Competitive Strategies

United Bank Card Inc. is introducing two new weekly-payout bonus programs for independent sales organizations and increasing payment frequency on a third incentive program to weekly, as well. The Hampton, N.J.-based acquiring processor says it has begun paying an incremental $30 to $40 to ISOs and sales agents for each …

In a move that furthers its strategy to expand payment processing beyond auction activity, PayPal Inc. is rolling out a new transaction tool designed to allow small and medium-size Web-based merchants to accept all forms of payment entirely through PayPal, apparently eliminating the need for gateways or other third-party processors. …

International Card Establishment Inc., which began offering card-processing services a few weeks ago, has signed the first independent sales organization in its ISO program. Midland, Texas-based Foresite Merchant Solutions, formed recently, is I.C.E.'s first ISO client, the company says. Foresite is signing 200 merchant accounts per month, a rate it …

Efunds Corp. signaled its intention to move aggressively into the burgeoning market for prepaid products today with an announcement that it is buying WildCard Systems Inc., a Sunrise, Fla.-based processor, for $228.8 million in cash. The deal, which is expected to close early next month, will add prepaid debit to …

American Express Co. today said it has commenced a nationwide rollout of its ExpressPay contactless card program and announced that 7-Eleven Inc. would accept the AmEx technology, which is being embedded in the New York-based T&E giant's Blue card. The Dallas-based convenience-store chain joins pharmacy chain CVS Corp. as national …

Looking toward a breakthrough year in payments processing for online and mobile digital content, Valista Ltd. has signed a marketing and technology deal with IBM Corp. that it says will help it recruit its first major North American client since America Online Inc. The unnamed telecom operator, currently a client …

Viewpointe Archive Services, a check-image archive and exchange owned by some of the nation's largest banks, has signed its second client for its non-archive exchange service, called Pointe2Pointe. Columbus, Ga.-based Synovus Financial Corp., a holding company for 41 southeastern banks, follows Compass Bank, which signed up with Viewpointe early last …

Though he's only been on the job for a few weeks as chief executive of ProxyMed Inc., a transaction-processing, business-process outsourcing, and cost-containment company, John Lettko sees clear parallels between the industry he left–financial services–and the one he's entering?health care. Lettko, the former chief executive of Viewpointe Archive Services, a …

Nova Information Systems says it is acquiring Certegy Inc.'s the merchant portfolio. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The conversion of the Certegy portfolio, which consists of 14,000 merchants generating about $3 billion in annual credit and debit card volume, to Nova's platform is expected to be completed by …

Surprisingly sub-par performance by credit card issuers' Web sites may be channeling customers to more expensive alternatives for service, such as corporate call centers, reports a new study by Keynote Systems Inc. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company, which measures Web site performance in various industries, says in a summary of …