08/02/2002 • CardFlash® - Payment Card Industry News

E-BILLING DEAL

5, AUSTRALIA, Country, PriorityBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

Billserv announced an agreement with CheckFree i-Solutions to resell its CheckFree i-Series e-billing software solution to Australian billing customers that choose to migrate from a hosted electronic bill
presentment to an in-house software solution. The multi-year agreement allows Billserv to further support the Australian market by offering multiple electronic bill presentment and payment support options. Billserv says its ability to offer an in-house solution to the Australian market leverages its existing joint venture with Salmat, Australia’s largest customer communications company.

BabyMint Support

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

NY-based Alliance Capital has inked an agreement to offer BabyMint’s college savings accelerator as an its enhancement to its “CollegeBoundfund,” the Section 529 plan managed by Alliance and sponsored by the State of Rhode Island. Financial advisors selling “CollegeBoundfund” will receive free membership in BabyMint’s “Basic Advisor Program” and a,substantial discount for membership in BabyMint’s “Preferred Advisor Program.” Through the agreement, “CollegeBoundfund” will be featured on BabyMint’s financial advisor web site, and Alliance Capital will be listed as a preferred financial provider of 529 saving plans.The BabyMint program enable consumers to earn rebates from retailers towards tuition expenses of family members. Participants can receive up to a 20% rebate on purchases made through BabyMint’s network of 700 retailers and 127,000 grocery stores. In June, MBNA teamed with BabyMint to launch a co-branded MasterCard. (CF Library 6/21/02)

INFINEON AWARD

5, Country, GERMANY, PriorityBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

Frankfurt-based Infineon Technologies was recognized by international strategic marketing consultants Frost & Sullivan with the “Market Engineering Leadership Award.” Infineon achieved significant growth across the global smart card IC market in 2001, increasing its volume of shipments to 50.7%. This constitutes a lead of 24% over STMicroelectronics and a more than 40% lead over Philips Semiconductors. In individual market segments, Infineon shipped 59.9% of smart card memory ICs and 34.5% of microcontroller ICs in the segment. Revenues derived from the company’s Security and Chip Card Integrated
Circuits group expanded from Euro 375 million in 2000 to Euro 588 million in 2001.

MSN Money Score Power

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

Microsoft has signed a deal to link visitors of MSN Money to the Equifax “Credit Profile,” “Score Power,” and Equifax “Credit Watch” services. As part of the expanded relationship, visitors to MSN Money will have access to additional links to the Equifax Web site which features Equifax’s comprehensive suite of personal credit solutions that enlighten, enable and empower consumers to better manage and protect their financial health.

MBNA BUYS A&L CARDS

5, Country, Priority, UNITED KINGDOMBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

MBNA Europe Bank Limited has acquired the $1.2 billion credit card portfolio of Alliance & Leicester plc. Under terms of the deal, MBNA will market credit cards to A&L’s 5.5 million customers through A&L’s
310 branches in the UK and also will develop products and services for A&L’s 1.34 million existing cardholders. Inclusive of the A&L portfolio, MBNA has more than a 14% market share of all credit card receivables in the United Kingdom and a 19% share in Ireland. Prior to the acquisition, MBNA had approximately 8.0 million cardholders in the U.K., Ireland, Canada, and Spain. MBNA will manage the A&L card portfolio from its administrative and operations facilities in Chester, England. The bank also has facilities in London and in Carrick-on-Shannon and Dublin, Ireland.

Qxpress Distributors

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

Q Comm International has entered into an agreement with Access ATM of Houston, and Financial Services Authority of Dallas, to distribute Q Comm’s “Qxpress 200” POSA terminals. The two companies will utilize their current distribution and marketing network consisting of more than 100 distributors nationwide to promote Qxpress 200 to the more than 10,000 retailers that they currently serve.

CIM ISO CERTIFIED

5, Country, ITALY, PriorityBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

CIM, a card printers and embossing products manufacturer, announced its quality systems registration as compliant with ISO 9002:1994 standards. Quality requirements have been met in the realm of manufacturing and servicing of metal plate embossing and plastic card personalization machines as well as trade of thermal print machines for plastic card personalization. CIM has a worldwide presence with subsidiaries covering the Asia/Pacific region, and since 1999 is covering the Americas through its subsidiary CIM USA Inc located in Miami, Florida.

Bankrate 2Q/02

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

FL-based Bankrate reported net income of $1 million for the second quarter, compared to a net loss of $249,000 in 2Q/01. Despite a tough online advertising market, total revenue for the quarter was $6.2 million, 48% higher than the same quarter in 2001. The company, which was considered a “dot bomb” in 2000, has increased its cash from $6.5 million at March 31st to $7.3 million at June 30th. Bankrate says it is now virtually debt-free. Bankrate averages four million online visitors per month. For complete details on Bankrate’s 2Q/02 performance visit CardData ([www.carddata.com][1]).

[1]: http://www.carddata.com

Switch Switches

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

The Switch debit card brand will migrate to the Maestro brand following an agreement in principle between the U.K.’s Switch Card Scheme Board and MasterCard Europe. Upon completion of the agreement, the brand switch-over will begin immediately and completed by mid-2007. In the early stages, most cards and shop windows in Britian will carry both the Switch and Maestro logos, and then gradually the Switch brand will be withdrawn. As well as agreeing in principle on the brand migration, the Switch Scheme will also outsource its transaction processing to MasterCard using EPS-Net, the telecommunications and data processing arm for MasterCard and Maestro transactions in Europe. EPS-Net will be responsible for the processing of all inter-member transactions performed domestically in the UK. Switch process 1.3 billion transactions a year and an annual spend of over US$47 billion. Launched in 1987, Switch is accepted by 580,000 outlets in the U.K.. More than 21 million cards currently carry the Switch brand, according to The RAM Report ([www.ramreport.com][1]). The Maestro brand mark now appears on 445 million cards issued in 87 countries.

[1]: http://www.ramreport.com

Dibz Extreme Promotion

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

TX-based Dibz has signed a group of extreme sports athletes to promote its recently announced prepaid interactive pro athlete card targeted to Generation Y’ers. The Dibz cards are prepaid accounts that are collectable, tradeable, and can be used immediately upon purchase to view online exclusive video, tricks, tips and related merchandise from their favorite extreme sports athletes or used as a pre-paid phone card.

Gemplus 2Q/02

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

Smart card manufacturer Gemplus reported a second quarter operating loss, before restructuring charges, of US$25.1 million, almost half the losses posted in 2Q/01. The company also confirmed that its interim CEO, Ron Mackintosh, has decided to step down as of August 15th, with no apparent successor named till then. 2Q/02 revenue was up 19% to US$217.9 million, and gross profit was up 34% to US$50.3 million compared to 1Q/02. However revenue for 2Q/01 was US$261.9 million and gross profit was US$96.3 million, significantly above current quarter levels. Since February, the company has gone through a restructuring that has reduced its operating costs by US$69.6 million annually. The company is seeking to cut $114.2 million from its costs by year-end, according to The RAM Report ([www.ramreport.com][1]). Gemplus also noted that it decided to include in its consolidated accounts for the second quarter a provision to cover the risk of possible non-reimbursement of a loan granted to Dr Marc Lassus, former Chairman and a current Board member, in the amount of US$69.5 million. For complete details on Gemplus’ 2Q/02 performance visit CardData ([www.carddata.com][2]).

[1]: http://www.ramreport.com
[2]: http://www.carddata.com

MBNA Europe

5, Country, Priority, UNITED STATESBy Robert McKinley 08/02/2002

MBNA Europe Bank Limited has acquired the $1.2 billion credit card portfolio of Britain’s Alliance & Leicester plc. Under terms of the deal, MBNA will market credit cards to A&L’s 5.5 million customers through A&L’s 310 branches in the UK and also will develop products and services for A&L’s 1.34 million existing cardholders. Inclusive of the A&L portfolio, MBNA has more than a 14% market share of all credit card receivables in the United Kingdom and a 19% share in Ireland. Prior to the acquisition, MBNA had approximately 8.0 million cardholders in the U.K., Ireland, Canada, and Spain, according to The RAM Report ([www.ramreport.com][1]). MBNA will manage the A&L card portfolio from its administrative and operations facilities in Chester, England. The bank also has facilities in London and in Carrick-on-Shannon and Dublin, Ireland. In May, the Bank of Spain approved MBNA’s application for a branch license that will allow MBNA to market credit cards and related products in Spain. MBNA expects to begin operations in Spain during the 3Q/02. In mid-April, MBNA Europe Bank Limited received clearance from the Financial Services Authority in the U.K. to apply to the Bank of Spain for a branch license to operate in Spain. Spain will become the fourth international market that MBNA has entered. (CF Library 4/12/02; 5/14/02)

[1]: http://www.ramreport.com

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