GLG News by CheckFree Experts

Open general-purpose card payment network models continue to gain ground over closed-loop models. More if not always fully open, is proving the more fit card payment network model in competitive markets.   Amex’s First Data relationship will improve its US merchant acceptance. Forging additional...

Intuit Inc. (INTU) and Electronic Clearing House Inc., (ECHO), have signed another definitive agreement for Intuit to acquire ECHO. Under the terms of this agreement, Intuit will pay $17 per share in cash in exchange for each share of ECHO common stock, including shares tied to options. The total purchase...

GE is considering divesting its US credit card business. Chase, Citi, HSBC, Barclays, RBS and BNP could each have a rationale to acquire it. Carrying the logic further there’s an argument for spinning off GE Money in toto.  

Banking, mortgage, capital markets and other industry participants are comparing the current “subprime” mortgage market meltdown to the U.S. Savings and Loan crises whose roots were caused by archaic deposit and loan regulations and nurtured under the Reagan administration’s hands off regulatory watch...

Blackhawk Network is the gem within Safeway. It’s well established within the still adolescent prepaid-card-distribution industry, enjoys a network effect, and because of better operating margins and growth prospects deserves to command a much richer valuation multiple than its grocery parent. If however...

IBM and Cisco both experienced a major slowdown in IT spending from the US financial services sector in their most recent quarters. Five months after the start of the sub-prime meltdown, many believe that financial stocks’ fundamentals could still get worse. This will translate into lower IT spending...

EC Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is inviting and giving license to national card payment networks to carve out competitive roles for themselves in an integrated European card payments market. To the extent they do, MasterCard’s and Visa EU’s growth opportunities will be diminished. It is increasingly...

As if there isn’t enough bad news about the economy, here I am adding to the heap before it even happens. As much as I don’t like bad news, what’s worse is bad news that comes as a surprise. So be prepared. Just follow the facts, and then draw your own conclusions. We may see the bank tech sector face...

Once again, I first must confess to a bias before making this case. “Big” by itself has never impressed me. “Big and capable” is another matter. So when I tell you that small banks have better technology than the giants, I’m ready to defend my statement with facts. I believe that there is better technology...

The Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes (EAPS) has taken another step toward establishing a third pan-European card payment network. At this juncture however EAPS is still only a loose coalition of payment networks and processors, not a genuine competitor to MasterCard and Visa.