| » Publisher's Corner |
A Tale Of Two Cities………
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.
Do you recognize that quotation? It has been standard fare for most junior high or high school English Lit classes for decades. Of course, it is the opening line from Charles Dickens' A Tale Of Two Cities!
However, this month we are not going to be talking about London and Paris during the time leading up to the French Revolution. Since this quotation could easily be applied to the Dot Com boom years, we wanted to use it as a preamble for this month's column.
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Calvin D. Johnson, Publisher
publisher@tpatlanta.com
Trans Atlantic Systems, Inc.
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| » Editorial |
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Credit card disclosures put under Fed microscope 
Jack McMillin of Alaska says consumers should be able to count on their credit card terms not changing--at least for a specified time. June Peterson of Florida complains that she has barely any time to mail in her card payment before interest starts racking up.
Lee and Patsy Solomon want card issuers to print the payment due date in bigger type and display it prominently on the monthly bill. "It's as if they want you to be late so as to accrue interest charges," the California couple say.
And Floridian Ben Brooks just wants to see a certain credit card issuer "gutted, fined and shut down."
These are some of the early public comments sent to the Federal Reserve Board about its proposed changes in the disclosures credit card companies make. It has been more than a quarter-century since the Fed has undertaken a thorough review of the regulation involving disclosures.
The review and changes are seen by many as long overdue. Credit cards play a dominant role in our lives and have only become more confusing.
That's what the Fed discovered in coming up with its proposal. It conducted one-on-one interviews with consumers to test their understanding of disclosures and found that they often didn't notice key terms buried in legalese.
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» Main story |
TSYS to Spin-Off from Synovus, Become Independent
TSYS has announced that "it has entered into an agreement and plan of distribution with Synovus, under which Synovus plans to distribute all of its shares of TSYS common stock in a spin-off to Synovus shareholders. Under the terms and conditions of the agreement, TSYS will become a fully independent company."
"This is a watershed event for both TSYS and Synovus that we believe will benefit the shareholders of both companies," said Philip W. Tomlinson, chairman and chief executive officer of TSYS. "This transaction allows for broader diversification of our shareholder base; more liquidity in our shares; additional investment in strategic growth opportunities and potential acquisitions; and the opportunity for shareholders to value TSYS as a stand-alone, pure play in the payments processing market."
"It will be business as usual when it comes to our day-to-day operations following the spin-off. TSYS will continue to operate under its current brand name and the company headquarters will remain in Columbus, Georgia," continued Mr. Tomlinson. "What will be different, however, is the greater flexibility we will have with respect to planning and executing our growth strategies, including the flexibility to issue shares of stock and incur debt without the constraints that exist within a bank holding company structure. TSYS will be in a much more desirable competitive position. Our team has consistently delivered outstanding performance during some very difficult times over the past few years and we are excited about our future growth opportunities." Click here to read more . |
| » Earlier this month |
Global Payments to Provide Comprehensive Payment Processing Services to HSBC Bank Canada's Clients
Global Payments, Inc., a world leader in electronic transaction processing services, announced today it has entered into an exclusive, long term Canadian merchant services referral agreement with HSBC Bank Canada to
provide a complete line of card acceptance services, Point-of-Sale (POS) products, comprehensive credit card processing and account settlement to HSBC Bank Canada's customers.
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U.S. Bank Issues Its 20 Millionth Gift Card
U.S. Bank, owner of Atlanta based Nova Information System, has announced that it has issued its 20 millionth gift card this week, remaining the top Visa gift card issuer in the US. U.S. Bank reached the 10 millionth gift card milestone in July 2006, doubling the size of its gift card program in just over a year.
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Equifax Delivers Solid Revenue
Equifax Inc. reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2007. Revenue increased 25 percent to $492.5 million compared to the prior year period.The core Equifax businesses grew 7 percent while 18 percent is attributable to the acquisition of TALX in May 2007.
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| » Industry News |
Chevron Awards FleetCor a Long-Term Card Processing Contract
FleetCor, The Global Fleet Card Company, announced that it has been selected by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. to own and operate its branded commercial private label fuel credit cards.
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InComm Signs Distribution Agreement for nFinanSe(TM) Discover(R) Network Reloadable Prepaid and Gift Cards
nFinanSe Inc. announced on October 10 that it has signed an agreement to provide nFinanSe(TM) Discover(R) Network Prepaid Cards to InComm, a marketer, distributor and technology innovator for stored-value gift and prepaid products to more than 145,000 retail partner locations in the United States, Canada, Europe and Puerto Rico.
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RBS Lynk and Trustwave Provide Merchant PCI DSS Compliance Services
RBS Lynk and Trustwave announced on October 18 a partnership in a Risk Profiler program, a specialized data security service to help merchants identify their risks and vulnerabilities associated with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and ultimately facilitate their compliance.
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Details emerge on TJX breach
Hackers who struck TJX Cos.' computer system last year exploited many security problems and violations of credit card handling rules, according to a recent court filing by a former MasterCard official.
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