Bank technology

PALISADES, N.Y. - As banks attempt to remove the walls between their businesses, International Business Machines Corp. is moving to retrain its employees to offer a greater breadth of expertise.

Fiserv Inc. has signed up three more banks to settle check transactions processed through the fledgling Fiserv Clearing Network, whose reach will expand to 19 states, mostly in the Midwest, the Southwest, and the West Coast.

It's been four years since the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act was signed into law, and to date few e-signature applications have moved much beyond the pilot stage.

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ING Group NV of Amsterdam said Thursday that its Internet-based consumer banking operations in eight countries grew dramatically in the second quarter and were profitable in six of those countries.

InteliData Technologies Corp., a vendor of electronic bill payment and presentment technology and services, continued to have difficulty making sales in the second quarter and took a much larger hit to earnings.

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CheckFree Corp. said its second consecutive quarter of profitability according to generally accepted accounting principles validated its vision of electronic bill presentment driving online bill payment adoption.

eFunds Corp.’s revenue rose only modestly in the second quarter, but its profit almost doubled, because of cost-cutting and good results in three of its divisions.

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Some banks are using the flexibility of Internet technology to address a longtime quandary: Freebies and special offers attract new customers, but not necessarily profitable ones.

As preparation for Check 21 enters its later stages, a handful of trends are becoming evident.

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Internet Billing Co. Ltd., whose strong ties to adult Web sites made it a troublesome property for InterCept Inc., will soon be sold for the second time this year, now to the owner of an auction site who envisions it as the next PayPal.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. — In opening the “Fiserv Leadership Center,” Fiserv Inc. has taken a page from Jack Welch’s playbook at General Electric Co. — but not the whole chapter.