NEWS

MasterCard Growth Strong

MasterCard International continues to take on cash and checks with its payment programs. The company reported growth across all regions for the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2002.

MasterCard showed a 15.6% increase over the same period in 2001 in the number of cards issued. The company's 25,000 member financial institutions issued nearly 578.8 million MasterCard-branded cards.

Cardholders around the world made more than 9.84 billion transactions using their MasterCard cards, generating a gross dollar volume of $831.7 billion, a 16.1% increase over the same period last year.

Purchase volume rose 14.4% to $580.3 billion. MasterCard said its strong growth in the first nine months of 2002 was fueled by growth in both credit and debit programs. Gross dollar volume for MasterCard offline debit programs rose 21.6% to $141.1 billion.

Concord Repurchase Plan at $500 Million

Concord EFS, Inc.'s Board of Directors announced another stock-repurchase plan of Concord's common stock beyond the $400 million previously approved - this time for an additional $100 million. The Board's approval brings the total potential repurchase amount to $500 million. In August 2002, Concord's Board approved the repurchase of $250 million, and in November it approved another $150 million.

Chapter 11 for NextCard

NextCard Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. In its filings, the company cited total assets of $18 million and total debts of $5 million as of Sept. 30, 2002, excluding a $140 million disputed claim of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. FDIC is the receiver for NextCard's Nextbank N.A. unit, which was closed in February by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

NextCard also recently filed a collections suit against its former CEO John Hashman regarding a loan to Hashman that was to be repaid on Sept. 3 and is worth $132,500, including interest.

Q3 E-Commerce Sales Grew

Online retail sales continue to grow, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce's latest U.S. Census Bureau quarterly report on e-commerce statistics. The report shows online retail sales totaled $11.1 billion in the third quarter 2002, a 7.8% increase in spending from the second quarter 2002 and a 34.3% increase over the same period last year. Q3 2002 e-commerce sales accounted for 1.3 percent of total retail sales in that quarter, which were $827.5 billion, up from Q2 2002 overall retail sales of $825 billion.

CIBC Closing U.S. E-banking

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) announced it is pulling the plug on its U.S. electronic banking operations. The move affects CIBC National Bank and Amicus FSB, neither of which was meeting financial expectations, CIBC said in a statement.

CIBC National Bank provides financial services under the Marketplace Bank brand, and Amicus FSB provides financial services under the Safeway SELECT Bank brand. CIBC said customer deposits with a balance of $1,000 or more on the date of closing will be transferred to E-TRADE Bank, subject to regulatory approval.

NCR Announces Layoffs

NCR Corp. announced it will eliminate 1,500 jobs globally - nearly 5% of its work force - over the next six months beginning Nov. 19, 2002 in an effort to streamline operations. NCR has 30,500 employees worldwide.

B of A Employees Test New Card Program

Bank of America Corp. is testing a new program with 10,000 of its employees at 24 restaurants and shops located near its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C. The program, called QuickWave, uses equipment installed by B of A and allows B of A employees to pay for their purchases by waving a small card on their key chain over a blue-sensor pad.

QuickWave is neither a traditional debit nor credit card, so no swiping, signing or PIN-punching occurs; however, the card is linked to the employee's bank account, so charges are deducted moments after an employee waves it over the pad. The pilot program will run through Dec. 31, 2002. If B of A decides the program is a success, it will expand it nationally to B of A credit and debit cardholders ("New Look for Credit Cards," The Green Sheet, Oct. 28, 2002, issue 02:10:02),

Is 7-Eleven in the ATM Business?

7-Eleven, Inc. announced it is rolling out 49 Vcom machines in Orlando, Fla., as part of an initial 1,000-store rollout taking place through the second quarter of 2003. Vcom is 7-11's own self-service machine offering ATM capabilities such as the ability to conduct American Express ATM transactions, purchase Western Union money orders and money transfers, pay bills through Western Union's Quick Collect payment service and cash checks through Certegy Check Services, a division of Certegy, Inc. Customers can pay for services with cash by inserting as many as 30 bills at a time into a bunch-note acceptor on the Vcom machine.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CrossCheck Certified by RDM

CrossCheck, Inc. announced its check authorization system has been certified on RDM Corp.'s EC5000 line of imagers. Thus, merchants using CrossCheck's services may use the EC5000 for check imaging.

The company also announced MerchantWarehouse.com has added CrossCheck, Inc.'s check guarantee services to its merchant offerings. MerchantWarehouse.com provides payment-processing services to retail, Internet and phone-order merchants nationwide. The company will market CrossCheck's services through its nationwide sales force.

Wanted: Card Processors

The National Association of Bankcard Corporations (NABCo), an association of bankcard processors, was formed recently. The association's intent is to "enhance the value of its member portfolios with competitive pricing and industry-leading products and services." NABCo says it is positioned to assist small- to medium-size card-processing organizations in their expansion plans while also increasing their income and market value. NABCo is seeking partners interested in a long-term relationship versus a quick portfolio sale.

PARTNERSHIPS

Livin' Lavinna L100

Ingenico will supply Concord EFS, Inc. with 25,000 Lavinna L100 terminals over the next year to be used with Concord's IDLogix identification and age-verification service. Restaurants and other merchants use the Lavinna L100 terminal to verify age by swiping a customer's driver's license or other ID through the hand-held unit.

Vital Extends Network

Vital Processing Services has signed a multiyear agreement with Transaction Network Services, Inc. (TNS), adding a new data communications service provider to its existing network in order to deliver POS transaction network services. Vital says having service-provider alternatives allows it to ensure seamless processing.

SPS Wins Chittenden's Business

Chittenden Bank will offer Secure Payment Systems, Inc.'s check conversion and gift card services to merchants via its branch banking locations and direct sales force. Chittenden, a subsidiary of Chittenden Corp., is a full-service bank with more than 60 offices throughout Vermont. Chittenden has been a credit card processor for more than 30 years.

DAS Announces New Partners

Diversified Acquiring Solutions (DAS) and Province Bank, a $26 million institution owned by Donegal Mutual Group, have formed a merchant transaction processing partnership. Through an Agent Bank Program, Province Bank will identify merchant processing opportunities and assist merchants with the application process and pricing. DAS will handle the credit underwriting.

DAS also announced a partnership with Metropolitan Bank whereby Metropolitan Bank will refer new merchant business and non-traditional merchant business to DAS, which will oversee the sale, setup and servicing of the processing relationships. Metropolitan Bank will receive a referral fee and residual income for each approved merchant account.

NPC Processing for Sodexho

National Processing Co. (NPC) signed a multiyear credit card processing agreement with Sodexho, a food and facilities management services company in North America. Sodexho provides outsourcing solutions in food service, housekeeping, groundskeeping, plant operations and maintenance, asset and material management, and laundry services to corporations, health care and long-term care facilities, retirement centers, schools, college campuses and military and remote sites.

NPC will provide authorization and settlement services for MasterCard and Visa transactions. NPC previously had a long-term processing relationship with Marriott Management Services, which was acquired by Sodexho two years ago.

Triton and CashWorks Make ATM Waves

CashWorks Inc. and Triton have partnered to provide automated cashing of government and payroll checks as well as money-transfer services and wireless phone minutes as part of a new package of ATM services called Triton Waves. The check-cashing services will allow merchants to create additional revenue sources from Triton ATMs.

LML Check Services at the Grocer

Vancouver, B.C.-based LML Payment Systems Corp., a financial payment processor that is a subsidiary of LML Payment Systems Inc., announced it has implemented electronic check and traditional recovery services to Grocers Supply Co. Inc.'s stores in the Houston area. LML will provide the stores with electronic check verification, electronic check recovery, payroll check cashing and traditional check recovery services.

ACQUISITION

Fiserv Acquiring CNS

EDS Corp., an information technology services company, and Fiserv, Inc. announced a definitive agreement whereby Fiserv will acquire EDS' Consumer Network Services (CNS) unit for approximately $320 million in cash. Fiserv is a full-service provider of data processing and information management systems to the financial industry. CNS is an electronic funds transfer transaction processor and ATM operator that processes more than 2.4 billion EFT transactions annually and operates 13,170 ATMs. When the deal closes, Fiserv will then process approximately 4 billion electronic, ATM and POS transactions annually.

EDS has been cutting costs since it announced its September 2002 third-quarter earnings would be 80% lower than expected. The company also recently announced plans to move 700 call-center jobs to India.

APPOINTMENTS

NPC Adds Sales Exec

National Processing Co. (NPC) has named Catherine A. Nelson Vice President of Business Development. Before joining NPC, Nelson held sales-leadership roles at MedUnite, Inc., Pointshare Corp. and ENVOY Corp. Nelson brings more than 15 years of experience, specializing in clearinghouse work and sales, to national payers and vendors within the health care industry. NPC attributes Nelson's arrival to the company's "increase in momentum and marketplace traction."

Datawire Appoints CFO

Datawire Communication Networks Inc., a provider of Internet-based transaction delivery, has appointed John "Jack" H. Nichols III to the positions of Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, based out of Datawire's U.S. headquarters in Atlanta. Most recently, Nichols served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Incanta, Inc.