Bank technology

At least four mobile transfer systems are set to go live in the next few months, enabling people to send one another cash with their phones.

IMGCAP(1)]

Count the merchant acquirer First American Payment Systems LP among the U.S. payment processors looking abroad for growth.

More alphabets used in domain names may create more opportunity for scammers; evaluating virus-testing websites; Twitter bans some obvious (and not so obvious) passwords.

Fiserv said Monday that Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union in California has begun offering the Brookfield, Wis., vendor's mobile money transfer system.

The Austin company said the customers, all credit unions, have agreed to use its customizable MoneyTracker PFM software at their banking Web sites.

IMGCAP(1)]

Price reductions could spark demand for cards that display one-time passcodes. Companies such as Innovative Card Technologies Inc. hope the increasing use of online banking, combined with growing awareness of fraud, persuades more consumers to use the cards, which generate a new passcode every minute or so.

Liberty Tax Service Inc. said Republic Bancorp Inc. in Louisville has agreed to offer refund-anticipation loans and electronic refund checks to customers at 90% of Liberty's locations.

Though analyst projections and spending totals differ depending on the definition of what constitutes an IT investment, they all paint a trendline of slow or stagnant growth.

Albert Gonzalez pleaded guilty to charges that he stole data on 130 million credit and debit cards from Heartland Payment Systems Inc., 7-Eleven Inc., Delhaize Group's Hannaford Brothers Co. and two unnamed national retailers.

IMGCAP(1)]

The card company Discover Financial Services Inc. has extended through 2015 an information technology outsourcing agreement with International Business Machines Corp.

An online payment start-up, WePay Inc., has raised $1.65 million from the venture capital firm August Capital in Menlo Park, Calif., and a group of angel investors, including Max Levchin, a co-founder of PayPal Inc., the TechCrunch blog reported last week.

The new year may bring the long-predicted "cashless society" closer to reality as several large grocery chains test no-checks policies.

On Wednesday the company announced an initiative to promote what it is calling "payment-enabled media" — terminals with video screens that can stream news programs or other entertainment, support online features and deliver advertising.

Cybersecurity jobs at a premium; settlement for Countrywide customers in data breach; security trends for 2010 include email attachments and fake anti-virus software; and more.

IMGCAP(1)]

Moneta Corp., an online alternative-payment processor, is introducing a new way for its bank customers to use its automated clearing house payment rails — for credit charges.

Consumers — particularly younger ones who may never have touched a check register — are increasingly expecting a more interactive online presentation of their finances. And banks find that PFM provides vital data — a more complete view of a person's financial life — that can help them cross-sell.