Discover Debit Card Issuance Grows

The institutions are:

• First National Bank in Munday; Munday, Texas
• First National Bank of the Mid-Cities; Bedford, Texas
• The First National Bank of Baird; Baird, Texas
• The First National Bank of Barnesville; Barnesville, Ga.
• The First National Bank of Weatherford; Weatherford, Texas
• The First Security Bank; Beaver, Okla.
• ValueBank Texas; Corpus Christi, Texas

The banks’ Discover Debit card programs are at varying stages of implementation.

Scott Heitkamp, president and CEO of ValueBank Texas, recognized that Discover Debit would empower his account holders with convenient access to their funds and security practices that are among the best in the industry, giving the bank and its customers peace of mind.

“I’m anticipating a significant enhancement to ValueBank’s bottom-line profitability because of Discover Debit’s lower network expenses and excellent revenue opportunities,” said Heitkamp.

“Discover Debit is a unique card product with features that financial institutions find attractive,” said Judith McGuire, PULSE Senior Vice President, Product Management. “Issuers of the card are pleased with the security benefits of the product’s 100 percent transaction authorization standard. In addition, introducing a new debit card brand can help financial institutions boost card usage by providing an opportunity to market the card to new, low-activity or inactive accounts.”

In addition to growing issuer support, many of the leading third-party EFT processors are now certified to support Discover Debit or are in the process of becoming certified.

Discover Debit was introduced in February 2006 as the first alternative to Visa’s and MasterCard’s signature debit products in more than 10 years. Discover Debit offers lower network expenses, outstanding revenue opportunities, strong security practices and straight-forward pricing, billing, operating regulations and dispute rules. Further, the Discover Debit Consumer and Discover Debit Business Card programs offer additional special features for consumers and small businesses, respectively.