Headlines:
Nacha Third-Party Processor Rule Set Coinstar Readies Share Offering Marshall & Ilsley Joins Clearing House IntegraSys to Rebrand Penley ID Product Princeton eCom President Added to Board
Nacha Third-Party Processor Rule Set
A new rule from Nacha on third-party transaction processors takes effect Friday.
Under the rule, third-party companies that are contracted to process automated clearing house payments and have not formally agreed to adhere to the electronic payment association's regulations must have an agreement with the bank originating the payment that calls for the third-party company to obey Nacha's policies.
For example, a payroll processor may be contracted to handle direct deposit payments, which use the ACH systems. Under the new rule, these outsourcing providers will have to incorporate into their contracts with banks a clause that states the company will follow Nacha's rules. Nacha, of Herndon, Va., defines the rules and regulations for the ACH payment system.
"Ensuring that all ACH users are bound to the rules will enable Nacha to better enforce the rules," said Elliott McEntee, Nacha's president and chief executive, in a press release.
Coinstar Readies Share Offering
Coinstar Inc. plans to offer an additional 3 million shares of common stock in an underwritten public offering.
The Bellevue, Wash., company announced Monday that J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Banc of America Securities LLC will underwrite the deal and be granted 450,000 shares of common stock to cover overallotments of shares. Coinstar filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 16. It currently has 21.57 million shares outstanding.
Coinstar, known primarily for its coin-counting kiosks in retail stores, typically charges customer a transaction fee of 8.9%. It also sells prepaid phone cards and prepaid MasterCard International-branded debit cards.
Coinstar said in the Nov. 16 filing that the combined value of the 3 million shares would be $200 million. According to a supplemental filing submitted to the SEC on Dec. 7, additional underwriters will be Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC, Delafield Hambrecht Inc., and Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.
Marshall & Ilsley Joins Clearing House
Marshall & Ilsley Corp. has joined the Electronic Check Clearing House Organization, a national clearing house that is trying to develop standard rules for check image exchange.
Paul T. Danola, a senior vice president at Metavante Corp., M&I's technology subsidiary, will be the Milwaukee banking company's representative on the clearing house's board of directors.
In July, Metavante bought CheckClear LLC, which operates the Endpoint Exchange check image network.
"An 'open and interoperable' environment among exchanges will be a catalyst for financial institutions to realize reductions in check processing costs and an expanded capability to serve customer needs," Mr. Danola said in a press release Tuesday.
IntegraSys to Rebrand Penley ID Product
IntegraSys, a unit of Fiserv Inc., plans to rebrand and resell an identity verification product from Penley, a unit of eFunds Corp.
IntegraSys, of Frisco, Tex., announced Wednesday that it would market the product to its credit union customers.
ID Verification checks 23 billion aggregated records to confirm the identities of individuals and businesses. It also screens government lists to help credit unions comply with the government regulations such as the USA Patriot Act.
IntegraSys will also offer, but not rebrand, similar products sold by Chex Systems Inc., another eFunds unit.
"This agreement helps us reach and serve a much broader client base," said Bruce Lowthers, Penley's president, in a press release.
Princeton eCom President Added to Board
Princeton eCom Corp., an electronic bill payment provider, announced Wednesday that Ron Averett, its president and chief operating officer, has been appointed to its board of directors.
R. Craig Kirsch, the Princeton, N.J., company's chairman and chief executive, said in a press release: "Ron has been a true partner with me over the past three years and has done an outstanding job. His appointment to the board is not only well deserved, but important for the future growth of our company."
