Bank technology

NEW YORK — Lower late payments and increased card use helped Discover Financial Services (DFS) post a 36% increase in fiscal first-quarter profit to beat analysts' estimates.

Discover Financial Services is partnering with the operator of Puerto Rico's ATM and debit network, as part of its ongoing efforts to increase acceptance abroad by teaming up with local networks.

Google is considering sharing Google Wallet revenue with carriers to get them to support the technology, which lets users pay for items at checkout by tapping phones on a reader device, said people who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.

Moving toward fully electronic payments is a matter of public health and social justice, according to author David Wolman.

Zoom Tan doesn't accept cash or checks — and its customers are often too scantily clad to be carrying them anyway. It now uses a biometric fingerprint reader as an alternative to credit and debit cards.

American Express Co. is partnering with Office Depot Inc. to offer its prepaid cards at some office supply stores across the country.

MoneyGram International has named a new chief financial officer and an executive to oversee emerging markets.

When a crisis strikes, consumers want answers — and they want them fastest over social media. Banks must take to Twitter and other channels to calm irate customers while still being mindful of their obligations to regulators.

San Diego County Credit Union is now offering a range of mobile banking services through Fiserv's Mobiliti and Mobile Source Capture products.

Prepaid Financial Services Ltd. has two new partnerships to provide white-label prepaid products in the U.S. and Canada.

Rurban Financial Corp. in Defiance, Ohio, has revised its 2011 earnings after the abrupt bankruptcy of a key client wound up wiping out much of the company's fourth-quarter profits.

In a time of crisis, banks are challenged to communicate to irate and frustrated customers over Twitter, Facebook and blogs. And in most cases, the banks don't win.

Bank of America has launched Trade Pro, an electronic platform for companies to manage trade and financial supply chain operations.

Citigroup Inc. has reached a long-term agreement to provide credit services for the retailer coalition BrandSource.

Rather than pitch his new digital wallet only to banks, iCache founder Jon Ramaci is offering his product, the Geode, on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter.com, a site not typically associated with banking technology.

Like MasterCard, Discover's new roadmap to EMV card payments in the U.S. relies on heavier security protocols, which Visa says aren't needed in a market dominated by online processing.

Crooks have figured out a way to illegally obtain mobile phone SIM cards, causing a headache for the contactless payments market.

But the deal has not received support from Misys' largest shareholder, which is contemplating a rival offer.

Transaction Network Services said Monday that it is launching a mobile payment gateway service for its customers.

BillMyParents announced Monday that it will soon be talking directly to its prepaid card users over the Web through a deal with RespondQ.