Glenn Schneider
CardWeb.com’s CardExecs database of card industry movers and shakers today features Glenn Schneider, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Discover Financial Services.
American Express Global Business Launches Corporate New Tools
American Express Global Business Travel (“GBT”) today announced new servicing and technology tools and platforms that foster stronger connections and enable smarter communications with travelers and travel managers. Central to these solutions is GBT’s focus on interacting with business travelers when and how they want to be reached, and ensuring a seamless experience from trip planning and booking to traveler care in the case of a disruption. The solutions announced today include the launch of First from American Express Global Business Travel and major enhancements to GBT’s existing A X CONNECT product and TripCase integration. Firstfrom American Express Global Business Travel is a new solution for road warriors and executive travelers that provides them the end-to-end experience they deserve – from personalized business trip planning, to continuous monitoring and anticipation of traveler needs, to proactive care while on the road.
The bedrock of First is the elite team of expert travel counselors and the next-generation technology behind them. These travel experts go above and beyond simply selecting the right airline seat or meal preference. They are virtually alongside the traveler, 24/7. First travel counselors are empowered to advocate and immediately resolve issues on the traveler’s behalf, utilizing strong supplier relationships and the latest travel disruption notification technology to help ensure a comfortable, productive, and safe trip. They are committed to finding solutions that remove travel obstacles and ensure a traveler can maximize productivity while on the road.
Walt Disney Studios and Visa Signature Announce Latest Partnership
SEEKING REAL “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!” Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Marvel Studios, Dolby® Laboratories and Visa Signature are joining forces for a nationwide MARVEL’S “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY””GUARDIANS OF GOOD contest in conjunction with the August 1, 2014 release of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper. MARVEL’S “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY””GUARDIANS OF GOOD invites real “Guardians of the Galaxy,” young men and women (ages 14-18) from across the United States, to share their stories of how they are bettering their communities through service, science or innovation, and gives them the opportunity to connect with a galaxy of Peer Guides”who are already doing great things”to learn from their successes. Entries will be accepted between June 11, 2014 and June 29, 2014.GUARDIANS OF GOOD INNOVATION & SERVICE SUMMIT is scheduled to include presenters from NASA/JPL, speaking on the monitoring and protection of Earth through asteroid detection and Earth-observing satellites and ensuring the safety of Mars spacecraft during a comet encounter, Disney Imagineers, generationOn, Broadcom MASTERS®, Discovery Science Center, & Disney Global Community Outreach.
Discover Honored for Next Generation Customer Service Application
Discover Financial Services is on InformationWeek Elite 100 — a list of the top business technology innovators in the U.S. Discover made the list by developing a new application that provides a fully comprehensive, customer-centric view and supplies account managers with better data and up-to-the-minute information, allowing them to provide superior customer service. Unique among corporate rankings, the InformationWeek Elite 100 spotlights the power of business technology innovation. The InformationWeek Elite 100 research tracks the technology-based investments, strategies, and results of some of the best-known organizations in the country.
Amex Creates Joint Venture with Global Business Travel Division
American Express Company today announced that it has signed an agreement to create a joint venture for its Global Business Travel division (“GBT”). Under the agreement, American Express will share ownership of the joint venture with an investor group led by Certares. In the proposed transaction, American Express will separate its GBT operations into a dedicated holding structure, which will include certain assets and liabilities that currently comprise GBT, and will have a 50% ownership stake in the joint venture following the closing. In exchange for an investment of $900 million in the joint venture, the investor group will hold the remaining 50%. American Express initially announced its intention to pursue this joint venture transaction in September 2013.
Discover Recognized for Cash Rewards Technology
Discover has been recognized as one of the country’s top technology innovators by InformationWeek for delivering convenience and choice to customers through flexible options to redeem cash rewards while shopping online. Discover ranked 77 on the 2013 InformationWeek 500 list, which is presented annually and honors leading companies for using innovative technologies to transform how their organizations do business. Discover’s new platform enables Discover customers to simply use some, none, or all of their Discover Cashback Bonus or Miles Rewards to pay for their purchases online at select merchants’ websites.
ANZ Banking App Now on Android
ANZ announced its “ANZ goMoney” banking app is now available on Android. The mobile bank app allows users to securely transfer money between friends and businesses using mobile phone details. The busiest times for “ANZ goMoney” are from 5-7pm on weekdays suggesting the commute home and ‘just after work’ hours are popular for completing online transactions while women are also five times more likely than men to transfer money using Pay to Mobile for food. Men are five times more likely to use the app to pay for entertainment.
Discover Ranks as Top Place to Work
Discover ranks 49th on IDG’s Computerworld 2012 list of the “100 Best Places to Work in Information Technology,” marking the 10th straight year the company has been recognized for its workplace environment. Computerworld’s 19th annual list ranks the top 100 workplaces for technology professionals based on salary, benefits, diversity, career development and training, among other factors. Discover’s commitment to striking a healthy work/life balance, including offering employees 25 days of paid vacation and sick time and performance-based incentive plans, helped secure this year’s top 50 ranking. IT employees can also participate in a “hoteling” telework program, enabling them to connect to the company network and work from home.
Finish Line to Present at Citi 2012 Global Consumer Conference
The Finish Line announced that Glenn Lyon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Ed Wilhelm, Chief Financial Officer, will make a presentation at the Citi 2012 Global Consumer Conference in New York City on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 4:40 p.m. EDT. A webcast of the live Finish Line presentation will be available in the…
Viewpointe Expands Internet Connectivity Offering
Viewpointe announced that iVia Exchange Services implemented its “Pointe2Pointe” Internet connectivity. The iVia Exchange Services provides check processing services such as Image Exchange, Remote Deposit Exchange, Consumer Exchange and, iMerchant Exchange. Viewpointe’s “Pointe2Pointe” Internet solution allows iVia to conduct check image exchange more efficiently and cost effectively. The service provides a safe, simple and secure platform to connect with other exchange partners, and eliminates the need for a dedicated telecom line.
Capital Access Network Research Shows Improvement for Restaurant Sector
Capital Access Network Data Services Division’s Small Business Credit Sales (SBCS) Report reveals a continuing lift in year-over-year (YoY) card sales in the restaurant sector as Main Street eateries reported an impressive 1.8 percent increase over recorded Q4 2010 card sales. It indicates for the seventeenth straight quarter, small businesses’ Q4 2011 year-over-year (YoY) card sales declined (2.8%), but for the second straight quarter, the rate of decline improved. Also, restaurants continued to gain, producing the fifth consecutive quarter of positive card sales, tallying a 1.8% YoY lift over card sales recorded in Q4 2010. Interestingly, metropolitan areas with a population size less than 100,000 saw card sales increase by 1.0% while MSAs with a population size of 250,000-999,999 reported a decrease in card sales of 4.6%, while card sales in MSAs with a population of 1 million+ decreased 2.7%. Almost all regions reported YoY card sales declines, with the Southwest Region proving to be an exception with a card sales increase of 1.2%. The other seven regions reported card sales declines in a range of 1.3% (Great Lakes Region) to 4.4% (Rocky Mountain Region).
Matrix Payment Systems Deploys SmartPay
SmartPay partnered Matrix Payment systems, which has agreed to become a Premier Partner reselling Onsharp’s electronic billing payment and processing solution (EBPP) SmartPay. SmartPay now offers Level 3 Processing, which asks for more information from the cardholder like the invoice number, purchase amount and the tax amount. Matrix Payment Systems provides a full range of payment processing solutions to thousands of businesses across the country. With Matrix, customers can process all their credit cards at a low, all-inclusive rate by automatically processing Level 2 and Level 3 data simultaneously.