PORTLAND, Ore. – Unitus Community CU said it has selected the Interactive Intelligence all-in-one IP communications software suite, Customer Interaction Center, for use throughout its organization.

Western Union Co. is expanding an initiative to enable Kenyan migrants to send funds to recipients in their home country who subscribe to Safaricon’s M-Pesa mobile wallet, the companies announced March 31.

A San Francisco-based company on March 30 announced its introduction of a modular set of software frameworks and applications designed to facilitate deployment of Near Field Communication payments and other contactless services by resolving fragmentation and interoperability issues affecting NFC software and hardware installations.

Google Inc. is joining the NFC Forum, a nonprofit association that sets technical specifications for how businesses use Near Field Communication technology for payments applications and other services.

Gemalto NV is offering a software package for MasterCard Worldwide’s PayPass contactless payment system, the chip maker announced March 30.

The Smart Card Alliance’s transportation council this year plans to continue its focus in support of open-loop contactless transit payment card systems as more cities realize the potential benefits over closed-loop systems, according to an organization executive.

LARAMIE, Wyo. – UniWyo FCU has signed with Jack Henry & Associates to install the company’s My NetTeller, which enables account holders to create customized dashboard-style landing pages of their most commonly used online banking functions.

FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines FCU on Wednesday launched its own remote deposit capture system, which will allow members to deposit checks from their home or office.

Citing the proliferation of smartphone Near Fear Communication applications, NFC provider Vivotech Inc. next year plans to conduct an initial public offering of company stock to help boost its ability to build more NFC products and systems, Muhammed Khan, founder and president of Vivotech, tells PaymentsSource.

Bank of America Corp. is looking to hire new executives to lead its retail online and mobile-banking efforts, including those for mobile payments, the company confirmed to PaymentsSource.

Certain effects of the economic downturn have begun to ease, but one recession-hatched trend persists: Cash-strapped consumers continue to show a preference for paying their credit card bills over their mortgages, according to new data TransUnion LLC released March 29.

Central Bank of Nigeria is considering introducing biometric cards in the country to combat ATM fraud, bank Gov. Mallam Sanusi Lamido noted March 24 during the institution’s monetary policy committee meeting.

Imagine a stunned ISO executive standing amid the smoking ruins of a data breach and clutching a six-figure bill for the damages. Visions of such scenes are prompting ISOs to take a keen interest in helping their merchants comply with the Payment Card Industry data-security standards designed to prevent such catastrophes, observers say.

The Smurfs may have an important security lesson for banks and credit card networks getting into mobile payments.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. has joined the interbank funds-transfer service National Payments Corp. of India launched last fall. The Mumbai-based bank launched the service on March 24 for the bank’s customers across the country, an official at the institution tells PaymentsSource.

MasterCard Worldwide on March 28 announced a five-year “roadmap” for electronic payments in Australia that will require issuers and card-accepting merchants there to adopt its PayPass contactless-payment service beginning next year.

VISTA, Calif.-Mid-Atlantic Corporate FCU and Bluepoint Solutions have combined on a joint initiative to assist those credit unions with lower check volumes in adopting Check 21-enabled branch capture.

MIAMI-America First Credit Union had a problem. Although the $5-billion institution was up-to-date with technology for its members-including mobile and web, along with speech recognition and touch-screen capabilities-tellers at the credit union were, as AFCU's Steve Hilton put it, "stuck in the '70s."

American Express Co., going against its image as a brand for the elite, is launching a digital wallet that would make it the payment choice for the masses — in person, online and in mobile.

Mobile-payments company Monitise PLC is testing a service targeted at unbanked consumers in Nigeria that enables users to transfer funds with their cell phones.