Bank technology

Metavante Corp. has struck a deal to use bill payment technology from Yodlee Inc. that will let consumers use credit and debit cards to pay bills through a bank's Web site.

The average daily check image volume last month on the SVPCO Image Payments Network rose 17.5% from September, to 4.7 million items.

Amid a maturing market for online banking technology, some leading vendors are taking steps that could have them competing more directly for customers.

Merrill Lynch & Co. chief executive E. Stanley O'Neal said the firm is considering increasing its Internet banking by adding to its existing operations or by making "small acquisitions" or striking partnerships.

The air courier company AirNet Systems Inc. reported a steep drop Tuesday in volume of paper check deliveries during the third quarter as more banks shifted to image exchange systems.

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Nacha, the electronic payments association, has released educational materials to help banks and merchants prepare for a new payments format that will let businesses convert paper checks into automated clearing house payments in their back offices.

Royal Bank of Canada has agreed to use software from Transaction Systems Architects Inc. to facilitate its planned transition to smart-card technology for debit and credit cards.

The biometric payments company Solidus Networks Inc. has struck a deal to make Citigroup Inc. its exclusive financial partner in Singapore.

Nexity Bank plans to expand its correspondent banking business by offering outsourced core processing to the community banks that use its other services.

When it comes to technology spending, community bankers are paying less attention to buying the latest products and services and are devoting more resources to keeping customers' information safe, a survey found.

S1 Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. are offering a combination of hardware and software that they say would enable banks to cut their branch automation expenses.

The terminal maker VeriFone Holdings Inc. says it is helping Mexico drive up electronic payment volume, and that it has shipped more than 150,000 point of sale systems to that country.

International Business Machines Corp., the world's largest provider of computer services, plans to join Citigroup Inc.'s $3 billion bid for China's Guangdong Development Bank, two people involved in the decision said.

Sky Financial Group Inc. in Bowling Green, Ohio, has agreed to use antifraud software from Bharosa Inc.

Executives frequently said they hoped that spinning off Fidelity National Information Services Inc. from its majority owner would boost its value, and the plan has paid off handsomely for three private-equity investors.

The core processing provider Jack Henry & Associates Inc. has bought US Banking Alliance, an Atlanta consulting and software company that focuses on community banks.

TCF Financial Corp. is planning to use anti-fraud software from RSA Security Inc. to protect its online banking site.

Firethorn Holdings LLC, a technology start-up promoting online banking services over wireless devices, has landed its first big partner: CheckFree Corp., the leading service provider in electronic bill payment and presentment.