American Express to Let 3d-Party Processors And Banks Market Its

American Express Co. plans to license its transaction software to third-party processors, acquiring banks, and independent sales organizations.

Until now, only American Express has marketed it to merchants.

The terminal-driving software has been named X-ware.

The software processes transactions for all types of cards, including Visa, MasterCard, and Discover cards, through one terminal.

Thomas Tierney, director of product sales for American Express, said it was approached last year by two major third-party processors that wanted to buy the software. Instead, American Express decided to license it.

Mr. Tierney said he is negotiating with possible licensees, although no deals have been made.

"We've had the software running on over 40,000 terminals for the last eight years," Mr. Tierney said. "People know it's reliable."

X-ware has applications specific to travel and entertainment, including car rentals, restaurants, lodging, and retail.

The software runs only on terminals provided by Arizona-based Hypercom Inc. Though Verifone of Redwood City, Calif., is the largest terminal manufacturer in the United States and has more of the overall market, "for the markets we are targeting, Hypercom is stronger," Mr. Tierney said.

The travel and entertainment sectors have been "troublesome for bank cards," said Richard T. Robida, senior executive vice president of Speer & Associates, an Atlanta-based consulting firm.

He pointed out that the Amex software has an easier job to do when processing an Amex transaction, in which the card company has relationships with the merchant and with the cardholder.

Bank cards operate in a more complicated interchange environment, where data must be exchanged among more parties, he pointed out.

Nevertheless, he said, "it would be wise for acquirers to take a look" at X-ware.

American Express intends to widen the offering to include corporate purchasing card applications. Each application will be licensed separately and on an annual basis, American Express said. Prices were not disclosed.

Annual fees for licensing include software, maintenance and upgrades, training, a user guide on diskette, and merchant reference guides.

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