CORE PROCESSING / RETAIL

TSYS had the vision in the 1990s to develop a better consumer-processing

platform, TS2, that became the industry’s most adaptable and enduring payment system. The power behind TS2 became the basis for multiple platforms including consumer, retail, debit, government, stored value and commercial cards.

Based on the strength of its brand and a goal of increasing its market share, Sears, Roebuck and Co., in partnership with TSYS, launched its Sears Gold MasterCard^® product in 2000 targeting 7 million Sears card customers. By year-end, the new Sears Gold MasterCard had generated more than $1 billion in receivables. Sears Chairman and CEO Alan J. Lacy said the strategy would be one of the retailer’s key initiatives and represents a significant growth opportunity.

With a combined proprietary and bankcard portfolio of $27 billion and 60 million accounts, Sears is the nation’s largest issuer of retail cards and the sixth largest card issuer overall. To continue to build on its success, the giant retailer recognized the need to expand its card product offerings to better meet the needs of its diverse customer base. In late 1999, Sears began working with TSYS, which was already processing card transactions for Sears retail portfolio, to launch the Sears Gold MasterCard by June 2000.

Knowing that the most successful cards in today’s highly competitive market provide a variety of appeals, Sears wanted the ability to offer discounts and incentives on Sears purchases to promote in-store card use and to expand cardholder utility for purchases outside the family of Sears businesses.

"Sears is using TS2 for what it was designed to do—to quickly develop and launch card programs to meet customers’ needs. Of all the options we make available through TS2, Sears uses about 70 percent of them for its Sears Gold MasterCard. We also customized 77 development projects to support this product, making the card more valuable to the company and its customers,” said TSYS Director of Relationship Management, Jodi Wisor.

The infinite flexibility for one-to-one marketing makes TS2 especially attractive to retailers. It can be dynamically altered according to account behavior, allows for faster speed to market for new products, and includes many other features that help retailers differentiate their brands and compete more effectively. As more and more retailers decide to outsource their retail card processing, TSYS is well positioned to gain their business.

Further proof of the adaptability of TS2 for retail came in late 2000 when TSYS announced a multiyear agreement with Target Stores, the upscale discount retail division of Target Corporation, to process the retailer’s new consumer Visa card. The card is currently being piloted in three major markets and makes possible a unique education program that has generated more than $43 million for schools across the country in just three years.

TS2 allows another TSYS customer, Nordstrom, to offer multiple card programs to its cardholders. TSYS processes Nordstrom’s gift, retail and Visa cards in addition to its rewards program. “Time was of the essence. The features of the TSYS platform helped us make our products more competitive and to do it rapidly. That drove our decision to consolidate all processing on TS2,” said Kevin Knight, Chairman and CEO of Nordstrom fsb.