Merger Of Discover Financial Services And Pulse EFT Association Closes Following Pulse Member Approval
January 12, 2005
RIVERWOODS, Illinois and HOUSTON, Texas– January
12, 2005 – Discover Financial Services, a business
unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MWD), and PULSE EFT
Association (PULSE) today announced the completion
of their merger following approval of the merger
agreement by PULSE's financial institution members.
The merger joins PULSE®
and its 4,100 member banks, credit unions and
savings institutions with Discover®
Network and its 4 million merchant and cash access
locations to create a new competitor in the electronic
payments field.
“It's a new day in electronic
payments,” said David W. Nelms, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Discover Financial Services.
“We believe that the combination of PULSE's experience
in debit and Discover's signature capabilities
will enable us to offer additional choices in
the important and growing debit market and offer
a highly appealing alternative to serve financial
institutions, merchants and consumers.”
“The
approval of this agreement by PULSE's members
demonstrates that financial institutions recognize
the strong benefits of combining the PULSE and
Discover networks to establish a new choice for
electronic payment products and services,” said
Stan Paur, PULSE President and Chief Executive
Officer. “Our combined entity will be able to
provide financial institutions of every size and
type with a full-service debit platform and a
comprehensive set of products, including credit,
signature debit, PIN debit, gift card, stored
value card and ATM services.”
PULSE is
becoming a business unit of Discover Financial
Services and is retaining its brand, pricing and
operating platform as well as its management team,
staff and Houston headquarters.
PULSE
and Discover Financial Services are expected to
offer new products later this year that utilize
the strengths of both partners. The merger also
establishes a strong foundation for expanding
the reach of both networks.
“This partnership
more than doubles Discover Financial Services'
transaction volume and number of cards in the
U.S. marketplace, forming what we believe is a
solid platform for growth and providing us with
a gateway to 4,100 financial institution partners,”
Nelms added.
About Discover Financial
Services
Discover Financial Services, a business
unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MWD), operates the
Discover Card and the Discover Network for its
more than 50 million Cardmembers. The Discover
Network is the largest proprietary credit card
network in the United States with more than 4
million merchant and cash access locations. For
more information visit www.discovercard.com or
www.discovernetwork.com.
About PULSE
PULSE is one of the nation's leading ATM/debit
networks currently serving more than 4,100 banks,
credit unions and savings institutions across
the country. The network links an estimated 90
million cardholders with more than 250,000 ATMs
and 3.3 million POS terminals at retail locations
nationwide. In recent years, PULSE has become
known as a valued resource for consumer research
related to EFT services and an effective national
voice on public policy issues relevant to the
financial services industry. For more information,
visit www.pulse-eft.com.
Howard Frazier
Barker Elliott, Inc. acted as financial advisor
to PULSE in the transaction.
Morgan Stanley
acted as financial advisor to Discover Financial
Services in the transaction.