
September 7, 2007... Smart Transactions Systems Inc., a Boulder, Colo.-based gift and loyalty card provider, has launched the iGift Print on Demand kiosk in conjunction with Cruz Bay Solutions LLC of Cambridge, Mass. The kiosk lets consumers personalize gift cards...

GE MONEY SIGNS AGENT-BANK DEAL WITH PROVIDENT BANK.
September 7, 2007... GE Money is partnering with Baltimore-based Provident Bank to issue a rewards credit card for consumers and businesses. The Provident-branded program, which GE Money will operate, will offer a Provident Bank Rewards Platinum MasterCard and a...

PROCESSOR INTEGRATES WITH LEXISNEXIS SOFTWARE.
September 7, 2007... Payment Processing Inc., a Newark, Calif.-based payment processor, announced today it has integrated its PPI PayMover product with LexisNexis' PCLaw 9 software. PPI PayMover is payment-processing middleware that connects the software used by...

FLORIDA FIRM STRIKES A SOUTH AFRICA PREPAID CARD DEAL.
September 7, 2007... FundsTech Corp., a Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.-based prepaid card issuer, says it has signed an agreement for the marketing and distribution of prepaid cards in South Africa. The agreements call for South Africa's ProCard Technology, a prepaid card...

BRIEFS.(Renasant Bank to use NYCE as its primary network)(Co-op Financial Services appoints Gary Wolter to board of directors)(John W. Feray joins First American Payment Systems)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... Tupelo, Miss.-based Renasant Bank announced today an agreement with Secaucus, N.J.-based NYCE Payments Network LLC to use NYCE as its primary network for the routing of ATM and PIN-based point-of-sale transactions.... Co-op Financial Services,...

GOOGLE APPLIES FOR MOBILE-PAYMENT PATENT.
September 7, 2007... Google Inc. has signaled its interest in the mobile-payments arena by applying for a patent for a text message-based payment system. Google filed the patent request Feb. 28, 2006, and published it last week. Google representatives did not...

UNION SENDS PROTEST LETTER TO LAWMAKERS ON BOFA/LA SALLE BANK MERGER.
September 7, 2007... Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern on Tuesday sent a letter encouraging greater scrutiny of Bank of America Corp.'s imminent acquisition of LaSalle Bank (CardLine, 4/27) to House Financial Services Committee Chairman...

HEDGE FUND STANDS FIRM ON REPLACING CERIDIAN BOARD.
September 7, 2007... Private equity investor Pershing Square Capital Management LP held a conference call Tuesday to further explain to Ceridian Corp. stockholders its rationale for fielding a slate of nominees to replace Ceridian's board of directors while a $5.3...

ALLIANCE DATA SIGNS PRIVATE-LABEL DEAL WITH WILLIAMS-SONOMA.
September 7, 2007... Alliance Data Systems Corp., which provides loyalty and marketing services to retailers, has signed a deal with Williams-Sonoma Inc. to launch a private-label credit card program for its West Elm modern-furniture store brand. West Elm operates...

WASHINGTON MUTUAL ENTERS TEXAS OFF-PREMISE ATM MARKET.
September 7, 2007... Washington Mutual Inc. has entered Texas' off-premise ATM market for the first time through a branding agreement with Cardtronics Inc., a Houston-based ATM independent sales organization, both companies announced today. WaMu and Cardtronics...

ISO IN RECEIVERSHIP SEES NEW PATH.(independent sales organization)(Merchant Processing Inc. appoints Jim Keller as CEO)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... Merchant Processing Inc., a Beaverton, Ore.-based independent sales organization, is taking the first steps to eventually re-emerge from court-appointed receivership. Michael Grassmueck, the receiver, has named as CEO Jim Keller, who has hired...

DIGITAL RIVER BUYS SWEDISH ONLINE PAYMENT FIRM.
September 7, 2007... Minneapolis-based electronic commerce firm Digital River Inc. has bought Netgiro Systems AB, a company based in Sweden that processes online payments. Digital River spent $27 million for the privately held Netgiro. A United Kingdom-based...

BRIEFS.
September 7, 2007... GE Money has signed a deal with the American Nurses Association to offer an ANA Rewards Platinum MasterCard to its members....Danal Inc., a company partly owned by leading mobile-payment service company Danal Co. Ltd. of South Korea, has...

VERIFONE NET INCOME FALLS AS REVENUE RISES...(Brief article)
September 14, 2007... VeriFone Holdings Inc., the San Jose, Calif.-based point-of-sale terminal maker, experienced a 20% decrease in net income for the fiscal third-quarter ended July 31, to $13.4 million from $16.8 million during the same period a year ago. Revenue...

... AND HAS POSITIVE OUTLOOK FOR TAXI CAB INSTALLATIONS.(VeriFone Holdings Inc.)(Brief article)
September 14, 2007... VeriFone Holdings Inc. says all 1,600 cabs in Philadelphia are using its wireless terminals, as are more than 5,000 cabs in New York City. Despite a two-day strike by some cabbies in New York that ended today, VeriFone is optimistic about the...

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM DROPS BID TO REPLACE BOARD.
September 14, 2007... Private equity investor Pershing Square Capital Management LLC of New York announced today that it is ending its bid to replace the board of directors of Minneapolis-based Ceridian Corp. Ceridian owns Comdata Corp., which issues and processes...

ADULT ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LAUNCHES PREPAID CARD.
September 14, 2007... Vivid Entertainment Group, a Los Angeles-based adult-entertainment company, announced Thursday it would begin offering its own prepaid card to let consumers buy subscriptions to its Web site in October. The company says it will sell the cards...

RADIAN, INSURER TO SELL JOINT OWNERSHIP OF CARD-DEBT BUYER.
September 14, 2007... The $5.5 billion merger of Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. and Radian Group fell apart this week, but the plan to sell their joint majority interest in Charleston, S.C.-based Sherman Financial Services remains on track, the companies...

CASH-ACCEPTANCE NETWORK TO BOOST PAYMENT CHOICES.(Green Dot Corp. signs deal with Apollo Enterprise Solutions LLC)(Brief article)
September 14, 2007... Green Dot Corp. has agreed to provide Apollo Enterprise Solutions LLC's clients access to its Green Dot cash-acceptance network. Green Dot specializes in retail-based financial services for consumers who lack credit cards or checking accounts....

ACQUIRERS FACE CHALLENGES AS INDUSTRY EVOLVES.(payments industry)(Brief article)
September 14, 2007... The U.S. merchant acquiring industry is changing as new competitors emerge, payment technology changes and consolidation continues, attendees learned this week at the Foreword Financial Expo in Chicago. During one presentation, Gerry Wagner,...

BRIEFS.
September 14, 2007... Investment funds owned by J.C. Flowers LLC are investing $100 million in Kessler Group, a Boston-based affinity marketing firm and credit card industry investment-banking firm, Kessler announced today.... CPAmerica International, an association...

CARDTRONICS FILES FOR IPO AND EXPECTS TO RAISE $300 MILLION.
September 14, 2007... Cardtronics Inc., the world's largest nonbank owner of ATMs, today announced it expects to raise $300 million through an initial public offering of its common stock. Houston-based Cardtronics made the disclosure in a 288-page filing Friday with...

AMERICAN AIRLINES LAUNCHES CASHLESS-PAYMENTS TEST.
September 14, 2007... American Airlines today started a three-week test of cashless payments on flights departing from San Francisco, the company confirms. On the more than 700 scheduled flights affected by the test that runs until Sept. 30, the airline will accept...

MASTERCARD ADVISORS TO PRODUCE CARDHOLDER ATTITUDE STUDIES.
September 14, 2007... MasterCard Advisors, the consulting division of MasterCard Worldwide, says it soon will offer reports and searchable data related to cardholders' attitudes about their card issuers. Called Comparative Cardholder Dynamics, the studies are based...

HOME DEPOT CARD UNAFFECTED BY SUBPRIME WOES, COMPANY EXEC SAYS.
September 14, 2007... Despite delinquency and foreclosure problems faced by the U.S. subprime mortgage market, the credit problems have not spilled over into The Home Depot Inc.'s private-label card, Carol B. Tome, the home-improvement retailer's chief financial...

CAREFUL CREDIT MANAGEMENT HELPING CARDS WEATHER MORTGAGE CRISIS, SAYS DISCOVER CEO.
September 14, 2007... The fact that credit card delinquency rates have held steady in recent months for most major issuers while subprime mortgage delinquencies have spiked reaffirms the wisdom of carefully managing the credit quality of card portfolios. That is...

GRADUATE STUDENTS' CARD SPENDING RISES.
September 14, 2007... Fewer graduate students have at least one credit card than did three years ago, but their outstanding balances rose 10% during that time, according to student-loan provider Nellie Mae Corp. Ninety-two percent of graduate students had at least...

AXEUS SELLS PART OF ITS MERCHANT PORTFOLIO TO NEWTEK.(Newtek Business Services)(Brief article)
September 14, 2007... About 1,000 retailers have a new home for their payment processing following Newtek Business Services' $2 million acquisition of a portion of Axeus Holdings Inc.'s merchant portfolio. New York-based Newtek has approximately 80,000 merchant...

BRIEFS.
September 14, 2007... The Smart Card Alliance has released a white paper on mobile payments that says Near Field Communication devices will become the mobile technology payment choice for consumers....Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, a community bank in Maine, has launched...

BANK OF AMERICA RELEASES SECURITY FEATURE.
September 14, 2007... Bank of America N.A. yesterday announced the release of SafePass, a security service that delivers a one-time, six-digit text message to mobile devices of customers banking online. Once they have registered their mobile device on the bank's Web...

CONSUMER BORROWING RISES 3.7% IN JULY, FED REPORTS.
September 14, 2007... Consumer credit outstanding rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.7% in July, aided in part by a 6.6% increase in borrowing on revolving accounts consisting primarily of credit cards, according to the Federal Reserve Board's monthly...

MYSPACE TO LAUNCH CREDIT, DEBIT AND GIFT CARDS.
September 14, 2007... Myspace.com, the social-networking Web site owned by New York-based News Corp., plans to begin offering Myspace-branded prepaid debit and gift cards on Oct. 31. Visa, MasterCard, and Discover Card would brand the cards. Consumers can buy the...

KESSLER DEAL COULD ADD NEW CONCEPTS TO CARD MARKETING.
September 14, 2007... Boston-based Kessler Group, which last week announced a $100 million investment deal with New York-based private equity firm J.C. Flowers Co. LLC, expects to use the money to fund the origination of new customer accounts through "innovative...

ORBISCOM TO ADD CARD FUNCTIONS TO MASTERCARD NETWORK.(Brief article)
September 14, 2007... MasterCard Worldwide Inc. is enhancing its network to help issuers offer customized and standard card products more quickly and cost-effectively through a new partnership with Orbiscom Ltd., a payments-technology company based in Dublin,...

DEBIT CARD BOOSTS PAYDAY LENDER'S REVENUES.
September 14, 2007... Dollar Financial Corp., a Berwyn, Pa.-based financial-services company with payday lending stores in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, reported "other" revenues, which include Visa- and MasterCard-branded debit card sales in Canada...

INCOMM, AMERICAN GREETINGS SIGN GIFT CARD DEAL.
September 14, 2007... More than 400 American Greetings Corp.-owned American Greetings and Carlton Cards stores will begin selling an array of different retailers' prepaid gift cards starting Sept. 17. The "gift card mall" will feature cards from 16 merchants,...

BRIEFS.
September 14, 2007... Phoenix-based Hypercom Corp. says the Interac Association, Canada's debit network, has certified Hypercom's three Optimum T4200 payment terminals as being compliant with its requirements for chip and PIN entry....... Nearly half of 2,036...

NACHA ANNOUNCES WEB PILOT FEES.
September 14, 2007... NACHA, the Herndon, Va.-based organization that manages the development, administration and governance of the automated clearinghouse network, today announced the fees it will charge merchants and financial institutions participating in its ACH...

WELLS EXEC CITES RISE IN IN-HOUSE CARD GROWTH.
September 14, 2007... During the past six or seven years, Wells Fargo & Co. has increased to 36% from 20% the percentage of customers who have a Wells- branded credit card, Howard I. Atkins, Wells senior executive vice president and chief financial officer, told...

WAL-MART LAUDS NEW PREPAID CARD.
September 14, 2007... Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is seeing good results so far with its prepaid Wal-Mart Money Card, John Menzer, Wal-Mart vice chairman and chief administration officer, said at the Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference last week. Menzer says he...

MOBILE PHONE PAYMENT COMPANY LAUNCHES VIRTUAL CARDS.
September 14, 2007... MobiBucks, a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based company that enables text message-based prepaid-account payments to participating merchants from consumers' mobile phones, has launched new merchant promotional services. Called MobiBucks Promotions...

GROUP PREDICTS OPEN-LOOP PREPAID TRANSACTIONS WILL TRIPLE IN FOUR YEARS.
September 14, 2007... The Pelorus Group, a market research and consulting firm based in Raritan, N.J., predicts that the amount open-loop prepaid card transactions will more than triple from 2007 to 2011. Vance Hodnett, Pelorus vice president of research for...

COALITION PROTESTS BOFA'S ATM SURCHARGE-FEE INCREASE.
September 14, 2007... A coalition of unions and consumer groups today issued a protest letter to Bank of America Corp. regarding the bank's decision to raise its ATM surcharge fees for noncustomers. The protest comes after BofA in August completed its rollout of...

CHEAPER HANDSETS COULD HELP PROPEL NFC TRANSACTION GROWTH, RESEARCH FIRM SAYS.
September 14, 2007... Consumers who want mobile handsets that can make contactless payments and that can download information using wireless Near Field Communication technology will not have to buy expensive phones, a report from U.S.-based ABI Research suggests....

BRIEFS.
September 14, 2007... Acacia Research Corp. of Newport Beach, Calif., says its Financial Systems Innovation LLC affiliate has signed a retroactive licensing agreement covering a patent on credit card fraud-protection technology with Kohl's Department Stores Inc....

TARGET CARD PORTFOLIO COULD FETCH A PREMIUM.
September 14, 2007... Target Corp.'s announcement Wednesday that it will review the possibility of divesting its $7 billion credit card receivables portfolio raises the question of who the likely buyers might be and what they would pay for it. The portfolio probably...

CERIDIAN STOCKHOLDERS APPROVE $5.3 BILLION MERGER.
September 14, 2007... Ceridian Corp. announced yesterday that during its annual meeting stockholders approved the $5.3 billion deal to sell the corporation to private equity companies Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Fidelity National Financial Inc. Minneapolis-based...

CALIFORNIA POISED TO PROHIBIT FREE PIZZA FOR STUDENT CARD APPLICATIONS.
September 14, 2007... Legislation awaiting the signature of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would prohibit credit card marketers from offering gifts to state college and university students who complete credit card applications. The state Senate approved the...

ISO PREPS FOR ACQUISITIONS.(independent sales organization Payment Data Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
September 14, 2007... Payment Data Systems Inc., a San Antonio-based independent sales organization, has hired The Strawhecker Group, an Omaha, Neb.-based payment-consulting firm, to help find companies to buy. Potential companies could be on the acquiring or...

PCI SECURITY STANDARDS COUNCIL ASSUMES PAYMENT TERMINAL SECURITY RESPONSIBILITY.
September 14, 2007... The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council announced this week it has assumed responsibility for PIN Entry Device requirements, known as PED requirements, which previously were handled jointly by JCB Card Co. Inc., MasterCard...

DCR MARKETING ADDS TIMESHARES TO TRUCASH PROGRAM.
September 14, 2007... DCR Marketing of Boca Raton, Fla., announced this week that it has signed up 15 timeshare condominium developers for its TruCash loyalty-rewards program. The company is a subsidiary of Toronto-based DCR Strategies Inc., which does relationship...

GEMALTO REPORTS FALLING PROFITS.(Financial report)
September 14, 2007... France-based Gemalto NV, the largest supplier of smart cards worldwide, today reported a drop in profits for the first half of 2007 that the vendor blamed on losses in its banking card unit and on lower sales of subscriber identity module cards...

BRIEFS.
September 14, 2007... The Women Networking in Electronic Transactions association, also known as W.net, hired Victoria Tobin as its first managing director. Tobin will help guide the association in its mentoring program, in networking events and with a Career...

VISA GETS SEC APPROVAL FOR REORGANIZATION, IPO.
September 21, 2007... Visa on Thursday announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved its registration statement regarding its proposed restructuring. The SEC's action gives the card association the go-ahead to pursue an initial public...

TARGET ACCOUNTS VULNERABLE TO MARKET RISKS.
September 21, 2007... Consultants and analysts agree that Target Corp.'s $7 billion credit card portfolio, which the company is reviewing for a potential divestiture (CardLine, 9/21), would attract competitive bids. But there are risks inherent among Target's 17...

PINLESS DEBIT BILL PAYMENT REMAINS SMALL.(Brief article)
September 21, 2007... PINless debit continues to represent a small percentage, 0.45%, of overall bill payments, but its volume continues to grow, according to a TowerGroup research study released in August and announced Tuesday. The study "PINless Debit: Finally...

CITI, AT&T CARD REFLECTS RECENT DEALS.
September 21, 2007... AT&T's purchase of the Cingular wireless network and Cingular's support of the popular Apple iPhone may be the impetus behind the introduction of two new AT&T credit cards that offer discounts on services and on iPhones and other products AT&T...

FIDELITY OFFERS CHECKING ACCOUNT, DEBIT CARD.
September 21, 2007... Fidelity Investments, a Boston-based financial-services provider, recently started offering mySmart Cash, a brokerage account that functions as a traditional checking account and includes such services as check writing, online bill pay and a...

MONEYGRAM BUYS ISO THAT SERVES REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY.
September 21, 2007... MoneyGram International Inc. has bought PropertyBridge Inc., an Oakland, Calif.-based independent sales organization that serves the residential real estate-management industry. Minneapolis-based MoneyGram, a funds-transfer and payments...

CANADIAN DEBIT TRANSACTION PREVIEWS UPCOMING CHIP CARD EFFORT.
September 21, 2007... Interac officials hope that a debit card transaction that took place in Toronto on Thursday could serve as the prelude for a bigger effort later this year to put smart cards into the wallets and purses of more consumers. A Bank of Montreal...

CORRECTION.(Correction notice)
September 21, 2007... A Sept. 14 CardLine item stated wrongly that Myspace.com, a social-networking Web site owned by New York-based News Corp., plans to begin offering Myspace-branded prepaid debit and gift cards. The company, in fact, has no plans to do so,...

BRIEFS.
September 21, 2007... The Federal Reserve Board today announced its approval of Bank of America Corp's purchase of ABN AMRO North America Holding Co.'s LaSalle Bank subsidiary.... The city of Vaughan, Ont., on Monday officially will launch its MuniCard credit card,...

ANALYSTS SAY COMDATA LIKELY WILL STAY PART OF CERIDIAN.
September 21, 2007... Industry observers say it is unlikely Ceridian Corp. will spin off its Comdata Corp. subsidiary after private equity companies Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Fidelity National Financial Inc. complete their $5.3 billion acquisition of Ceridian in...

CHASE LAUNCHES NEW VERSION OF FREEDOM CARD.
September 21, 2007... JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Chase Card Services unit is adding new features to its popular Freedom rewards credit card, which allows cardholders to earn their choice of triple rewards or triple cash back when used in certain merchant categories. The...

DEBT-SALES MARKET BOUNCES BACK.
September 21, 2007... The face value of available credit card debt increased 876% last week, to $219.6 million from $22.5 million in offers a week earlier, according to CardLine sister publication CCRNewsline. Debt broker Garnet Capital Advisors is offering a...