Online billing goes mainstream

Fiserv revealed in its 2010 consumer billing survey that online banking has increased eight-fold over the past 10 years, says Trading Markets.

The survey indicates 72.5 million US households have Internet access, which equates to 80% of all households using online banking.

"The face of online bill payment has changed significantly over the last decade," says Geoff Knapp, vice-president of online banking and consumer insights, Fiserv. "Early users were tech-savvy and tended to be young and male, as is typical with new technology. Now it's moms and seniors and people at all income levels using the service.”

Coinstar has sold its electronic payment services business to InComm for $40 million and cut its second-quarter forecast to account for the sale, states Reuters.

Coinstar expects to record a one-time benefit of $5 million to $7 million in the second quarter from the sale.

For the second quarter, Coinstar expects earnings from continuing operations of 28c to 32c a share, on revenue of $363 million to $383 million.

Square, a brainchild of Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, has released technology that enables anyone to accept credit cards using software that can be downloaded to a smartphone, reports LA Times.

The plastic card reader plugs into the headphone jack on an iPhone or Android-based phone and interfaces with the phone's software before the transaction is processed through Square's secure servers.

A version of Square for the iPad is also available. It enables store owners input and track inventory and handle cash transactions, replacing point-of-sale cash registers and terminals.