Card Brief: From 1st Data, CD-ROM Without the Bulk

First Data Corp.'s Card Services Group has introduced a service called Virtual CD-ROM, which delivers the statement and reporting functions of the company's CD-ROM products with less expensive equipment.

The multimedia Virtual CD-ROM can be integrated with a client's imaging technology, whether it be based on the MS-DOS or Windows computer operating system. First Data said that unlike other remote transmission alternatives, Virtual CD-ROM requires no local formatting, indexing, or creation of statement-form overlays.

Virtual CD-ROM cardholder statement data, for example, come complete with full-color form overlays as they appear on First Data's Cardholder Statement CD-ROM.

"The media versatility of our Virtual CD-ROM enables those clients who have already made significant in-house imaging solution investments to further enhance their customer responsiveness and operational efficiency," said Aldo Tesi, president of the Card Services Group's First Data Resources division.

First Data's true CD-ROM products - Report, Cardholder Statement, and Merchant CD-ROM - may be accessed on a single Windows-based personal computer, or multiple CD-ROMs may be loaded into a jukebox or tower server and accessed directly in seconds from several workstations through a local area network.