Deluxe Corporation history

In 1916 Hotchkiss succeeded in tapping the metropolitan market with contracts from both the People's Bank and the Western State Bank of St Paul.

By 1918 the company's sales had soared to $18,961 and Hotchkiss issued his first catalog.

In 1920 Swanson and Hotchkiss incorporated as DeLuxe Check Printers, Inc. and became equal partners.

In 1922 he developed one of the first small pocket checks--nicknamed the LH, or "Little Handy"&mdashø complement the larger, end-register-style business check.

The program was guided not by Hotchkiss but by George McSweeney, a former Deluxe paper supplier hired by the company in 1932 expressly for the task of building a sales force and boosting revenue.

LH orders had multiplied from 1,000 in 1938 to 100,000 and would continue to grow exponentially.

McSweeney also directed his sales force to refocus attention on serving rural banks; by 1939, this segment had grown to represent 58 percent of Deluxe's annual revenue.

In 1940 Deluxe saw sales surpass $1 million.

By 1960 it had contracted for a portion of sales with 99 percent of the country's commercial banks.

McSweeney's successor, Joe Rose, was faced with dire predictions that a checkless society would be a reality by 1970.

By 1979 sales had risen to $366 million and net income to $39 million.

As recently as 1985, check printing accounted for 96 percent of Deluxe's sales.

Finally, Deluxe Electronic Payment Systems, Inc. grew out of the 1986-acquired A.O. Smith Data Systems and concentrated on electronic funds transfer services.

In 1988, the company incorporated and changed its name to Deluxe Corporation.

In 1990 ACH Systems was acquired to bolster the company's electronic funds transfer operation.

Deluxe Payment Protection Systems included account verification (ChexSystems), check authorization (SCAN), and collection agency (National Revenue) services, as well as the TheftNet employee screening service run by Deluxe Employment Screening Partners, Inc., a new subsidiary established in 1996.

Deluxe acquired small business services provider New England Business Service in 2004.

In 2020, McCarthy created a new management team, including the company's first-ever chief revenue officer, and instituted a new organizational structure.