Payment processing

Jack Henry & Associates Inc. and its competitors say there is high interest in offering new consumer technologies such as mobile remote deposit capture and mobile banking in general.

BMI Bank on Nov. 1 launched a suite of antifraud and other credit card security features, the Bahrain-based bank noted in a statement.

Jack Henry & Associates reported a 29% surge in revenues for its fiscal first quarter, boosting net income by 21%.

Merchant processor Heartland Payment Systems on Nov. 3 reported total revenue of $499.1 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up 12.8% from $442.6 million during the same period last year. Net income was $7.6 million; the company reported a $37.1 million loss a year earlier attributable to a $35.6 million charge to cover costs related to a data breach (see story).

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 under an initiative Chickasaw Nation Ardmore (Okla.) Nutrition Services launched Oct. 25.

The outcome of Tuesday’s Election Day results could have meaningful implications for the card industry, including affecting the odds of credit card interchange legislation emerging next year, analysts at New York-based equity firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said in a report released Monday.

VeriFone Systems Inc. says its PayWare Merchant managed service for large retailers, petroleum marketers and hospitality companies is now available in Europe.

Western Union Co. is rebranding Custom House, an international business-payments provider it bought last year, and is planning to expand the unit into new markets, the funds-transfer company announced Nov. 1.

TCL Corp., a China-based mobile-phone manufacturer, has inked a deal with China UnionPay in which the companies will provide mobile handsets that support payment functions, the companies announced earlier this month.

AT&T Inc. has signed partnership agreements with three mobile-payment companies that enable its wireless customers to charge online purchases for such digital content as games and music directly to their mobile-phone bills.

MBNA Europe Bank Ltd. will be issuing some 5 million contactless credit cards to its customers in the United Kingdom as part of a two-year initiative the Bank of America Corp. subsidiary announced on Oct. 29.

Apple Inc.’s MFi licensing program for devices designed to work with mobile Apple products has certified Blue Bamboo’s P25-M mobile printer and card reader, the China-based point-of-sale terminal maker announced Oct. 29.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions has signed processing deals with four Hawaii credit unions: Hawaiian Tel Federal Credit Union, Windward Community Federal Credit Union, The Queen's FCU and Garden Island Federal Credit Union.

Visa Inc. said it is prepared to confront alternative and mobile payments head on.

First Data Corp.’s TransArmor payment-tokenization product soon will be available in VeriFone Systems Inc.’s multilane and petroleum point-of-sale terminals, the Atlanta-based transaction processor announced Oct. 28.

Consumer demand for more-robust Internet tools is helping push forward banks’ technology investments, Fiserv Inc.’s chief executive noted during an Oct. 27 earnings conference call with analysts.

State Bank of India Ltd. soon plans to begin offering merchant-acquiring services through a new joint venture company after it finalizes how much equity each of the venture partners holds, a spokesperson for the Mumbai-based bank confirms to PaymentsSource.

Euronet Worldwide Inc.’s epay division will install and run the retail operations of Sydney’s much-awaited smart card transit system, the electronic-payments processor announced in a recent statement.

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