Headlines:
Deluxe to Shut Down Call Center in N.Y.
Deluxe Corp. plans to close a call center in Syracuse, N.Y., in the first quarter.
The struggling Shoreview, Minn., check printer said last week that it will shift the work to other call centers, and that the closing is part of an effort announced in July to cut costs by $150 million by the end of 2008.
Deluxe said it will offer the 260 affected employees severance benefits, outplacement assistance, and the opportunity to apply for other jobs within the company.
It does not expect the closing to generate a significant expense, and it expects the savings to take effect in the second quarter.
Moody's Investors Service Inc. downgraded $10 million of Deluxe's debt this month and questioned whether the cost-cutting plan goes far enough.
This month Deluxe reported a second-quarter loss of $2 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with a profit of $42 million, or 82 cents a share, in the same period last year. Overall revenue dropped 7%, to $403 million.
Closing the center "was not an easy decision, given that this facility has been one of our industry leading call centers," Luann Widener, the president of Deluxe's financial services unit, said in a press release. "However, we need to better align our call center operations and cost structure to call volumes and client requirements."
Credit Union to Use VSoft Image Products
State Employees' Credit Union of Raleigh, the nation's second-largest credit union, has agreed to use image capture software from VSoft Corp. of Atlanta.
VSoft said Tuesday that the credit union plans to install several products from the eDesk line for capturing check images at the branch, transmitting the files to a central processing site, and archiving them.
The credit union has 1.3 million members and more than 200 branches in North Carolina. It said that it expects to cut costs by processing checks electronically, and that it selected VSoft because the vendor was willing to customize its software to meet the credit union's needs.
