NORTH AMERICA BYTES

Visa U.S.A. has selected Securify Inc. to manage its smart card qualification program.

Through this agreement, Securify will offer a comprehensive qualification program for technology providers interested in joining the smart Visa Access program, and help guide them through the entire process. The goal is to increase the number of qualified security solutions Visa member institutions can employ to provide secure Web services.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Securify is a provider of security technologies and services for connected businesses. The company previously developed the smart Visa Access system architecture and maintained ongoing product and reference lab management roles.

"Through our experience with Securify in planning, deploying and managing our smart Visa Access infrastructure, we have the highest confidence they will manage our smart Visa Access Provider Qualification program efficiently and effectively," said Patrick Gauthier, senior vice president of smart card applications for Visa.

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Citizens Bank was one of 10 new financial institutions to debut ATM Manager Pro, a software package that aids in the management of ATM networks.

The software, produced by e-ClassicSytems Inc., Norwood, Mass., provides a back-office solution that allows financial institutions to catalog and warehouse all ATM information into a relational database.

"We wanted to create a central resource for all ATM information and improve the communication among departments," said Jack Coffey, vice president of Electronic Banking at Citizens Bank. "I am confident this system will dramatically improve our ability to manage our ATM network."

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Royal Bank Financial Group, Toronto, announced it will extend its global performance management system to its 1,200 retail branches, essentially providing them with self-service Web access to business performance information, scorecards and knowledge resources.

The management system was created by INEA, an enterprise analytics application software provider, and will be delivered to the branches via an INEA Portal. The system will integrate financial measures with other key performance indicators to provide organization-level growth and learning.

"The scorecard framework is an effective tool to help our retail banking division transition to a more sales-focused culture," said Alain Simard, vice president of financial information technology at Royal Bank.

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Citigroup has installed PayCourier Reatil 2-Pass, a high-speed, image-based software system, at its credit card service operation centers in New Jersey and Las Vegas.

The software, produced by BancTec Inc., Dallas, manages all remittance processing and payment research needs.

Citigroup also announced it would also install BancTec's Paycourier Archive, which will Web-enable Citigroup's customer service process center, giving it easier access to the information needed to respond to customer inquiries.

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Prologic Corporation, a global developer of web-enabled financial service software, has changed its name to Fincenteric. The new name more accurate reflects the company's current market position and customer centric approach, according to CEO Mike Cardiff.