Headlines:
Comdata Deal Kills An ATM Surcharge Lockbox System Is Out, Image In at PNC UMB of Mo. Doing More with Metavante Middlesex of Mass. Upgrades with S1 TRM Placement Raises $40 Million
Comdata Deal Kills An ATM Surcharge
Comdata Corp. has signed an agreement with Allpoint Network to eliminate automated teller machine surcharges for people who use some of Comdata's payroll cards.
Employers are increasingly offering payroll cards to employees, but some have complained that they must often pay a fee to use the cards to get cash from ATMs.
Ben Psillas, the president and founder of Allpoint, which is owned by ATM National Inc. of Washington, said the Comdata deal removes this problem. The agreement was announced Monday.
Comdata, a Brentwood, Tenn., subsidiary of Ceridian Corp. of Minneapolis, markets two types of payroll cards. Its Comchek eCash card is marketed primarily to retailers, manufacturers, and telecommunications companies.
Comchek eCash cardholders can now use the cards at Allpoint's more than 32,000 ATMs. They can also use the cards at any merchant connected to MasterCard International's PIN debit network, Maestro, or by calling a toll-free phone number to transfer the funds from their Comchek account to a bank account.
Comdata also has a payroll card called Express Cash that it markets to trucking companies, but the Allpoint deal does not cover those cards, said Deby Samuels, a Comdata spokeswoman. Ms. Samuels said her company was negotiating another deal to provide easier ATM access for Express Cash cardholders, though she would not provide any details.
Lockbox System Is Out, Image In at PNC
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. plans to retire its legacy wholesale lockbox system and shift customers to an image-enabled payment processing system.
Steve Stone, a senior vice president at PNC Bank, said the Pittsburgh banking company has been using two wholesale lockbox systems since 2000: an image system from the Richmond, Calif., vendor Vicor Inc., and its older system that serves clients who prefer to receive paper reports. He would not say who provided the latter.
But using two systems is inefficient and PNC is moving customers off the legacy system. About half of its customers, representing 60% of its payment volume, use the image system now, and Mr. Stone expects to complete the conversion within 18 months.
"We are doing conversions to the image platform every month," he said Tuesday.
Using a single system makes it easier to train lockbox staff, standardizes PNC's work-flow, simplifies system management, and reduces maintenance costs, he said.
PNC is contacting customers of the legacy system to discuss converting to the new system. Businesses that want to continue receiving paper reports can do so without changing their mailing addresses or remittance information. Mr. Stone said that for many customers "we have to wait until they are ready for a major conversion, such as an image upgrade" before they will move off the legacy lockbox system.
UMB of Mo. Doing More with Metavante
UMB Financial Corp. of Kansas City, Mo., has agreed to expand its relationship with Metavante Corp. to include electronic bill payment and presentment services.
The Milwaukee banking technology vendor said Tuesday that it would process UMB customers' bill payments and that the bank holding company would operate its payment Web site and data warehouse. Metavante did not say when UMB plans to begin using its bill-pay services or how long the contract would last, though it called the deal a "long-term arrangement."
Tom Mathis, a senior vice president for consumer services at UMB, said in Metavante's press release that his company "has detailed strategies in place to increase customer adoption of bill pay" and that Metavante has "a payments tool in place that supports our growth objectives."
UMB currently uses Metavante for cash concentration and data interchange services for its corporate customers. It also uses technology from Metavante's VectorSGI subsidiary for check imaging.
Metavante is a unit of the Milwaukee banking company Marshall & Ilsley Corp.
Middlesex of Mass. Upgrades with S1
Middlesex Savings Bank of Natick, Mass., plans to use three software applications from S1 Corp. to run its consumer and business online banking channels and provide a voice-banking service.
S1, of Atlanta, said Monday that the $3 billion-asset Middlesex is upgrading from older S1 products to its Enterprise product line, which includes nine interoperable modules for various banking functions.
Chuck Bauer, the bank's chief technology officer, said in an S1 press release, "Because the solution is integrated and intuitive to use, our customers will find it much easier to bank with us through the self-service online and voice channels."
TRM Placement Raises $40 Million
The automated teller machine network operator TRM Corp. has raised $40.4 million through a private stock placement.
The Portland, Ore., company said Friday that it had placed 2.8 million shares, at $14.54 per share, to new and existing shareholders.
Banc of America Securities LLC was the placement agent in the transaction, which closed Wednesday. TRM said it would use the money to fund acquisitions and reduce debt.
TRM is the No. 2 independent sales organization for retail ATMs, after Cardtronics Inc. of Houston. It operates more than 22,000 ATMs in the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland.
Contributions from David Breitkopf, Steve Bills, Will Wade and Daniel Wolfe
