Fiserv Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against FIS

Financial services tech firm Fiserv (Brookfield, Wis.) said Thursday it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Jacksonville, Fla.-based banking and payments technology vendor FIS and its subsidiary, Metavante Corp. Fiserv said the lawsuit was filed on behalf of its subsidiaries CheckFree, an online bill pay service, and payments provider CashEdge.

The suit pertains specifically to FIS' Payment Manager products, which process inter-bank account-to-account fund transfers, process payment instructions, and provide electronic biller notifications. Fiserv alleged that the FIS service "infringes on Fiserv's patents when it provides customers with certain financial and payment solutions."

"Fiserv is a leader in providing innovative and complex technology solutions and has devoted significant resources developing and maintaining an extensive intellectual property portfolio," read a portion of a company statement. "We have a responsibility to protect our intellectual property from further infringement and exploitation."

FIS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fiserv acquired CashEdge in July for $465 million and CheckFree in 2007 for $4.4 billion. FIS bought Metavante in 2009 in a deal worth nearly $3 billion.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio