IMGCAP(1)]
Total System Services Inc., which has processing contracts with Washington Mutual Inc. and Wachovia Corp., both of which are involved in separate merger deals, says it has good relationships with their buyers, JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the case of WaMu and Wells Fargo & Co. in the case of Wachovia, Philip W. Tomlinson, chairman and CEO, said during a conference call with analysts today. WaMu and Wachovia combined account for about 4.5% of TSYS's revenue year-to-date, Tomlinson said. "We continue to have a strong relationship with Chase, and we continue to process their commercial card and some private-label work for them," he said. Tomlinson was unsure what would happen with TSYS's WaMu processing contract. "I'm here today to tell you that Chase has not given us any direction yet about the long-term processing plans for that portfolio," he said. "Chances are, at some point in the future, Chase will consider consolidating the WaMu portfolio into its own in-house portfolio, which is the only licensed site of our TS2 [processing] software." The TSYS relationship with Wells Fargo, which earlier today was cleared to buy Wachovia, is "in good shape," Tomlinson said. The processing contracts with WaMu and Wachovia are long-term, but Tomlinson did not say for how many years. TSYS announced in 2006 it would process transactions for Wachovia under a long-term contract.
