Bank technology

When showing solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protestors, financial executives run the risk of having their message drowned out by their wealth.

If the only thing preventing a customer exodus is the sheer hassle of switching banks, there is a real danger that one day an enterprising company or competitor will come along and solve that pain point.

Visa Inc.'s profit rose 14% in the fiscal fourth-quarter as consumers spent more using its credit and debit cards and the volume of transactions it processed grew.

Founder Josh Reich says his firm is not hitting the big bank debit fee issue hard in its marketing, it's focusing more heavily on its technology and overall model. But the startup's message is still pretty clear.

Merchants will dictate which mobile payment models become mainstream, attendees at a mobile commerce conference this week said.

While the world waits for the iPhone to support NFC, RIM quietly slips into the contactless payment arena as the world awaits iPhone support for contactless payments.

IPhone-toting bank customers can make contactless payments at MasterCard PayPass terminals using an NFC chip-equipped iPhone sleeve.

Although banks have broadly implemented fraud prevention tools such as device authentication and challenge questions, only 6% are confident that their fraud prevention and detection tools can detect cross-channel fraud patterns, a Novarica study has found.

Yodlee announced that Bank of America is using the vendor's FinApp platform to customize its online banking and financial management website. B of A follows Citi as the second bank using the technology.

Intuit's Mint.com is launching an iPad application that it says can boost its referrals to financial accounts by making money management social. The new version is designed to help encourage users to make financial decisions as a household that they might put off as individuals.

Thirty year veteran and sales chief Rometty will take the top job in 2012; current CEO Samuel J. Palmisano to continue as chairman.

An increase in transaction volume and new accounts fueled a small increase in third-quarter revenue for TSYS, the company announced Tuesday.

TSYS' third-quarter earnings rose 27% as the company continued to benefit from strong international revenue growth, while its North American business also improved.

To address what one might call a "flight risk," MasterCard Inc. plans to test contactless payments at 30,000 feet, enabling airlines to accept more secure plastic — and potentially mobile — payments aboard planes.

It's leveraging MasterCard's inControl for a product aimed specifically at small businesses, where bank technology often lags other sectors.

Can "Stop.Think.Connect" become the new "Stop, Drop and Roll"? The National Cyber Security Alliance, a public-private partnership on cyber security, says its new online-banking safety slogan is necessary to educate users.

Pacific Marine's among the credit unions that hope to ease onboarding, lending and improve the flow of documents.

Latest survey finds 47% of U.S. adults are interested in mobile payments.

Wal-Mart Stores has joined the list of national retailers that sell Square's device that turns smartphones into mobile card readers.

Weemba, a new online provider that connects borrowers with lenders, reported Monday that loan listings relating to health-care expenses made up more than half of its requests so far.