First Data Corp. has announced that it has entered into a new payment processing agreement with Nordstrom fsb, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nordstrom, Inc. and a federally chartered thrift savings bank.

"The seven-year agreement calls for First Data to provide card processing, call center and back office automation tools, fraud and risk management, customer analytics as well as e-statements and email alerts for Nordstrom's entire card portfolio including Nordstrom Visa, private label credit and debit cards and commercial cards for Nordstrom employees. The portfolio totals about 4.5 million card accounts on file. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.   » Continue Reading

In an article titled "Global Trail of an Online Crime Ring", Brad Stone writes for the New York Times about the investigation leading up to last weeks announcement by the Department of Justice and other agencies about the indictments of 11 people involved in compromising millions of credit and debit card accounts.

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