BANK tech-trends News
 

September 10 - September 14, 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

Sinu is a unique IT outsourcer in that they provide a small organization's IT foundation for a set price per month ($125 per user per month), and claims it will fix anything, and everything, that doesn't work to your satisfaction. The company developed a Linux-based server platform which it installs and manages remotely, and provides a hosted Exchange e-mail server for each customer. A contract network of several thousand techs around the country provides the hands-on service needed for installation, wiring and any follow up visits. If your server breaks, the company replaces it, no extra fee. And if you outgrow your server, the company says it will add new hard disks or upgrade the server for free. Sinu has been in business since 2004 and has about 50 clients ranging from five to 200 people.

Konica Minolta introduced the bizhub C30PX and bizhub C30P printers that deliver fast color output at 31 pages per minute. The bizhub C30P Series is designed to be a full-color network solution and has some interesting options:

• Optional Staple Finisher featuring 30-sheet stapling, job separation and offset stacking, with two output bins. 
• Up to two optional 500-Sheet Lower Feeders increasing input to 1,600 sheets
• Automatic Duplex Unit for double-sided color printing 

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

To assist banks in determining if outsourcing is right for them, Diebold has launched the Outsourcing Assessment Center. This interactive tool allows banks to evaluate their current ATM channel against industry standards to see if outsourcing can positively impact their bottom lines. Diebold says that the average cost of operating an individual ATM per year is estimated at more than $25,000. 

An Indian technology firm with a long track record of technology innovation is looking to sell low cost, Linux-based ATMs with biometric features. The company boasts of more than 140 clients in the US, UK and Africa, mostly governments and financial institutions. Learn more about their technology in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe today.

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South Africa-based Capitec Bank relies on biometrics for its employees both in its branches and on the road. Employees log-in via biometrics at their 300 branches, and at their 100 mobile branches. The mobile branch uses the same biometrics and cameras as fixed branches and gains real-time connectivity via 3G wireless connectivity.

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Aite Group anticipates that the active base of mobile banking users in the US could reach over 1.6 million by year-end 2007, rapidly rising to 35 million users by the end of 2010. According to their report, titled Mobile Banking v.2.0: Time for the Perfect Storm?, the time is right for banks to revisit offering mobile banking solutions, after largely failing in 2001, when hype significantly outstripped reality. Today, mobile handsets and the speed and bandwidth of wireless networks are capable of enabling mobile banking without the hurdles previously encountered. The vital third element, end-user adoption, remains the uncertain factor, but looks promising. Their 43-page Impact Report contains profiles of eight vendors, including Clairmail, Firethorn, Fronde Anywhere, Fundamo, mFoundry, MShift, Paybox, and Yodlee. 

A Chicago-based startup called aKos Technology claims that by next summer, customers in the US should be sending millions of dollars to Mexico via their cell phones. The firm envisions "a virtual Western Union" using cell phones to transfer funds south of the border. AKos Technology will handle all the back-office functions of the service, including keeping track of transactions, but the service's branding and marketing will be done by prepaid wireless carriers. Established networks of local stores where people without financial institution accounts can go to pay bills with cash will handle the dispersement of funds in Mexico.

Cellular South has completed a three-month, two-city test of contactless payment via mobile phone and deemed it a success. They now plan to launch a commercial version of their WirelessWallet service early next year.

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Nmap is a popular network exploration and security auditing tool written by Gordon Lyon (AKA as Fyodor). He has developed a list of the top 100 network security tools (excluding Nmap). It is available at: http://sectools.org/.

Effective September 28, 2007, financial institutions that originate ACH transactions (ODFIs) will be required to notify NACHA in the event of a known or suspected data breach involving consumer-level ACH data. Under the new policy, an ODFI is “required to notify NACHA if it knows or reasonably suspects: (i) that ACH Data in its control or the control of one of its Originators or third party services providers has been lost, stolen or otherwise subject to unauthorized access, and (ii) that misuse of such information has occurred or is reasonably possible.” The new requirements specify what information must be made available to NACHA and require that information about the incident be made available to affected consumer financial institutions. 

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 Phoenix Payments Research Practice has announced results of recent research concluding that "the shift to debit card usage creates opportunities for banks to increase customer loyalty and deepen their wallet share with their existing customers." The report also noted that "debit cardholders are not nearly as likely to switch entire banking relationships to take advantage of a competitors' offer as many consumers do with their credit cards." If given the option to pay bills using cards, consumers prefer to use debit cards over credit cards by a wide margin. Many consumers want to avoid paying bills with credit cards, even if it means bypassing rewards that could be gained by using their credit cards.

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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Research firm Celent has released a new report entitled “Best Practices in RDC: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Deployers.” They say that by the end of 2007, over 4,000 financial institutions will have remote deposit capture (RDC) solutions — the fastest technology adoption in US financial services history. Key findings of the report include:

• Seven distinctive habits are shared among highly effective RDC deploying institutions. These habits include:

1) A robust vision for the RDC opportunity
2) Senior level management sponsorship
3) A realistic risk assessment
4) A significant investment in sales & marketing with clear objectives
5) Involvement at the branch level
6) Specific and incremental sales incentives
7) A sense of urgency, knowing that first-mover advantage is waning

Billers are gaining more control of consumer payment choices through their online and direct-debit offerings and this control results in more ACH payments for banks and less usage of their online banking bill pay service. Consumers are also increasingly paying their bills with credit and debit cards. If banks could get their customers to use either of these options to pay their bills, they could increase customer loyalty and create a substantial revenue stream from even a relatively small amount of card bill payment. We will cover this subject in the upcoming issue of BANK tech-trends - subscribe now.

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

During the recent VoiceCon Fall show, IBM announced a deal with Siemens to license elements of Siemens’ OpenScape technology; plus they launched the next phase of its unified communication and collaboration (UC2) strategy by expanding its IBM Lotus Sametime software with new telephony integration software. By partnering with Siemens, IBM will improve the presence capabilities of its products, adding add click-to-call, click to conference, rules-based call control, and multi-vendor PBX support. IBM’s plans aren’t expected to have a negative effect on the existing partnerships IBM has with Nortel, Siemens, or others. The second set of announced enhancements includes upgrades for collaboration and integration offering features like IM, contact list management features, persistent group chat, screen sharing, and on-premise Web conferencing along with a wider integration with Microsoft Office and Outlook.

Phishers were exceptionally busy in June, with a near-record number of unique online attacks hitting consumers’ PCs during the month, according to the latest report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group. However, there was good news: The population of websites hosting phishing attacks dropped for the second month in a row, to 31,709, after hitting a record 55,643 in April. Plus, the number of unique keylogger applications rose only slightly, to 222, while the population of sites hosting malware fell to 2,660 from 3,353.

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Call Centers

Many call center expert say that recognition programs help improve morale and performance. Some centers put high performing agents into pools for monthly drawings for coupons from local businesses, logo wear, gift certificates, etc. Others prefer time off for agents that meet target goals such as adherence to schedule, clerical time, average call handling time, no sick leave, etc. However, many shun the use of money because it is considered income and therefore subject to income tax.

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