TeleCheck Services Inc., the Houston-based check acceptance service, has acquired Quickcard Systems Inc., Kimberton, PA. This will enable the check acceptance service to accept checks over the phone now that they have Quickcard's existing technology.
TeleCheck officials would not disclose the terms of the deal.
“The product technology that Quickcard has developed fits very well with TeleCheck's business initiatives,” said TeleCheck CEO Steve Shaper. “The acquisition is a major step in making TeleCheck a leader in electronic check innovations.”
TeleCheck, which provides check guarantee verification and collection services, now processes checks electronically. With Electronic Check Acceptance paper checks will be converted into electronic items at the point of sale. The consumer will sign a receipt to authorize the electronic transaction, and the paper check is returned to the consumer.
Quickcard's check service is used by catalog companies, direct marketers, publishers, shopping channels and other companies that take telephone orders and enable consumers to pay for goods and services by check.
“This agreement with TeleCheck provides us with a way to expand the marketing and distribution of our checks accepted by phone and related products,” said Ronald F. Dans, president and CEO of Quickcard. “And it gives us the opportunity to develop new technology in the electronic check arena.”
The 24 employees of Quickcard will remain in Kimberton.
Quickcard became the first company to provide a check acceptance service over the phone in 1985. Its proprietary SmartAccount, bank-rule database verifies the validity of checking account numbers and formats them according to bank specifications.
