Mobile banking technology provider MShift has lost its appeal ofthe dismissal late last year of a patent infringement suit it filedagainst Intuit Financial Services and several banks and creditunions.

The Fremont, Calif., company claimed that IFS and the otherdefendants infringed on its 2005 patent for linking technologybetween mobile devices and online banking networks after thesoftware was licensed to the former Digital Insight, which IFSbought in 2007.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District ofCalifornia dismissed the suit on Oct. 8. MShift's appeal of the dismissalwas dismissed on July 8 by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals forthe Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.

Credit unions named in the suit were the $717 million MeritrustCU of Wichita, Kan., the $330 million Professional FCU of FortWayne, Ind., the $723 million Fort Worth Community CU in Texas andthe $712 million USE CU in San Diego. Also named were several banksand Mobile Money Ventures LLC, a joint venture of Korea's SKTelecom and Citigroup which has just sold its technology assets toIFS.

MShift got early traction among credit unions and said it nowprovides mobile banking technology to about 200 financialinstitutions, including a majority of the 50 largest credit unions.Calabasas, Calif.-based IFS said about half of its 1,900 clientsare credit unions.