BANK tech-trends News
 

July 16 - July 20, 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 partnered with CIMA to bring their Teller Assist Cash Recycler (TACR) to banks. The ultra-compact TACR automatically authenticates, counts, stores and makes available deposited currency notes, which are then recycled back to customers over the teller counter. NCR notes that with today’s labor-intensive cash counting process, it is not uncommon for a banknote to be counted by hand at least six times on its journey from the vault through the branch. They claim that as much as two-thirds of a teller’s daily processing time can be reduced using the TACR technology.

The Lexmark X502n is a color laser multifunction aimed squarely at small offices and work groups. It prints, scans, copies, and faxes, and also is one of the more affordable lasers to maintain, thanks to reasonable print-refill costs. It offers both USB and Ethernet connectors, so it can be connected directly to a PC or on a network for a multiuser environment. The X502n costs $700, while the X500n offers everything but faxing for $500. 

Dell has rolled out new notebooks and desktops designed to reach small businesses. The brand name: Vostro. The new notebooks start at $599, while desktops start at $319. Dell includes: a 1 year PCTuneup; a 30-day money back guarantee; and "technicians trained specifically in small business are available to assist 24×7x365." 

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

Under an agreement with the National Federation for the Blind, Houston-based Cardtronics will make the nation’s largest fleet of ATMs accessible to the blind by 2010. Cardtronics agreed to provide a voice guidance feature that can be activated by plugging headphones into a jack on their more than 23,000 machines.

A Dutch security company by the name of Mactwin Products & Software has developed an ATM protection product called the ATM Gas Protection Unit (GPU). It is designed to thwart attacks that try to blow the ATM off its base. If the GPU detects an explosive gas, it releases a explosion suppression chemical which the firm says changes the make-up of the explosive gas and renders it ineffective.

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Bank customers could keep track of their debt as they spend if a new biometric invention makes it to the market. It is a contactless credit card that shows cardholders their financial status before making a purchase. Consumers could link it to any of their accounts, savings/checking/credit, and the device would display how much is in each account as well as how each additional purchase would affect their account balances. The card is secured by a fingerprint reader that only allows authorized people to see the account balances. 

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According to a recent report from Jupiter Research, 204 million mobile payment users will generate about $22 billion by 2011. Jupiter predicts that person-to-person (P2P) payments and near field communications (NFC) will drive the market. Current market barriers include resolving business model issues and revenue share issues, because financial institutions and carriers both want to own the relationship with the user.

MShift, a leading provider of turnkey wireless solutions and services, announced the release of iPhone specific updates for its Mobile Banking engine. The update detects and leverages the unique capabilities of the iPhone, and allows users to access secure check images as well as account balances, statements, loan balances and other banking information through MShift technology.

Fujitsu Siemens Computers has introduced a new range of professional notebooks - the Esprimo series, all of which have integrated 3G connectivity. Notebooks with integrated 3G have become more common over the past year and, at one point, the technology was even due to be included in Intel's Santa Rosa processing platform. However, talks between Intel and Nokia broke down, leaving the inclusion of such technology up to individual computer manufacturers. Intel is widely expected to include mobile WiMax connectivity instead in the next generation of its chipsets. 

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American banks lost $711 million to check fraud in 2005, the most recent year the Federal Reserve studied the matter. Old fashioned check washing is still popular. In this scenario, the check washer first obtains a legitimate check through a variety of means, and then uses an over-the-counter solvent to get rid of the writing on it. They leave the routing numbers and name and address of the account holder, and fill in their payee information. In another scheme, the victim is notified that, for some reason (a sweepstakes or lottery), a check - often a bogus cashier's check - is on the way. Often the check comes from outside the country. The person who receives it is asked to cash it and send back part or all of the money for taxes, bonding or custom fees. Unlike in the money-washing scheme, the victim is held at fault because it was he or she who passed the check, often a complete forgery done with digital printing. Consumer groups recommend never sending money to strangers or trusting any type of check sent from strangers. They also recommend using pens with gel ink, which is the most impervious to solvents, to write checks.

A typical multifunction networked printer today isn't just a printer with an Ethernet port. It also may contain a full operating system with access controls (often open by default and containing open backdoors so that support people can do off-site maintenance); a Telnet server; an FTP server; and a large hard disk. Unfortunately, there is more that can be done with these types of printers to compromise network security than one might realize. To discover some of the more interesting things that can be done with a network based printer to make it reveal information about its users, owners and the network it's part of, go to: 

http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/networkprinterhacking 

Security experts routinely state that employees are the biggest threat to an organization’s sensitive information — but vendors and partners often come in a close second. We will cover some basic steps that you can do to help plug this security area in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe today.

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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The credit and debit card rewards market is pretty saturated with a wide variety of rewards. However there is one relatively new area: eco-friendly perks. Learn more about this trend towards green marketing in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe today.

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Change Sciences Group, a Web usability research firm, says that many banking websites just aren't very user-friendly. They believe that in order to grow beyond the tech-savvy early adopters, online banking needs substantial upgrades in usability. Their online banking studies found that:

50% have page layout problems that make information hard to find. 
69% lack design elements that help users stay focused and on track. 
50% make entering data through forms harder than it needs to be. 
63% ask users to do things that many see as annoying. 

The Center for Responsible Lending has published a study titled "Out of Balance" that is critical of overdraft programs. The report states that "in a system enormously out of balance, consumers pay $17.5 billion in fees for $15.8 billion in abusive overdraft loans." In addition, the report finds that debit card overdrafts are now the single largest source of overdraft fees. They are especially critical of these three practices:

(1) posting charges against a checking account quickly while intentionally delaying the posting of deposits, 
(2) lowering account balances by re-ordering debits to clear higher-dollar items first, and 
(3) failing to warn a consumer during debit card point-of-sale or ATM transactions if they are about to overdraw their account, so that they may cancel the transaction if they choose.

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

Cisco is targeting VoIP at the 'small' end of the small and midsize business market via a partnership with VoIP vendor IPcelerate. Cisco is offering its Smart Business Communications System (SBCS), a scaled down VOIP system that offers the promise of unified communications to businesses that have as few as 16 users. The platform includes unified communications, security, switching, wireless and system management tools. Meanwhile, IPcelerate is offering its IPsmartSuite, a set of small business applications for various vertical industries.

Tadiran Telecom, an IP business telephone and communications solutions provider, has announced the “IP Communications Experience Tour,” a nationwide, multi-city tour of Tadiran’s Mobile Advanced Technology Centers. The high-tech RV will help visitors experience and test the possibilities in IP communications, first hand. It will include the Coral IPx Office, an IP PBX that is a complete IP office communication solution in one small box, for converged communications with sophisticated call handling, firewall protection, VPN and NAT support, and optional unified messaging. 

Here are some of the best search engines for finding information on people - and finding out what information people can find out about you:

- www.peopledata.com 

- www.peoplelookup.com 

- www.whitepages.com 

- www.peoplefinders.com 

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Call Centers

The Centergy Virtual Contact Center from Aastra Intecom easily enables call center representatives to work from whichever locations they choose, simply by logging on to a Web page to accept calls. Among the key components of CVCC are an interactive voice response (IVR) system, skills-based routing, digital call recording and real-time and historical reporting. The system accommodates call centers that range from several agents to thousands of agents.

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