March 22, 2000
First Federal Savings of Alpena has partnered with the Michigan Retailers Association (MRA) to provide credit card processing for the bank's customers.
The agreement is part of MRA's year-old program to offer low-cost credit card processing services to business customers of community banks in Michigan. More than 25 community banks now participate in the program, which is an extension of the bankcard service MRA has been providing member retailers for more than three decades.
First Federal has six branches, located in Alpena, Cheboygan, Mio, Oscoda and Ossineke.
"Through MRA we are able to offer top-quality bankcard service at a low price that we couldn't offer otherwise," said Jerry Tracey, First Federal's vice president of commercial services. "This partnership allows our business customers to take advantage of MRA's volume discount and experienced customer support."
MRA is the nation's oldest non-bank credit card processor and the only one in Michigan to process transactions for all four major cards: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.
MRA's community bank partnerships benefit both parties, according to Larry Meyer, chief executive officer of MRA. "The banks can give their business clients a key service at a lower cost than would be possible on their own, and MRA is able to expand participation in the bankcard program and pass on even greater cost savings to participants because of increased volume," Meyer said.
The Michigan Retailers Association is the unified voice of retailing in Michigan and the nation's largest state trade association of general merchandise retailers. MRA's more than 5,000 retail business members operate more than 12,000 stores across the state.