SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Teachers CU is upgrading its 85 Diebold Opteva ATMs by adding monitoring services to enhance security and ATM uptime and incorporating deposit automation technology to improve convenience.

Bill-payment processor Tio Networks Corp. is making headway with its mobile bill-payment application.

In its first major play to connect its mobile-payments service with social media, Starbucks Coffee Co. on June 30 unveiled a mobile-payment application it developed in-house that consolidates the features of previous apps with links to enable users to send Starbucks gift cards via Facebook.

States’ efforts to rein in fly-by-night companies are starting to have an effect on some payments startups’ operations.

Fiserv Inc.’s deal to buy the software vendor CashEdge Inc. narrows the field of contenders vying for dominance in the growing person-to-person payments space.

Dynamics Inc. made a splash last year with the launch of a Citigroup-issued multipurse card that has a built-in screen and keypad, but the mobile wallet systems that have been announced since then–including Google Wallet, which also has Citi’s support, duplicates all of those features.

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.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Wemelco CU has contracted with Vantiv, the former Fifth Third Processing Solutions, to provide it with ATM and debit card transaction processing, ATM driving, card production and network gateway access.

BROOKLINE, Mass. – Metropolitan Area FCU is now letting its members bank by Facebook.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – The flurry of takeover activity continued to heat up yesterday in the payments sector with Fiserv announcing a deal to acquire CashEdge, the privately owned provider of P2P and other digital payment technologies.

VeriFone Systems Inc. continues to gain momentum in the contactless-terminal market for taxis is the Asia-Pacific region, signing a contract to supply 15,600 contactless payment terminals to the largest taxi fleet in Singapore.

In a move that could increase competition in Taiwan’s mobile-payments market, telecommunication operator Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. has declared plans to begin offering payment services by the end of this year.

Mobile-payment initiatives from Google Inc., Isis and PayPal Inc. appear to be motivating investment firms to take a closer look at the companies that will help enable such transactions at brick-and-mortar locations.

Mobile-payments startup Square Inc.’s $100 million venture-capital avalanche announced June 29 could mean that the company’s transaction volume is gaining significant momentum despite its lack of profits, one analyst contends.

Cards have accounted for nearly all the loss allowance reductions at B of A and JPMorgan Chase over the last five quarters, and loan performance continues to improve.

AUGUSTA, Maine – Synergent said yesterday it has contracted with Caringo Inc. to provide it with management and protection of hundreds of millions of check images and transaction receipts generated by credit union members.

PROVO, Utah – Utah Community CU has introduced mobile money management applications for iPhone and Android mobile smartphones.

Citing “shortcomings” with the technology, Australia’s ANZ Banking Group Ltd. has halted development of a microSD iPhone case designed to turn a smartphone into a payment device.

Lenders’ tighter credit card underwriting rules to control risk during the recession put pressure on consumers seeking new credit lines, but the restrictions also are driving criminals who prey on new accounts to find new hunting grounds.

In an exclusive deal for MasterCard Worldwide, Indigo Books & Music Inc.’s plans to deploy terminals that accept the card brand’s PayPass contactless payments in all its stores marks the first such development for a retailer of its kind.