Bank technology

U.S. financial companies may be overestimating the technical hurdles of adopting the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications, according to payments executives.

Banks have been slow to leverage small-business analytics, but Synovus is cashing in on a fresh intelligence trend.

HSBC Holdings PLC's plans to issue smart credit cards in the Asia-Pacific region that comply with the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications could boost adoption of the security format in most markets, except the U.S., observers said.

Network International LLC has agreed to offer its merchant clients in the United Arab Emirates a foreign exchange payment service from Planet Payment Inc.

Filling out tax forms has long been a labor-intensive chore, but some vendors are now connecting personal financial management software to automated tax-preparation applications.

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The hardware works, and consumers worldwide think it's a cool idea. Still, near-field communication chips have made about zero progress morphing mobile phones into contactless payment tools.

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Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC said Thursday that five banks have agreed to use its processing services.

Fiserv Inc. said Thursday that Mutual of Omaha Bank has implemented 11 Fiserv systems, including online banking and bill pay.

As personal financial management software gains traction at banks, vendors are starting to tinker with its long-established formula.

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U.S. Bancorp has hired Total System Services Inc. to provide card processing services for its consumer-directed health-care benefit cards.

Man pleads guilty to stealing card numbers found on FBI-run forum; the most popular passwords are strings of numbers; memory sticks turning up in the laundry; and more.

To the Editor:
"Contactless Cards Go Untouched" [Jan. 22] outlines the challenges that financial institutions and businesses have faced in implementing and promoting contactless card technology, something that Aite Group's Nick Holland attributes to a poor job of marketing "Tap and Go" to businesses and consumers.

PayPal Inc. helped drive its parent eBay Inc. to its first profit increase in more than a year.

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First Data Corp. is reorganizing its international division as part of an effort to unite the company into a single global organization that can develop and deliver products faster.

A $60M settlement between Visa and Heartland Payment Systems "has many weaknesses," according to lawyers representing Visa card issuers that could have potential claims over the 2009 data breach at the payment processor.

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