Cellular banking hits Kenya

A system called M-PESA - M for "mobile" and pesa for "cash" in Swahili - launched this year, says The Christian Science Monitor.

It`s one of the world`s first cellphone-to-cellphone cash-transfer services for people who lack access to conventional banks.

Most banks have found it too costly to set up services for the billions of poor people in developing countries. But with cellphone banking, which eliminates most administrative costs, banks could soon find it worth their while to serve the citizens.

Nykredit has been selected as a finalist for the European Banking Technology Awards` "Most Innovative Use of IT", says Carolina Newswire.

Nykredit was selected as one of three finalists for its WebDesk, a technology powered by Medianet that enables customers to see and speak with financial advisers directly over the Internet.

Winners will be announced on 22 November at an awards banquet in London.

The company that provides technology for First Financial Bancorp`s payment processing unit will take over that business, according to Dayton Business Journal.

First Financial will sell the portfolio to Metavante, a Milwaukee-based company owned by Marshall & Ilsley.

Under the terms of the deal, Metavante will offer the service to the bank`s 1 743 existing clients and, with First Financial, will jointly market to prospective customers. The bank said that as a result of the sale, it expects a pre-tax gain of about $5.5 million, or about 9 cents per share, in the fourth quarter.