BANK tech-trends News
 

October 1 - October 5, 2007

• Hardware News
• Software Updates
• ATMs/Kiosks
• Biometric Digest Highlights
• Wireless World
• Security Section
• Leaders Roundtable
• Technology and Marketing
• Online Banking/E-Commerce/
  Website Design
• Internet Access
• Call Centers

Hardware News

Xerox has introduced color printers and ink products that it says will cut the price of color printing by two-thirds. The new printers use longer-lasting crayon-like ink sticks that will help reduce the cost of color printing from the 15 cents a page to 5 cents — the price of black-and-white printing. Xerox said the two printers will cost $2,499 and $3,999, or about $900 more than equipment handling the same volume sold by competitors. However, with the lower cost of ink, the higher equipment price will be recovered in five months, contends Xerox.

Dell has launched a new online recycling program for small organizations with fewer than 10 pieces of computer equipment to recycle. The service allows small businesses to manage, return and track their equipment, according to Dell. The fee for the service is $25 per item and covers the period from the product purchase and set-up through the end of its use. Dell said it will also provide businesses with a report of how data from operational systems was cleansed as well as how the systems were recycled. 

Cisco division Linksys has introduced eight "smart" LAN switches for small businesses. Linksys is billing the newest customers of the Business Series Smart Ethernet Switch line as a cost-effective way for small businesses to get simple Web management, security and easy installation in their switches. The new devices include 24-port and 48-port 10/100Mbps switches, each with two Gigabit Ethernet copper or fiber ports. There are also versions of those with support for Power over Ethernet. Other new switches include 24-port and 48-port 10/100/1000Mbps switches with two optical slots. Management features are intended for organizations with little to no dedicated IT staff, but the switches still support SNMP, so that they can be monitored and managed from a central location.

MagTek®’s ExpressCard 1000 is the industry’s first “ALL-IN-ONE” instant issuance and complete card personalization platform forCredit, Debit, ATM, and Financial Gift Cards designed to fit securely and comfortably within a branch location.

For the first time, card personalization features such as color card-printing, magstripe encoding, smartcard encoding, card embossing, indent printing, and foil tipping have been combined into a single device which provides both the physical and logical security features required to meet the demands of a branch or retailer’s card issuing environment.

Equipped with MagnePrint® card authentication technology (www.magneprint.com), the ExpressCard 1000 offers the capability to capture the card's reference MagnePrint at the time of card issuance so that reference value may be used in conjunction with complementary risk management analytics with card present transactions. The ExpressCard 1000 can be connected as a peripheral to MagTek’s IntelliCAT and MCAPS 3000 PIN selection and instant issuance software suites creating a complete and secure card issuing platform.

For more information on ExpressCard 1000, go to www.magtek.com or call your MagTek sales representative at 800-788-6835.

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ATMs/Kiosks

ATM surcharges have climbed to record levels over the past year, according to the latest survey from Bankrate. The firm's fall 2007 Checking Study found the average ATM fee jumped to $1.78, up from $1.64 a year earlier. Bankrate also found that the most common ATM surcharge is $2, up from $1.50, and 99 percent of banks surveyed charge a fee for using an ATM card at other banks.

NCR announced it will offer Intel dual-core processor technology in their ATMs. Newly-ordered ATMs will now feature Intel dual-core processors, with upgrade kits available for the existing NCR Personas range. NCR says that having this processor technology within the ATM casing can provide up to 40 percent faster processing capacity with enhanced power savings. 

Law enforcement officials in New York are saying that ATMs are being used for money laundering purposes. Criminals are using "microstructuring" techniques which are a variation of a practice sometimes called "smurfing" - the breaking down of large transactions into many smaller ones to evade detection by financial regulators. Learn more in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe today. 

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As part of its technology initiative for the rural sector, India-based Canara Bank has launched a voice-enabled biometric ATM. The ATM technology, in addition to having features of any other ATM, has the added function of fingerprint biometrics. The ATM can also guide the user through the transaction with a pre-recorded voice system in the user's regional language. 

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Visa USA is releasing Micro Tag, a chip-based keyring attachment embedded with its payWave contactless technology that can be used instead of cards to pay for low value purchases. Cardholders can use the new Visa Micro Tag to pay for purchases under $25 by waving the device in front of a contactless payment terminal. Visa says the device allows financial institutions to offer cardholders a companion device to an existing credit, debit or pre-paid account. 

Two European companies - Monitise and ROLLCOMM - announced mobile banking and payment suites. Monitise Mobile Banking Product Suite includes: the ability to manage multiple accounts; a full range of payment services; SMS alerting; ‘click to call’ services; two-factor authentication; and ATM & branch locators. Meanwhile, ROLLCOMM is touting their mobile payment solution called ROLLPAY. It is an end-to-end mobile payment solution that impressed Oracle enough for them to award the firm with their “2007 The Most Innovative Partner” prize.

The threats from mobile malicious software are not particularly high and are around 20 years behind those plaguing PCs now, according to F-Secure. There are more than 300 malware variants targeting mobiles and smart phones, but around 400,000 such threats targeting PCs. The security vendor says that mobile security only generates a mere 1 percent of the company's total revenue.

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Up to 300,000 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are filed per month in the United States, but the head of the International Association of Money Transfer Networks says that most of those reports "disappear into a black hole" because law enforcement agencies don't have the resources to investigate each one. Olga Maitland noted that the sheer volume of reports means that many illegal activities often go uninvestigated or even unnoticed. 

Code Green Networks is coming out with a smaller, lower-cost version of its data-loss-prevention appliance that is designed for small and midsize organizations that cannot afford higher-end data-protection gear. The appliances can block sensitive data and alert IT staff about infractions of its policies and detail the data that triggered the policy. The company’s CI-750 appliance is targeted at 20 to 250 users. 

Keystroke loggers are a particularly dangerous security threat because users typically don’t realize they’re even there. In the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends we will cover the different versions of keystroke loggers, and provide tips for protecting your bank from them.

MAGENSA™ is a trusted verification authority (TVA) that provides real-time remote-hosted credential authentication services. These services enable banks, businesses, and government agencies to integrate PCI DSS and FFIEC multi-factor authentication and end-to-end data encryption capabilities into their existing processing environments without the need for substantial financial investments or massive changes to the existing infrastructure.

Specifically tailored to enhance the security of internet banking and ATM applications, MAGENSA delivers unprecedented security and authentication using the familiar magstripe card credentials (secure tokens) that a bank has already issued to its customers. MAGENSA is powered by the trusted and proven card authentication technology known as MagnePrint® (www.magneprint.com). MagnePrint differentiates a customers’ authentic magstripe card from an altered or counterfeit version, transforming the traditional magstripe card into a powerful security token.

MAGENSA’s Secure Data Center (SDC), a reliable 24x7 operations center that is maintained 365 days a year, simplifies the integration of data decryption and MagnePrint scoring into existing websites, and allows for data federation across institutional domains.

For more information on MAGENSA, please visit www.magensa.net or call 877.MAGENSA.

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ONLINE BANKING: 

Embraced by Customers - The Next Steps

Digital Resolve - http://www.digital-resolve.net Read Dennis Maicon's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/DigitalResolve.pdf

First Internet Bank - http://www.firstib.com Read David Becker's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/FirstInternet.pdf

Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com Read Greg Haislip's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Microsoft.pdf

Open Solutions - http://www.opensolutions.com   Read Michael D. Nicastro's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/OSI.pdf

TowerGroup - http://www.towergroup.com   Read George Tubin's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/TowerGroup.pdf

uMonitor - http://www.umonitor.com   Read Dinesh Sheth's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/uMonitor.pdf

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MasterCard announced the launch of MasterCard Easy Savings, a new savings program for MasterCard BusinessCard credit and signature debit cardholders offering them "easy, automatic savings on goods and services every time they use their MasterCard BusinessCard credit and signature debit cards for qualified purchases at participating U.S. merchants." MasterCard Easy Savings is a turnkey program that allows banks to offer instant benefits to their business customers.

Grow your membership and your revenue with a unique youth program, plus get $1 for each card sign-up!

Unique tools for customer growth, a way to differentiate yourself in the market and a great revenue generator. PAYjr is the youth program that will help you grow your bank with younger members. It is not just marketing material to send out to customers, but the tools to help them learn money management.

We offer a turn-key branding solution that allows you to offer financial education, an online chore and allowance program and a teen prepaid card that teens can design themselves! These programs show your involvement in your community and will help parents show their kids how to earn and save money the smart way. The online chore and allowance program schedules chores and tracks their completion, making chores interactive and fun for the whole family. The prepaid Visa Buxx card is a great tool for teens to learn how to budget and it is a great revenue generator for you. Get $1 for each card sign-up!

Check out our site where you can design your own prepaid card: www.PAYjrVisaBuxx.com

Contact Information & For Partnership Opportunities:


Jessica Stroud
Jessica@payjr.com
(214) 618-7037

www.PAYjrCorp.com 

The PAYjr Visa Buxx® Card is issued by BankFirst, Sioux Falls, SD, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. BankFirst; Member FDIC.

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The number of online transactions will more than double to reach $355.2 billion by 2012, according to a study released by Javelin Research & Strategy which also predicts increasing take up "alternative payment methods" such as PayPal. Although credit card use will continue to represent the largest dollar amount growth, the percent of online transaction volume will decrease from 60% to 44% by 2012 as consumers switch to alternative methods such as stored-value, e-mail payments and instant credit. 

The government unveiled the re-design of the new $5 note on the Internet via the government's moneyfactory website. Officials from the US Treasury, Federal Reserve Board, Bureau of Engraving and Printing and Secret Service took part in the 'Wi-5' preview of the note. The new bill includes improved security features, including an extra watermark and re-designed security thread, to make it harder to counterfeit and easier for businesses and consumers to identify. The new bill will require adjustments to machines, such as vending and ATMs, that accept the bills. 

Online Resources Corporation announced the launch of a new version of its online
collections solution called Virtual Collection Agent. The new Advantage version of Virtual Collection Agent provides delinquent customers with a private way to resolve their credit problems. ORCC says that their secure web-based service increases collections performance against all types of delinquent debt.

Revolutionary Convergence of Security Technology for Secure Internet Banking!

MagneSafe^TM P55 is a portable card reader/authenticator with four key technologies for secure online banking: Cardholder Data Encryption, MagnePrint^® card authentication technology, Website Authentication and Track 1, 2 and 3 card reading capabilities. In conjunction with MAGENSA^TM, the MagneSafe P55 is designed to offer secure, multifactor authentication for Internet banking, empowering consumers with the freedom and confidence of knowing that their transactions are protected anytime, anywhere.

MAGENSA, a Trusted Verification Authority that provides real-time, remote-hosted credential authentication services, allows credit unions to integrate PCI DSS and FFIEC compliant multifactor authentication, data encryption, website authentication, and data federation capabilities without the need for substantial financial investments or massive changes to the existing infrastructure.

For more information about the MagneSafe P55 or MAGENSA, visit www.magensa.net, or call 877.MAGENSA.

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Internet Access

Zeacom, a provider of unified communications solutions for small-to-medium organizations, announced that its Communications Center has been named a winner of a “Best of Show” Award for Best SMB Solution at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO. It provides presence, unified messaging, presence profiles, unique caller greetings, Microsoft Outlook integration and a full multimedia contact center solution. Version 4.1 supports Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2007, Outlook 2007 and Vista. Its Executive Outlook plug-in offers presence, telephony, fax, and voice messaging inside Microsoft Outlook.

One of the biggest challenges for telecommuters is the lack of face-to-face interaction. For the employee, lack of face time can inhibit creativity and teamwork. For the company, employees can become disconnected and fail to capture ideas or useful interactions that would otherwise contribute to a more productive environment. This situation is also applicable to geographically dispersed employees working in the branch environment. One company believes that they have the answer to this problem with a low cost Internet video and voice communications service that helps to facilitate the creation of high quality video and voice calls sent over the Internet. We will tell you how their system works in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe today.

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Call Centers

Call center software services provider Promero has introduced a hosted, virtual call center solution that gives customers the option of using a third party VoIP provider. The company is letting customers pair up Oracle's Contact Center Anywhere virtual call center solution and predictive dialer with the telephony service provider of their choice. Promero delivers online software applications supporting corporate and home-based users. In addition to offering Oracle’s Contact Center Anywhere application, it also offers ProStarCRM, on demand customer relationship management software; and LeadManager, a lead management, voice/data routing and marketing analytics software. The company also offers ProStar OnDemand, an integrated call center software, CRM and lead management unified platform.

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