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Bank of America Corp. has widened its already big lead as the nation's largest debit card processor by purchasing Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Brian Riley, research director in TowerGroup Inc.'s Bank Cards practice, tells CardLine sister publication ATM&Debit News. BofA announced Monday it purchased Merrill Lynch for $50 billion in an all-stock transaction. With the addition of Merrill Lynch's $13 billion in annual debit card processing, Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA will process $123 billion annually in debit card transactions, Riley says. Even without adding Merrill Lynch's debit card volume, BofA was the clear leader in that area, Riley says. Earlier this year, TowerGrop projected that BofA will process $110 billion in debit card transactions, followed by Wells Fargo & Co. at $56 billion, Wachovia Bank at $40 billion, JPMorgan Chase & Co. at $35 billion and Citibank at $12 billion, he says. Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup derived its numbers by studying the banks' annual and quarterly reports, perusing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings and developing estimates internally.
