STAR Transactions Up 30% in 2002

MEMPHIS, Tenn., – STAR, the EFT Network component of Concord EFS, saw transactions jump 30% in 2002, which helped to increased the revenue for Concord’s Network Services by 25%. Overall, Concord saw revenues increase by 28% in 2002 over 2001. Concord signed a letter of intent to purchase the Credit Union 24 Network in mid-January for roughly $30 million. Credit union members of CU24 will have to vote in favor of the sale for it to be completed. “Our overall transaction growth accelerated in 2002 despite the relatively slow economy, reflecting that decreases in consumer spending were more than offset by continuing increases in the use of card-based payments, especially PIN-secured debit in place of cash and checks,” said Dan M. Palmer, Concord co-CEO. Concord cited acquisitions in 2002 as adding new clients and transactions to the Network Services segment: The Logix Companies, LLC in March 2002 and Core Data Resources, Inc. in May 2002. These acquisitions doubled its ATM processing to 95,100 ATMs as of year-end, the firm said. The STAR network ended the year with 127 million cardholders, 241,000 ATMs and approximately 1,000,000 point of sale locations that display the STAR mark, the firm reported.