STAR®

The STAR® Online Partner service uniquely leverages the strengths of its key players to meet consumers’ need to pay for their online purchases safely. Consumers have become increasingly comfortable in recent years with PayPal’s ease of use and ability to safeguard their information. Enabling cardholders to link their PayPal® accounts to their STAR debit cards – directly from the financial institution’s Internet banking site – provides our members with additional brand exposure, as well as opportunities for increased revenue and reduced cost.

While JM Associates Federal Credit Union (JMAFCU) holds $80 million in assets and operates only a handful of branches, it serves a membership that’s spread out across the country. To fully serve its members, the credit union needed a network partner big enough to keep everyone connected but willing to work with a smaller institution. Find out how First Data supports JMAFCU’s growth with innovative solutions and superior customer service.

I think new technology gives ATMs new life — and provides important opportunities for financial institutions to profoundly change the ATM’s role in customer interactions. I just wrote an article on this topic that has been published online by Bank Systems & Technology. The article covers the four recent technological developments that financial institutions can leverage. Here’s the short version. You can read the full article at BankTech.com.

When it comes to data breaches, the question may not be “if” your organization will become a target; the question may more likely be “when?” Fortunately, careful operations planning and preparation can control costs, improve customer loyalty, and preserve your reputation if the unlucky day arrives and your organization is affected by a data-compromising event.

Consumers are increasingly choosing debit over credit. Many members of Generation Y have always used debit cards–39 percent of Gen Yers use their card at least 15 times each month, according to Aité Group’s 2009 report Engaging GenY: Cultivating a New Generation of Banking Customers–and other consumers are making the transition as a way to re-structure how they control their spending.

First Data recently announced an agreement with PayPal® that allows debit cardholders in the STAR® Network to link their debit cards to PayPal accounts right from their financial institution’s online banking site. This is an industry first, and we’re excited to be working with PayPal to help consumers feel more comfortable when they shop online.

First Data conducted an analysis of 2008 reported fraud instances to discover which solutions work best to detect and prevent fraudulent activity with debit card transactions. The analysis tracked three categories of debit accounts: those using no neural network-based fraud detection solutions, those using only a neural network solution and those protected by both neural network and rules-based decisioning tools. This document provides a summary of our findings.

First Data Competitive Intelligence conducted the Consumer Loyalty Study with 2,449 U.S. consumers in April 2009. The study focuses on rewards programs with Financial Institutions (FIs), the travel sector and the retail sector. This CI Market Brief focuses on consumer insights regarding rewards for the FI sector. Sample size completing the survey for Debit Card rewards programs was 286.