A Gift of Credit
Gift card popularity with retailers grows each gift-giving season and some banks also have jumped on this bandwagon, according to a recent story in The Indianapolis Star. Banks are offering the latest generation of gift cards - those that carry a prepaid amount and a Visa or MasterCard logo.

The cards can be used almost anywhere Visa and MasterCard are accepted as well as many ATMs. Some of the new cards include the National City gift card, Key Bank's "Key Possibilities" card and the Simon Visa gift card. Although the cards offer convenience, many do charge fees above face value of the card and for each withdrawal from the ATM, cash advance or transaction at a point-of-sale terminal.

2002: The Year of Bankruptcy

The numbers are in. With the recent bankruptcy filings of United Airlines and Conseco, Inc., the insurance and finance company, seven of the 12 largest corporate bankruptcies in the last 20 years were filed in 2002. Here's the list* with total pre-bankruptcy assets and the date of filing:

1. WorldCom, Inc., July 21, 2002, $103.9 billion
2. Enron Corp., Dec. 2, 2001, $63.4 billion
3. Conseco, Inc., Dec. 18, 2002, $61.4 billion
4. Texaco, Inc., April 12, 1987, $35.9 billion
5. Financial Corp. of America, Sept. 9, 1988, $33.9 billion
6. Global Crossing Ltd., Jan. 28, 2002, $25.5 billion
7. UAL Corp., Dec. 9, 2002, $25.2 billion
8. Adelphia Communications, June 25, 2002, $24.4 billion
9. Pacific Gas and Electric Co., April 6, 2001, $21.5 billion
10. MCorp, March 31, 1989, $20.2 billion
11. Kmart Corp., Jan. 22, 2002, $17 billion
12. NTL, Inc., May 8, 2002, $16.8 billion

*Source: BankruptcyData.com

PARTNERSHIPS

Consumers Scanning Own Items

The Home Depot formed a partnership with Microsoft and NCR Corp. to install and test NCR's FastLane self-checkout systems at four of Home Depot's retail stores in 2002 and 500 stores in 2003. Self-checkout allows shoppers to scan their own items before paying, providing faster checkout times, control and convenience, according to NCR. Home Depot also will install cashier-run terminals from NCR with new operating software and touchscreens.

Wireless Gift Cards

Cingular Wireless, through a partnership with payment processor Lynk Systems, Inc., is offering gift cards for purchase in denominations of $25, $50 and $100, redeemable for accessories, cellular phones and related services. The gift cards can be processed through existing point-of-sale equipment at participating company-owned Cingular Wireless stores.

Certegy Wins Down Under

Certegy Inc. will process Melbourne, Australia-based Suncorp Metway Ltd.'s new Visa card program, scheduled for introduction in 2003. Certegy, a leading global card processor, will service Suncorp from its state-of-the-art processing center in Melbourne. Suncorp has total assets of more than $34 billion and is the sixth-largest bank and second-largest insurance company in Australia.

CrossCheck Certifies Ingenico Elites

CrossCheck, Inc. has developed and certified check authorization applications for Ingenico's Elite 510, 710 and 712 countertop point-of sale terminals. The applications support authorizations through CrossCheck's check guarantee services. Ingenico's eN-Check 3000 and eN-Check 2500 check readers also can be used with CrossCheck's check guarantee service.

Kroger Using BioPay's Biometrics

The Kroger Co., a grocery store retailer with stores across the U.S, is using BioPay, LLC's Paycheck Secure solution for check cashing in its Indiana stores. Kroger is implementing Paycheck Secure to eliminate check fraud while providing customers with the option to securely cash payroll checks. The Paycheck Secure check cashing system uses biometrics to verify a person's identity and confirm their check cashing history.

NPC Chooses RDM for Imaging

National Processing Co. has selected RDM Corp.'s RDM EC5004 imager, part of the RDM EC5000i series, to provide imaging capabilities to its retail customers.

Cynergy and SPS Form Alliance

Lipman has signed a $1.5 million contract with Cynergy Data. Lipman will supply Cynergy with a customized version of its NURIT 3020 terminal. Cynergy Data will customize the NURIT 3020 with the Cynergy brand as well as a Spanish language application. Cynergy also will market Lipman's ImagePak, a complete receipt, signature and check imaging solution.

eN Touch 3000 Used for $ Transfers

Travelers Express Co., Inc., a subsidiary of Viad Corp., selected Ingenico's eN-Touch 3000 POS terminal with touchscreen and TCP/IP capabilities to provide money orders, money transfers, express payments and utility bill payments to its customers and their consumers. This is the first time the terminal is being used for money transfers.

Global Payments Processing for Chittenden

Chittenden Corp. renewed its multiyear processing contract with Global Payments Inc. Global Payments will provide Chittenden with payment-processing services such as front and back-end processing, authorization, capture and settlement.

Chittenden provides merchant card processing services through its five subsidiary banks in New England: Chittenden Bank, The Bank of Western Massachusetts, Flagship Bank and Trust Co., Maine Bank and Trust, and Ocean National Bank.

APPOINTMENTS

First Data Elects New Chairman

Charles T. Fote, President and CEO of First Data Corp. was elected to also serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors of First Data effective Jan. 1, 2003. Fote succeeds Henry "Ric" Duques, who has served as Chairman since the company's inception. Duques will remain a member of the First Data Board. Fote joined the company in 1975 and was named President and COO in 1998. He was named CEO in January 2002.

NACHA Elects Board Chairman and Officers

The voting members of NACHA elected Leonard J. Heckwolf, Senior Vice President of Bank One, as Chairman of NACHA's Board of Directors. Heckwolf will begin a two-year term Jan. 1, 2003. Other elected NACHA officers include John C. Kline, Executive Vice President and COO of Union Savings Bank, as Vice Chairman, and Francis Lee, President and CEO of Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union, as Secretary/Treasurer. To see a complete listing of NACHA's newly elected officers and representatives, go to www.nacha.org.

New ETA Board Member

National Processing Co.'s Chief Operating Officer, Mark D. Pyke, has been appointed to the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) Board of Directors.

Datawire Completes Executive Team
Datawire Communication Networks Inc., a provider of Internet-based transaction delivery, recently completed its executive leadership team by appointing Michael Geihsler Senior Vice President, Operations. Geihsler has more than 29 years' experience with product and system development, operations, client services and business development in the transaction-processing industry. He previously served as Vice President, Client Services for transaction processor Alliance Data Systems and as Vice President, Electronic Commerce Systems Division at Shared Network Services, Inc. Geihsler also has held the positions of Executive Vice President, Product Development and Senior Vice President, Operations at BUYPASS Corporation. Geihsler will be based in Atlanta, Datawire's U.S. headquarters.

CrossCheck Adds Exec for National Accounts

Ted Lasch has joined CrossCheck, Inc. as Assistant Vice President of National Accounts. Lasch will assist in securing partnerships and alliances throughout the financial services and payment technology industries. Lasch was recently Vice President of Sales for W.G. Thompson, Inc. and previously was an Assistant Vice President at Wells Fargo Bank.