ccording to advance estimates of the gross domestic product (GDP) from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.6% in the first quarter of 2003, slightly higher than the previous quarter, when GDP grew 1.4%. In Q1 2003, U.S imports decreased, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, while growth is attributed to personal consumption expenditures, residential fixed investment and government spending. The Commerce Department will release preliminary estimates based on more complete data on May 29.

Symbol Exec Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Robert Asti, a former Symbol Technologies Inc. sales executive, and other former high-ranking executives at the company recently pleaded guilty to securities fraud for falsifying books and records at the end of each quarter to ensure that Symbol reported increased revenue.

Asti served as Symbol's Vice President of Sales Finance for the Americas from 1999 to March 2001. The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil suit against Asti in federal court that would require him to repay any "ill-gotten gains" and would prevent him from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company. Symbol is in the process of restating its financial results for 1999 through 2002.

Visa Helps ID Theft Victims

Visa USA announced it is providing member banks with the option to offer credit and debit card holders free ID theft insurance of up to $15,000 to cover reimbursement for lost wages, legal fees and other costs associated with recovering from identity theft. The association also has partnered with Call For Action, a non-profit consumer group, which has a toll-free hotline for identity theft counseling. Consumers can call 866-434-6854 for help or visit www.callforaction.org for fraud-prevention tips.

Consumer Confidence Sees Boost in April

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), which had been on the decline since December 2002, improved sharply in April 2003. The CCI increased 19.6 points to 81.0, up from 61.4 in March. The index is based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households, and results of the latest survey indicate many Americans are feeling optimistic about the economy since the war in Iraq ended. The latest surge in consumer confidence resembles the increase following the Gulf War in 1991, when the index increased 21.7 points.

A Billion New ACH Payments in 2002

In 2002, U.S. commercial financial institutions added another billion Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments, NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association reported. The number of ACH payments originated by financial institutions increased to 8.05 billion in 2002, up 13.6% from 2001. These payments were valued at $21.7 trillion. If one includes payments originated by the federal government, there were a total of 8.94 billion ACH payments in 2002 worth more than $24.4 trillion. According to NACHA, more than 490 million payments in 2002 were made with e-checks. The number of e-checks at the point-of-sale was 167 million, up 89% from 2001.

ACH payments include direct deposit of payroll, Social Security benefits and tax refunds, direct payment of consumer bills, business-to-business payments, federal tax payments and e-check payments. For more information, visit www.nacha.org.

Help with Biometrics

A new report from Glenbrook Partners, a consulting and research firm for the financial services industry, investigates the role of biometrics in financial services. The report is titled "Biometrics in Financial Services: See Me, Hear Me, Touch Me."

It provides guidance on the best way to manage a biometrics deployment project and identifies common obstacles and misperceptions that companies must overcome before project launch. The report is available on www.glenbrook.com for $995.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

PayPass at Gas Stations

Gilbarco Veeder-Root designed the first kits for gasoline dispensers to accept MasterCard International's PayPass cards. Working with MasterCard, Chevron, and Panasonic, four gasoline sites using the kits now can accept PayPass contactless payment cards, which allow cardholders to tap or wave their credit cards instead of swiping them.

The kits contain an RF antenna that sends a signal to the card's embedded chip to transmit account information. A contactless Panasonic reader receives the account information and converts data into conventional magnetic stripe format. Gilbarco Veeder-Root's kit works with existing Gilbarco G-SITE and Passport point-of-sale systems and requires no changes to the application software or to the card-processing network's infrastructure.

BNA Certified by Global Payments Inc.

BNA Smart Payment Systems' GlobalEast Auto Rental application has been certified for use on Global Payments Inc.'s Atlanta platform. BNA's application runs on the Banksys C-ZAM/SMASH terminal and processes credit, debit and check transactions. It is also smart card ready. BNA is the exclusive North American distributor of the C-ZAM terminal.

NACHA Awards 3 for ACH Quality

NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association awarded JPMorgan Chase ACH, Wells Fargo and First Data Corp.'s TeleCheck the 2003 Kevin O'Brien ACH Quality Award, which recognizes a company's success in implementing quality Automated Clearing House (ACH) processes. Case studies of each recipient are published in NACHA's 2003 Electronic Payments Review and Buyers' Guide. The award is named for the late Kevin O'Brien, NACHA's Chairman in 1999-2000. NACHA also issued its Top 50 list for 2002's largest originating financial institutions of automated clearinghouse (ACH) payments. You can view the list at www.nacha.org.

NPC Processes for Both U.S. and Canada

National Processing Co., LLC, a full-service MasterCard and Visa provider in the Canadian market, now supports cross-border processing, providing its merchants with processing services for both U.S. and Canadian transactions.

The company also announced a new name for its global platform for electronic settlement of health care payments: HealthePay, formerly known as AcceleratedPay.

WeatherMaster Gets Patent, Certifications

Qualtex Corp. was awarded U.S. patent D472, 362 S for the WeatherMaster ATM, a through-the-wall machine ("All-weather ATM Helps Improve Business Climate," Green Sheet, April 14, 2003, issue 03:04:01). In addition, Metavante Corp., Concord EFS, Inc., Core Data, EFT Logix and Genpass Technologies have certified the ATM.

Tranax Web Site Has New Look

Tranax Technologies announced improvements to its Web site that provide new information and easier navigation. You can visit the site at www.tranax.com.

PARTNERSHIPS

ASAI Named Master Distributor for NexTran

NexTran Industries named ISO Automated Systems America, Inc. (ASAI) a "master distributor" of NexTran's ATMs. NexTran, a subsidiary of Seoul, South Korea-based Chungho ComNet Co., Ltd., provides end-to-end ATM solutions such as hardware, software, installation, training, ATM maintenance and monitoring, processing and customer service. As a master distributor, ASAI will purchase a designated number of NexTran ATM terminals over a designated period of time for resale to ASAI customers.

Certegy's Check Services at Safeway

Certegy Inc. will provide check-cashing services to nearly 1,500 Safeway Inc. locations throughout the U.S. Bed Bath & Beyond renewed a multiyear agreement with Certegy whereby Certegy will provide the retailer's 496 stores in 44 U.S. states and Puerto Rico with check warranty services.

First American Announces Growth Strategy

First American Payment Systems, L.P. wants to achieve growth through acquisitions within the electronic transactions processing industry and has partnered with Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer L.P. of New York to secure private equity funding to help it achieve this goal. Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer is a private equity investment firm with more than $2 billion of capital and experience in the electronic transactions industry.

Gift Cards by Ingenico

Ingenico and Valutec Card Solutions are bringing their technologies together in a gift card and loyalty solution, providing ISOs an all-in-one gift card program to sell to merchants. The program includes point balances tracking and payment acceptance in a point-of-sale terminal. It uses Ingenico's Elite 770 terminals and applications and Valutec's processing services.

Hypercom Wins Two Deals

Hypercom Corp. is providing ISO ABANCO International, LLC with card payment terminals, its HyperSafe operating system security and Hypercom electronic receipt capture and signature capture software, a deal valued at $16 million. In addition, JR's P.O.S. Depot awarded Hypercom a one-year, multimillion-dollar contract for 10,000 card payment terminals and technology, including the T7Plus terminal.

Precidia Partners with T3 to Increase Speed

Precidia Technologies Inc. has combined its Ether232 modem replacement product with Transaction Transport Technologies, LLC's (T3) Virtual Private Network (VPN) gateway service to provide merchants with a complete IP-enabled point-of-sale solution. The Ether232 connects dial-up, modem-based payment terminals and hospitality point-of-sale systems to IP networks for faster transaction processing. This solution does not require an upgrade or replacement of existing systems or equipment and eliminates a traditional dial-up line.

Elway's Dealerships Score with CrossCheck

CrossCheck, Inc. will provide check guarantee services to eight John Elway Dealerships in California, Colorado and Ohio. The dealerships are part of AutoNation USA. Phil Long Dealerships in Colorado have been using CrossCheck's check guarantee programs for nearly a year.

Use Coinstar and Help the Planet

Coinstar, Inc. now accepts donations on behalf of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) right at its coin-counting terminals. Most of Coinstar's 10,000 machines are located in supermarkets and have a feature that allows users to designate WWF as their beneficiary when they pour loose change into the machine. Coinstar's terminals automatically count the coins and print a tax-deductible receipt for the amount of the donation.

Donations made through Coinstar will support WWF's Pennies for the Planet program, which educates children about biodiversity. This year, coins collected will aid the Atlantic Forest of South America, the Everglades and South Florida, and the Miombo Woodlands of southern Africa.

WesPay and EPN Join Forces for ACH

The Western Payments Alliance (WesPay) and the Electronic Payments Network (EPN) announced that California's largest credit union, Golden 1 Credit Union, has converted its ACH processing to EPN. WesPay and EPN have partnered to offer WesPay's 1,000 banks, credit unions and thrifts ACH processing, education and check-clearing services.

APPOINTMENTS

ETA Hires Executive Director

The Electronic Transactions Association's Board of Directors appointed Carla Balakgie, CAE, as its first full time Executive Director. Balakgie most recently served as Senior Vice President of the National Association of College and University Business Officers. She is a member of the American Society of Association Executives Foundation Board of Directors and is the Current Chair of the ASAE Fellows.

Fote Appointed Chairman of eONE

First Data Corp. subsidiary eONE Global LP appointed Charlie Fote Chairman of its Board of Directors. Fote is currently Chairman and CEO of First Data. He succeeds Ric Duques, who had served as Chairman since eONE Global's inception in 2000. Duques will remain an active member of eONE Global's Board of Directors. eONE Global also named David Hodgson, partner, General Atlantic Partners to its board.

Authorize.Net Hires Industry Veteran

InfoSpace, Inc. named Gregg Gumbinger Vice President of Business Development for Authorize.Net, InfoSpace's processing platform. Gumbinger has more than 20 years' experience in bankcard payment and e-commerce. He worked at Visa USA for 15 years and also has served as Director of Business Development at ClearCommerce, Vice President of Marketing at HomeAccount Networks and most recently was Director of Business Development and Marketing at Indivos Corp.

Johnson Joins Skipjack

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Skipjack Financial Services, Inc., provider of payment- processing solutions, hired John M. Johnson as Senior Client Development Manager. Johnson has seven years' experience in the electronic payment industry.

His background includes executive management positions with Hypercom, EDR Processing and NOVA Information Systems. Johnson will be based in Atlanta.

Shaper on CashWorks' Board

Steve Shaper joined CashWorks Inc.'s Board of Directors. Shaper is a co-founder of TeleCheck International, Inc. and formerly served as CEO and COO for TeleCheck. Shaper is a General Partner with Convergent Investors, a venture capital firm. CashWorks was formed in July 2001 and is based in Dallas.

CrossCheck Hires New VP of HR

CrossCheck, Inc. appointed Tracie Oliver to Vice President of Human Resources. Oliver previously held human resources positions at Oliver GATX Capital Corp. and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and in the national retail and software development industries and non-profit organizations.

New Co-Owner at CentralBancard

Henry Harp joined CentralBancard, LLC as Executive Vice President. He will serve as a co-owner of the business with Jerry Cain, CEO, and Bill Brockway, President, bringing their collective experience level in the ISO and credit card industry to nearly 60 years. Harp previously worked at Vital Processing Services.

E*TRADE Adds Board Members

E*TRADE Group, Inc. made some additions to its Board of Directors: Vaughn A. Clarke, Executive Vice President, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.; Michael K. Parks, Managing Director, Leveraged Finance Group of Trust Co. of the West; C. Cathleen Raffaeli, Managing Partner, The Hamilton White Group, LLC; and Donna L. Weaver, Chairman, Mx Secure, Inc., were appointed to serve as outside Directors. They will stand for election at the company's annual shareholder meeting in May 2003.

BOTTOM LINES

• Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants plans to develop up to 25 single and multi-brand Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin' Donuts stores in the Atlanta area.
• Abercrombie & Fitch announced plans to open 30 new Abercrombie & Fitch stores, 10 new Abercrombie stores and 70 new Hollister Co. stores.
• Bankrupt FAO Inc., parent company of FAO Schwarz toy stores, recently received enough financing ($30 million) to stay in business and will not have to shut down all of its 140 stores. In addition, Saks Fifth Avenue plans to open toy shops in most of its department stores and said it would buy a stake in FAO.
• Starbucks Corp. is buying rival Seattle Coffee Co. and Torrefazione Italia Coffee. Starbucks declined to comment on whether it would close any stores.
• Bankrupt retailer Today's Man plans to liquidate inventory and close its remaining 24 stores in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.