Research conducted by interviews with 25 of the United States' largest banks and 25 of the country's largest credit unions found that the processing market remains fragmented, with numerous providers competing for financial institutions' transaction volume.
In fact, those who lead the pack in credit-card processing - First Data Corp., TSYS, PSCU, Certegy, Elan Financial Services - differ from those who top the list for debit-processing - First Data, Visa DPS, in-house, eFunds and the Co-Op Network. (Visa DPS and eFunds do not offer credit-card processing.)
The arguments in favor of separate processors revolve around competitive bidding and simplicity. But in a market that is evolving and changing as quickly as the payments business, it is difficult to predict future directions with a high degree of certainty.
It has been suggested that FIs can gain certain benefits by combining their credit-card and debit-card processing with one processor. A single provider, it is argued, can look at the FI's card portfolio in a more holistic fashion and offer more integrated services.
In this white paper, Co-Op Financial Services examines the basis for the claim that FIs can gain synergies by consolidating their card-based processing with a single provider.
Download this white paper.
Editor's Note: This white paper was provided by Co-Op Financial Services. Statements made in the text reflect the views and/or opinions only of the author(s).
