BANK tech-trends News
 

December 3 - December 7, 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

NCR has rolled out their Branch Assist 12, a high-capacity Teller Cash Recycler (TCR). This latest unit complements NCR’s Branch Assist 10 model which was introduced earlier this year. TCR technology automatically authenticates, counts, stores and makes available deposited currency notes, which are then recycled back to customers over the teller counter. NCR says that the Branch Assist 12 unit offers the highest level of cash capacity available in the marketplace today because of its unique capability to recycle from 12 internal rolled storage modules. 

OEMPCWorld.com, a Silicon Valley-based online computer memory retailer, aims to become one of the most proactively eco-friendly memory retailers in North America. They point out that RAM chips contain potentially dangerous levels of lead, making it an unwanted and unsafe addition to landfills regardless of its relatively small size. In an effort to reduce the amount of computer memory that makes its way to landfill, OEMPCWorld.com has setup a BuyBack program that includes an optional inexpensive postage-paid return envelope when shipping out new orders, allowing customers to mail back out-dated RAM in exchange for additional savings off of their purchase cost. The company says that any RAM that they recover through its BuyBack program which cannot be resold is processed to extract the potentially harmful lead from the RAM before it is discarded.

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

INETCO Systems, a provider of business transaction intelligence software and communications gateway products, announced the launch of its INETCO Insight 3.1, a software solution that performs real-time monitoring and analysis of the end-to-end payment transaction flow. With its ability to decode transaction messages from raw network traffic forwarded by a managed Ethernet switch, communications gateway or transaction switch, INETCO Insight allows banks to visualize in real-time how each ATM is performing, how upstream providers are responding, and how the payments infrastructure is processing transactions. 

At the recent BAI Retail Delivery Show, Diebold was demonstrating its Campaign Office server-based marketing software component of Agilis Office Suite. By utilizing Campaign Office, Diebold says banks can increase profitability while delivering personalization at the ATM, through screens, backgrounds, buttons and fonts, language preferences, and informational and service messages for specific locations. 

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The Japanese hardware manufacturer Wacom and the German software specialist Softpro have teamed up to deliver a biometric signature system. Their Signature LCD tablet named SignPad was first demonstrated to a broad audience at the recent BAI Retail Delivery Show. The tablet has the capability to capture all distinct behavioral characteristics of an individual’s signature - including shape, speed, stroke, pen pressure and timing information.

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Scottsdale-based Clareity Security is now offering its patented TEXT-pass product line to help banks meet FFIEC guidelines which require higher-level security for authenticating online customers. TEXT-pass uses a customer's mobile phone as an authentication token, rather than a single-use device such as a one-time password token. The solution generates secure, one-time passwords and transmits them directly to a customer's cell phone via SMS message, eliminating the need for loading software on a customer's computer or distributing hardware tokens. Clareity says that their system provides banks with a viable way to protect customers from ‘man-in-the-middle’ attacks. 

Most security experts strongly recommend that you encrypt your backup tapes. But now there is a new sophisticated tracking system that adds another layer of security for your backup tapes as they move offsite. It utilizes an 'industrial-grade' GPS and triband cell phone capabilities. Learn more about it in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe today.

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Web-based applications and security holes in Microsoft Office are among the biggest threats faced by Internet users today, according to the SANS Institute's annual security report. Also on the rise this year was spyware, and gullible users continue to be tricked into installing malware. SANS said it takes as little as five minutes to attack an unprotected computer connected to the Internet. SANS recommends that IT administrators should use Web application firewalls as well as maintain an aggressive patching schedule. 

Security firm F-Secure is reporting a surge in 'man-in-the-browser' attacks where criminals infect PCs with malicious code that is only triggered when a Web user visits an online banking site. This malware can retrieve information - such as logins and passwords - entered on a legitimate online banking site by intercepting the HTML code in the Web browser. Criminals then store the personal data on FTP sites before selling. F-Secure says security products using behavioral analysis are the most effective against these attacks, as the malicious code is designed specifically for certain banking sites. They are not distributed en masse like phishing emails. 

A new generation of firewalls is slowly emerging with more sophisticated inspection and blocking features at higher speeds. Many are adding intrusion prevention capabilities and the ability to filter by application type. We will cover these advances in the upcoming issue of BANk tech-trends - subscribe now.

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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A newly-released survey from Really Simple Systems finding that "four fifths of senior executives cite employee resistance to using customer relationship management (CRM) software as the biggest hurdle they face when implementing the technology." The survey notes that CRM adoption has always been an issue and the solution is to make the software easy to use, not more complex. They conclude that organizations need to make sure that simplicity is as important a factor as functionality when choosing CRM systems.

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NACHA has approved a revamp of their ACH anti-fraud system. The first phase entails NACHA's empowerment to impose fines as high as $500,000 against those who violate its operating rules, even if no complaints are filed. The second phase will involve the group's mandate that institutions furnish special reports if they are thought by NACHA to be permitting practices that create risk management problems for others on the ACH network.

In response to Capital One's issuance of a "decoupled" third-party debit card. some industry observers are recommending that banks will have to find ways to boost their cards' appeal, either by adding their own rewards or by embedding them within a product package that dissuades customers from using the Capital One card. Also NACHA recently enacted a rule that requires each transaction by a third-party card issuer to have a separate ACH debit. This is important because it will permit the bank to see the name of the merchant involved in the transaction and help resolve disputes.

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

Click to call provider Ifbyphone has released a new click to call application. The firm claims that the new patent pending click to call application, Phone-Me-Now, requires zero configuration and can be integrated in less then 60 seconds into any website, email or hyperlinked document. To use Phone-Me-Now, companies need only type: http://www.phone-me-now/your-business-number into any web site, Word Document, PowerPoint Presentation, Spreadsheet, PDF or email. Because the offering requires no configuration, a reader who then clicks on the link is prompted for their telephone number and Ifbyphone's systems immediately call the company and the reader and conferences the call.

A company by the name of iPoint-media is targeting mid-size banks with their video application platform. According to iPoint-media, the new video interaction center will allow the bank's customers to interact with a customer service representative over the Internet via audio, video or text chat. Utilizing advanced multimedia capabilities, callers and customer service reps can share video clips, documents and real-time information.

A telephony vendor has come out with a new system that can add unified communications to legacy PBXs. We will cover them in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe now.

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Call Centers

Bank call centers, like any type of call center, need all the help that they can get when it comes to recruiting and hiring new agents. Fortunately there are some excellent Web-based tools on the market that can help call center managers with the hiring process. We will cover one award winning system in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe today.

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