Headlines:
CIBC Tightens Rules on Internal Faxes Jack Henry Enters New Business Line CUs Installing Open Solutions Package New Stock Buyback Program for Fiserv
CIBC Tightens Rules on Internal Faxes
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has ordered its branches to stop sending each other business-related faxes that may contain confidential customer data.
The directive, issued Friday, came in response to published reports that a scrapyard owner in West Virginia has been receiving faxes from the bank that include customer data. According to the Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail, CIBC has been sending fund transfer request forms to the scrapyard since 2001.
The bank said in a press release Friday, "Effective immediately, we are instructing our branches to cease transmission of all internal faxes containing client information. This information will be transmitted to central processing operations via secure internal courier systems and by direct telephone conversation."
Jack Henry Enters New Business Line
Jack Henry & Associates Inc.'s latest acquisition presents almost no cross-selling opportunities but opens up a new line of business for the banking services outsourcing provider.
Last week Jack Henry announced that it had purchased Optinfo Inc., a Charlotte vendor of reconciliation and exception processing software, on Nov. 23. Jack Henry did not say how much it paid.
The Optinfo software suite is "a product that we can sell outside of our core base, but it also opens the door to some larger institutions, which in effect become a new market for Jack Henry," Jack F. Prim, Jack Henry's chief executive, said in a phone interview last week. "The vast majority of our current customers" do not need reconciliation processing software.
Jack Henry has been trying to expand its offerings beyond the scope of products that appeal to its current customers, he said. This year it has bought the Lake Forest, Calif., biometric technology firm Verinex Technologies Inc. and the Norwood, Mass., automated teller machine management software vendor e-ClassicSystems Inc.
CUs Installing Open Solutions Package
Open Solutions Inc. is upgrading a quintet of customers to a new application.
The Glastonbury, Conn., core processing software said last week that five Minnesota credit unions that have been using the FiTech Systems Manager Gold system have agreed to install its Complete Credit Union Solution software.
The new core processing package handles retail transactions and management operations in real time.
The credit unions are Heartland Credit Union of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota Mutual Cos. Credit Union of St. Paul, Real Financial Credit Union of Edina, Red Wing Credit Union, and South Metro Federal Credit Union of Prior Lake.
Dean Wickstrom, the president of Real Financial, said in a press release issued by Open Solutions last week that he expects the new technology to help him attract new customers.
"We are in an increasingly aggressive market that is constantly changing. It is imperative to stay current with technology," he said.
New Stock Buyback Program for Fiserv
Fiserv Inc. could soon be buying back some of its stock.
The Brookfield, Wis., banking technology outsourcing vendor said last week that its board had authorized the purchase of 8.3 million common shares. It had approved the purchase of 4.9 million in 1999 and has since acquired 4.2 million under that program.
Fiserv is now authorized to buy 9 million shares, or about 4.6% of the total outstanding.
The stock price has fluctuated between $32 and $40 a share for the past year, except for a brief spike to $41 in April.
