Bank technology

IMGCAP(1)]

Technology vendor Fiserv Inc. is making a bold move to bolster its digital payments arsenal by shelling out $465 million to buy the smaller technology company CashEdge Inc.

American Express Co. has added a cardholder perk designed to make spending on its cards worthwhile for a broad swath of small business owners: advertising credits on Facebook.

Yet another mobile-commerce venture is being formed, and this one could have some staying power.

Many banks must go back to the drawing board in deciding which security systems to use to protect online banking users.

A security vendor recently had to issue a correction to its own sales pitch after it falsely insisted it was "certified" with a payments industry security standard, StorefrontBacktalk reported June 23.

The man behind an attack on AT&T Inc. that exposed personal information for users of Apple Inc.'s iPad pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Newark, N.J., The Washington Post reported June 23.

"Hacktivists" who disagree with MasterCard Inc.'s policies claimed to have taken its website down Tuesday morning.

Lulz Security, the hacker group that has claimed credit for attacks on Sony Corp., Nintendo Co. Ltd. and other companies and law enforcement agencies, said it's had enough.

Sony Corp. may have left itself open to its massive data breach by laying off its security staff just before the attack, a class action alleges.

A former Citigroup Inc. accountant was charged this week with embezzling over $19 million from the New York banking company.

Credit card companies are using social networks to create ads that are more interactive and that deliver valuable consumer data.

Many banks choose to wait and gauge the popularity of shiny new gadgets before spending precious development dollars on creating new applications. Not BBVA Compass.

A former Citi accountant has been charged with embezzlement; Sony may have left itself open to its data breach by laying off security staff; hacker group decides to lay low; and more.

Intuit has bought the mobile banking technology assets of Mobile Money Ventures, a joint venture of Citigroup and SK Telecom it has worked with to develop mobile banking services.

As such, a merger of the two companies would substantially boost the power of each one's sales team as they pursued new markets and deepened existing customer relationships.

Omnego Inc. of Toronto announced last week a white-label mobile app that would provide companies with their own branded service, alleviating the need to develop their own apps.

Fifth Third Bancorp is working with health care software company Emdeon Inc. to strengthen the bank's RevLink Solutions platform, which health care providers use for handling payment transactions and remittance information.

Two payment transaction software and service providers, S1 and Fundtech, have agreed to a "merger of equals" today in a deal valued at $700 million. Upon closing of the transaction, S1 shareholders will own approximately 55 percent and Fundtech shareholders approximately 45 percent of the combined company. The combined company will be headquartered at S1's headquarters in Atlanta and will be called Fundtech.

IMGCAP(1)]