In Brief: Credit Store Names Interim Chairman

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Credit Store Inc., a company that buys nonperforming credit card loans and then offers some of those borrowers unsecured Visa and MasterCard cards, has hired as interim chairman Geoffrey A. Thompson, former president and chief executive officer of Marine Midland Banks Inc.

Mr. Thompson is succeeding Martin J. Burke 3d, who resigned as chairman and CEO because of differences with the directors, the company said in a news release.

The Credit Store also named chief operating officer Kevin T. Riordan director on the five-member board.

The Credit Store provides unsecured credit cards to people who may otherwise fail to qualify for a traditional unsecured bank card. The four-year-old company reaches consumers through the subprime portfolios it buys, and offers new cards to those who agree to pay all or a portion of their outstanding balances.

The new card is issued with an initial balance and credit line equal to the agreed repayment amount. Once a portfolio begins to turn around, the Credit Store seeks to sell or securitize it.

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