IMGCAP(1)]
First Data Corp. processed 13.8% fewer domestic merchant transactions during the first quarter ended March 31, to 5.6 billion transactions from 6.5 billion transactions during the same period last year. Those transactions include credit, signature-debit and PIN-debit card transactions, electronic benefits transfers, and online payment-gateway purchases made using a point-of-sale device. During a conference call with analysts last week, Ed Labry, First Data president of its Retail and Alliance Services division, blamed the reduction in volume on the region's weak economy. In particular, sales of appliances, furniture and similarly priced merchandise has slowed, Labry said. First Data also said the November 2008 dissolution of the Chase Paymentech joint venture it operated with New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. (CardLine, 11/3/08) affected the transaction activity. If the effects of the dissolution of the Chase Paymentech joint venture late last year were removed, First Data's first-quarter transaction activity would have increased 5% from a year earlier, said Phil Wall, First Data chief financial officer, during last week's call. First Data continues to include all of the transactions processed by its Wells Fargo Merchant Services joint venture with San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. First Data is based in Greenwood Village, Colo.
