Bank technology

Stronger authentication methods may protect against a card scam akin to flash floods; scammers sending false invoices to Google Checkout users; Google asking for security breach — literally; and more.

As if the payments industry has not faced enough difficulty with new regulations and the fallout from a poor economy, a new study now links card use to obesity.

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The Federal Reserve expects to turn a profit on its check processing operations for a second consecutive year in 2011 as the proportion of payments cleared electronically continues to increase.

Clients of the Chickasaw Nation Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program, known as WIC, now may use an electronic benefits transfer debit card for qualified food purchases, it said last week.

Consumers may earn rewards, discounts and comparative pricing tied to their purchase histories under a program from BillShrink Inc.

Mint.com is testing a counterintuitive theory: that consumers will ignore privacy concerns for a feature they find compelling.

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AT&T Inc. has signed partnerships with three mobile-payment companies that let its wireless customers charge digital content such as games and music directly to their mobile phone bills.

The Armonk, N.Y., technology vendor said it has formed a Global Center of Competence to focus on payments issues. The intent is to bring together IBM's existing consulting and technology resources to address customer needs in a concerted fashion, said James Methe, the Center of Competence Payments Solutions executive.

Cardtronics Inc. will provide ATM management services at 24 of Bosselman Inc.'s 42 Pump & Pantry convenience stores in Nebraska under an agreement the companies announced Oct. 27.

Fundtech Ltd. announced a product that tracks payments and lets banks monitor and manage risk.

Intuit Inc.'s Mint.com now allows its users to compare their own spending against other people's spending.

A second merchant acquirer in Brazil and a payment processor in Ecuador will install a combined 26,500 Hypercom Corp. point of sale terminals by the end of the year.

Wincor Nixdorf AG is betting that an ATM that can recycle bills will take off in the U.S. just as it has abroad.

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American Express Co. this week signaled its plans to tap into new mobile and prepaid payment technologies that will include "debit-like" products, but it may have far to go before it catches up with its competitors in mobile payments.

Consumer demand for more robust Internet tools is helping push forward banks' technology investments, Fiserv Inc.'s chief executive said this week.

Higher bank spending helped Fiserv Inc.'s revenue increase 3.3%, to $1.03 billion in the third quarter from a year earlier.