In Brief (three items)

ATM Card Niche Firm Reorganized, Renamed

GOLETA, Calif. - Electronic Paycheck LLC, a subsidiary of Community West Bancshares, has reorganized as a Delaware corporation doing business as ePacific.com Inc.As part of the reorganization, members of Electronic Paycheck, including Goleta National Bank, exchanged their membership interests for common shares of ePacific Inc., which is now the holding company for ePacific.com.

Douglas King, president and chief executive officer of ePacific.com, said the name communicates "where the company is going." Originally a provider of cards that gave unbanked workers access to their money through automated teller machines, the company now is developing systems to support loyalty cards, check cashing, and short-term consumer lending, among other activities. It has applied for a patent on a virtual PIN pad that would let its cardholders make secure purchases over the Internet.


Web Offering Targets Small, Midsize Firms

ATLANTA - Wachovia Merchant Services, an alliance of Wachovia Bank and First Data Merchant Services, has introduced WMSesolutions, an electronic commerce package for small and midsize businesses.WMSesolutions offers merchants the tools to build a virtual storefront, host a Web site, drive traffic to the site, open a merchant account, and process payments. The service is based on Excite@Home's e-commerce software and First Data's Internet payment processing solutions. First Data's SurePay payment gateway lets merchants accept credit cards and checks and will soon let them get cash through Western Union retail agents.


Chase Cobrands Card With Web Mall Firm

NEW YORK - Chase Manhattan Bank has introduced a cobranded credit card with ShopNow.com Inc., a Seattle company that runs a large Internet shopping mall.The MasterCard is Chase's first joint offering with a dot-com company. Chase owns less than 10% of ShopNow.com.

People can apply for the card through the bank's Web site or that of the retail partner, get a credit decision within two minutes, and, if approved, start shopping with an instant $250 credit line.

The card rewards purchases made through certain areas of the ShopNow site with a 5% rebate. Available in standard and platinum versions, it has no annual fee.

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