Headlines:
Harland to Take $8M Charge
John H. Harland Co. said it will take a charge of $7.9 million, or an estimated 18 cents a share, against third-quarter earnings for scaling back a customer-care project in its printed products business.
The project was mean to improve systems that support sales, marketing, and customer service. But the Atlanta check printer said Monday in a regulatory filing that its directors had decided that upgrading some systems would be more economical than developing new ones. The project will now cost $57 million instead of $65 million to $70 million, the previous estimate.
In July, when Harland reported second-quarter earnings, it said it expected third-quarter profit to come in at 47 to 52 cents a share. It now expects to report a profit at the top of that range or a bit higher, excluding the charge.
More Protection from PayPal
PayPal Inc., the payments subsidiary of eBay Inc., said Thursday that it had doubled the buyer protection it offers to eBay users who spend up to $1,000 on certain transactions.
The service reimburses PayPal users who lose money when they win a fraudulent auction. Buyer Protection can be used on 80% of the auctions listed on the San Jose company's auction site and is free to all PayPal users.
When the Buyer Protection service had its U.S. rollout in October 2003, the limit for reimbursements was $500. PayPal then expanded it to the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany, where eBay is also popular.
The service is available only when the online seller has extremely positive feedback from prior auctions.
PayPal said the protection limit increase was done was in preparation for the holiday season, but analysts say the move may not be necessary.
Image Checker from Mitek
Mitek Systems Inc. has introduced an image quality analysis tool that will allow banks to verify digital check images.
The Poway, Calif., technology vendor also said that Harland Financial Solutions would incorporate the ImageScore software into Harland's image-based check processing product, CheckQuest.
With the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act scheduled to take effect later this month, banks are becoming increasingly aware of the need to ensure that the digital files they create from paper checks can be easily read by other banks.
"It has become even more important that we have a solid image-exchange strategy in place," said Bill Zayas, a senior vice president at Harland, of Atlanta, a wholly owned subsidiary of John H. Harland Co.
Mitek's ImageScore product can determine whether a check image can be read by evaluating whether any critical data, such as the signature, date, or payment amount, are missing. By quickly spotting these potential problems, banks will be able to reduce the cost of processing exceptions, the company said.
