SAN FRANCISCO -- Great Western Bank will become the first financial institution to offer Interlink debit cards in Florida, Interlink announced Wednesday.
Great Western, the nation's second-largest thrift, already participates in Interlink in its home state of California, where the network originated. Visa U.S.A., which has owned the debit network since 1991, is marketing it nationality.
Usable at 2 Million ATMs
All 2.2 million Great Western automated teller machine cards can be used to pay for goods and services at any of the 20,000 merchants in the Interlink system.
Once the customer's checking-account balance is verified through a point-of-sale terminal, the money is transferred out immediately.
"We selected Interlink as our national program because of its longstanding experience, top quality, and expanding market presence," said Jerry D. Oflock, senior vice president of operations at Great Western, which is based in Beverly Hills, Calif. Mr. Oflock is a member of the Interlink board.
Including the $38 billion-asset Great Western, Interlink now has 21 million operational cards and is projecting 67 million by the end of 1995. More than 400 financial institutions have committed to issue the debit cards.
Interlink, with several year's head start on MasterCard International's competing Maestro system, processes more than half of direct debit point-of-sale transactions in the United States.
