KeyBank made the strategic decision to bolster its payments business last year and begin self-issuing credit cards. At that time, Key purchased a $725 million Key-branded credit card portfolio from Elan Financial Services. KeyBank has selected TSYS' TS2® platform to convert the portfolio and issue new cards going forward. In addition, KeyBank has contracted with TSYS to provide fraud prevention and risk management services to bank clients. TSYS' past success with KeyBank involved a smaller portfolio acquisition conversion to the TSYS Program Solutions (TPS) platform in 2012. The TPS platform currently provides a broad group of services for KeyBank, including account processing, portfolio management and optimization, fraud prevention, risk management, and full customer support.

"As we move aggressively toward expanding our presence in the consumer credit card market, we need a partner who can provide us with strong card industry insight, flexibility and speed-to-market," said Beth Mooney, KeyCorp chairman and chief executive officer. "TSYS has already demonstrated their ability to meet our needs for a turnkey solution, and we are confident they are a good fit for KeyBank."

"We welcome this opportunity to expand our partnership with one of the most respected regional banks in the Midwest," said Bill Pruett, president of North America services, TSYS. "This agreement strengthens our commitment to regional banks like KeyBank, as they look to grow and improve the overall experience for their customer base by providing more options to satisfy their growing needs."

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.