Headlines:
A.G. Edwards on SunGard: 'Buy'
A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. has raised its rating on SunGard Data Systems Inc. shares to "buy" from "hold."
"At current prices we believe the risk-reward profile is favorable, more so than it has been in some time, as most valuations are at trough levels, presenting us with minimal downside in our opinion," analyst Timothy W. Willi wrote in a note issued Friday to clients.
SunGard shares, which traded above $30 in February, were below $23 at midday Monday. Mr. Willi set a target price of $29.
The Wayne, Pa., company provides disaster recovery services and other software products and services to financial companies.
Wells Adding Carreker Modules
Wells Fargo Bank will use three pieces of check imaging software from Carreker Corp. to evaluate image quality and produce image replacement documents and image-based account statements.
The Wells Fargo & Co. unit is gearing up for the Oct. 28 effective date of the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act.
The bank's image capabilities have been built "primarily but not exclusively" around Carreker products, said Mitch Christensen, the executive vice president of payment strategies at Wells Fargo Services Co. of Scottsdale, Ariz., the banking company's technology division.
Implementation of the quality-assurance software has advanced the furthest, Mr. Christensen said. The goal is to make sure that the San Francisco bank's own scans and those transmitted by other banks are clear enough for processing software to read them, Mr. Christensen said.
Wells has tested Carreker's image quality software extensively to make sure it catches bad images without mistakenly flagging many good ones as bad.
Check 21 will require banks to accept image replacement documents - the printed versions of check images - if presented to them for settlement. Mr. Christensen said that he does not expect heavy volume of those documents, also called IRDs or substitute checks, but that they will play a role as banks shift from paper.
IRDs will be particularly important in the clearing of high-dollar-value checks, the controlled disbursement of corporate checks, and the processing of exception and return items, he said.
"How important are IRDs going to be for the next several years? We think they are going to be pretty important for us."
Wells is already using Carreker image statement software in part of its operation; the newly announced license authorizes its use bankwide.
Wells already sends image-based statements to 70% of its checking customers and wants to convert the rest, though it has no timetable for doing so, Mr. Christensen said. One reason it wants them to switch is that it will no longer get many of the canceled checks it now returns to them; the bank of first deposit will convert them to electronic images.
Wells hopes to have made progress implementing all three pieces of software by the time Check 21 kicks in, but it will take six to 12 months to shift to a fully image-based system, Mr. Christensen said. "I don't think you're going to see much change on Nov. 1," he said.
Wells is gearing up to begin settling checks using an image exchange network sponsored by the Small Value Payments Co. division of the Clearing House Payments Co. of New York. Wells is one of the so-called "vanguard" banks that are on deck to begin transmitting images through that system this year.
