Forces and Trends Paper

Essay by tpurifoyUniversity, Master'sA, August 2009

download word file, 4 pages 0.0

University of PhoenixMBA/580: Strategies for Competitive AdvantageSeptember 20, 2007Week 2AbstractThis analysis on TeleCheck was based on the forces and trends in both the remote and industry environment. A detailed description of TeleCheck's forces and trends, the relevance of the forces and trends, and a strategic adaptability for the forces or trends will be presented.

Forces and Trends PaperCompetitive analysis, strategic risk management and scenario planning help a firm gain competitive advantage. Planning tends to help leaders and management distinguish the firm's real vulnerabilities from those that are imagined or marginal. Strategic risk management also helps identify which opportunities are worth the risk, and helps plan contingencies for dealing with disruptions, whether inevitable or almost inconceivable (Laducina, 2005, p. 71). This paper will discuss the forces and trends (consolidation, fraud, and economic cost) drives TeleCheck as a company.

Consolidation - How merchants are forced to have check verification services?TeleCheck Services Inc.

is a Houston unit of First Data Corporation and is one of the leading providers of check verification services. The company compares checks to those in various databases to spot potential fraud. TeleCheck offers a check guarantee service, which warrants that the checks are good and accepts the liability for bad ones. The responsibility for tracking down the customer to collect the funds lies within the corporation. Check handling service providers such as eFunds, Washington Mutual, and Certegy are continuing to consolidate as consumer check volume drops (Wade, 2005, p. 12).

Washington Mutual Inc. cited similar concerns when it eliminated verification services in 2002, a few years after Bank of America Corporation dropped them. The former Bank One Corporation allows merchants to verify check amounts written on their customer's bank accounts, but J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which acquired Bank One, does not allow that.

Fraud - Protection trendPeople using...