Bank technology

Two fledgling biometrics vendors are locking horns in a patent dispute that could deal a major blow to the loser.

Comerica Inc. of Detroit, which a year ago looked like a leader in the nascent technology of clearing checks by exchanging digital images, has chosen a different role.

Diebold Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 6% from a year earlier, to $62.8 million.

Bisys Group Inc.'s net income in its fiscal second quarter, which ended Dec. 31, rose 8% from a year earlier, to $21.9 million, or 18 cents a share.

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With its online bill payment and presentment contract expiring, Zions Bancorp. of Salt Lake City is switching from CheckFree Corp., the market leader, to the runner-up, Metavante Corp.

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Nacha, the electronic payments association, has a new chairman: Steve Ellis, a veteran payments executive with Wells Fargo & Co.

CheckFree Corp. has raised its earnings guidance for the current fiscal year, crediting strong demand for its online bill-payment services

The table lists daily composite stock prices at 4 PM (unless otherwise noted) as measured by market capitalization.

Bank technology vendors have gotten pricey, Jack Henry & Associates Inc.’s chief executive says, but he intends to keep buying this year anyway.

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A year after going to an Internet system to give its wholesale bankers a unified view of customer accounts, Wells Fargo & Co. has started a rollout of a similar system for employees who serve its online retail and brokerage customers.

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Three market research firms agree that banks are increasing their technology spending this year, with the goal of improving their back-office systems and making their compliance efforts more cost-effective.