Bank technology

When Square launched its mobile card reader in 2009, VeriFone Systems was on its heels with PayWare Mobile. Now VeriFone is ready to roll out another Square rival, which it calls Sail.

I recently introduced the MasterCard Mobile Payments Readiness Index to a group of c-level bankers, and told them that one of our top-level findings is that it's the early days for mobile payments.

Mortgage pipelines are like cholesterol — they have good and bad versions. Bank of America is trying to unclog its buildup of distressed mortgages (the bad version) by using a new Web portal it developed with Equator.

The vast majority of consumers said they were satisfied with customer service in the financial services industry, according to fourth-quarter data from a Zendesk, which provides web-based customer support to a variety of industries.

The Kindle Fire isn't as capable as the iPad and it isn't as connected as a smartphone — but its mix of price and features makes it extremely well suited to serve the underbanked.

Barclays U.S. has started offering online-only, high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit to U.S. customers, in an effort to drum up deposits.

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'Security cocktails' enter the mix and merchants cling to PIN in the major security stories of the week through May 4.

Yahoo is under pressure from Third Point, one of its largest investors, to dismiss Chief Executive Scott Thompson after his academic computer science credentials were misrepresented.

As volumes and types of payments increase — particularly mobile payments using the ACH rails — securing ACH transactions becomes more complex and prone to crimes such as account takeover. Fiserv, Fundtech, and partners Jack Henry and ACH Alert are weighing in with different forms of layered verification.

Harland Clarke Holdings reported a first-quarter loss of $22.9 million, compared with a profit of $23.4 million a year earlier, because of charges related to its parent company’s merger with MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings.

Subgroup of enterprise IT users to come up with a wish list for data warehouse and data management vendors.

Two community banks overhauling their core processing systems.

The prepaid card marketer NetSpend Holdings reported higher revenue in the first quarter, but it reported a loss due to expenses from litigation.

Buoyed by strong loan growth, BofI Holding (BOFI) of San Diego reported record earnings of $7.3 million for its fiscal-year third quarter, up 41% from a year earlier.

Ellie Mae nearly doubled its revenue in the first quarter of 2012, turning net income of $3.6 million, compared to a net loss of $800,000 in the year-over-year quarter.

Obopay, a provider of a person-to-person payment and transfer service system and a licensed money transmitter in the U.S., is offering a Licensed Payment Service other companies can brand as their own.

The firm's new incubator and accelerator program aids in the development and fast delivery of new ideas to the market.

Fiserv (FISV) has partnered with Earthport to provide international payments processed through the automated clearing house.

BB&T will use Fiserv's mobile capture technology to allow its customers to deposit checks from home.