A regular feature of the TMG Blog, Card Services Spotlight provides insight into the card market from a TMG client expert.

Tell us a bit about your background and expertise in card services.

I started working in the credit card department of a community bank in 1975. At that time, the hard copies of the signed drafts were returned to members in their monthly statement. Converting to “descriptive billing,” which required transactions to be described on the statement, was one of the first major conversions I worked on. Projects and conversions have been a big part of my job ever since.

After being involved in a few bank conversions, I joined Santel Credit Union in 1998. We have since gone through a few mergers and conversions and are now California Coast Credit Union, a $1.8 billion dollar institution with 120,000 members.

What are your top three tips for managing a successful card program?

1. Be willing to keep up with changing technology, products and services. Instant issuance of cards at our branch offices is a great service for members.

2. Balance the fine line between risk management and member service.

3. Always keep on top of expense control.

What is your favorite card services tool from TMG?

The Falcon product would be my favorite tool; also I can’t underestimate the value of the support provided from TMG in helping us understand all that Falcon can do to control and manage our fraud. Adding to that, we have been pleased with the support and partnership provided at all levels by TMG for the many projects and conversions we have completed over the past few years.

What do you predict will be your biggest challenge in 2010?

I expect keeping up with counterfeit card fraud and card compromises to continue to be a challenge in 2010.

How do you see the card industry changing over the next five years?

Over the next 5 years, I would expect to see more contactless transactions. We have just issued debit cards with the PayPass feature, and it is starting to take off. As more merchant terminals are upgraded to contactless and the improved security of the contactless transactions over the magnetic stripe transactions is realized, we will see more contactless transactions.