Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Wednesday, June 19, 199

Wells Fargo & Co., Royal Bank of Canada and Dean Witter Discover & Co.'s Novus Services are the first to use the system and will offer it to merchants. The system is the first one based on technology developed by Visa International Inc. and MasterCard International Inc. that scrambles the credit card numbers when they are sent across the Internet, thwarting fraud.

Founded in Hawaii and now based in Redwood City, Calif., VeriFone has a research facilities on Oahu and the Big Island.

The company makes the terminals that verify credit card transactions at retail outlets.

But while these sectors have seen improvement, housing sales in the state are still soft, the report said.

The state's unemployment rate is at its lowest level in five years, with businesses throughout the state generating jobs at twice the national rate, the San Francisco-based bank said in a report issued this week.

Leading the way are jobs in retail trade, construction and electronics manufacturing.

Taxable sales were up for the second year in a row, according to the report. They rose 5.1 percent in 1994 and 5.2 percent in 1995. That contrasts with declines in 1991 and 1993, and with a small gain in 1992.

The moves, which follow price cuts by rivals Kellogg Co. and Philip Morris Cos., are expected to reduce the No. 2 cereal maker's fiscal 1997 earnings by about $30 million to $35 million, or 20 cents a share.

The lower prices and bigger packages will affect 20 brands representing about 42 percent of the company's cereal volume. The company said it expects the cuts to show up on grocery shelves by early July.

Hyatt, which is affiliated with 171 hotels around the world, will be a part owner of the hotel with Transcontinental Corp. and will develop and manage it.

The Mediterranean-themed hotel, which will include a 10,000-square-foot casino, will have 500 rooms built down a terraced hillside overlooking the lake, the company said.