NEWS

Retailers' Lawyers in Visa/MasterCard Settlement Get $239 Million

Lawyers who represented Wal-Mart and millions of other retailers in the settled class-action lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard over debit card fees will get $220.3 million along with $18.7 million in expense reimbursement-an overall amount much smaller than the $600 million they had proposed earlier in the fall.

U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson, the presiding judge in the case, gave his final approval on Dec. 19, 2003, settling all claims in the class action lawsuit. In his final report, Gleeson called the proposed sum "excessive," Reuters reported. The New York law firm of Constantine & Partners represented the retailers and worked (without pay) with 29 other firms throughout the seven-year case.

First Data and Bank One Resolve Dispute

First Data Corp. (FDC) and Bank One Corp. have resolved their differences over a card processing agreement. First Data has agreed to continue providing card-processing services, including output services, to Bank One beyond June 30, 2004 and up to Sept. 30, 2005.

In March 2003, Bank One announced plans to move its credit card processing business in-house and said it would not renew its contract with First Data. While Bank One transitioned to its own system, First Data offered to continue processing through September 2005 unless given six months notice. The agreement was never finalized.

By Aug. 2003, FDC and Bank One had failed to agree on final terms of their partnership-whether FDC would charge Bank One the current rate for processing after their contract expires-and decided to go into arbitration to settle the matter.

NEWS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Qualtex Moves to Bigger Office

Qualtex, manufacturer of the WeatherMaster ATM, announced in December 2003 that it moved its corporate office and manufacturing facility to a larger office in Chicago to accommodate recent growth. The new space has more than 10,000 square feet. According to Brad Zerman, President of Qualtex, monthly sales of the WeatherMaster ATM have increased more than 60% since October 2003.

First Data Certifies TPI Software

TPI Software, LLC announced connectivity to First Data Merchant Services (FDMS) North Platform in its Payment Server product line. The FDMS certification supports: credit cards, online debit cards with DUKPT PIN pads, authorization/settlement, multi-merchant and account truncation. The TPI Payment Server enables merchants to process payments in retail, e-commerce and wireless industries entirely over the Internet.

VECTORsgi Gets Patent for Check Capture Solution

VECTORsgi, formerly the banking systems division of Sterling Commerce, received patent (No. 6,608,274) from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its method and system of online communication between its check management system and check sorters or capture devices.

The new check capture solution will allow financial institutions to send and receive images of checks instead of paper checks. VECTORsgi provides financial transaction processing, image exchange, item processing, dispute resolution and e-commerce solutions to financial institutions and corporations around the world.

Wells Fargo Using Verified By Visa

Wells Fargo and Co. offers its Wells Fargo Global Payment Gateway service to help merchants fight online fraud, and the bank has now incorporated Verified by Visa in its solution. Verified by Visa provides merchants and consumers with increased security in accepting and using credit cards and debit cards over the Internet.

NEWS PARTNERSHIPS

Alogent and DSS Partner to Process Checks

Alogent Corp., a provider of payment transaction processing solutions for financial institutions and payment processors, and Data Support Systems, Inc. (DSS), a provider of image-based Day 2 (handling paper the day after the check is received at a processing center) processing software, have partnered to develop and jointly market Sierra T.R.I.P.S (Touchless Return Item Processing System). Sierra T.R.I.P.S. is an integrated image exchange solution for processing exceptions and returns. Both Sierra T.R.I.P.S and the integrated products are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2004.

Cardtronics Selects TNS to Provide ATM Connectivity

Cardtronics picked Transaction Network Services (TNS) to provide ATM network connectivity to its network of more than 12,500 ATMs. Under the multi-year agreement, Cardtronics will use TNS Connect, a dedicated, private IP-based network, to support its nationwide ATM portfolio.

Belk Signs with Certegy

Certegy Inc. will provide check warranty services to department store company Belk, Inc. Belk operates 221 stores in 13 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.

FDC Processing Center in Latin America

First Data Corp. (FDC) and Banco General, S.A. have joined forces to form a new company, called Processing Center, S.A. (PROCESA), that will provide card processing services to financial institutions across Latin America and the Caribbean. PROCESA's operations center is located in Panama City, Panama and uses First Data's VisionPLUS transaction processing software to process credit, prepaid, gift and corporate cards. PROCESA currently processes for 15 institutions.

Calif. ISO Renews with Global Payments

Global Payments Inc. and ISO Century Bankcard Services renewed a multi-year agreement whereby Global Payments will provide Century Bankcard with payment processing services (both front and back end) and technical support for credit and debit card, EBT and check processing services. Century Bankcard Services first signed with Global Payments in 2001. The company is based in Chatsworth, Calif.

Atmel and OTI Involved with PayPass

MasterCard International will use Atmel Corp.'s and On Track Innovations Ltd's (OTI) contactless secure microcontroller solution in MasterCard's PayPass deployments in the United States. Using PayPass, consumers simply tap or wave their payment card on a specially equipped merchant terminal, eliminating the need to swipe a card through a reader. MasterCard selected Atmel to supply the secure contactless microcontroller and has partnered with OTI to provide the contactless solution expertise including the operating system, application support and inlay technology.

NCHA Begins Check Image Settlements

On Dec. 22, 2003, the National Clearing House (NCHA) completed its first "live" check image exchange settlement for NCHA Image Exchange members using CheckClear L.L.C.'s Endpoint Exchange Network. The network has more than 3500 financial institutions enrolled. This initial exchange occurred between Sterling Savings Bank in Spokane,Wash. and Western Corporate Federal Credit Union (WesCorp) serving over 1000 members nationwide. WesCorp became the first corporate credit union in the 12th district of the Federal Reserve to deliver value and efficiencies authorized by Check 21 Legislation.

Shift4 Processing Canadian PIN Debit

Shift4 Corp. has expanded its $$$ ON THE NET solution to include the processing of Canadian debit PIN pad transactions. Shift4 Corp.'s $$$ ON THE NET is a Web-based e-payment gateway solution offering real-time electronic payment authorization, settlement, reporting and fraud control capabilities. In partnership with Retail Technologies International, Shift4 has installed the new solution at several Canadian retailers including Niagara Parks Commission and Build-A-Bear Workshop.

NEWS ACQUISITIONS

CheckFree Corp. Buying American Payment Systems

CheckFree Corp. signed an agreement with UIL Holdings Corp. to buy UIL's subsidiary American Payment Systems, Inc. (APS). APS provides walk-in bill payment services. As part of the deal, CheckFree will own APS' prepaid stored value MasterCard business; CheckFree will not acquire APS' prepaid telephony business, which is managed via a joint venture. Under the terms of the agreement, and pending receipt of regulatory approvals, CheckFree will pay approximately $110 million in cash for the outstanding APS stock. The transaction is expected to close before June 30, 2004.

First Data Buying Cashcard Australia

First Data Corp. announced plans to acquire Cashcard Australia Limited, a leading electronic payments service provider in Australia. Cashcard provides various services to major financial institutions and retailers, and operates a merchant ATM acquiring network. The merger remains subject to Cashcard shareholder and regulatory approval. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. First Data expects the deal to close in the first quarter of 2004.

Global Payments Acquires Czech Processor

Global Payments Inc. announced plans to acquire 52.6% of the outstanding shares of MUZO, a.s. from Komercnø banka, a.s. (KB) for $34.7 million in cash. MUZO is the largest indirect payment processor in the Czech Republic; it holds approximately a 50% market share and processed approximately 62 million ATM transactions and 33 million point-of-sale (POS) transactions during calendar 2002. As of June 30, 2003, MUZO had 1,212 ATMs and 19,138 merchant POS terminals connected to its authorization system. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions and is expected to close during the first calendar quarter of 2004.

iPayment Acquires FDMS Portfolio

iPayment Inc. acquired an agent bank and merchant account portfolio from First Data Corp.'s Merchant Services subsidiary for $55 million in cash. The portfolio has approximately 18,000 small merchant accounts representing approximately $4 billion in annual bankcard volume. The companies said the deal strengthens an existing strategic relationship between them to grow by adding new merchant accounts generated by approximately 170 small agent banks.

iPayment will continue to use processing services from First Data for the acquired portfolio and new merchant accounts generated by the banks. iPayment is currently a customer of First Data for merchant processing services. To finance the purchase, iPayment expanded its revolving credit facility from $30 million to $65 million from Bank of America. The transaction was effective Dec. 31, 2003.

Verus Acquires Global eTelecom

It's official. Nashville, Tenn.-based based payment processor Verus Financial Management, Inc. purchased the assets of Destin, Fla.-based Global eTelecom, Inc. on Dec. 16, 2003. Global eTelecom provides electronic check processing services to merchants, banks and independent sales organizations. This is Verus' fifth acquisition since its inception in 2002. Verus now provides payment services to more than 58,000 merchant sites in the United States.

NEWS APPOINTMENTS

Signature Leasing Hires Kevin Gilroy

Signature Leasing, LLC appointed Kevin Gilroy to serve as National Sales Manager. Gilroy previously was a Vendor Account Sales Manager at Hypercom Corp.'s Golden Eagle Leasing. He has seven years of point-of-sale leasing experience. Gilroy's primary duties at Signature Leasing are to develop vendor relationships.

Two New Appointments at Cynergy Data

Cynergy Data hired Reginald Mattison as Regional Manager of ISO/Agent Relations. Mattison will be based in Duluth, Ga., and his focus will be to maintain and grow Cynergy's presence in the Eastern United States. Mattison previously served at Cornerstone Payment Solutions, where he was Regional Sales Manager. He has also worked at National Data Corp. and Bank of America Corp.

In addition, Cynergy Data promoted Andres Ordonez to the newly created position of Chief Information Officer. Ordonez was previously Manager of Cynergy Data's IT department. Before joining the company in 1998, he ran his own computer business.