The criminal activity known as phishing soared to new heights last month, according to statistics released today by the Anti-Phishing Working Group. The consortium of Internet companies and law-enforcement agencies reported that the number of unique phishing incidents recorded by the group rose 180% to 1,125 in April, more than …

Metavante Corp., which today announced it is paying $610 million in cash to buy the NYCE electronic funds transfer network from First Data Corp. and its bank owners, sees the deal as part of a nearly $1 billion payments strategy that has led the Milwaukee-based processor to snap up other …

Recent industry statistics paint a grim picture of how pervasive spam, and with it e-mail fraud, is becoming in the U.S. transaction economy. Brightmail Inc., a San Francisco-based provider of anti-spam software, reports that the volume of spam hit 64% of some 96 billion e-mail messages its systems filtered in …

Metavante Corp. announced today it has agreed to buy Advanced Financial Solutions Inc., an Oklahama City-based company specializing in check-processing technology and owner of the Endpoint Exchange, a network that routes electronic check images among processors and financial institutions. No price was announced, though Metavante officials said this acquisition, in …

With at least four separate efforts under way to build national image-exchange networks, some banking officials are starting to ask whether the substantial investment banks and processors are making in these new networks to carry check images between financial institutions is really necessary. The systems required to achieve transfer of …

Christopher J. Rodrigues, group chief executive of U.K.-based banking firm Bradford & Bingley, is the new president and chief executive of Visa International, the bank card network announced today. Rodrigues, 54, will take over June 1 from William Boardman, chairman of Visas International's board, who is serving as interim chief …

On the same day that Visa International gained a new chief executive, Visa USA lost its top marketing officer. Rebecca Saeger, executive vice president for brand management, is leaving to take a senior marketing post at Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. in San Francisco, according to an internal announcement distributed …

With chargeback rates running well in excess of 1% on Internet transactions, Visa International and MasterCard International have for some time been pushing a form of online cardholder authentication, called 3D Secure, that is intended to make cardholders, issuers, acquirers, and merchants feel confident that Web payments are legitimate. But …

The news that Barclays PLC is talking to Providian Financial Corp. about buying the San Francisco-based credit card issuer has some observers speculating that the merger could accelerate the development of new electronic transaction products both in the U.S. and in Europe, where Barclays is a major card issuer with …

Fast Forward Solutions LLC, a subsidiary of Columbus, Ohio-based air-freight hauler AirNet Systems Inc., is gearing up AirNet's seven regional hubs to handle Fast Forward's new business: transporting image-replacement documents for banks converting from paper checks to check imaging. Within six weeks, says Jeff Harris, the former banker and AirNet …