BROOKFIELD, Wis. – Powered by a rising economy and a growing client base, Fiserv Inc's electronic funds transfer operations reported a 13% increase in business the first six months of the year compared with last year. Fiserv EFT, a provider of ATM and point-of-sale processing, recorded 2.28 billion transactions through June 30, compared with 2.02 billion in the same period last year, the company says. Meanwhile, the ACCEL/Exchange Network, the nation's fifth-largest EFT network, saw a 40% increase through mid-year, fueled by POS activity that hit 160 million transactions in the first six months of 2005, Fiserv says. "In May, we processed in excess of 400 million transactions for the first time. With a resilient economy, rising consumer card use and our growing client base, we are more than optimistic about our processing business," says Grant Christenson, CEO of Fiserv EFT. ACCEL/Exchange transactions are currently enabled at 73,000 ATMs and approximately 2.4 million POS devices nationwide, the company says.