Accel (formerly known as the ACCEL/Exchange Network) is a North American

interbank network An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network that enables ATM cards issued by a financial institution that is a member of the network to be used to perform ATM transactions through ATMs that belon ...

owned by

Fiserv Fiserv, Inc. () is an American multinational company headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin that provides financial technology services to clients across the financial services sector, including: banks, thrifts, credit unions, securities broker ...

. It connects over 412,000

automatic teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fund ...

s (ATMs) in all 50 states in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The network also has a small number of ATMs in certain U.S.

Air Force Base An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

s around the world, and over 3.3 million

electronic funds transfer Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is the electronic transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems, without the direct intervention of b ...

at point-of-sale locations.

History

*1985: Accel was founded, by major banks in the Northwest of the United States, primarily as an

network. *1991: Accel began a business partnership with The Exchange network creating ACCEL/Exchange. *In the 1990s most banks in the Pacific Northwest were part of this network including

Seafirst Bank Seafirst Corporation was an American bank holding company based in Seattle, Washington. Its banking subsidiary, Seafirst Bank, was the largest bank in Washington, with 235 branches and 497 ATMs across the state. Formed in 1929 via the merger ...

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

US Bank U.S. Bancorp (stylized as us bancorp) is an American bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and incorporated in Delaware. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, and is the fifth largest banking institution ...

, First Interstate Bank, Puget Sound Bank,

Rainier Bank Rainier Bancorporation was the Seattle-based parent corporation of Rainier National Bank, a Washington state bank with branches throughout the state. Rainier traced its roots back to the National Bank of Commerce, which was founded by Richard Ho ...

Security Pacific Security Pacific National Bank (SPNB) was a large U.S. bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was acquired by Bank of America in 1992. History On September 1, 1868, Hellman, Temple and Co. opened their first bank branch in Los ...

, Key Bank and West One Bank. Since then, bank mergers caused some banks to leave the Accel/Exchange network. Now only Key Bank is part of Accel/Exchange when it comes to major banks in the Northwest. *2013: In April, the company streamlined the name from "ACCEL/Exchange" to simply "Accel," a result of a repositioning of the debit payment network, and a reflection of its current "ability to accelerate funds transfers across retail, biller and social person-to-person payments.

The Exchange Network

Accel's Canadian counterpart The Exchange Network (stylized as THE EXCHANGE) is operated by FICANEX, a

limited partnership A limited partnership (LP) is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership except that while a general partnership must have at least two general partners (GPs), a limited partnership must have at least one GP and at least one limited ...

of several Canadian banks and credit unions which licenses "The Exchange" branding and intellectual property from Fiserv. The Exchange Network includes over 3,300 ATMs serving customers of 170 financial institutions—primarily credit unions and online banks but also including smaller banks such as the

National Bank of Canada The National Bank of Canada (french: Banque Nationale du Canada) is the sixth largest commercial bank in Canada. It is headquartered in Montreal, and has branches in most Canadian provinces and 2.4 million personal clients. National Bank is the ...

and

Canadian Western Bank Canadian Western Bank (CWB; french: Banque canadienne de l'Ouest), also operating as CWB Financial Group, is a Canadian bank based in Edmonton, Alberta. The bank serves clients both in Western Canada and in other provinces. The CWB Financial Gr ...

. The Exchange Network is not used for debit payment processing in Canada, as all Canadian debit cards use the

Interac Interac is a Canadian interbank network that links financial institutions and other enterprises for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. Interac serves as the Canadian debit card system and the predominant funds tra ...

network for

EFTPOS Electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS; ) is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS t ...

debit transaction, but most Exchange debit cards can be used for debit purchases through the Accel network in the United States.

References

External links

Accel (United States)The Exchange (Canada)
Interbank networks {{Canada-company-stub