Chargebacks & Fraud
Dozens of U.S. cities had chargeback rates that exceeded the 1% threshold set by Visa and MasterCard. Within the Northeast region, there are 10 cities/ZIP codes with the highest chargeback statistics.
TransFirst
CardWeb.com’s CardData database of Company Profiles today features TransFirst.
Synchrony Financial
CardWeb.com’s CardData database of Company Profiles today features processor Synchrony Financial. The Company is the largest provider of private label credit cards in the U.S.
State of Credit
Credit scores are up, bankcard lending is on the rise, the average number of bankcards per person is up, retail card lending also is on the upswing, and average debt is up.
Discover Power Rating
Discover receives top ranking in a major consumer study. Among many factors: Discover is the first major credit card issuer to provide free FICO Scores directly to its cardholders on their monthly statements.
Pitney Bowes hires New GM, Financial Services
Pitney Bowes announced Ron Totaro its latest addition as General Manager, Global Financial Services. He will be leading a team that is responsible for the strategic planning execution and P&L of the global payments and leasing businesses for Pitney Bowes, bringing an extensive background of building global organizations, driving top and bottom-line growth and leading innovation in payments, financial services, technology and ecommerce businesses. Ron has held leadership positions at GE Capital, American Express and America Online, and has led strategic transformation and growth at FICO, ACI Worldwide and private equity-backed companies. Totaro holds an MBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at University of Michigan and a BS from the State University of New York at Albany.
VSoft Wins Outsourcing Processing Contract
Alloya Corporate FCU (“Alloya”) and VSoft Corporation (“VSoft”) forged a strategic partnership that outsources the corporate’s back office item processing services to VSoft. VSoft’s willingness to hire the employees affected by this transaction was an important consideration in the decision to move forward. This development assures future product enhancements and ongoing high service and satisfaction levels for credit unions, while keeping Alloya’s costs and capital investments down.
Bank of Cyprus UK Implements Albany auto-payments
Bank of Cyprus UK purchased an automated payments solution from Albany Software electronic payment software solutions. Albany Software’s solution integrates with the bank’s existing systems and applications, streamlining entire payments, collections and administration processes; a critical requirement for Bank of Cyprus UK that processes an average of GBP1 million worth of Bacs transactions every day.
Hypercom Conducts Major Executive Appointments
Heidi Goff has been promoted Senior VP, Global Strategic Accounts, with Hypercom to oversee global strategic account relationships. This is in addition to David S. Cronin being appointed President and Managing Director, North America to drive sales, service and support activities throughout North America. Cronin joins Hypercom from Borderlinx Europe, SA where he served as Senior Vice President of Business Development. He also held multiple executive positions during his 23 years with American Express, including Head of International New Product Development, Strategy and Governance; Vice President, Asia Marketing and Business Development, and Area General Manager, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines; and Country CEO and GM, American Express Hong Kong. Clint Jones has been named to the newly created post of Acting President and Managing Director, Latin America.
ADS and Tween Brands Sign Long Term Contract
Loyalty marketer Alliance Data Systems has signed a long-term
contract expansion and extension with OH-based specialty retailer Tween Brands. Since 1996, Alliance Data has provided multi-channel private label credit card services for Limited Too. With this expanded agreement, Alliance Data will continue
to provide private label services to these stores, which have now been
converted to Justice, as well as to Justice’s existing stores. The new
Justice-branded private label card program was launched to support Justice’s expansion, now totaling over
900 stores, and included converting Limited Too cardholders to the new
Justice card. The private label credit card services Alliance Data provides include account acquisition and activation; receivables funding; card authorization;
private label credit card issuance; statement generation; remittance processing; customer service functions; and marketing services.
As a part of the card-marketing strategy, Alliance Data will apply advanced analytics and develop customer segmentation strategies to improve cardholder acquisition and retention. These efforts will allow Justice to intelligently target customers based on their past purchase behaviors and preferences — enabling Justice to more effectively introduce and engage customers to the Justice brand and drive sales across all sales channels.
Citi & Cap One Execs Join the FRB Council
The Federal Reserve Board named ten new members to its “Consumer Advisory Council.” Among the ten new members: John Carey EVP/Chief Administrative Officer for Citi Cards and Andy Navarrete, SVP/Chief Counsel for National Lending and Regulatory matters for Capital One.
Edna Sawady, an economic inclusion consultant based in NYC was designated Chair and Michael Calhoun, President of the Center for Responsible Lending, was designated Vice Chair. The Council advises the Board on the exercise of its responsibilities under the Consumer Credit Protection Act and on other matters in the area of consumer financial services. The Council meets three times a year in Washington, D.C. The new members will serve three-year terms.
National Credit Ed Bus Tour Set to Take-Off
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, Consumer Education Foundation, TD AMERITRADE and Kiplingerâs Personal Finance magazine have taken it upon themselves to launch a
national bus tour to deliver free personal financial education. Slated to kick-off on September 29th Jersey City, NJ, the “Your Money Bus Tour” will travel from coast-to-coast for one-year. At each stop, volunteer financial advisors will be on hand to conduct free advice events and symposiums. TD AMERITRADE is providing the primary financial support of the bus while Kiplingerâs is providing promotional support for the program in both its magazine and Website properties.