Competitive Strategies

The severity and length of the recession makes it likely banks will be able to raise fees for last-minute online bill payments, recent research says. That will mean more revenue for financial institutions that have been seeking ways to make money from electronic bill payments, a service they've generally been …

USAA, one of the pioneers of remote deposit capture, leaped to the technological frontiers again on Tuesday with the addition of remote deposit capture capabilities to its three-month-old mobile-banking application for Apple Inc.'s iPhone. The new feature enables customers to snap a picture of a check's front and back, and …

If mobile-payments services are finding a niche anywhere right now, it appears to be in the market for digital goods like games and social-network applications. Palo Alto, Calf.-based Zong Inc., which began operations last year, announced this week that the processing platform it shares with its parent company, Echovox Inc., …

Mitek Systems Inc., whose software allows users to create check images with their camera phones and then use the handsets to send the images to banks for deposit, signed its biggest processor to date this week for the six-month-old technology. Milwaukee-based Fiserv Inc. agreed to adopt Mitek's Mobile Deposit product …

Banks face a new threat in electronic payments, according to a report just out from Javelin Strategy and Research: the ability of telecommunications companies to take the driver's seat in mobile person-to-person payments. This risk comes to the fore as the number of so-called smart phones explodes and consumers show …

The U.S. Treasury Department's Direct Express card for Social Security recipients apparently is the right prepaid card at the right time. Treasury's Financial Management Service last week reported that more than 500,000 Americans use the Comerica Bank-issued card, which is aimed at getting Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) …

Microsoft Inc. is among three developers that have integrated PayPal Inc.'s new application programming interfaces into applications as part of a beta program, PayPal announced on Thursday. PayPal formally opened its payment platform to third-party platform developers at a conference for developers. By opening up the platform program?called PayPal X?PayPal …

Merchants that are good prospects for accepting remote deposit capture services have different needs from many credit and debit card-accepting merchants, but independent sales organizations that do their remote capture homework will be rewarded. That was the word on Wednesday from several vendors speaking at the MidWest Acquirers Association 7th …

Fifth Third Bank will be offering global money-transfer services at its 1,300 branches in 12 states under an agreement The Western Union Co. announced Monday. The new service is part of the Cincinnati-based bank's ongoing effort to provide services to the unbanked and underbanked, Mark Erhardt, senior vice president of …

Acquirers and independent sales organizations have plenty of opportunity to build transaction volume with merchants despite the economic downturn. They just need to work harder at incentives for merchants to accept cards instead of cash or checks and on satisfying merchant needs, according to a new research report released Wednesday …