First Data Corp. has announced that it is acquiring CashCard Australia.

"Today's announcement is exciting as we believe this transaction will offer a significant range of benefits to our many clients," commented Greg Nash, managing director of First Data International Australia, New Zealand and South Asia operations.

"We believe the combined EFT switching and processing lines of business will provide the scale necessary to ensure the merged enterprise will remain cost effective, technology efficient and people-smart in this rapidly changing marketplace, leading to the development of even more competitive products and services."

Founded in 1983 by Australian Building Societies to build and operate a shared ATM network, Cashcard now provides a range of services to other major financial institutions and retailers, as well as operating a large Merchant ATM acquiring network.

Bob Tedeschi reports in today's New York Times on the new categories of 'stores' on Amazon.com.

iPayment has announced that it has completed the acquisition of a portfolio of agent bank agreements and merchant accounts from First Data Corp.'s Merchant Services subsidiary for $55 million in cash.   » Continue Reading

Some retailers are pointing to revenue recognition of increased gift card sales as one reason this holiday season's same store sales results may be lighter than expected.

Sales of gift cards now represent about 8% to 10% of holiday retail spending, analysts estimate. But such spending can skew retailers' holiday results. Although consumers often purchase gift cards in December, retailers don't recognize revenue from such cards until they are redeemed, which often occurs weeks or months after Christmas.

"Gift cards really don't affect total sales," said Craig Johnson, president of retail consulting firm Customer Growth Strategies. "But they dramatically affect [same-store] sales," which seem unlikely to produce the kind of gains many investors were betting on this holiday season.