Key Dates

December 26
OneBridge office is closed. Client Service can be reached at 800.322.4035. Have a safe and happy holiday!

January 1
OneBridge office is closed. Client Service can be reached at 800.322.4035. Happy New Year!

January 1
Launch of new Visa brand mark and card design.

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Quick Fact
Visa has reported that holiday spending is up for the time period of November 16 to November 29 compared to the same time last year. Specific statistics show credit card authorization volume up 13.3% and credit card dollar volume up 13%. Debit card authorization volume has seen a 28.3% increase and debit card dollar volume is up 32%. Cardweb.com estimates that Americans will use general purpose credit/debit cards and store credit cards to charge about $120 billion in retail sales this holiday season. The figure is about 5.4% above last year. 

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Client Corner

OneBridge Adds Merchant Processing:
Partnership with NOVA will benefit clients entering business market

In an effort to help your financial institution attract and keep small business and commercial accounts through merchant processing, OneBridge is happy to announce our partnership with NOVA Information Systems. This partnership will help you grow your deposit base by gaining new accounts and by strengthening existing relationships.

NOVA's primary focus is to service small- to mid-size merchants. They are the third largest payment processor in the United States with more than 650,000 merchant clients. They are headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and have sales offices across the country.

Our partnership with NOVA gives you the option to participate in their Referral Partner Program. A packet with more information about this program and our partnership will be sent to your institution next week. Please be on the look out!

Save the Date for the OneBridge 2006 Client Connect

Save the dates for OneBridge's first annual client conference. OneBridge 2006 Client Connect will be held March 19-21 in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

The 3-day conference will provide you with a forum to exchange ideas, network with other OneBridge clients, and hear presentations from industry leaders about important topics like fraud, streamlining card processes, effective marketing strategies, etc. This conference will be a mix of both education and fun.

Specific registration details and hotel information will be coming very soon.

Card Smarts
Tips and tidbits to help you get the most out of your card programs.
by Janet Simpson, VP Card Programs

Contact Janet at 717-728-0290 for information about how OneBridge can help you
measure and enhance your card programs.

Employees as "Card Program Ambassadors"

What better way to stand behind a product than to have your employees actually using it? If you work in a clothing store you probably are required to wear clothes from that store while working. If you work for a cell phone service provider, you more likely than not carry a phone in their network. Why not encourage your employees to use your institution's cards - both credit and debit?

Not only will they be better equipped to answer questions from cardholders and potential cardholders about the products, but you will also have immediate, first-hand access to feedback about your cards. You'll know what gets people to use their cards, and you'll find out what promotions and feature don't work so well.

Additionally, educating your employees on the use of your cards is critical to the success of your programs. For example, making sure your employees communicate the use of signature versus PIN on the debit card can help increase your interchange revenue. Or, by encouraging employees to remind customers to check their transactions online between statements you may be able to identify fraud earlier.

These are just a few of the many ways that your employees can become "card program ambassadors"; helping promote your programs and make them a successful part of your business.

Industry Update
Below are interesting stories about the card industry that have made headlines over the last few weeks. Links to the full articles are included below.

To access any Card Forum articles you will need to register with Card Forum. Card Forum is a great tool that provides free access to valuable card information and articles. To register, just follow the directions when you click the link.

• One in 10 Internet purchases made with Visa cards in Europe is authenticated with Verified by Visa.
  (click for full article "Europe Leads in Adoption of Visa Security")
  - Card Forum

• As some banks and credit unions have improved their online-banking services by adding access to more account information, a growing number of institutions are approaching their logged-on customers with careful pitches for additional products and services.
  (click for full article "Online Banking: Is Cross-Selling a Taboo?")
  - Yahoo! News

• The landmark changes to the Bankruptcy Code that went into effect earlier this month give creditors a stronger hand in recovering unpaid consumer debt. Under the law, more people who file for bankruptcy protection will be forced into repayment plans.
  (click for full article"As New Bankruptcy Era Opens, What's Now and What's Next")
  - Card Forum