Metavante agrees merchant referral deal with First Financial Bank

Headquartered in Hamilton, Ohio, First Financial has 83 banking centers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Metavante has also agreed to purchase First Financial Bank's existing merchant portfolio, resulting in the bank transferring its approximately 1,800 existing merchant relationships to Metavante Merchant Services. First Financial Bank has been aligned with Metavante for point-of-sale (POS) card processing services on a service-bureau basis since 2000. Now, the merchant relationships will be serviced and managed by Metavante, which will continue to process the POS credit card transactions. Going forward, the merchant referral arrangement gives Metavante the opportunity to form new merchant acquiring and servicing relationships with business, retail and commercial clients of all 83 First Financial Bank branch locations

"The opportunity to transfer First Financial's merchant relationships to Metavante is a natural extension of our longstanding relationship between our organizations in a way that allows us to support our client's banking strategies while continuing to deliver the superior service that their merchant customers have come to expect," said Bruce Hopkins, division president, Metavante Acquiring Solutions. "The existing First Financial merchant portfolio will give Metavante Merchant Services direct clients in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana for the first time, including the vibrant Cincinnati market. Within this new territory, the exclusive referral arrangement delivers a very attractive new business opportunity across the geographically expansive First Financial footprint."

Part of Metavante Payment Solutions, Metavante Merchant Services combines MasterCard- and Visa-certified transaction processing with merchant settlement and accounting solutions and a broad range of point-of-sale products and services for both traditional and Web-based merchants.