Bank technology

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Because of persistent problems, the state of Washington has terminated its test of a magnetic stripe payment card for authorizing purchases under its Women, Infants, and Children electronic benefits program.

ORLANDO - Wachovia Corp., once a strong advocate of running its own bill-pay service, has abandoned that strategy. Last week Lawrence Baxter, its chief e-commerce officer, talked about why.

Metavante Corp.'s plan to buy AdminiSource Corp., a Carrollton, Tex., provider of payment services to insurers and health-plan administrators, would push the Milwaukee company further into the developing market for health-care payments.

Banks marketed online bill payment to middle-aged customers by eliminating fees for the service, but a study finds they may have to develop new marketing strategies to reach the growing under-30 market.

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Taking a burden off banks, Microsoft Corp. will equip its industry-dominating Web browser, Internet Explorer, with a module that bars consumers from phishing sites flagged by three vendors.

Viewpointe Archive Services LLC has linked its shared check-image archive with Metavante Corp's image exchange, Endpoint Exchange Network, and Bank of America Corp. is already transmitting image files to Endpoint customers.

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ORLANDO - Banks are facing more aggressive marketing by nontraditional competitors, which are using niche-oriented products to nibble away at the core consumer market.

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Password-generating tokens, which many financial services companies are considering, may not be the best way to enhance online customer authentication, some industry executives say.

Last month, when the Federal Reserve Board announced FedReceipt, its long-expected service for delivering check images to banks, it already had more than a dozen users — all small and midsize banks.

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