Cardline articles from September 2008

Cardline archives from September 2008

MERCATOR: GOVERNMENT BENEFITS TO BECOME LARGEST PREPAID CATEGORY.
September 5, 2008... Government disbursements will become the largest prepaid category in terms of dollars loaded onto cards, Tim Sloane, principal analyst at Mercator Advisory Group Inc., tells CardLine in an e-mail. Social Security payments likely will become the...

CARD BRANDS REMIND ZOOM CUSTOMERS OF REFUND POLICIES.
September 5, 2008... Zoom Airlines Inc., a Canadian discount airline, and Zoom Airlines Ltd, its United Kingdom operation, announced yesterday the cancellation of all flights as they begin bankruptcy proceedings. Zoom, which also flies in the United States and...

DEBT BUYERS ADJUST PURCHASING STRATEGIES.
September 5, 2008... Prices for charged-off debt portfolios in all asset classes are down this year compared with the previous two years as liquidation rates drop, Aaron Hadam, senior vice president at debt broker National Loan Exchange Inc., tells Collections &...

UNETHICAL ISO SALES AGENTS HARM INDUSTRY.
September 5, 2008... Merchant-level salespeople who attempt to sign up merchant accounts with promises of customized point-of-sale terminals or ultra-low transaction rates when no such deals exist harm the reputation of independent sales organizations, says Kevin...

WIRELESS TERMINALS FOCUS OF PCI UPDATE.(Payment Card Industry)
September 5, 2008... With Version 1.2 of the Payment Card Industry security standard four to six weeks from release, the council this week published a summary of what to expect. "This version is still being updated and tweaked as we get closer to the release date,"...

NAUTILUS HYOSUNG PLANS TO TAKE ON WORLD'S LARGEST ATM FIRMS.
September 5, 2008... Nautilus Hyosung Inc.'s pending purchase of Triton Systems of Delaware Inc. would enable the combined companies to compete better with the world's three largest ATM manufacturers, a top executive of Nautilus Hyosung's parent told Triton...

NOVOPAYMENT LAUNCHES VISA PREPAID CARD IN VENEZUELA.
September 5, 2008... Novopayment Inc., a prepaid card provider, announced today that it has begun offering the Sambil Visa General Purpose Reloadable Card in Venezuela. Based in Miami, Novopayment already has issued 2,700 cards to consumers through a kiosk at the...

BRIEFS.
September 5, 2008... Electronic Transactions Association, a payments-industry association, has named Jill Miller, an attorney at Jaffe Raitt Heuer Weiss PC, to its risk and fraud management committee. State Employees' Credit Union announced today that it has...

CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY PASSES BILL TO BAN STORING CONSUMER DATA.
September 5, 2008... The California Assembly on Sunday passed a bill that prohibits merchants operating in the state from retaining customer credit and debit card account data unless they need the information for situations such as recurring payments. Assemblyman...

ATM MAKER REMAINS CLOSED IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE GUSTAV.
September 5, 2008... Triton Systems of Delaware Inc., a Long Beach, Miss.-based ATM manufacturer, remained closed today after Harrison County, Miss., officials ordered the evacuation of low-lying areas because of Hurricane Gustav. Triton, however, expects to reopen...

CREDIT MANAGER'S INDEX SHOWS NEARLY NO GROWTH IN AUGUST.
September 5, 2008... The seasonally adjusted Credit Manager's Index fell closer to the neutral economic expansion/contraction point of 50%, the National Association of Credit Management reported today. The index, a gauge of economic factors affecting credit and...

NETSPEND SIGNS AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE AXCESS WITH PREPAID CARDS.
September 5, 2008... NetSpend Corp. announced today it has signed an agreement to provide general-purpose, reloadable prepaid cards for Cincinnati-based Axcess Financial Services Inc. McAllen, Texas-based Inter National Bank issues the MasterCard-branded cards,...

WITH CARD-SERVICES MARKET SATURATED, ISOS SELL OTHER PRODUCTS.(independent sales organizations)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Independent sales organizations did such a good job selling merchant payment card accounts during the past decade that today an ISO's agents should sell more than just credit card services, Craig Thomson, president of Beanstream Internet...

PREPAID CARD COMPANY BRINGS CARD PRINTING IN-HOUSE.
September 5, 2008... Omni Prepaid Group LLC, parent of GiftCards.com LLC, last week announced it has received Visa certification and plans to begin printing its own gift cards starting Friday. The company has set up a printing plant at its headquarters in...

ISOS RELUCTANT TO HIRE CONSULTANTS WITHOUT VETTING THEM.
September 5, 2008... Independent sales organizations appear cautious when hiring consultants to boost the performance of their sales agents. With consultant fees ranging from $50 per hour to $7,000 per week, ISOs hesitate to spend the money without fully...

BRIEFS.
September 5, 2008... Affiliated Computer Services Inc. announced today it has signed a $127 million contract with the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to manage and operate its child support payment-processing center. Wincor...

VISA NAMES SHEEDY NEW NORTH AMERICA PRESIDENT.
September 5, 2008... Visa Inc. has appointed Bill Sheedy president of its North America region, the payment card brand announced this afternoon. The position did not exist under Visa's structure as an association. As the first president of the region since Visa...

AFTER ACCOUNTING ERRORS, VERIFONE PICKS NEW FINANCE OFFICER.
September 5, 2008... VeriFone Holdings Inc. today named Robert Dykes, former chairman and CEO of online-advertising firm NebuAd Inc., as senior vice president. He will become chief financial officer after VeriFone files its third-quarter earnings statement with the...

FIRST DATA CHOOSES NOT TO 'STICKER' REPUBLICAN CONVENTION.
September 5, 2008... First Data Corp. handed out 5,000 Go-Tag contactless-payment stickers at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week but is not doing the same for the Republicans this week during their national convention in St. Paul, Minn. The...

MERCHANTS PREFER INFORMATION OVER GIFTS, ISO SAYS.(independent sales organizations)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Merchants take more notice of independent sales organizations if sales agents answer questions than if they give promotional gifts, according to Marc Maxwell, outside sales manager for Connect Merchant Payment Services Inc., a Riverside,...

USAA OFFERS COST BREAKS FOR MEMBERS SLAMMED BY GUSTAV.
September 5, 2008... The United Services Automobile Association is offering breaks on payment, credit and insurance products to 30,000 of its members that were victims of Hurricane Gustav, the San Antonio-based insurance and financial-services company for current...

BOFA REACHES 50,000 VENDORS IN ITS B2B PAYMENTS NETWORK.
September 5, 2008... Bank of America Corp. today announced it has reached 50,000 vendors in its PayMode network, which facilitates the electronic exchange of invoices and payments between businesses and their suppliers, according to the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank....

VERACITY PAYMENT ACQUIRES QCR'S MERCHANT PORTFOLIO.
September 5, 2008... Veracity Payment Solutions Inc., an Atlanta-based merchant-services provider, has acquired QCR Holdings Inc.'s merchant-acquiring business, resulting in an after-tax third-quarter gain of roughly $3 million for QCR. The portfolio includes...

BRIEFS.
September 5, 2008... Barclays Bank PLC has appointed Barney C. Briggs chief financial officer of Barclaycard US. Briggs previously was senior vice president and senior director of Citigroup's American Airlines AAdvantage program. Springbok Services Inc....

THREE DEBT-SETTLEMENT COMPANIES REFUND FEES IN WEST VIRGINIA.(Consumer Credit Counseling of America Inc.)(Debt Relief USA Inc.)(Acushield Financial Services)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... The West Virginia Attorney General's office has reached settlements with three debt-settlement companies that have agreed to discontinue debt-settlement services in the state and refund more than $375,000 in fees to consumers, state Attorney...

FOR DISCOUNTS, CONSUMERS WOULD FORSAKE CARDS FOR CASH.
September 5, 2008... Most consumers would change their payment habits when presented with a discount for paying with cash instead of with a credit or debit card, new survey data suggest. In its report "High Gasoline Prices and Inflation: What's the Fallout for the...

GIVING HIGH-END 'EXPERIENTIAL' GIFTS HELPS CLOSE DEALS, ISO SAYS.(independent sales organizations)(Brief article)
September 5, 2008... Sales agents for independent sales organizations can boost sales and make the most impact on client relationships by providing some clients high-end, experiential gifts, according to Terry Roberts, director of software integration at Fast...

TREASURY TOUTS DEBIT CARDS FOR SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS.
September 5, 2008... The U.S. Department of the Treasury plans to send information to 2 million Social Security check recipients in 12 western states encouraging them to sign up for the Direct Express Debit MasterCard program. Dallas-based Comerica Bank issues the...

CARD ISSUERS LACK MARKETING 'ZEAL,' RESEARCH COMPANY SAYS.
September 5, 2008... Credit card issuers should show more "marketing zeal" about providing account activity e-mail alerts, annual account summaries, bill-payment services, shopping discounts, and exclusive access to concerts and sporting events, according to Rocky...

FRONTSTREAM PAYMENTS CREATES PREPAID CARD SUBSIDIARY.
September 5, 2008... FrontStream Payments Inc., a Brentwood, Tenn.-based provider of electronic payments and services, announced Wednesday it is creating a prepaid card subsidiary called FrontStream Prepaid. It also has hired Ed Kelley, former vice president of...

TSYS JOINT VENTURE TO PROCESS CITI CHINA DEBIT TRANSACTIONS.
September 5, 2008... China UnionPay Data Services Co. Ltd. agreed to process Citi China's debit card transactions under a deal Total System Services Inc. announced this week. Total System Services, also known as TSYS, is a Columbus, Ga.-based processor that...

BRIEFS.
September 5, 2008... Wells Fargo & Co. announced this week it has expanded the wires and self-administration features of its CEO Mobile corporate mobile-banking service. Hypercom Corp. says six financial institutions in Thailand have selected the point-of-sale...

BRIEFS.
September 5, 2008... Affiliated Computer Services Inc. announced today it has signed a $127 million contract with the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to manage and operate its child support payment-processing center. Wincor...

BRIEFS.
September 5, 2008... Barclays Bank PLC has appointed Barney C. Briggs chief financial officer of Barclaycard US. Briggs previously was senior vice president and senior director of Citigroup's American Airlines AAdvantage program. Springbok Services Inc....

WINCOR NIXDORF AIMS FOR 20% SHARE OF U.S. BANK ATM MARKET.
September 12, 2008... ATM manufacturer Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH, which controls less than 5% of the U.S. bank ATM market, has set a goal of boosting its market share to 20% in 10 years, says Eckard Heidloff, Wincor Nixdorf president and CEO. Paderborn,...

KILLINGER OUT AS WAMU CEO; FISHMAN ASSUMES HIS DUTIES.
September 12, 2008... Washington Mutual Inc., struggling with the sinking value of its mortgage portfolio, today dismissed CEO Kerry Killinger and announced that Alan Fishman, the former president and chief operating officer at Sovereign Bank, will replace him. WaMu...

MALONEY RENEWS EFFORTS TO BRING CARD BILL TO HOUSE VOTE.
September 12, 2008... As Congress reconvenes today after its summer break, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., is renewing efforts to bring the Cardholders' Bill of Rights to a full House vote. Legislative observers say the bill has its best chance of passing in the...

VISA TAG LINES "UP FOR GRABS" AS AD AGENCIES VIE FOR GLOBAL PIE.
September 12, 2008... As advertising agencies polish their presentations to Visa Inc. for sole control of Visa's global advertising business, everything is subject to change, even the "Life takes Visa" campaign running in the United States. "Right now, it's 100% up...

CREDIT UNIONS ORGANIZATION OFFERS METAVANTE MOBILE SERVICES.
September 12, 2008... Corporate Network eCom LLC, a Lenexa, Kansas-based credit-union organization, has chosen Metavante Corp. as its provider of mobile financial services and will resell the services to the Corporate Credit Union Network, which serves approximately...

CHASE CREATES SOFTWARE FOR INDIAN TRAVEL CARDS IN U.S. DOLLARS.
September 12, 2008... New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced today an agreement with Mumbai, India-based Yes Bank Ltd. to provide software for travel cards issued in U.S. dollars. Yes will sell the cards through its 101 branches in India to consumers who are...

ISO SAYS HIS TRAINING WORKS REGARDLESS OF AGENT'S EXPERIENCE.
September 12, 2008... Training experienced independent sales organizations sales agents can pose problems, but Steve Norell, director of sales at Merchant Services Inc., a Port St. Lucie, Fla.-based ISO, believes he has a training model that will produce results...

BRIEFS.(Billeo Inc.)(Transaction Wireless Inc.)(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Billeo Inc., an online bill-pay company, says it is offering consumers a way to store, track and search for receipts of their online transactions when the transactions are made through Billeo. Transaction processor Merchant e-Solutions Inc....

CONSUMER WILLINGNESS TO TRY MOBILE BANKING RISING, STUDY FINDS.
September 12, 2008... Most consumers, 75%, would consider using mobile-banking services if their financial institutions offered them, an increase from 49% who said so in 2006, according to consumer research sponsored by processor Fiserv Inc. However, only 23% of the...

OFF-PREMISE ATM MARKET HEALTHY, SAY EXECUTIVES.
September 12, 2008... South Korean ATM manufacturer Eltna Corp.'s purchase of Tranax Technologies Inc. indicates the off-premise ATM market is healthy and competitive, say executives of two companies that compete with Tranax. Eltna, the original-equipment...

ALLPOINT CONNECTS TO 7-Eleven ATMS.
September 12, 2008... Users of Cardtronics Inc.'s surcharge-free Allpoint Network can now use ATMs at 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores free of charge. Cardtronics, which bought 7-Eleven's ATM and Vcom multifunctional kiosk network last year, said last week it had...

NEW VISA NORTH AMERICA LEADER MUST JUGGLE WELL, SAYS ANALYST.
September 12, 2008... The new Visa Inc. president of North America faces the challenges of pleasing a variety of stakeholders in a tough payment card market, says Aite Group analyst Adil Moussa. Moussa tells CardLine he expects Bill Sheedy, whom Visa named this week...

REVOLVING CREDIT NEARS $970 BILLION IN JULY.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... U.S. revolving credit, 98% of which is credit card debt, rose in July to $969.9 billion, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report released yesterday. The month's revolving credit was up 0.4% from $966 billion in June. Total seasonally...

MONEYSOLUTIONS LAUNCHES PAYROLL CARD.
September 12, 2008... MoneySolutions International Inc. today announced the launch of a MasterCard payroll card. The Castle Rock, Colo.-based company offers payroll cards to workers who do not have bank accounts, Marc Mehl, MoneySolutions chief operating officer,...

INTERAC SEEKS FOR-PROFIT STATUS FROM CANADIAN GOVERNMENT.
September 12, 2008... The Interac Association, which runs Canada's main payments network for ATMs and debit card transactions, is discussing with the federal government whether to become a for-profit entity. The association may restructure itself to compete with...

GLOBAL PAYMENTS EXPANDS RUSSIAN PRESENCE.
September 12, 2008... Global Payments Inc., an Atlanta-based transaction processor, has bought ZAO United Card Service, a Russian Federation merchant acquirer, for $120 million. United Card Service also processes payments indirectly for more than 70 financial...

BRIEFS.
September 12, 2008... Argus Information and Advisory Services and TransUnion have launched Credit Dynamics 360, a service that provides financial-services executives with customized U.S. consumer credit data. Saylent Technologies, a Franklin, Mass.-based...

VERIFONE SHRINKS Q3 LOSS BY $35 MILLION ON 12% RISE IN REVENUE.(VeriFone Canada Ltd. revenue report)(Financial report)(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Payment-terminal maker VeriFone Holdings Inc. says it reduced its third-quarter net loss from the same period last year to $7.2 million from $42.4 million, sparked, in part, by an 11.7%, $27 million gain in revenue, to $258.7 million from...

FORMER VISA CEO KILLED IN MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT.
September 12, 2008... Former Visa International CEO Charles T. Russell died in a motorcycle accident Sept. 1, CardLine has learned. Russell joined National BankAmericard Inc. as vice president of operations in 1971, five years before the card network changed its...

COMMENT TALLY REVISED TO 62,000 ON FED'S PROPOSED CARD RULES.(Federal Reserve Board of Governors )(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... The Federal Reserve Board of Governors says it received several thousand more comments than it previously reported on proposed new rules for the credit card industry. When the board recently finished processing all responses to its proposed...

MASTERCARD PAYPASS ACCEPTED AT 3,800 RITE AID LOCATIONS.
September 12, 2008... MasterCard Worldwide announced today that 3,800 Rite Aid Corp. drug-store locations are accepting contactless PayPass cards. As of the second quarter of 2008 ended June 30, the nearly 37 million MasterCard PayPass cards, fobs and other devices...

ALL BOFA CORPORATE CARD CLIENTS NOW ON WORKS PLATFORM.
September 12, 2008... Bank of America Corp. has finished moving its corporate card clients to its Works platform, the bank announced today. Works, which BofA bought in 2005 from a company of the same name, is a Web-based application that automates payment,...

CO-OP SIGNS PROCESSING AGREEMENT WITH FOUR CREDIT UNIONS.
September 12, 2008... Co-op Financial Services yesterday signed a multiyear agreement to process debit and ATM transactions for Open Technology Solutions, a Centennial, Colo.-based partnership of four credit unions. Under the deal, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based...

LOW-COST INTERACTIVE GIVEAWAYS HELP MERCHANTS REMEMBER ISOS.
September 12, 2008... Though low-cost promotional items, such as pens or mouse pads, may not close deals for independent sales organizations when agents give them to prospective clients, they can keep an ISO's name in front of clients, says Donna Embry, senior vice...

USERS GIVE NFC MOBILE PAYMENTS HIGH MARKS IN BRITISH TRIAL.
September 12, 2008... More than three-quarters of participants in a recent trial of Near Field Communication mobile payment and ticketing in London say they would use a contactless service on their mobile phones if available, suggest the results of a six-month trial...

BRIEFS.
September 12, 2008... Independent sales organization Omega Processing Solutions has begun selling Precidia Technologies' TransNet payment service, which moves transactions initiated at cash registers to the TransNet router and software. RapidAdvance LLC says...

GROUP URGES FTC TO PROTECT AGAINST BANKRUPT GIFT CARD ISSUERS.
September 12, 2008... The Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission today asking the agency to protect consumers who have gift cards from bankrupt companies. The letter asks the commission to require...

BANKS VIEW IPHONE AS EASY WAY TO INCREASE MOBILE-BANKING USE.
September 12, 2008... The application store for the Apple Inc. iPhone and iPod Touch is giving financial institutions an easy way to put mobile-banking products and services into the hands of millions of consumers, says John Pizzi, chief operating officer for mobile...

BANCORP ISSUES OBOPAY CARD THAT LINKS TO MOBILE ACCOUNT.
September 12, 2008... Mobile-payments company Obopay Inc. has found a new issuer for the prepaid debit card linked to its services. Obopay said Wednesday that Bancorp Inc. of Wilmington, Del., has started issuing prepaid debit cards linked to its mobile-payment...

ISO PICKS CASH-ADVANCE FIRM THAT INCLUDES CHECK TRANSACTIONS.(Global eTelecom Inc. contract with Professional Merchant Advance Capital LLC)(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Global eTelecom Inc., a Destin, Fla.-based independent sales organization, says it is using merchant cash-advance services from Professional Merchant Advance Capital LLC, which includes check transactions when calculating how much money to...

BARCLAYCARD GIVES CONTACTLESS CARDS TO GOLDFISH CUSTOMERS.
September 12, 2008... United Kingdom-based Barclaycard said Wednesday it would provide credit cards, including some with contactless chips, to some 1.7 million customers acquired when the issuer's parent, Barclays PLC, in February bought the Goldfish brand from...

GEMALTO BUYS KEYCORP'S SMART CARD UNIT, INCLUDING MULTOS.
September 12, 2008... France-based smart card vendor Gemalto NV last week said it had bought the smart card unit of Australia-based Keycorp Ltd., a deal that includes Keycorp's interest in the Multos operating system. In a statement, Gemalto said it will pay A$25.7...

BRIEFS.
September 12, 2008... United Kingdom-based Servebase Global Card Solutions, a transaction-services provider, is using data-security compliance services provided by Chicago-based Trustwave Corp. to help its merchants protect sensitive cardholder data, Trustwave...

ISO ADDS SERVICE THAT SECURES SENSITIVE TRANSACTION DATA.
September 12, 2008... Element Payment Services Inc., a Phoenix-based independent sales organization, this week introduced a service that secures sensitive transaction data passing through the type of payment software restaurants often use to manage their...

FEWER THAN 50% WILL MEET RED-FLAG DEADLINE, OBSERVER SAYS.(Brief article)
September 12, 2008... Fewer than 50% of financial institutions and creditors that must comply with the government's Red Flag rules will meet the Nov. 1 deadline, according to Robert Shavell, director of identity compliance at Identity Force, a Framingham,...

BRAZIL KEY AREA FOR VISA'S MOBILE INITIATIVES, EXECUTIVE SAYS.
September 12, 2008... Visa Inc.'s partnership with Banco do Brasil to offer remote mobile-phone payments is part of a larger plan for Latin American countries, a Visa executive tells CardLine. "We see an opportunity to extend these types of products and services to...

CITI AND VODAFONE PLAN LARGE NFC TRIAL IN INDIA.
September 12, 2008... New York-based Citigroup Inc. and United Kingdom-based mobile operator Vodafone Group plan to launch a large Near Field Communication trial in Bangalore, India, that would involve the local transit operator, a Citi executive tells CardLine...

AUSTRALIA PREPARES FINAL REVIEW OF INTERCHANGE REGULATION.
September 12, 2008... After a delay, the Reserve Bank of Australia plans to release a final review late this month on the outcome of its closely watched regulation of credit and debit card interchange. As governments around the world search for the best ways to...

BRIEFS.
September 12, 2008... Charge Anywhere, a mobile point-of-sale company, says it is offering signature-capture software that works on VeriFone Nurit 8000 wireless POS terminals. Discover Financial Services this week awarded its estimated $90 million...

SOUTH KOREAN ATM MAKER BUYS TRANAX TO GAIN U.S. PRESENCE.
September 12, 2008... Eltna Corp., the original-equipment manufacturer for off-premise ATM maker Tranax Technologies Inc., has purchased Tranax for an undisclosed price. The deal, announced this morning, continues the shake up of manufacturers of off-premise ATMs,...

ONE OF THE 11 TJX DATA-BREACH DEFENDANTS PLEADS GUILTY.
September 19, 2008... One of the fraudsters who participated in the biggest data breach in history last year at TJX Cos. Inc. yesterday pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston. Damon Patrick Toey, 23, one of 11 men charged last month with data theft, pleaded...

HURRICANE IKE KNOCKS OUT SOME CARDTRONICS ATMS.
September 19, 2008... The Pulse electronic funds transfer network and ATM independent sales organization Cardtronics Inc., both based in Houston, experienced little, if any disruption, to their operations because of Hurricane Ike, a Category 2 storm that wreaked...

N. J. ASSEMBLY ADVANCES BILL TO LIMIT CAMPUS CARD MARKETING.
September 19, 2008... The Consumer Affairs Committee of New Jersey's General Assembly today approved a bill that would sharply restrict credit card issuers' marketing efforts on all of the state's college campuses. In recent years 18 states, including California and...

COMPANY OFFERS DECOUPLED DEBIT EXPENSE-REPORT SERVICE.
September 19, 2008... Expensify LLC wants business travelers and small companies to use its decoupled debit card for business expenses. The company made its presence known to the world Monday at the TechCrunch 50 technology conference in Seattle and plans to use...

SPRINT SUPPLIES NETWORK CONNECTION FOR VERIFONE TAXI PAYMENTS.
September 19, 2008... Sprint Nextel Corp., an Overland Park, Kan.-based wireless communications company, says it provides the network connection for the VeriFone Holdings Inc. wireless-payment system New York taxi drivers are using. Neither company previously had...

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CASHLESS CABIN A HIT WITH CUSTOMERS.
September 19, 2008... Customer reaction to Southwest Airlines' decision to accept only credit and debit cards for in-flight purchases such as cocktails has been positive, a company spokesperson tells CardLine. Southwest switched to a cashless system Sept. 9, mostly...

MAINE BANK JOINS ALLPOINT SURCHARGE-FREE ATM NETWORK.
September 19, 2008... Gorham, Maine-based Gorham Savings Bank has joined the Allpoint Network, the nation's largest surcharge-free ATM network, both companies announced Thursday. Allpoint, which is based in Bethesda, Md., operates 2,400 ATMs in New England and...

BRIEFS.
September 19, 2008... Visa Inc. today announced it has selected TBWA Worldwide as its global lead strategic and creative advertising agency beginning Jan. 1.... SMobile Systems Inc., a provider of security products, has launched a secure mobile banking and trading...

UNITED TECHNOLOGIES SHOWS LESS INTEREST IN BUYING DIEBOLD.
September 19, 2008... United Technologies Corp., which has an unsolicited offer on the table for Diebold Inc., appears less likely now to buy the ATM manufacturer, George David, United Technologies chairman, told analysts last Thursday at the Morgan Stanley Global...

NETSPEND SUES ITS FOUNDERS FOR TAKING KNOW-HOW TO COMPETITOR.(NetSpend Corp. filed a lawsuit against its founders and MPowerVentures LP and MPower Labs Inc.)
September 19, 2008... NetSpend Corp. has filed a lawsuit against two of its founders and their new companies, MPowerVentures LP and MPower Labs Inc., for allegedly taking knowledge developed at NetSpend to the competing companies. The Austin, Texas-based prepaid...