BANK tech-trends News
 

October 19, 2009 - October 23, 2009

• 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

Hewlett-Packard announced its Compaq 500B and 505B microtower business desktop PCs, intended for small businesses on a budget. The 500B comes with Windows 7 Professional (or XP Pro, or Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11), Intel Pentium dual-core or Celeron processors, up to 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, 160GB SATA 7,200 RPM hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive, Intel GMA 3100 graphics and 802.11 b/g/n. The 505B distinguishes itself with AMD Athlon II dual, triple or quad core processors and integrated Nvidia GeForce 6150SE graphics by default. The 500B will start at $359 and the 505B will start at $409.

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ATMs/Kiosks

NCR expects to deliver its first ATM in the near future from its new 340,000-square-foot plant in Columbus, GA. NCR is in the midst of an ambitious plan to convert a former Panasonic battery plant into a state-of-the-art ATM assembly facility. NCR, which is moving its corporate headquarters from Dayton, Ohio, to Duluth, GA, has about 125 people on its payroll in Columbus, with plans to hire a total of 150 people by the time it rolls the first ATM in the next few weeks.

If your bank is planning a cash-less branch, experts say that it will take careful planning and a good branch layout. Many designers strongly recommend placing your ATM or kiosk between the door and the teller line and using a concierge/ambassador to greet and educate customers. It will also pay to have good signage, brochures and tutorials. A successful deployment of self-service takes reliable ATM/kiosk hardware, well trained staff and some serious thought, planning, design and follow-through.

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Windows 7 is the first operating system from Microsoft to have biometrics as part of the core package. The way it works is that any fingerprint reader or other biometric tool simply has to conform to the WBF. This should quickly eliminate incompatible middleware problems that have caused issues in the past for IT Departments trying to increase network security by using biometrics.

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Barclays is the first bank in the UK to have contactless technology available on its debit and credit cards. Since March 2009, most Barclays debit cards that have been issued or reissued have had contactless technology built in as a standard component. To encourage usage of the cards, they have produced a short 'vidcast' to help consumers looking to find out how and where contactless can be used.

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AT&T announced the availability of Security Event and Threat Analysis and Security Device Management, two new managed security services available for organizations of all sizes. These new services enable customers to engage AT&T security professionals selectively to provide customized security support. Services range from security event analysis and threat management analysis to targeted security device management including firewalls, intrusion detection sensors and VPN servers. These new services complement AT&T's existing Security Consulting services, which include Log Management, Security Policy Management, Vulnerability Analysis, Application Security, Trusted Advisor services and Payment Card Industry Solutions.

Black Box Corporation, a provider of voice communications, data infrastructure, and product solutions, announced its entry into the NAC market with the introduction of the Veri-NAC network access control appliance family. Veri-NAC, which doesn’t require the installation of software agents on connected machines, only lets authorized computers and devices onto a defined network. It also checks to make sure each connected machine complies with specified standards, including up-to-date operating system, patch management, and hardened configurations. If a device is deemed to contain vulnerabilities, it can be locked out of the network except for the resources the user needs to bring the computer into compliance.

Bit9's Parity whitelisting application-control program comes with a service that automatically recognizes 5 billion different files (according to Bit9) based upon their hash signature and other file attributes. Parity can recognize every relatively recent file made by Microsoft, Adobe, and Macromedia, as well as waves of lesser-known programs, including common hacking tools. Parity first compares computers to a baseline "gold standard" image established by the administrator. As users install new software (or malware exploits), Parity is able to calculate a "drift" score for the computer. By accumulating all the drift scores for all the computers on the network, Parity can calculate an aggregate drift score. Finally, Parity also calculates a file's threat risk.

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Core Systems:

Helping Banks Focus on Opportunities

Fidelity Information Services - http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com   Read Anthony Jabbour's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/FIS.pdf

Fiserv - http://www.fiserv.com Read Fiserv's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Fiserv.pdf

Fiserv - http://www.opensolutions.com Read David Mitchell's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/OSI.pdf

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IMN, a Software as a Service (SaaS) provider specializing in content-driven e-communications services, is targeting bank marketing departments with their e-communications tool for creating HTML email newsletters, blogs, and RSS. The e-newsletters are designed to contain relevant content to engage and educate customers on financial services and generate leads for cross-selling opportunities. The Waltham, MA-based company says that their services also help ensure that your communications comply with regulatory requirements without extra effort.

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According to Moebs Services, U.S. financial transactions—checks, debit, credit and automatic transactions—will top 100 billion by the end of the year. Moebs, which analyzes Federal Reserve data, says paper checks usage has dropped from 85 percent of all transactions to 25 percent. Credit card usage is down, but debit transactions are up. Here is their breakdown of transactions:

- Debit card transactions: 33 percent
- Paper checks: 24 percent
- Credit card transactions: 23 percent
- Automatic Payments (ACH): 20 percent

Mastercard is moving into the personal finance budgeting space with the launch of a Web-based tool that enables cardholders to categorize and monitor debit card spending. American Express meanwhile has launched a free online account aggregation and money management service. Using MasterCard Money Manager, cardholders can review signature and PIN-based MasterCard transactions by merchant category, and create customized categories, making it possible to identify spending patterns and compare actual spend to an allocated budget. American Express has taken the idea a step further with the launch of - coincidentally - Money Manager, an online personal finance service that pools cardholder finances across multiple institutions into a secure location on AmericanExpress.com.

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AltiGen Communications, a provider of Microsoft-based VoIP business phone systems and unified communications (UC) solutions, announced the availability of its MAX Communications Server 6.5 VoIP Unified Communications platform. The MAX Communications Server 6.5 is an update to AltiGen's VoIP phone system and utilizes standard Intel-based servers to handle all VoIP voice processing. MAXCS 6.5 include native Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 integration and has a built-in meet-me conference bridge with scheduling application that supports 120 concurrent participants.

nuBridges, a provider of software and services to protect sensitive data, announced the availability of nuBridges Exchange 3.0, its next-generation secure managed file transfer (MFT) software. The company says that their solution helps organizations reduce file transfer costs and complexity, secure and audit file transfer events, meet compliance requirements and easily share files among departments, divisions and vendors. Exchange offers a wide range of support for multiple file types, standards and protocols including sFTP, FTPs, AS2 and more.

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SafeHarbor Technology says that SmartSupport, its managed Web Self Service contact center product, will come with a Return on Investment Guarantee. Through December 31, 2009, SafeHarbor Technology officials state that they will guarantee "a complete return on investment within 12 months of deployment" or they will refund the difference. In order to qualify for SafeHarbor's guaranteed ROI program, customers must meet minimum contact center volumes and mutually agreed upon key performance indicators. SafeHarbor Technology says that their clients include American Airlines, IBM, State of Washington, SunTrust Banks, Sprint, TiVo and T-Mobile.

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