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Maverick Network Solutions, a Wilmington, Del.-based independent sales organization, will begin piloting merchant private-label PIN-debit cards that will use First Data Corp.'s Star network as a gateway to other card networks, including Visa, MasterCard, Pulse and NYCE, Jim Shanahan, Maverick CEO, tells ATM&Debit News, a CardLine sister publication. Maverick will route the card transactions through the networks and pay switch fees but not interchange, and the networks will process the transactions, Shanahan says. Maverick will debit cardholders' checking accounts through the automated clearinghouse system using account and bank-routing information from cancelled checks participants provide when registering. The nine-month pilot with the undisclosed merchant is designed to illustrate how merchants that offer the cards can save 50% to 75% in card-acceptance costs. The pilot will involve multiple locations in New York, Tony Newshel, Maverick chief technology officer, tells ATM&Debit News. "With the money a merchant saves in interchange fees, the company can put that into rewards programs to ensure customer loyalty," Shanahan says.
