Increased use of consumer debit cards is boosting transaction volume on Fiserv Inc.'s Accel/Exchange Network.
The number of in-network transactions it handled last year rose 89% from 2004, to 455 million, the Brookfield, Wis., company said last week, in part because of the 272 U.S. customers who signed up last year.
Fiserv also cited sharp growth in Canada; the number of financial companies there using the network rose 228%, to 246. (Canadian banks participate in Accel/Exchange through Ficanex Services LP, a Surrey, British Columbia, company that licenses Fiserv's payments technology and manages a Canadian debit network.)
"More people are using the debit card more frequently, and it's driving the Accel/Exchange Network's growth to unprecedented levels," Mike Williams, the Fiserv EFT senior vice president who heads Accel/Exchange, said in a press release. "We expect that trend to continue in 2007."
