Headlines:
Metavante Confirms It's Buying NuEdge Clearing House Unveils Product Tier Unit Re-Ups Deal with Wisonsin Wachovia Receiving Images from the Fed
Metavante Confirms It's Buying NuEdge
Metavante Corp. has agreed to acquire the customer relationship management software maker NuEdge Systems LLC from the credit bureau Experian Inc., a Metavante spokesman confirmed.
The application for approval of the sale was reported Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in the Federal Register. The price was not disclosed.
Metavante, the technology subsidiary of the Milwaukee banking company Marshall & Ilsley Corp., has been marketing NuEdge's products under a deal worked out last year. NuEdge, of Waukesha, Wis., offers a campaign management system that augments Metavante's customer relationship management products and services.
Metavante's other acquisitions this year include the electronic funds transfer company NYCE Corp. of Montvale, N.J., and the check-image software maker Advanced Financial Solutions Inc. of Oklahoma City.
Frank R. Martire, Metavante's president and chief executive, had said in a recent interview that his company was "not interested in acquiring a lot of competitive products," but "we're always looking for the right acquisition."
Clearing House Unveils Product
The Clearing House Payments Co. has rolled out the successor to the SVPCo EDIBANX online adjustments platform.
The new version, SVPCo CheckView Online Adjustments, allows banks to interact online instead of with paper forms when submitting check adjustments.
These adjustments have traditionally been the bane of the check processing system; many bankers say they are the most costly items to handle because they often have to be processed manually. Clearing House Payments said that by removing the paperwork the new system could cut the adjustment processing cycle by days, and adjustments could potentially be settled the same day they are submitted.
Estee Dempster, first vice president of ABN Amro La Salle Bank of Chicago, said in Clearing House Payments' Wednesday press release, "The automation of the adjustment process has significantly improved the way we handle adjustment claims."
Like its predecessor, the new version of the adjustment system can be used by any bank with Internet access, the company said. The platform was developed by the Chicago Clearing House Association before that outfit was acquired in November 2003 by what is now Clearing House Payments. It has been used primarily in the Midwest but is now being marketed nationwide, Clearing House Payments said.
Tier Unit Re-Ups Deal with Wisonsin
Official Payments Corp., a processor that focuses on government agencies, said Wednesday that it had renewed a contract with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
Wisconsin residents can use a credit card to pay 16 types of individual and business taxes through Official Payments' Internet and telephone service. Official Payments is a subsidiary of Tier Technologies Inc. of Reston, Va. The vendor first began offering this service to the state in 2001.
James Weaver, the chairman and chief executive of Tier Technologies, said he was "delighted" that Wisconsin had renewed the agreement.
Wachovia Receiving Images from the Fed
Wachovia Corp. said Wednesday that it has started receiving digital check image files from the Federal Reserve banks using software from Advanced Financial Solutions.
Advanced's xVision product lets the Charlotte banking company send and receive truncated check information using electronic check presentment files, with the full image of the check following in a later file. Advanced, of Oklahoma City, is a unit of Metavante Corp., the technology subsidiary of the Milwaukee banking company Marshall & Ilsley Corp.
With the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act taking effect Oct. 28, many banks are setting up systems that will allow them to send and receive digital check images. They will continue to process a large number of paper checks, however, so they are being careful to implement technology that does not alter the paper-based processing infrastructure that has been in place for years.
Peter Frank, Wachovia's senior vice president for operating services, said in a press release, "This establishes the foundation for our Check 21 strategy, while leaving our paper-based check processing systems unchanged."
