Electronic Transaction Corp. Names CEO

Timothy Birk has been named president and chief executive officer of Electronic Transaction Corp., operator of the nation's largest check-loss prevention program.

Mr. Birk succeeds Denis DuNann, a co-founder of the company, who resigned Feb. 1 to pursue other entrepreneurial activities, company officials said.

Mr. DuNann is a former vice president and national sales manager of Verifone Inc., the leading manufacturer of point of sale authorization terminals. He could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Birk, formerly the company's senior vice president, was primarily responsible for member services including sales and marketing, product development, and installation and customer support.

He has 16 years' experience in the check services industry, including several previous management positions with the check guarantee company.

Taking over as senior vice president is Ken Fabrizio, who has been with the company for five years. Previously, he spent 15 years at Seafirst Bank in Seattle, where he managed the BankAmerica Corp. unit's credit card merchant division.

In his new role, Mr. Birk said that he will focus on the company's executive management leadership team and new market development.

"Our goals for 1995 are to continue to bring check fraud issues to the forefront and aggressively lead the industry with new check-loss prevention services," he said. "We also want to continue encouraging retailers, supermarkets, and financial institutions to work together against check fraud."

Bothell, Wash.-based company, a subsidiary of check printer on Deluxe Corp., St. Paul, Minn., has been providing its check-loss prevention service through Scan - the Shared Check Authorization Network.

Launched 10 years ago, Scan is the largest check-authorization system, recording 1.2 billion transactions totaling more than $81 billion annually.

In volume of checks verified, the company ranks first with 68% of the market, according to The Nilson Report. Its closest competitor is TeleCheck Services, a unit of First Financial Management Corp. of Atlanta, with 9% of the market.

In check guarantees, a related aspect of the check acceptance business, TeleCheck comes in first with 32% of the market, followed by Equifax Check Services at 29%, according to Nilson.

To use Scan, retailers connect through Deluxe Data Systems or another third-party processor.

Scan compares account or drivers license numbers against a "negative file" data base. If the customer has no unpaid checks or closed accounts, transactions are approved within seconds. If an accepted check bounces, collections are handled by a Scan-certified agency, and the retailer gets the amount recovered.

While Scan initially served major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Sears Roebuck & Co., and J.C. Penney, the company's remarketing program, announced last year, expands the potential distribution by allowing banks to market the service to smaller stores - retailers with annual gross sales up to $50 million.

First National Bank of Omaha, a leading credit card merchant processor, was the first to enter into a Scan remarketing alliance.

In January, Visa's Merchant Bank Services unit said it would provide access to Scan through the Visanet telecommunications system.

Mr. Birk said the company will continue to focus on increasing Scan's retailer membership. The greater the number of participants, the more effective will be Scan and its data base.

Advances in color photocopying and laser printing technology have combined with pressures of expedited funds availability regulations to increase banks' and retailers' exposure to check fraud, said Mr. Birk.

"Bringing together leading retailers with the largest banks will have a positive impact," he added.

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