bits & bytes

* Pay By Touch, a processor of biometrically authenticated payment transactions, shut down all biometric services effective March 19. Solidus Networks Inc., the parent company of Pay By Touch, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2007. As the company was restructuring, it was determined

* While consumers are intrigued by mobile, person-to-person payment systems, only 10 percent are willing to adopt the new technology, according to a study from Javelin Strategy & Research, a San Francisco-based provider of quantitative research focused on the financial services industry. Security is the key concern for potential users, with 63 percent saying that enhanced security would provide an impetus for them to use the service. Among technically inclined consumers, 62 percent were concerned about the loss of personal information from mobile, person-to-person payments, and 52 percent were concerned about fraudulent transactions.

* Bankers are well aware of the potential danger that phishing can have on e-mail sent from banks, according to research from Aite Group, a Boston-based research and consulting firm. Based on a scale of one through five, with one representing "not at all important" and five representing "very important," 78 percent said their concern about phishing was important to very important, with 22 percent saying their concern about phishing was neutral to not important.

* Information Technology Inc., a unit of Fiserv, has launched Premier Mobile Banking, a mobile device banking solution. The solution works on all cell phone carriers, and is compatible with Web-enabled devices. Customers can use the service to check account balances, receive alerts and transfer funds. United Bank of Michigan, a $417 million-asset institution in Grand Rapids, Mich., rolled out the service to customers at no cost in October 2007.

* Incidences of mortgage fraud have increased during the past few years, according to research from TowerGroup, a Needham, Mass.-based research and consulting firm. The annual growth rate for Suspicious Activity Report filings related to mortgages grew to 56 percent between 2002 and 2007, compared to the 26 percent annual growth rate between 1996 and 2002. "Much of the growth in mortgage fraud has been due to the ever-increasing sophistication of fraudsters' schemes to fabricate the values of mortgaged property," said David Hamermesh, senior lending analyst in the consumer lending research service at TowerGroup. To combat fraudsters, TowerGroup recommends investing in analytical technology that can identify loans that are at a high risk for fraud.