BofA, First Data give birth to BAMS
ank of America Corp. and First Data Corp. formed a new payment solutions company, Banc of America Merchant Services LLC. First Data will contribute about 140,000 merchant relationships and BofA will bring approximately 240,000 such relationships to BAMS. The new entity expects to process more than 1 billion transactions per month.
At the end of 2008, First Data parted ways with JPMorgan Chase & Co. The two companies had jointly provided payment solutions as Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC for 12 years. First Data stated at the time that the split signaled a new phase of product development and expansion.
GS 09:06:02 – Lead Story
The road ahead for mobile payments
As the avalanche of legislative and executive decisions continues to reshape the economy, breeding uncertainty about what the future holds, mobile commerce is being touted as a new and exciting sector of economic growth and vitality. Is the mobile payment revolution finally ready to take hold in the United States?
GS 09:06:02 – News
Interchange in federal sights - again
Retailers may have lost the battle over interchange when they failed to convince the U.S. Congress to add strong language about interchange to the Credit CARD Act, which was signed into law in May 2009. But they haven't given up the fight.
GS 09:06:02 – News
According to one payments industry veteran, merchant level salespeople (MLSs) are never mentioned, described or articulated as a viable entity in the contracts that Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide sign with ISOs. In an effort to gain greater recognition from the card brands, a handful of MLSs started the Association of Bankcard Professionals in May 2009.
GS 09:06:02 – Selling Prepaid
At the Electronic Transactions Association's 2009 Annual Conference & Expo held in Las Vegas in April, the inaugural Prepaid Day included a discussion on how a successful gift card program operates. The presenter was Thom Aldredge, President of World Gift Card. His motto? "Keep it simple, stupid."
GS 09:06:02 – Views
After failing to secure an interchange amendment to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (Credit CARD act), merchants are pressing for standalone legislation that would rewrite federal anti-trust law so merchants can negotiate interchange fees en masse – like the way unions negotiate wages for the rank and file.
GS 09:06:02 – Street Smarts
By taking a few minutes to find out who will be at an event and doing a simple Internet search, you can raise the networking bar 10 notches. Now, instead of trite conversation about the weather or traffic, you can exhibit a sincere interest in a fellow attendee and guide the conversation to something that may be mutually advantageous.
GS 09:06:02 – Education
Negotiation occurs in all aspects of life, including the commercial, nonprofit, government, education, personal, legal, and international relations spheres. Most of us negotiate on a daily basis, without recognizing that we are doing so. This article discusses the traits that all good negotiators share.
GS 09:06:02 – Education
As anyone who has combined disparate technologies can tell you, the result can be a bitter disappointment or a match made in heaven. This article offers ways MLSs can help merchants bridge gaps between stand-alone devices to create transformative, integrated processing solutions.
GS 09:06:02 – Inspiration
People usually don't want to broadcast their errors. Yet, embracing shortcomings rather than evading them is the sign of a successful and self-confident person. This article offers a few pointers to help you and your sales team turn mistakes into something positive.