Key Dates

October 30
Daylight saving time ends. Indiana will be on Eastern Standard Time.

October 31
Trick or Treat! Have a safe and happy Halloween.

November 1
Visa's $1.5 Million Holiday Giveaway promotion begins.

November 2
Scheduled downtime (1/2 hour) for Gateway Navigator enhancements at 6:00am EDST. Authorization will not be impacted.

November 9 & 10
Training at OneBridge. Contact Client Service for more information.

November 24
OneBridge corporate office is closed. Client Service can be reached at 800.322.4035. Office will  be open Friday October 25. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

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Quick Fact
The total number of U.S. payment cards rose 9% at mid-year topping 926 million, setting the pace to pass the one billion milestone in mid 2006. As of June 30th, there were 682.2 million credit cards and 243.8 million off-line debit cards. Over the past five years, credit cards have grown 24% while signature debit cards have expanded by 63%, according to CardData.

Client Corner
Congratulations to JM Associates Federal Credit Union in Deerfield Beach, Florida! They celebrated 25 years of service on October 21, 2005. Below (left to right) Mona Gonzales, President and CEO Jim Ryan, and VP of Operations Karen Pustay recognize the day. 

OneBridge Executives Focus on Fraud

As indicated by the high client turnout at our Fraud and Compromise webinars in September and October, it is clear that fraud is top-of-mind for OneBridge clients. This, as we know, very much reflects the sentiments of the electronic payments industry in general.

In order to do our part to help combat this fraud, OneBridge is committed to enhancing our knowledge and expertise about the subject. Just this month, two OneBridge executives attended separate conferences - one hosted by Visa the other by CUNA Mutual Group - which were specifically focused on improving security and risk management.

As you may have read in the email she sent you earlier this month, Janet Simpson, VP of Card Programs, attended the first ever payment card security summit on October 4 & 5, 2005 in Washington D.C. The event, entitled Cardholder Security in the New Electronic Payments Age, brought together different entities involved in the electronic payments process to discuss security and ways to work together to reduce fraud. For a summary of key learnings from this event, see Janet's summary in her email or visit Visa's website dedicated to this topic.

Additionally, Nancy Linxwiler, VP of Product Development and Management attended CUNA Mutual's Plastic Card Summit on October 17 & 18. She joined forty other executive leaders from card processing organizations and credit union leagues to discuss the challenges of plastic card fraud and develop strategies to combat it.

"This meeting was interesting not only because the topic is so important to us as processors, but also because it brought together a large group of 'competitors' to discuss and develop cooperative solutions for fighting fraud," said Nancy.

Training Course at OneBridge Scheduled for November

OneBridge will be hosting a two-day training session on November 9 and 10. Training will be located at the OneBridge corporate office in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This informative event will cover a variety of topics, including a refresher on the transaction flow process and the key players involved in it; system-specific training on Dispute Agent, Gateway Navigator, etc.; and lively discussions regarding current topics like security and CAMs best practices.

The event is geared toward people who use Gateway Navigator and/or their managers. If you are unable to attend both days, we welcome you to register for one. Registration forms are due back to OneBridge on November 3. For more information or to register, please contact client service at 800.322.4035 or via email at clientservice@onebridge.com.

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.

Delivering What Your Cardholders and Potential Cardholders Really Need

I think we sometimes forget that the easiest way to get the answers is to ask the questions. This is often the case when it comes to cardholders and potential cardholders. If we want to provide them with products and services they will use, we need to know what it is they want and value. Getting their perspective is critical in helping to drive a successful card program.

In a recent client engagement, I facilitated a focus group with cardholders and potential cardholders in order to discover what it is they are looking for in a credit and debit card (photo above). One of the messages that came across loud and clear was that members and customers want to be "courted" by their financial institution. They want to know what products and services you have to offer and more importantly they want to know that you want their business.

Through things like focus groups and surveys, we are able to effectively find out information that is invaluable to us as we develop our card programs and marketing strategies. By uncovering this information we are better able to give members and customers what they need, which helps us grow our programs.

First Annual OneBridge Client Conference Scheduled for Early 2006

OneBridge is in the process of finalizing plans for a client conference in the first half of 2006! This 3-day event is targeted toward high-level executives who are responsible for overall card program strategy and success. We will have experts speak about timely topics as well as provide many opportunities for attendees to discuss their card programs.

More information about this will be coming in the next 30 days. Please stay tuned!

Two Gateway Navigator Screens Easier to Understand

On November 2, two Gateway Navigator screens - the Visa Authorization Message Detail screen and the Clearing & Settlement Transaction Detail screen -will be enhanced to make them easier to understand.

With this enhancement, you will be able to hold your mouse over most of the fields on the screens in order to get an explanation of what that particular field means.

For example, on the Authorization Message Detail screen, one of the fields is POS Entry Mode. Currently, next to this field you might see a "90", but in order to find out what "90" means, you need to look it up in the Visa Regulations manual. With this enhancement, however, you will be able to hover your mouse over the field and a description appears that indicates POS Entry Mode 90 means "Complete magnetic stripe read and transmitted" (graphic above).

For more information about this enhancment, please refer to your release notes which were sent earlier this week.

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.

• A new study has found that cash and checks now account for only 45% of consumers' monthly payments, down from 57% in 2001, and 49% in 2003.
  (click for full article "Consumer Payments")
  - Cardweb.com

• Federal regulators will require banks to strengthen security for Internet customers through authentication that goes beyond mere user names and passwords, which have become too easy for criminals to exploit.
  (click for full article "Feds Want Banks to Strengthen Web Log-Ons")
  - 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 press release "As New Bankruptcy Era Opens, What's Now and What's Next")
  - Card Forum