Bank technology

To spur electronic transactions among businesses, especially small ones, Clearing House Payments Co. LLC is developing a new payment standard.

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In cyberspace it can be hard to tell who is telling the truth, but at least knowing an Internet user's location can help head off fraud.

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S1 Corp. says its new Enterprise software platform was instrumental in its improved profits and that it expects the product to provide an earnings lift through next year.

Wachovia Corp., a prominent skeptic of free online bill payment, is reversing course.

With paper check volume continuing to decline, the two biggest check printing companies have reported lower third-quarter income and discussed new products meant to help fight the drop.

The check imaging era opened shortly before midnight Wednesday, when Intrust Bank in Wichita sent its first batch of check images to Atlanta to be delivered to the Federal Reserve banks as image replacement documents.

The astronomical growth of accounts receivable conversion, a big money-maker for the payments industry, has slowed down.

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Many believe that as banks start using electronic images to clear checks they will switch from the Federal Reserve banks' check processing service to private systems.

Consumers Union has struck out in its campaign for big banks to waive bounced-check fees for the rest of the year.

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Fidelity National Financial Inc., which has announced eight deals to buy technology companies since early last year, said last week that it probably will not announce more before spring.

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

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