Apr 2013
Digital Transactions, April 2013
By Marc Abbey
It has long been the conventional wisdom in U.S. acquiring that the large merchant market was the most difficult, lowest-margin, most commoditized part of the business. Large merchants ranging from the lower mid-market (say, $50 million in annual volume) through large corporates (billions in volume) earned a reputation as brutally price-sensitive businesses that were not particularly loyal to their acquirers and not particularly value-centric.
To a large degree, these characteristics continue to be pretty descriptive of national merchants. However, there is a contrary view.
Mar 2013
PRESS RELEASE
March 13, 2013 MINNEAPOLIS: Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) announced today that it has completed the sale of its entire consumer credit card portfolio to TD Bank Group (TSX and NYSE: TD) for $5.7 billion, the gross value of the outstanding receivables (―par‖) at the time of closing. As previously announced, the two companies have entered into a seven-year program agreement under which TD will also underwrite, fund and own future Target Credit Card and Target Visa receivables in the United States. Under the program agreement, TD will control risk management policies and oversee regulatory compliance and Target will continue to perform account servicing functions.
Paybefore.com
Paybefore presented special Industry Service Awards to recognize colleagues for their outstanding service to the industry during the past year. Sponsored by The Bancorp Bank, the Industry Service Awards were given to nine companies that worked collaboratively on the broad issues that affect the entire industry. “The people in this business are passionate in their belief that prepaid products can and do contribute to making the world a better place—providing valuable payment and gifting solutions for consumers, businesses and government,” said Bochicchio.
Feb 2013
PRESS RELEASE
ATLANTA, GA – February 5, 2013 – Elavon, a leading global payments provider and wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), has acquired Collective Point of Sale Solutions Ltd. (Collective POS) in Toronto, Canada. The deal expands Elavon's presence and distribution network in Canada and aligns with Elavon's global growth strategy in strategic markets.
"The opportunities for Elavon to leverage Collective POS' solutions and established customer base in Canada will deliver the best of both companies' offerings to the Canadian marketplace," said Tom Boyer, President of North America for Elavon. "Establishing a greater presence in the Canadian market is in line with Elavon's global growth plans."
Dec 2012
By Susan Herbst-Murphy, quote by Frank Martien
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, December 2012
Summary: America’s small businesses have adopted credit cards as both a payment method and a borrowing vehicle. The segment also uses other payment card products, including debit, charge, and prepaid cards. The dollar volume of spending with cards designed for small businesses increased by 230 percent over the five-year period from 2003-2008. But the recession of 2007-2009 and contemporaneous changes in the regulatory environment had effects on both the supply to and demand of small businesses with respect to credit cards. To obtain an update on these issues, the Payment Cards Center hosted a workshop facilitated by Frank Martien, a partner with First Annapolis Consulting.
Nov 2012
Mobile Commerce & Alternative Payments team
LINTHICUM, MARYLAND: First Annapolis Consulting’s third annual Mobile Banking and Payments Study reveals that 81 of the top 100 U.S. financial institutions currently offer some form of mobile banking, an 11% increase over the same figure one year ago. In addition to offering access through smartphone applications and the mobile web, 60 of the FIs offer some form of alerts or account management functionality via SMS (text message), and 26 banks have also launched an application optimized for tablets. This data highlights the omni-channel approach financial institutions are pursuing as mobile banking services become more widely accepted by customers.
PRESS RELEASE
On 6 June 2012, Edcon announced the intended sale of its private label store card portfolio to Absa Bank Limited (“Absa”) as well as the proposed implementation of a long term strategic agreement. In terms of the strategic agreement Absa will provide retail credit to Edcon customers, while Edcon continues to be responsible for all customer-facing activities, including sales and marketing, customer services and collections.
Jun 2012
Mobile Commerce & Alternative Payments team
First Annapolis Consulting
LINTHICUM, MARYLAND: First Annapolis Consulting announces the release of its 2012 Person-to-Person (P2P) Payments Study. Building on the 2011 study, this report provides insights on industry trends, service providers, and business models in the P2P market in the United States. First Annapolis compared the features and functionality of 12 leading service providers, spanning mobile wallets, banking applications, and standalone solutions. Data pertaining to channel availability, user input and verification requirements, transaction duration, funding and disbursement options, pricing, and advanced features was collected across the registration and transaction processes of the key players. Additionally, the study provides analysis of the P2P market, including market s
May 2012
Mobile Commerce & Alternative Payments practice area
First Annapolis Consulting, Press Release
LINTHICUM, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Annapolis Consulting, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of its 2012 Top 100 Retailer Mobile Payments & Marketing Study, which provides an in-depth report on how leading U.S. retailers are leveraging the online and mobile channels to enable purchases and market to their customers. The study’s data-intensive approach offers a current view of retailer mobile practices and also provides First Annapolis’ unique perspective on the implications for mobile strategy development.
PRESS RELEASE
May 7, 2012, SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- First BanCorp (the “Corporation”) (NYSE:FBP), the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico (“FirstBank” or “the Bank”), announced that FirstBank has signed a definitive agreement with FIA Card Services, N.A. to acquire the FirstBank-branded credit card portfolio of approximately $400 million. The portfolio consists of approximately 150,000 active credit card relationships.
Jan 2012
PRESS RELEASE
January 31, 2012, STAMFORD, Conn. & WAYNE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Capital Retail Bank announced a definitive multi-year agreement to provide the consumer credit card program in the United States and Puerto Rico for Toys“R”Us, the world’s leading dedicated toy and juvenile products retailer. GE Capital’s Retail Finance business, the operating entity that provides financial solutions to retailers to help grow their customer sales, will manage the Toys“R”Us relationship and service the account.
Dec 2011
By Ken Musante of The Green Sheet
The Green Sheet, Dec. 26, 2011
I first met Marc Abbey, Managing Partner at First Annapolis Consulting, early in my career at Humboldt Merchant Services. When interviewing him recently for this article, I was reminded of just how cerebral he is and how his industry discussions and presentations dig deeper into data than many other presenters.
PRESS RELEASE
December 20, 2011, YORK, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) announced it has signed a new, multi-year private label credit card program agreement with Alliance Data (NYSE: ADS), a leading provider of loyalty and marketing solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Alliance Data, through its bank subsidiary, will provide end-to-end proprietary credit card services from account acquisition to multi-channel marketing and customer service. Bon-Ton's current proprietary credit card program will remain in place until the accounts portfolio conversion occurs, which is anticipated in the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Customers should continue to use their Bon-Ton credit cards in the same manner as they do today.
Oct 2011
By Chris Sanson and Marc Abbey
Digital Transactions, October 2011
Research shows that even with small merchants, new portfolio additions are bringing in less revenue than the ones that left. Offsetting this alarming trend is something called lifetime value management.
Negative substitution in acquiring is a concept in which an acquirer’s new merchants are added at price points lower than the price points of the merchants that are attriting, causing the portfolio average pricing to fall, other things equal. This is an easy thing to say and quite another thing to measure and analyze, but is clearly of increasing importance in U.S. acquiring.
Quote by Lacy Kridler
Digital Transactions, Oct. 6, 2011
By Robb Mandelbaum of The New York Times, Quote by Lee Manfred
The New York Times, Oct. 17, 2011
By Andrew R. Johnson of The Wall Street Journal, Quote by John Grund
The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 17, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
October 14, 2011, STAMFORD, Conn.& JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fashion retailer Stein Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT) and GE Capital's Retail Finance business, a consumer lending unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), have announced the multi-year renewal of the Stein Mart co-branded credit card program for Stein Mart's 260 stores located throughout the United States.
Sep 2011
By Stephen Mendelsohn and Erik Howell
Cards International, Sep. 15, 2011
Aug 2011
By Angus Loten of The Wall Street Journal, Quote by Janinne Dall'Orto
The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 18, 2011
By Stephen Mendelsohn
RaiffeisenCards Quarterly, Autumn 2011
By Yuriy Kostenko and Erik Howell
RaiffeisenCards Quarterly, Autumn 2011
Jul 2011
By the Deposit Access Team
July 2011 Navigator
By Lori Hawkins of AMERICAN-STATESMAN, Quote by John Grund
AMERICAN-STATESMAN, Jul. 17, 2011
First Annapolis Consulting, Press Release
Jun 2011
First Annapolis Press Release
May 2011
First Annapolis Press Release
By Jeremy Quittner of American Banker, Quote by Dara Khan
American Banker, May 16, 2011
Dwolla Corp., an alternative payments provider, is developing technology to help banks cut fraud as they start allowing transactions from mobile devices — and also help them decide which mobile devices are worth investing in to begin with.
Jan 2011
PRESS RELEASE
January 19, 2011, STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Capital Retail Consumer Finance, a consumer lending unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE - News), announced a definitive multi-year agreement to provide the consumer credit card programs in the United States for The TJX Companies, Inc., the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the U.S. and worldwide. TJX operates over 2,000 T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods stores in the U.S.
Nov 2010
First Annapolis Press Release
Jun 2010
Lynn Larson & Frank Martien
NAPCP
Mar 2010
By Marc Abbey
Payments Source
Feb 2010
First Annapolis Press Release
Jan 2010
First Annapolis Press Release
Dec 2009
First Annapolis Press Release
Oct 2009
e-finance and and payments law and policy
Aug 2009
By Josh Gilbert
As published in the August 2009 Navigator.
Jul 2009
First Annapolis Press Release
By Paul Grill
Digital Transactions
Jun 2009
By John Grund
As published in the June 2009 Navigator.
Apr 2009
By Ryan Siegrist
As published in the April 2009 Navigator.
By Brent Samuels
As published in the April 2009 Navigator.
Mar 2009
By Scott Reaser, Jared Kleitz, and Marc Abbey
Digital Transactions
Jan 2009
First Annapolis Press Release
First Annapolis Press Release
By Stephen Mendelsohn
Cards International
By Sarah Phelps
Loyalty Mangement Magazine
Dec 2008
By Erik Howell
Cards and Payments
Nov 2008
First Annapolis Press Release
Jun 2008
By Charles Marc Abbey
Digital Transactions
Apr 2008
By Marc Abbey and Paul Grill
Transaction World
Mar 2008
By Robert Lime and John Grund
Cards and Payments
Feb 2008
By Marc Abbey and Paul Grill
Digital Transactions
Jan 2008
By Marc Abbey, Myron Schwarcz & Yuriy Kostenko
The Green Sheet
Sep 2007
By Frank Andrews and Brent Samuels
Cards and Payments
Jun 2007
By Marc Abbey
Transaction World
Jan 2007
By Joel Van Arsdale and Zachary Lynn
Digital Transactions
Nov 2006
By Charles Marc Abbey
Transaction Trends
Jul 2006
By Marc Abbey and Eric Wu
The Green Sheet
Jun 2006
By Victoria P. Rostow and Sarah W. Phelps
American Banker - The Financial Services Daily
Sep 2005
By Charles Marc Abbey
Digital Transactions
May 2005
By Charles Marc Abbey
Credit Card Management
Mar 2005
By Marc Abbey and David Woynerowski
The Green Sheet
Dec 2004
Lee Modesitt and Michael Mulhern
AFP Exchange
Jun 2004
By Jim Leroux
Credit Card Management
May 2004
By Joel VanArsdale and Charles Marc Abbey
Digital Transactions
Apr 2004
Charles Marc Abbey
Transaction Trends
Mar 2004
Charles Marc Abbey and Luke Kim
American Banker - The Financial Services Daily
Charles Marc Abbey
The Green Sheet
Feb 2004
John Grund and Ken Merritt
Retail Week
Dec 2003
By Charles Marc Abbey and Emily Boese
American Banker - The Financial Services Daily
By John Grund
First Annapolis Consulting
Oct 2003
Published in Cards International
Jan 2003
By Charles Marc Abbey
Credit Card Management
Dec 1999
PRESS RELEASE
August 13, 2012, HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Stage Stores, Inc. (NYSE: SSI) and Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS) announced that they have signed a long-term Amended and Restated Private Label Credit Card Renewal Agreement for private label credit card services.