NEBA Launches Advanced Commercial Card Reporting Tool

WAKEFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS (February 1, 2009) — The New England Bankcard Association (NEBA) today announced the launch of an advanced commercial payments platform through its partnership with First Data, a global technology leader in information commerce.  First Data’s D.Cal application will benefit NEBA members by offering real-time visibility of commercial card-based expenditures.  The product provides online management, control and analysis for users of purchasing cards, travel expense cards and small business cards. The application facilitates real-time card program management allowing organizations to change credit limits, apply for cards or change card details easily.

The ASP (Application Service Provider) approach guarantees rapid implementation and minimizes start-up costs, making it extremely appealing for businesses. Other benefits include the ability to perform cost allocation and financial system integration, tax management and spending analysis across a range of card products.

The application is card association agnostic which allows card issuers a single solution regardless of the card brand. This product enables community bank credit card issuers to pursue the purchase card business of their commercial customers and governmental entities.

“Having an ASP service model is in line with most corporate goals to seek out affordable technology-based solutions that enable them to be competitive in the market,” stated Ted Keith, President and CEO of NEBA. 

NEBA's first user is United Bank of West Virginia.  Stated Tina Smith, Vice President – Bankcard, “United Bank is excited to offer our commercial card customers such a robust online management tool as D.Cal.  Our commercial card customers can view and reconcile all of their transactions online.  D.Cal is one of the best online management tools we've seen in the industry.  Implementation was fast and easy with a low start-up cost.  D.Cal is user friendly and the support provided to us
during implementation and ongoing has been extraordinary.  Having this type of advanced reporting tool is critical to the success of any commercial card program.  We are fortunate that NEBA has partnered with D.Cal and are very excited about the opportunities this has opened up to United.”

The new reporting tool can be an effective way for banks to strengthen their commercial card offering with any size company looking to better manage purchases via a card.

About NEBA
Headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts, New England Bankcard Association (NEBA) was founded in 1969 as one of the twelve original MasterCharge Associations. NEBA provides financial institutions in the U.S. and Caribbean a full range of high- quality credit card issuing, debit card, ATM driving, and merchant acquiring programs, products, and services, as well as the framework, support, and educational assistance banks need to operate profitable, effective programs that promote customer satisfaction and loyalty.

NEBA members have access to the best in card-processing solutions including MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover cards, as well as signature and PIN-based debit cards, and gift and commercial card programs. NEBA’s unique bundled programs, such as Flex for credit cards are designed to speed program implementation and minimize the need to allocate bank resources to a card program. NEBA’s bundled QuickStart program breaks credit card program entry barriers for smaller banks by allowing institutions with as little as $6 million in assets to offer a credit card program. For more information about NEBA’s card and card processing solutions, please visit http://www.neba.com.

About First Data
First Data powers the global economy by making it easy, fast and secure for people and businesses to buy goods and services using virtually any form of electronic payment.  Whether the choice of payment is a gift card, a credit or debit card or a check, First Data securely processes the transaction and harnesses the power of the data to deliver intelligence and insight for millions of merchant locations and thousands of card issuers in 37 countries. For more information, visit www.firstdata.com.

About United Bank
United has been in the Bankcard business since 1969.  In 1998, United introduced a Commercial Card Program to better serve their commercial clients.  United Bankshares, with $8.1 billion in assets, has 114 full-service offices in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. United Bankshares stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the quotation symbol "UBSI". For more information, visit www.ubsi-wv.com.

NEBA Launches Advanced Commercial Card Reporting Tool