ACCEL/Exchange set a new annual record for total transactions with nearly 960 million transactions processed in 2009 – up nearly 40 percent from 2008. December 2009 also set a new monthly record with more than 97 million transactions -- a year-over-year increase of 36 percent.
Among individual delivery channels, point-of-sale (POS) transactions jumped 37 percent in 2009 to more than 891 million, while ATM transactions increased 19 percent in 2009 to 68 million. Nearly 300 financial institutions joined the ACCEL/Exchange network as new members in 2009, bringing the total membership to almost 2,600 member financial institutions.
“We experienced tremendous growth in 2009, which is a testament to our commitment to provide secure, innovative, dependable and profitable payment solutions to our members,” said Mike Kelly, general manager, ACCEL/Exchange, Fiserv. “2010 promises to be an equally exciting and challenging year as ACCEL/Exchange looks to continue its leadership role in the card payments industry.”
Fiserv introduced several new innovations to the ACCEL/Exchange network in 2009 offering even more payment options for consumer convenience. Internet PIN debit, a software-only service in the U.S. that enables PIN debit payments online was made available to members in November 2009. Additionally, in February 2010 Fiserv rolled-out Convenience Payments, which allows consumers to initiate PIN-less transactions for eligible low-risk, small dollar transactions at qualified merchants. Fiserv saw PIN-less bill payment activity on the ACCEL/Exchange network double in 2009.
2009 also saw significant growth in the number of ACCEL/Exchange ATM locations, today there are more than 265,000 ATM locations nationwide and another nearly 2,400 surchargefree ATMs in Canada. There was also significant growth in the number of point-of-sale locations available to ACCEL/Exchange cardholders, which now includes more than 1.3 million merchant locations across the U.S. at local, regional and national retailers.
An example of the Fiserv core competency in payments, the ACCEL/Exchange Network is part of Card Services from Fiserv, which includes card production, management, processing, authorization, settlement and reporting, as well as a full range of risk management and fraud prevention tools and ATM driving and support. Additionally, Fiserv offers the flexible UChoose Rewards® program designed to increase card activity and grow revenue.
