PNC to Shift Some Nat City Processing to First Data

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. is planning to move some electronic transaction processing services of its National City Corp. unit to First Data Corp., the Denver processor said Tuesday.

First Data, the nation's largest payment processor, said that it would take on some PNC credit card processing that it is not currently handling, as well as adding PIN debit and automated teller machine processing that PNC, a Pittsburgh banking company, acquired with National City of Cleveland in a deal that closed Dec. 31.

Nancy Etheredge, a spokeswoman for First Data, said the conversion of the National City accounts is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

PNC, a $227.5 billion-asset company, had the nation's 10th-largest card portfolio at the end of 2008, with $1.8 billion of card loans outstanding.

The National City purchase turned PNC into the country's fifth-largest banking company, with a retail branch network that was expanded to 13 states, from five.

PNC executives have said that National City would continue to operate largely as an independent unit through this year and that the PNC name and brand would begin to appear on National City branches starting in the fourth quarter and rolling out market by market through the middle of next year.

PNC spokesman Fred Solomon, said the company was not in a position to discuss details of the transfer of the National City accounts.

"I imagine that would be a couple of months away," he said.

First Data said it will provide signature debit, debit processing involving PINs as well as ATM processing services to PNC.

In addition, First Data is to supply automated teller machine terminal driving services and credit card, small-business and home equity loan processing to the banking company.

First Data also said it would provide fraud and collection services, remittance processing and prepaid processing, as well as plastic, statement and letter production services.

First Data, which is owned by the private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., said that it has provided transaction processing services to PNC since 1992 and serves more than 15 million accounts for the banking company.

The two companies did not disclose financial terms for the contract.

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