Bank technology

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Someday, the automated clearing house network might be used to transmit files with just information instead of payments.

Metavante Corp.'s first-quarter operating profits surged 56% from a year earlier, to $28.2 million, on the strength of acquisitions and cost-cutting, according to its corporate parent, Marshall & Ilsley Corp. of Milwaukee.

SAN ANTONIO - Every automated clearing house format designed to replace consumer checks posted impressive growth rates last year, and today consumers are using electronic payments more often than checks, according to the Federal Reserve Board.

Corporations objected in 2001 when banks began working on rules for converting check payments to automated clearing house transactions, fearing that they would lose the ability to fight fraud by matching incoming debits against the check-issue files they give their banks.

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The National Clearing House Association is expected to announce today that it has signed a sponsorship agreement with the Electronic Check Clearing House Organization, which provides rules for check image exchange.

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Automated clearing house payments' 2004 showing can be summed up in three letters: ARC.

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Fair Isaac Corp. says the new version of its Falcon fraud detection software has already helped its first user, eFunds Corp., land a big customer.

Private-sector check processors are beefing up their operations in the nation's midsection to capture business from the Federal Reserve, which is shutting down many of its clearing sites.

Facing a growing threat from large retail banks, community banks are starting to implement remote-capture check imaging systems.

Popeye would join forces with Charlie Brown in a check-printing deal announced Tuesday: John H. Harland Co. is buying Liberty Enterprises Inc. for $160 million.

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