India’s Seed Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. has secured yet another a contract from Chennai-based Indian Bank Ltd. to support a smart card-based financial-inclusion project, the New Delhi-based financial-services provider announced Dec. 29.

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Dell computers said this morning it has agreed to acquire SecureWorks Inc., the popular information security services provider for credit unions and banks, for $120 million.

Western Union Co. plans to acquire one of its European funds-transfer agents, the Englewood, Colo.-based company announced Jan. 3.

Honda Motor Company in Japan has put an estimated 2.2 million customers in the U.S. on a security breach alert after a database containing information on the owners and their cars was hacked, according to reports.

Bank of America Corp. will take a $3 billion fourth-quarter charge stemming from settlements with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae over poorly underwritten mortgages the bank sold to the government-sponsored enterprises.

DALLAS – An Internet technology consulting firm has filed suit against InTouch CU and 32 other financial firms, claiming the firms are infringing on its patent for authenticating a website or related services.

Credit card account originations are on the rise again as account-delinquency rates continue to fall and consumers continue to show discipline in their borrowing, a new report Equifax Inc. released Dec. 29 suggests.

In a major turnaround in plans, lawmakers in the Australian state of Victoria reportedly have proposed scrapping the Myki transit card system.

PayPal Inc. this year will set up its first foreign currency settlement platform in Chongqing, China, along with five international e-commerce centers under an agreement the unit of eBay Inc. signed with the Chongqing Municipal Government on Dec. 28.

Like the early-'90s floral dresses and flannel shirts that became fashionable again, two retro credit products — secured lines of credit and personal loans — staged a comeback in 2010.

For all the hullabaloo mobile remote-deposit capture generated in 2010, the availability of the service that enables consumers to deposit checks from home using the cameras on their smartphones remains limited to a few banks’ customers.

ESPOO, Finland – After making its Angry Birds the dominant game on two mobile platforms, developer Rovio Mobile Ltd. is taking flight in a new line: payments.

Mobile banking’s of little use as an innovation if apps can’t ensure the identity of the user, creating a lucrative security market in which Tyfone just scored a pair of patents.

Telecommunication firm Tata Indicom, the brand name of Mumbai-based Tata Teleservices Ltd., has signed a mobile-remittance deal with eSSecom Pvt. Ltd., the company announced Dec.15.

The Central Bank of Nigeria earlier this month reportedly granted its approval to allow FirstBank Nigeria PLC to offer mobile-payment services in the East African country.

The FBI has raided a Dallas server farm that housed computers used to launch Internet attacks against PayPal Inc., according to an affidavit posted by TheSmokingGun.com.

The social-media landscape is still an untamed jungle for many financial institutions, but a few intrepid companies have cut a clear path for themselves.

Oberthur Technologies and MasterCard Worldwide have launched MasterCard M/Chip Advance, a technology designed to enhance card payments by incorporating more cardholder and third-party data into transactions, the two companies announced Dec. 22.

Carrefour Group, a France-based retailer with operations in Europe, Asia and South America, has launched its first prepaid card through a bank in Romania, the company announced Dec. 27.

A startup called Maxamum Inc. is trying to break down the credit system’s long-standing Catch 22–consumers generally cannot establish a credit history without having a credit card, but they typically cannot get a credit card without a credit history.