Bank technology shares followed a jittery stock market last week as the dollar rebounded Friday after steep declines against other major currencies.
The equity and bond markets strengthened late in the week as the dollar started to climb against the German mark and the Japanese yen, thus allaying investors' fears that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates once again.
Shares of Fair, Isaac & Co. rose sharply after Prudential Securities said Thursday it had upgraded the maker of credit-scoring software from "hold" to "buy."
San Rafael, Calif.-based Fair, Isaac has seen its stock ride a roller coaster since peaking at $57.25 late last year. After going as low as $35, its common stock closed at $42 a share Friday, up $4.50 for the week.
First Data Corp. announced Thursday that its shareholder-services unit had completed its pending agreement with Allmerica Financial to acquire the 440 Financial Group, a provider of mutual fund services.
In addition to the purchase of 440 Financial for an undisclosed sum, Allmerica will also outsource its retirement-services processing to First Data, company officials said.
Robert F. Radin, president of Hackensack, N.J.-based First Data's Shareholder Services Group, said the deal would increase his unit's annual revenues of $200 million by about 15%.
First Data's common stock closed at $51.75 a share Friday, down $1.125 for the week.
Outsourcing firm Affiliated Computer Services Inc. announced Last week that it had finalized its agreement to take over the check-processing operations of Nationar, a trust company seized by the New York State Banking Department last month.
Under the agreement, Affiliated Computer will provide item-processing services to more than 310 banks, thrifts, and credits unions in 40 states, processing over 20 million items a month. Clearing, settlement, and payable-through services will be provided by Extebank, based in Stony Brook, N.Y.
"This contract represents a significant expansion of our customer base in the Northeast and will facilitate the delivery of other ACS services to financial institutions in the region," said Darwin Deason, chief executive officer of Dallas-based Affiliated Computer.
Payments processor National Data Corp. said it had signed an agreement to provide electronic data interchange and funds transfer services to Federal Liaison Services Inc., a leading developer of payroll tax- withholding software.
Under the agreement, large corporations that use Federal Liaison's software will now be able to transmit the files to National Data, which then electronically sends payments and documents to the appropriate tax authority, company officials said.
