Federal banking regulators on Tuesday updated their 2005 guidance about authentication for Internet banking. Officially a supplement to the original guidance, the new document addresses social media, malware, and other security issues that have cropped up in recent years. It also allows financial institutions about seven months to comply. …

  n In the merger, Fundtech shareholders will receive 2.72 shares of S1 common stock for each Fundtech share, leaving S1 shareholders with a 55% stake in the combined entity. The new company will be rechristened Fundtech Corp. and will be based at S1’s headquarters in Atlanta. Reuven BenMenachem, chief …

With final debit card regulations at hand that will end exclusive partnerships between payment networks and debit card issuers, the head of Discover Financial Services says his company has added capacity to its Pulse electronic funds transfer network to handle anticipated new business. n Nelms was responding to a question …

  Three years after introducing a joint venture aimed at processing automated clearing house transactions between the two banks, Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. have abandoned the operation, which they called Pariter. “It will shut down over the next few weeks,” a Wells spokesperson tells Digital …

The hype still abounds, but mobile payments and banking seem to be taking some concrete steps this week toward wider adoption. –Mitek Systems Inc., the leading developer of software for mobile remote deposit capture, on Monday announced that five of the nation’s 10 largest retail banks now use its flagship …

  Components Trae Cassell   The disastrous Kardashian Kard notwithstanding, it’s possible to market a successful prepaid card for teens. The key is a proper understanding of functionality, image, and fees.   The number of companies hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the teen prepaid debit card market is …

The announcements last week that two top-10 U.S. banks will soon start issuing smart cards based on the EMV chip card standard, while largely symbolic for now, could herald bigger deployments later on. Normal banking competition, meanwhile, could also bring more U.S. banks to issue chip cards, bank executives and …

Trends & Tactics   No Apocalypse Now—Or Later—for Debit As Digital Transactions went to press this month, the ultimate extent and timing of the debit restrictions contained in the Durbin Amendment remained unclear. Final rules had not yet issued from the Federal Reserve, and in mid-March a bill appeared in …

Acquiring Peter Lucas The low margins earned on vending-machine sales have historically worked against card acceptance. But now, with evidence of a sales lift from cards, processors and gateways are pushing into vending harder than ever. It’s a frequent scenario: A family is out for fun at an amusement park. …

Facebook Inc., a massive social network with more than 500 million users worldwide that is said by some experts to have ambitions in the payments business, has established a wholly owned subsidiary called Facebook Payments Inc. Facebook incorporated the entity in Florida on Dec. 10 and is advertising now for …