Headlines:
Wachovia Picks I-Flex Basel II Software Contactless Test by Japan's JCB Co. Transfirst-Barclays Partnership Remote-Capture Mark for Zions Axalto-Gemplus a Done Deal TRM Secures Refinancing of Its Debt
Wachovia Picks I-Flex Basel II Software
Wachovia Corp. has agreed to use software from the Bombay vendor i-flex solutions ltd. to comply with Basel II rules.
Pete Carlson, Wachovia's director of external reporting and a senior vice president, said in a press release that the Charlotte banking company chose i-flex for its "deep expertise and a detailed understanding of Basel II regulatory capital requirements."
Wachovia will use i-flex's Reveleus Basel II Solution, which monitors credit, market, and operational risk and builds an audit trail. 
Contactless Test by Japan's JCB Co.
The Japanese credit card issuer JCB Co. Ltd. will begin testing its contactless payment software in mobile phones in Amsterdam this fall.
The Tokyo company said the test, announced Monday, will be the first pairing of contactless payments and mobile phones in Europe. JCB will supply software for Nokia Corp. handsets that use contactless chips from Royal Philips Electronics NV of Amsterdam. The phone runs the software that controls the chip.
CCV Holland BV of Arnhem, the Netherlands, will deploy terminals and process transactions; Gemplus International SA of Luxembourg will develop some of the software; Koninklijke KPN NV of The Hague will install the software; Interpay Nederland BV's PaySquare BV of Utrecht, the Netherlands, will be the merchant acquirer; and ViVOtech Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., will deploy contactless readers.
Such tests have taken place in the United States. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Visa U.S.A., and Cingular Wireless LLC began testing a contactless phone payment system at concession stands at Atlanta's Philips Arena in January.
Transfirst-Barclays Partnership
Barclays Bank PLC is working with Transfirst LLC to offer international card processing capabilities to U.S. merchants.
The Dallas processor said the pairing will facilitate online and card-not-present transactions. Merchants in the United States will be able to receive payments in U.S. dollars from Barclays customers abroad, with the latter charged in their local currency.
Barclays and Transfirst are using currency exchange services from E4X Inc. of New York. Chargebacks and returns will be processed using the exchange rate from the date of the original purchase, not the rate when the refund is paid.
Remote-Capture Mark for Zions
Zions Bancorp. said it has processed more than a million remote-capture deposits since October 2004, when the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act took effect.
The Salt Lake City company announced the milestone Thursday. Its eight subsidiary banking companies offer remote-capture services using NetCapture and NetConnect software from Zions' payments technology subsidiary NetDeposit Inc.
Remote capture enables corporate customers to convert checks into digital images and transmit them to a bank for deposit.
Axalto-Gemplus a Done Deal
Axalto Holding NV and Gemplus International SA have completed the merger they announced in December.
The smart card manufacturers merged June 2. They received approval for the merger from the European Commission in May, under the condition that they continue to license patents to competitors for 10 years and provide accompanying support for the technologies.
Axalto, of Amsterdam, has changed its name to Gemalto. Remaining shares of Gemplus, of Luxembourg, can be exchanged at a ratio of two Gemalto shares for 25 Gemplus shares.
TRM Secures Refinancing of Its Debt
The merchant automated teller machine deployer TRM Corp. has completed the refinancing of its debt.
The new loan, for $105 million, will mature in six years and has a blended interest rate of about 5.25% over the London interbank offered rate.
In an April filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, TRM said its auditor had concluded that after incurring a net loss in 2005, the Portland, Ore., company was unable to meet its debt obligations, and it probably will not meet them this year. As a result, TRM's debt could be "callable" before its maturity, and the auditor questioned the company's ability to stay afloat. The announcement last week means that TRM is not in violation of any of its debt obligations.
