Two electronic payments companies, NYCE Corp and Magic Line Inc, are to merge, forming one of the biggest US e-payment firms with an expected annual revenue of $100m in the first year. The privately-held companies did not reveal the terms of the merger but said the combined company would continue to offer various electronic payment services – such as telephone-based and browser-based banking and bill payment services – and would together be supporting one-third of the bank-affiliated households in the US. Dennis Lynch, CEO of NYSE, will head the merged company, and John Bascom, president of Magic Line will become executive vice president of the whole company and president of the Midwest regional business unit. The new company is expected to be owned by 12 principle holders, including BankBoston Corp, Bank One Corp and Chase Manhattan Corp. Representatives from the principle owners will serve on the board of the merged company.
