Headlines:
A Tennessee Vendor Buys PTC's Assets Echo Hires a CIO, Altering Its Strategy Enterprise to Use Product from Mitek Retail Credit Installs Software from Fiserv
A Tennessee Vendor Buys PTC's Assets
Private Business Inc., a Brentwood, Tenn., financial technology company, has pushed further into the banking industry by buying the assets of PTC Banking Systems Inc., a Bradenton, Fla., teller-automation software developer.
The purchase was announced Wednesday. Private Business did not say how much it paid.
Private Business plans to integrate PTC's software, including its flagship product, WinTeller, into its own products for community banks and middle-market companies.
Kjell Purnell, the president and chief executive of PTC, said in the press release announcing the acquisition that he expects to join Private Business' management team.
Last month it paid $6.9 million in cash and stock for Captiva Solutions LLC, an Atlanta core data and item processing services provider that was formed last year. As part of that deal, Captiva chief executive Lynn Boggs, became the CEO of Private Business. (Before joining Captiva, Mr. Boggs had been the president and chief operating officer of the Atlanta core and item processing outsourcer InterCept Inc., which Fidelity National Financial Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., acquired in 2004.)
In the press release, Mr. Boggs called the PTC acquisition "another step in our plan to provide a full-product suite to community financial institutions."
PTC had 80 financial customers in the United States.
Private Business, founded in 1990, offers core data processing, accounts receivable financing, cash management, financial accounting tools, electronic image/item processing, and online debt collections software.
Echo Hires a CIO, Altering Its Strategy
Electronic Clearing House Inc. has a new chief information officer and plans to hire several other executives to implement a new sales strategy.
The Camarillo, Tex., payment processor hired William Wied as its CIO on Wednesday. He was the director of software technology for TransCore LP, a Scottsdale, Ariz., unit of Roper Industries Inc. that sells radio frequency identification systems.
Echo said it wants to hire four to five salespeople to market check, credit, and debit card processing services to online merchants, catalogue retailers, television infomercial sales companies, and other companies that accept cards for card-not-present payments. Such transactions carry higher margins than card-present purchases, according to Echo, which processes both types of transactions.
The company also said that it wants to expand its business model by selling its services through third parties, and that it is looking for a senior vice president of sales to oversee its entire marketing strategy. It is evaluating several candidates and hopes to hire someone within 90 days.
Charles J. Harris, Echo's president and chief operating officer, said in a press release that the new strategy "best leverages our strengths and current market opportunities and allows us to create a more effective and aggressive sales strategy."
For its last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, Echo posted $55.6 million of revenue: $41.1 million from its bank card business and $14.5 million from check-related businesses. This fiscal year it expects overall revenue to grow 17% to 24%, bank card revenue to grow 18% to 25%, and check-related revenue to grow 15% to 22%.
It also expects to post net income of $1.5 million to $2.5 million for this fiscal year.
Enterprise to Use Product from Mitek
Enterprise Financial Services Corp. of Clayton, Mo., has agreed to use anti-fraud software from the San Diego image analytics and character recognition company Mitek Systems Inc.
Mitek announced the deal Thursday.
The banking company's Enterprise Bank and Trust will use Mitek's FraudProtect System, which uses image analysis software to detect counterfeit checks and forged signatures.
Enterprise Bank, which has more than $2 billion of assets and more than 3,000 business customers, will continue to use item processing software from Bisys Group Inc. of New York.
Retail Credit Installs Software from Fiserv
Retail Credit Solutions LLC, of Bannockburn, Ill., has agreed to use software from Fiserv Credit Processing Services to manage private-label credit card accounts.
Fiserv Credit, a Lake Mary, Fla., unit of the Brookfield, Wis., banking technology and outsourcing provider Fiserv Inc., announced the deal this week.
Retail Credit, which focuses on the small and midsize retail markets, will use the Fiserv Plus System, which manage retailers' applications, billing, collections, and customer service.
The software makes it possible for retailers to "control their receivables, yet not have to manage them or invest in the infrastructure or personnel to compete effectively in today's highly competitive market," Dave Merrick, Fiserv Credit's vice president of sales, said in a press release.
