Bank technology

Tier Technologies Inc. has sold its government business process outsourcing unit, the latest in a series of divestitures aimed at focusing the company on its electronic payments operations.

Sungard Data Systems Inc. has hired NCR Corp.'s chief information officer Donald H. Hopkins to be the CIO of its Availability Services Unit.

Payments executives are weighing whether to meld three formats for converting checks into automated clearing house transactions.

Jack Henry & Associates Inc. has sold its insurance agency outsourcing business to the unit's management team and a private-equity group.

KleinBank, of Big Lake, Minn., has agreed to use consumer and business banking software from Online Resources Corp.

Capital One Financial Corp.'s conclusion of two cobranded decoupled debit card programs in May was initially viewed by many as a sign that the McLean, Va., company had lost interest in this emerging market.

Citigroup Inc. said Thursday that it has hired Marty Lippert to be its chief information officer and corporate operations and technology chief operating officer.

After facing stiff opposition from consumer groups and regulators, eBay Inc. is reversing its stance on requiring Australian users to pay for most purchases through its PayPal Inc.

Shares in Fidelity National Information Services Inc. fell Thursday after an analyst downgraded the stock, citing its limited growth potential.

Fiserv Inc.'s deal to sell a 51% stake in its insurance business is the latest in a series of transactions designed to sharpen its focus on financial technology and payments.

Citigroup Inc., aiming to build on its existing role as a commercial customer authenticator, plans to begin offering a service in which it acts as verifier of customers' digital identities to third parties.

West Texas National Bank has cut its costs and improved customer service by switching to an Internet telephone system, but the bigger benefit, an executive said, was making employees feel connected to each other.

Viewpointe LLC, which mainly serves large banks, is making its image exchange system accessible to very small financial companies.

Lender Processing Services Inc.'s stock will join the S&P midcap 400 index when the mortgage servicing company spins off from Fidelity National Information Services Inc. this week, Standard & Poor's Corp. said last week.

NCR Corp. is preparing to test a biometric voice authentication system that would let people withdraw money from automated teller machines without their ATM cards.