NaBANCO and NationsBank Form Exclusive Merchant Credit Card Venture

NaBANCO and NationsBank have entered into an exclusive partnership to create Unified Merchant Services, a venture that will provide merchant credit card authorization, processing, and settlement services to regional and local merchants throughout the NationsBank service area of the Southeast and Southwest. The partnership combines the resources of NaBANCO, the nation's largest merchant payment services company, and NationsBank, the third-largest bank merchant business, in the region. The venture will leverage the strengths of both companies to offer a comprehensive range of merchant credit card and banking services to their combined customer base.

Key Takeaways:

• The joint venture, Unified Merchant Services, will serve regional and local merchants in the Southeast and Southwest, with a combined merchant credit card portfolio of approximately $9.0 billion in annual volume.
• NaBANCO will provide all processing services, while NationsBank will provide banking services to the venture.
• O. B. Rawls of NationsBank will serve as President of the venture, directing the sales force.
• Patrick H. Thomas, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of FFMC (NaBANCO's parent company), emphasized the partnership's potential for growth and profitability.
• This new venture builds on the existing relationship between FFMC and NationsBank, which recently announced a partnership for credit card processing for the U.S. Postal Service.
• Eileen M. Friars, President of NationsBank Card Services, highlighted the venture's strength and capacity in the region, positioning it as the largest merchant card provider in the NationsBank service area.
• Paul R. Garcia, President of NaBANCO, noted the venture's potential for economies of scale and increased efficiency for merchant customers in the region.

Statistics:

• NaBANCO and NationsBank's combined merchant credit card portfolio is approximately $9.0 billion in annual merchant credit card volume.
• NationsBank has $170 billion in assets, with full-service banking offices in nine states and the District of Columbia.
• NationsBank's Card Services unit has more than $5.7 billion in outstanding loans, making it the 12th-largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit cards.

Sources:

• Business Wire, "First Financial Management Corporation and NationsBank Announce Strategic Alliance to Form Unified Merchant Services" (April 3, 1995).
• First Financial Management Corporation.
• NationsBank.