NEWS

BofA Buying FleetBoston

The third largest bank in the U.S., Bank of America Corp., announced it is buying the seventh largest bank, FleetBoston Financial Corp., in an all-stock transaction valued at $43 billion. By merging, the corporations will create the second largest bank in the U.S. (Citigroup is the top bank). The deal is expected to close in the second quarter 2004.

The combined bank will employ about 180,000 people, run 5,669 banking offices and 16,551 ATMs, and control 9.8% of U.S. bank deposits, Reuters reported. It will serve 33 million retail and 2.5 million business customers in 29 states and 34 other countries, handle 15% of the debit card market and manage $456 billion in assets.

GDP Jumps in Third Quarter

The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 7.2% in the third quarter of 2003, according to advance estimates of real gross domestic product (GDP) from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The growth was largest in nearly two decades.

The BEA report shows a substantial increase from the previous quarter, when GDP grew 3.3%. Major contributors to the Q3 increase include personal consumption expenditures (PCE), equipment and software, residential fixed investment and exports. The BEA will release Q3 "preliminary" estimates, based on more comprehensive data, on Nov. 25, 2003.

Senate Approves Anti-spam Bill

The U.S. Senate approved (97 to 0) the first-ever federal anti-spam legislation, the Washington Post reported. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), seeks to block e-mail messages that market financial scams, fraudulent body-enhancement products and pornography.

The legislation would also make it a crime for spammers to disguise their identity and the locations of computers they use to send junk e-mail.

The bill would preempt all anti-spam laws at the state level. It would also prohibit individuals or companies from suing spammers-only providers of e-mail accounts, such as Yahoo, Microsoft, EarthLink and America Online would be allowed to sue.

Give the Gift of Napster

Online music provider Napster is back-the company just released the free software Napster 2.0; its download music service is also now up and running. Napster will be offering prepaid Napster gift cards (15 songs for $14.85) in more than 14,000 leading U.S. retail stores in mid-November.

The Napster gift card enables consumers to give the gift of online music and legally download music and burn CDs without the use of a credit card.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

SPS Certifies VeriFone Products

Secure Payment Systems (SPS) has certified VeriFone, Inc.'s Omni 3750 line of terminals for processing checks and gift cards and VeriFone's check imager, the CR 1000.

WeatherMaster ATM Certified

Lynk Systems, Inc. certified Qualtex Corp.'s WeatherMaster ATM, a through-the-wall, weather-resistant product.

NACHA Issues Top 50 ACH Receivers

For the first time, NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association has issued a list of the top 50 largest receiving financial institutions of automated clearing house (ACH) payments, covering 2002 ACH payment volume.

Bank of America Corp. topped the list with more than 507 million payments of received ACH volume in 2002. Navy Federal Credit Union of Merrifield, Va. and State Employees Credit Union of Raleigh, NC made the list at numbers 18 and 41, respectively, with received ACH volume of 43 million and 14.7 million, respectively. These were the first two credit unions to be named in a NACHA-compiled list.

PARTNERSHIPS

Knight Ridder to Process with Certegy

Certegy Inc. is providing Knight Ridder with full check warranty and ACH/electronic check processing for telephone orders for classified ads, subscriptions and advertising at three Knight Ridder-owned locations- the Fort Worth Star Telegram, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer and The Miami Herald. The media company is using Certegy's 'PayNet Checks by Phone' service.

Cynergy Helping Agents Grow Business

Cynergy Data has joined forces with Resource Finance Company (RFC) to create a new borrowing program for Cynergy sales agents and ISOs. The program is called CynergyLoanSolutions, and it provides sales reps with working capital to help them grow their business so they don't have to sell their portfolios. The program offers loans in amounts of up to ten times the current monthly residual amount. Loans are secured and repaid by debiting from an agent's monthly residuals; once the loan is paid off, agents own 100% of their original residuals plus 100% of the growth.

DAS Signs Four New Banks

Diversified Acquiring Solutions Sales Corp. Inc. (DAS) announced several new merchant partnerships with banks. DAS has partnered with Wayne Bank in Pennsylvania for an agent merchant processing program. Wayne Bank is a subsidiary of Norwood Financial Corp. and a $370 million financial institution.

DAS has also partnered with First National Bank of Fairfield, Citizens State Bank and Ronan State Bank-all located in Montana. Through the agent partner program, the banks will identify opportunities for merchant bankcard processing, assist merchants with the application process and set pricing. DAS will process merchant applications, perform credit underwriting and service merchants' processing relationships.

EXS to Process for MYOB Software

Electronic Exchange Systems (EXS) will be the credit card processing engine for MYOB US, Inc.'s small business management and accounting software, MYOB Plus and AccountEdge. Using MYOB applications, a business owner can create sales and authorize credit cards in one step. To date, MYOB offers the only accounting software for credit card processing for both Windows and Macintosh.

MYOB US, Inc. is a subsidiary of MYOB Limited, Australia and one of the MYOB Group of companies with affiliates and publishing partners worldwide.

Humboldt Offering Dynamic Currency Conversion

Humboldt Merchant Services, LP is offering a dynamic currency conversion solution, powered by Planet Payment to its merchant customers. The service enables e-commerce merchants to earn additional revenue from transactions and foreign shoppers to review the price of a transaction in their local currency in real time. Typically, most cardholders don't know the price (in their own currency) or the conversion rate of a transaction until they receive their statement at the end of the month from their credit card provider.

PayPoint and NACS Partner

First Data Corp., its subsidiary, PayPoint, and The National Association of Convenience Stores have partnered to create a new program designed to reduce card-processing fees for convenience store and petroleum marketers. The companies believe they can reduce fees by offering processing efficiencies and the aggregation of transactions with NACS members and others (retailers participating in the program will continue to incur interchange rates established by the card associations). All convenience store retailers may participate. The target market for the program is small to mid-size chains without major brand affiliations and fewer than 200 stores.

Family Dollar Sells PRE Solutions Items

PRE Solutions, Inc. will provide prepaid products and services to more than 5,000 Family Dollar Stores, Inc. stores by the end of 2003. Family Dollar stores will sell prepaid wireless services from ALLTEL, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, TracFone, T-Mobile and Verizon and a series of prepaid phone card products from AT&T.

ACQUISITIONS

Moneris Buys Value-Add Provider

Payment processor Moneris Solutions Corp. will acquire Ernex Marketing Technologies from RBC Financial Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ernex provides loyalty programs, stored-value gift cards and electronic marketing solutions for merchants. Moneris and Ernex have been partners for more than three years.

NetBank and FTI to Merge

NetBank, Inc., parent company of Internet bank NetBank, will acquire Financial Technologies, Inc. (FTI) for $16 million in cash and $1 million worth of restricted stock. FTI provides ATM services for non-bank retail businesses and has more than 4,300 ATMs in operation across the U.S. Pending regulatory approval, FTI will operate as a subsidiary of NetBank. The companies expect the transaction to close in the fourth quarter 2003.

Vital Acquires Merlin Solutions

Vital Processing Services acquired a majority interest in Merlin Solutions, L.L.C. Merlin Solutions will continue to operate from its headquarters in Fredrick, Md., with the same management team and employees who handle dispute processing. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Merlin Solutions provides outsourced dispute processing services to acquirers and their merchant customers. It offers services such as sales draft retrieval requests through chargebacks, reversals, re-presentments to compliance, arbitration, collection services and customer support.

APPOINTMENTS

Hochwimmer on Global Axcess Board

Global Axcess Corp. appointed Georg Hochwimmer, Ph.D. as an independent member of its Board of Directors. Hochwimmer is a noted business consultant and academic responsible for aiding in the development of several highly profitable companies throughout Europe. He serves on the Board of Directors of Maxxio Technologies AG; Lokando AG; and Prevero AG. He is Managing Director of Bluespectrum GmbH and he previously served as Managing Director of General Research GmbH.

First Data Elects Two Board Members

Daniel P. Burnham and Jack M. Greenberg have been named to First Data Corp.'s Board of Directors. Burnham is Chairman of the Board of Directors for Raytheon, and Greenberg is the retired Chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corp.

Burnham served as CEO of Raytheon and also as President and COO. He spent 16 years with Allied Signal and worked 11 years at Carborundum Company. He is Chairman of the National Minority Supplier Development Council and a member of the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, the Aerospace Industries Association, the Business Council, FleetBoston Financial Corp.'s Board of Directors and the Board of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.

Greenberg served at McDonald's for 21 years. Before joining McDonald's, he was the Director of Tax Services for the Midwest region and the Chicago offices of Arthur Young & Company. He currently is on the board of Abbott Laboratories, Allstate Corp. and Hasbro Inc. and on the board of trustees of DePaul University, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Institute of International Education, The Field Museum, The Chicago Community Trust and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Asofsky Joins Planet Payment as CFO

Planet Payment, part of Planet Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, hired Seth F. Asofsky as CFO. Asofsky has more than 18 years of experience in originating and executing public and private equity, merger and acquisitions, debt and structured finance transactions. He most recently served at ThinkEquity Partners. Prior to ThinkEquity, Asofsky was a Vice President with SG Cowen's Technology Investment Banking Group.

He also worked at SG Cowen's Client Management Americas Group, Société Générale's International Corporate Group and Midwest Large Corporate Group, and First Republic Bank's Oil and Gas Special Credits Division.

BOTTOM LINES

• Oakland has become the latest city in California to ban Wal-Mart "supercenters." Beginning in 2004, Wal-Mart plans to open 40 of its supercenters in California over the next four years.

• The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which declined last month, advanced in October. The Index now stands at 81.1, up from 77.0 in September 2003.

• Many major U.S. retailers saw their biggest gain in sales in 18 months in September 2003. Wal-Mart, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Target Corp. posted sales growth above expectations. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi said the retail sector showed its largest monthly sales increase since March 2002.