The April 2008 edition of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This month's feature article is "Cross-Selling Commercial Cards." Other articles include: "Soft Economy Delivers Hard Hit to Retail Sector", "Mid-Size Internet Retailers Payment Acceptance Methods", "Marketplace Feature: Stock Market Performance", "Q1 2008 Credit Card Issuer Scorecard", and "Market Scan of European Bank - Issued Prepaid Cards."

The March 2008 edition of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This month's feature article is 'Acquirer Portfolio Mix and Growth Performance in a Recession.' Other articles include: 'Leaving a Paper Trail – The Changing Landscape in Commercial Payments', 'Movement from Mobile Banking Towards Mobile Payments', and 'Spain: European Banks Make In-Roads with Credit Cards'. You must register with First Annapolis to request the Navigator.

A special issue of the First Annapolis Navigator devoted to sub-prime lending issues is now available. This issue contains a main article highlighting the fallout in the mortgage sector and the spill-over into credit cards plus two additional articles: Prospect Marketing in a Risky Environment and Improving Collections to Defend Against the Credit Crunch. You must register with First Annapolis to request the Navigator.

The October issue of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This month's feature article is "The Current State of Debit Rewards" By Josh Gilbert and Ryan Feeley. Other articles include: "A Gift Card Outlook: An Interview with Bob Skiba, General Manager of Comdata Stored Value", "Payments Industry May Meet Headwinds as Business Bankruptcies Spike" and a "Q3 2007 Credit Card Issuer Performance Snapshot".

The September issue of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This month's feature article is "The Addressable Market in U.S. Acquiring." Other articles include: "Internet Payments Acceptance Update", "Expense Diversity Among U.S. Acquirers", "Products & Services Dynamics", "Payments Revenues Continue Robust Growth" and "The Private Equity Effect".

The August issue of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This issue has a special feature article, "An Attractive Alternative: An Interview with Gary Marino, CEO of Bill Me Later, Inc." as well as "Mortgage Market Meltdown: Taking the Pulse on Potential Spillover Effects", "These Commercial Cards Have Wheels! - A Fleet Card Snapshot", "Q2 2007 Issuer Performance Snapshot", "Business Bankruptcies: Increasing Trend Amid Housing Market Turmoil", and "Average Ticket Dynamics Among Agent Banks".

The July issue of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This issue includes a special feature article with Roger Alexander, CEO of euroConex, as well as "Wal-Mart Financial Services: Revolution or Evolution?", "The Fundamentals of Expanding Your Prospect Universe", "Online Bill Payment Dynamics of Smaller Financial Institutions", and "Expansion of Credit Cards to New Socio-Economic Segments in Latin America."

The April 2007 issue of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available (via free email subscription). This is features an interview with Bob Carr of Heartland Payment Systems along with articles on commercial cards, recent card issuer performance, and gift cards.

The October 2006 edition of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This month's issue features article on Gas Price Volatility Ripples Through Payments Markets, Debit Centricity in Western European Acquiring, Discount Rate Structures in the Small Merchant Market, Variation in Acquirer Deployment of Web Based Services and The March of Progress for Commercial Cards in the U.K.

The September 2006 edition of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This month's issue features articles on the U. S. Debit Industry Evolution: 1991 - 2006, Credit Card Issuing: Changes, Challenges, and Opportunities in the U.S., The Evolution of the Retail Card Sector: The Long and Winding Road, Lessons from Acquiring's Past, and the Evolution of Business-to-Business Payments.

The August 2006 edition of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This month's issue features an article on health care and payments, a snapshot of Target's credit business, how to think like a major retailer about self-acquiring, exploring the relationship between risk and losses in US acquirers, and a summary of second quarter 2006 US card issuer performance.

The July 2006 edition of the First Annapolis Navigator is now available. This month's issue features a review of opportunities and challenges for card-based payments in the U.S. transit market. Other articles include: commentary on credit card growth in the Latin American region, a comparison of merchant acquiring M&A transaction dynamics in the U.S. and Europe, a brief look at The Home Depot's potential bank acquisition and a summary of bank multi-product loyalty/rewards programs.

In the latest issue of its monthly Navigator newsletter (subscribe), First Annapolis has provided its second annual update to its list of the world's largest merchant bank card acquirers. Prepared by Charles Marc Abbey and Olga Czabaj from a variety of data sources, the list is based on acquirers who are doing business in one of the four large acquiring markets in the world: US, UK, Canada and France.   » Continue Reading