Eastern Financial Florida CU Brings CardsBack In-House

MIRAMAR, Fla. - (07/12/05) -- Eastern Financial Florida CU, thestate's third-largest credit union, said it has signed a deal withCertegy Inc. to process it credit cards after deciding to bring itscards program back in-house. The $2 billion credit union had soldoff its card portfolio under an agent management deal in 2001. Butearlier this year credit union management agreed to launch a newcards program to better serve its members and make cards decisionslocally. Under the three-year deal, Certegy will provide creditcard processing, cardholder support and rewards programs for thecredit union union's newly launched MasterCard program. The EasternFinancial deal is seen as a possible model for other credit unionsafter the recent sale of MBNA, which manages more than 100 creditunion cards portfolios, to Bank of America.