fter First Data Corp. announced in July it had wrangled Discover card acceptance, ISOs everywhere waited to see if and when other big players would get in the game. Now, some are.

In recent weeks, RBS Lynk Inc., Global Payments Inc. and TSYS Acquiring Solutions all announced acquiring agreements with Discover Financial Services LLC.

The deals simplify procedures for offering Discover card services to merchants and make it more lucrative for those selling the services.

RBS Lynk and Global Payments will soon each provide Discover card acceptance as part of an integrated package of card processing services, which their direct sales forces can take to merchants.

RBS Lynk is targeting a November 2006 launch for new merchants and will integrate existing merchants over time, said Tom Konz, RBS Lynk's Senior Vice President of Marketing. "The development in-house is pretty complex."

Global Payments expects to launch the program to its sales force in the first quarter of 2007, said James G. Kelly, Global Payments' Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. The company will then phase in its ISO clients.

Beginning in 2007, TSYS will give its ISOs the ability to offer simplified Discover acceptance. TSYS has processed Discover transactions since its inception. "We have small ISOs and large financial institutions, and everyone is going to benefit," said Matt Talbot, TSYS' Vice President of Product Management.

Up to now, Global Payments has participated in Discover's program by providing a referral fee to ISOs signing new Discover merchants. Discover "felt the existing program ... is more cumbersome for merchants," Kelly said.

The brand's initiative mirrors the Visa/MasterCard model, enabling merchant acquirers like Global Payments the opportunity to offer end-to-end services for Discover, as they do for bankcards, he added.

"ISOs will be able to earn the same [commission] on Discover transactions as on a bankcard," Kelly said. "Discover wants to fit into that paradigm."