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The Pulse electronic funds transfer network's agreement with Interac, Canada's lone debit card network, is part of a global strategy to increase ATM acceptance of the Diners Club card, David R. Schneider, Pulse president, tells ATM&Debit News.
"First and foremost, the agreement is to support the Diners Club network," Schneider says. Pulse's parent, Discover Financial Services LLC, purchased Diners Club International from Citigroup Inc. in April 2008 for $165 million.
Diners Club cardholders began withdrawing cash from some Canadian ATMs in July, Allen Wright, Interac vice president of products, tells ATM&Debit News. In October, Discover credit and Pulse debit cardholders will be able to withdraw cash from participating Canadian ATMs.
Under the agreement, Diners Club withdrawals initially are routed over Interac's network before Interac switches them to Houston-based Pulse.
Previously, the transactions would go over MasterCard's Cirrus international ATM network.
Diners Club cardholders currently can withdraw money from 8,000, or 14%, of Canada's 57,864 ATMs using the Interac/Pulse connection. Pulse is holding discussions with Canada's ATM acquirers to increase machine access, Schneider says. Interac says the agreement will drive incremental transaction revenue for Canadian acquirers.
Extending Discover card's ATM access also is a goal of the agreement, Schneider says. "Discover does not have a global footprint," he says.
But Discover acceptance is growing. Discover cards are accepted in China as part of a reciprocal agreement with China UnionPay, the country's bankcard network. Under that agreement, Pulse agreed to accept UnionPay cards in the U.S., and Discover cardholders could use their cards at UnionPay's 365,000 merchant locations and 80,000 ATMs in China.
In 2006, Morgan Stanley, Discover's owner at the time, signed a similar agreement with JCB, Japan's largest credit card issuer.
Discover also has targeted other countries. Last month, Venture Infotek Global Pvt. Ltd., an Indian processor, signed a long-term merchant deal to acquire Diners Club and Discover transactions. And in March, Multipay AG, a Swiss company, agreed to acquire and process transactions for Diners Club and Discover credit cards.
Diners Club International was founded in 1949, becoming the nation's first independent credit card issuer.
Pulse's agreement with Interac does not include point-of-sale terminal access, and it does not permit Interac debit cardholders access to Pulse's 289,000 ATMs in the U.S. and more than 600,000 worldwide, Schneider says, noting that discussions are ongoing. ATM
