Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Putting his best spin on a tough situation, processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) chief executive Philip W. Tomlinson today said he regards the credit card industry’s top three issuers as prospects for future business, even as all three begin or plan to take tens of millions of accounts off …
Read More »As Banks Reissue Debit Cards, Experts Warn of More Compromises
More banks are reissuing debit cards as suspect transactions pop up throughout the United States and other countries, according to media reports this week. Investigators believe many of the transactions could be related to a security breach at a merchant facility in California that happened late last year, but the …
Read More »Chase Rolls out a Prepaid Visa for Low-Income Tax-Refund Recipients
In a new twist on stored-value plastic, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is issuing Visa-branded debit cards to low-income recipients of tax refunds. Working with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance offices in 16 cities, Chase expects the cards to help recipients who qualify for refunds under the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) …
Read More »How Interchange Wars Are Lending Impetus to Instant Issuance
Heightened tensions over interchange fees are helping to fuel expansion in the market for so-called instant issuance of payment plastics. Englewood, Colo.-based Dynamic Card Solutions, which produces software that lets banks issue Visa- and MasterCard-branded debit cards on the spot to customers, says its revenue grew 53% in 2005, without …
Read More »Discover Unveils a Signature Debit Card, Though No Issuers Yet
Morgan Stanley's Discover Financial Services LLC today launched a signature-based debit card, dubbed Discover Debit, as the second major prong in its debit card offensive. Because signature-based debit delivers higher income to issuers than PIN debit, observers have looked for such a product from Discover ever since the Riverwoods, Ill.-based …
Read More »Seeking More Issuers, Debitman Finds Two Among the Supermarkets
Debitman Card Inc., which has been seeking issuers for its PIN debit processing network, announced two this week. Binghamton Giant Markets Inc. and HAC Inc., both regional supermarket chains, have agreed to issue cards on Debitman's network. HAC, which runs 67 stores in Oklahoma and Kansas, has begun issuing Debitman …
Read More »Citi Will Issue Contactless Tokens for N.Y. Mass Transit Test This Spring
Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank, which last year announced it would issue contactless tokens linked to customers' credit and debit card accounts in the New York metropolitan area, is now allowing those devices to be used in a test of radio-frequency-based electronic fare payments by the Metropolitan Transit Authority's MTA New York …
Read More »Investors Smile on First Data’s New Look, Western Union Spin-Off
Despite some poor fourth-quarter financials, shares of First Data Corp. rose nearly 7% this morning after the big transaction processor announced plans to spin off its fast-growing and biggest subsidiary, Western Union, to First Data shareholders. Denver-based First Data also ended speculation that it might sell its lackluster Card Issuing …
Read More »TSYS CEO Upbeat Despite Pending Loss of BofA Consumer Accounts
Philip W. Tomlinson, chief executive of payment processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), played up his firm's strong fourth-quarter and 2005 financials and growth prospects today despite the pending loss of the huge Bank of America Corp. consumer credit card file. Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS reported fourth-quarter net income of $49.7 …
Read More »With GE Consumer Finance, AmEx Claims Seven Bank Card Issuers
American Express Co. has announced the seventh financial institution to agree to issue AmEx cards since the New York-based travel-and-entertainment giant began courting banks for its network two years ago. GE Consumer Finance, a Stamford, Conn.-based unit of General Electric Co., said it will issue cards on AmEx's network that …
Read More »