BANK tech-trends News
 

April 7 - April 11, 2008

• 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

In one of the biggest server changes that IBM has made in recent years, Big Blue said that its System i midrange machines will become part of a new product line that will support every operating system in IBM's portfolio except the ones for its mainframes. In effect, IBM is unifying its System i and System p servers. The newly unified product line will be based on IBM's Power6 processors and will support the operating system from the System i as well as Linux and IBM's AIX variant of Unix. In addition, IBM plans to release blade servers that can support all of those operating systems plus Windows.

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ATMs/Kiosks

According to the latest research from NCR, 86 percent of U.S. and Canadian consumers say they are more likely to do business with a company that offers the flexibility to interact using self-service – whether via the Internet, on a mobile device or at a kiosk or ATM. That’s an increase of 11 percent over those who gave the same response in last year’s study. Moreover, 56 percent say their likelihood to use self-service has increased over the past year.

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At the recent CTIA show in Las Vegas, Kyocera was showing off new cell phones with NFC (near field communications) technology for making purchases with embedded credit/debit card information. Its demo handset, a Kyocera E2000, features a fingerprint scanner for identifying the phone's owner. Without the necessary finger touch, the handset would not allow NFC purchases. What's more, Kyocera says that you can train the phone to use different credit cards depending on how you swipe the scanner.

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Anam Mobile unveiled a service that will allow global money transfers via SMS. SMS Money Transfer allows consumers to send money to people in their contact list using a three-step procedure. First, the user writes an SMS that begins "#cash" followed by the amount they wish to send and selects the person they want to send it to from their address book. Then the system confirms the transaction and asks for the sender's PIN. When the PIN is entered correctly the money is instantly debited from the sender's bank account in what the firm calls "a virtual ATM transaction" and simultaneously credited to the bank account of the recipient.

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Some organizations are attempting to prevent data loss via USB thumb drives by completely disallowing all thumb drives, but that isn't a decision that some organizations are ready to make. For them, the real question is how to secure the data that the users place on the drives - not how to prevent data from being written to the drive. One solution is to take a hybrid approach, using a software product that only allows usage of thumb drives with pre-defined serial numbers in conjunction with a product like IronKey to handle the encryption. Plus some antivirus suites, like Symantec's Endpoint Protection (SEP) 11, already offer this type of capability. 

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has published the 2007 Internet Crime Report. For the year, IC3 received 206,884 complaints of crimes perpetrated over the Internet during 2007. Of the complaints received, more than 90,000 were referred to law enforcement around the nation, amounting to nearly $240 million in reported losses. This represents a $40 million increase in reported losses from complaints referred to law enforcement in 2006.

Fortinet, a leading provider of unified threat management (UTM) solutions, announced a new FortiGate-310B multi-threat security appliance. The company says that by incorporating into the FortiGate-310B purpose-built FortiASIC network processors previously reserved for its high-end product lines, they are able to deliver firewall and virtual private network (VPN) throughput performance to gigabit-per-second (Gbps) speeds, and enabling wire-speed firewall performance.

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Security:

Perimeter, Host and Endpoint Security – Finding the Right Mix

Arcot - http://www.arcot.com   Read R. 'Doc' Vaidhyanathan's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Arcot.pdf

Astaro - http://www.astaro.com Read Alex Quinonez's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Astaro.pdf

Code Green Networks - http://www.codegreennetworks.com   Read Brian Czarny's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/CGN.pdf

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

e-DMZ Security - http://www.e-dmzsecurity.com   Read Kris Zupan's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/e-DMZ.pdf

HEIT - http://www.goheit.com   Read Dan Holt's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Heit.pdf

Integrated Computer Solutions - http://www.icsinc.com   Read Stephen Goldsby's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/ICS.pdf

MagTek - http://www.magtek.com   Read Kiran Gandhi's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/MagTek.pdf

Netsecuris - http://www.netsecuris.com   Read Leonard Jacobs' comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Netsecuris.pdf

Network Box - http://www.networkboxusa.com   Read Pierluigi Stella's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/NetworkBox.pdf

Perimeter eSecurity - http://www.perimeterusa.com   Read Kevin Prince's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Perimeter.pdf

Proofpoint - http://www.proofpoint.com   Read Sandra Vaughan's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Proofpoint.pdf

Sydel - http://www.sydelcorp.com   Read Antonio Gonzalez's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Sydel.pdf

TraceSecurity - http://www.tracesecurity.com   Read Jim Stickley's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/TraceSecurity.pdf

TriGeo Network Security - http://www.trigeo.com   Read Michelle Dickman's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/TriGeo.pdf

ZixCorp - http://www.zixcorp.com   Read Dena Bauckman's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Zix.pdf

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TSYS Loyalty announced the development of a product that calculates points and rewards for customers who subscribe to multiple products with a single bank, which include, but are not limited to direct deposit, credit, mortgage, insurance and Certificate of Deposit accounts. TSYS Enterprise Rewards also supports a Web interface, which allows the bank’s customers to manage their total relationship with a single access point. 

Customer Effective, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and implementer of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, announced the release of Capital Effective, a front-office relationship management software suite based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform and designed exclusively for the financial services market. The firm says that employees benefit from direct access to customer information through Office Outlook, which permits them to receive critical information in the office or from remote locations.

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ACI Worldwide, a provider of software for electronic payment systems, announced the latest version of its online banking solution, ACI Enterprise Banker 7.4. ACI says that Release 7.4 extends capabilities for integrating with a bank's portal and to other third parties, including bill payment providers. It also enhances import and export capabilities. 

Myriad Systems Inc (MSI), a provider of financial document capture, processing, printing, and mailing services, announced that it has completed the roll-out of their check and item processing system available based entirely on the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model. Under the SaaS model, MSI’s solution applications and the bank’s data are hosted and maintained in MSI’s redundant and secure data centers. All functionality is accessed by the bank’s staff, using standard Web browsers over the Internet. MSI’s item processing SaaS suite now includes applications for Remote Deposit Capture, Branch Capture, Proof of Deposit, Returns, Exceptions, Check and Document Archive, and Image Exchange, as well as e-Statements and e-Notices.

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Internet Access

According to Nemertes’ Advanced Communications Services research of midsize to large organizations, 73% report using MPLS (multi protocol label switching) in some capacity. Displacing more costly and less flexible frame relay and ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) services, Nemertes says that MPLS has become the de-facto standard for site-to-site connectivity because it has: 

* Lower cost (in terms of price and the actual costs for the carriers to operate) when compared with private line, frame-relay or ATM alternatives.
* Native ability to support service guarantees for classes of IP traffic.
* Ability to support any-to-any connectivity, eliminating the need for hub-and-spoke routing architectures.
* Support for services hosted in the carrier network, such as Internet access (often coupled with managed security services) or hosted applications, such voice or video. 

Zeacom Communications just unveiled the latest version (5.0) of its flagship unified communications solution. The updated solution includes enhanced voice conference capabilities, and extends UC from the desktop to mobile devices. Further, it integrates with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS). The system includes voice conferencing features that allow for the organization of live communications among as many as 64 parties. Voice conferences can be conducted directly from the desktop, without requiring any third-party call provider. Meanwhile, the Executive Mobile feature in Zeacom Communications Center lets users manage their presence and availability status from a desktop or laptop computer, or from a mobile device. All functions available on the desktop - such as single mailbox, presence profiles and directory - are also available on BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices.

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Call Centers

PreVisor’s Contact Center Solution is designed to be a predictive agent selection tool that can help contact centers efficiently screen job candidates. This system combines job simulation and comprehensive behavioral assessment software. The Contact Center Solution features four interactive simulations that present agent candidates with realistic calls. The simulations assess each candidate’s ability to use available information and respond to caller needs, navigate screens, and accurately and efficiently enter data.

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