Monthly Archives: January 2003

Dave Poe looks at cost reduction opportunities in the back office operations of credit card issuers.

Welcome to a new weblog which will focus on news and issues involving merchant payment acceptance. Here we’ll cover cards (credit, debit, gift, etc.), checks, and other forms of payments.

Jonathan Glater reports on the demise of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison — once one of Silicon Valley’s major law firms. “It is a stunning and incredible tragedy,” said Barry S. Levin, chairman of Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, another San … Continue reading →

Gartner analyst David Furlonger shares his predictions for and visions of the future of the global financial services industry. Today, cost-cutting takes precedence over all else. Institutions consider operational efficiency is far more important than operational effectiveness and value enhancement. … Continue reading →

Reuters reports on the agreement that the EU’s watchdog agency has negotiated with Microsoft for changes in its Passport system. Microsoft has agreed to implement a comprehensive package of data protection measures, which will mean making substantial changes to the … Continue reading →

This really is pretty amazing. “After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my executive duties as vice chairman of AOL Time Warner,” Turner said Wednesday in a statement. “I have not come to this decision lightly. As you … Continue reading →

Amex Bank of Canada and TD Bank Financial Group announced an alliance in which TD will transfer commercial and corporate clients to the American Express credit card from Visa. Financial details of the deal weren’t disclosed, but a spokesman for … Continue reading →

Michael Kanellos interviews National Semiconductor CEO Brian Halla. What other projects is National working on? We have this vision that your smart card will have biometric information. It will have your bank account and your passport and your medical data–but … Continue reading →

Lynn Cowan reports on successful strategies to turn call centers into profit centers through cross-sell of products. Turning customer service centers into effective sales offices requires the kind of detailed personal data that credit card companies excel at — past … Continue reading →

Drew Cullen reports on Paybox’s withdrawal from its m-payment service. In a statement on its Web site, Paybox says it can see “no possibility for a single mPayment provider to develop the industry alone in the current industry conditions, especially … Continue reading →