PULSE EFT Sale To Prove Lucrative ToCUs

CHICAGO - (11/16/04) -- Credit union owner/members of PULSEEFT stand to earn as much as $100 million from the proposed sale ofthe electronic funds transfer network to Morgan Stanley's DiscoverFinancial Services unit, announced Monday. A distribution of the$311 million acquisition price will be detailed in a proxystatement to be issued in the next two weeks to PULSE's 4,100financial institution owners, about a third of which are creditunions. Stanley Paur, president and CEO of PULSE, touted the dealMonday as unique in the electronic payment industry, creating apayments network that not only offers ATM connectivity, but credit,signature debit and PIN-based debit services. "This is truly adefining moment for the electronic payments business," Paur toldThe Credit Union Journal. The deal will be the second mostlucrative EFT transaction for credit unions, rivaling only the $92million payout to credit unions when owners of Star Systems soldtheir shares to Concord EFS in 2001. The Discover/PULSEcombination, which must still be approved by PULSE owner/members,will expand choice for credit unions and add more than four millionmerchants now served by Discover Financial to the credit unionreach, according to Paur. Discover plans to retain the PULSEmanagement, including Paur, who has headed the regional network for22 years.