Innovation will be a continuing focus of bank leadership, according to a survey conducted by BAI, the banking industry's leading professional organization. The study found that 84 percent of respondents believe innovation is very or extremely important to their organization, but many financial services companies may not yet have all the information and resources they need to implement this change and execute their vision.   » Continue Reading

The Electronic Payments Network (EPN), the ACH business of The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., has announced that the number of UPIC payments increased tenfold to 47,700 through the first three quarters of 2006, compared to the same period a year ago. Institutions now issuing UPICs include Citibank, Commerce Bank, HSBC Bank, JPMorgan Chase, M&T Bank, Mellon, PNC, State Bank of Long Island, Sterling National Bank, Union Bank of California, USBank and Wachovia Bank.   » Continue Reading

WAUSAU has announced a new partnership with Solutran for Solutran to offer WAUSAU's Remote Corporate Capture solutions to its clients, including many leading, nationwide retailers.   » Continue Reading

Solutran has announced SPIN: Solutran's POS and Imaging Network, a back office conversion solution for check acceptors. Solutran says "SPIN has the ability to reduce fees significantly, accelerate funds availability and improve return check savings."   » Continue Reading

CheckFree has introduced a new module, CheckFree PEP+ reACH/BOC, that will enable banks to streamline the process of check conversion for their corporate customers. The new module will enable organizations to support NACHA's new Back Office Conversion (BOC) Standard Entry Class Code, which goes into effect on March 16, 2007. Back Office Conversion aligns Check 21 and Automated Clearing House (ACH) processing to facilitate best-path routing decisions on many checks presented at the point of sale.   » Continue Reading

Wire transfer volume has the potential to grow significantly if parties involved in the wire transfer process work together to overcome current inefficiencies, according to a new study released today by The Clearing House Payments Company and the Federal Reserve Banks.   » Continue Reading

Darrell Proctor reports for Denver's Rocky Mountain News about Dynamic Card Solutions whose card production CardWizard software has more than 70 percent of the U.S. market for debit cards that are instantly issued at a bank or credit union branch. According to DCS Ron Zanotti, "we're about making banking easier for the consumer. They come into a bank, they can pick out the style of card they want, get it personalized, and walk out and use it."

Payformance Corporation has announced that it is offering an additional level of fraud security through support of the Electronic Payment Network’s UPIC secure account identifier. A UPIC (Universal Payment Identification Code) is a unique identifier that masks the actual bank account numbers of corporate payees when electronic payments take place.   » Continue Reading

BMO Capital Markets has joined NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association - as a direct financial institution member. NACHA now has 40 direct members, consisting of 21 financial institutions and 19 regional payment associations. The other financial institution members include ABN-AMRO, American Express Centurion Bank, Bank of America, BB&T, Capital One, Citigroup, Citizens Bank, Commerce Bank, Discover Bank, Fort Knox National Bank, JPMorgan Chase, KeyBank, Mellon, National City, PNC Bank, TCF National Bank, US Bank, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and Zions Bank. The 19 regional payments associations collectively represent more than 11,000 financial institutions.   » Continue Reading

Experian has announced the addition of more than 30 new data elements to its National Business Database, providing business-to-business marketers with additional information and specialty data they can use to target new prospects and gain valuable intelligence on existing customers.   » Continue Reading

GXS has announced a managed services offering that enables financial institutions to become better integrated with their corporate clients and support a diverse range of e-commerce technologies. GXS says its Managed Services also can increase the competitiveness of a financial institution's cash management product portfolio by improving customer service quality and increasing business model flexibility.   » Continue Reading

• GE Money – Sales Finance: New Game Plan Means New Name Plan
• Quaero Launches New Marketing Solution for Financial Services Companies
• NetSpend(R) and ACE Cash Express Introduce the Pink All-Access(R) Visa(R) Prepaid Card to Support the Fight Against Breast Cancer; A Percentage of Each Purchase Made with the Card will Help Support Breast Cancer Research and Education
• Bottomline Technologies Acquires FormScape
• Comerica Gives Small Businesses More Credit Card Options
• Fair Isaac's Falcon Fraud Manager 5.2 to Drive Payment Card Fraud Detection at SHAZAM Network
• TowerGroup Examines Microsoft's Use of SWIFTNet to Connect its Global Banking Network
• IKEA North America Selects VeriFone for Electronic Signature and Payment

We have received news of the following recent management changes:

• Jonathan Collins has been named Senior Analyst and lead analyst for contactless commerce research, RFID & Contactless research team, by ABI Research.