BANK tech-trends News
 

July 27, 2009 - July 31, 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

Dell just announced its first all-in-one PC for small-and-medium businesses. The Vostro All-In-One is targeted at SMBs who want a cleaner and more productive workspace. The PC is powered by an Intel processor and comes with options for the Windows Vista or Linux operating systems. It feature a 17-inch screen, supports up to 2GB of memory and up to 250GB of storage. The Vostro all-in-one is priced starting at $629.

Intel has launched new solid-state drives that are less expensive and have faster write speeds than their predecessors. Intel's X25-M SSDs, for laptop and desktop PCs, deliver close to double the write performance of their predecessors, according to Intel. Meanwhile, Seagate and Western Digital have released environmentally friendly traditional hard drives that use less power but are also slower than typical hard drives. The new "green" hard drives are designed to use less power in part by spinning more slowly than the latest generation of drives and produce less heat thus requiring less cooling. Seagate is offering their new $299 Barracuda LP SATA 3Gb/s 2TB drive, while the $329 WD RE4-GP from Western Digital achieves its energy savings in part from its IntelliPower feature which, according to the company, balances spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms to provide power savings.

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ATMs/Kiosks

Magnetic stripe technology is gradually being replaced around the world by the Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) chip and PIN standard but the US remains a holdout due to the fact that the migration to EMV is expensive and time-consuming. When and if the US makes the move, the ATM manufacturers are ready. NCR, Diebold, Wincor Nixdorf and GRG have all deployed EMV-compliant ATMs and upgrades in markets outside the United States. Even the smaller manufacturers are onboard - newer models from Nautilus and Triton come equipped with EMV compatibility and they recently announced the availability of EMV upgrades for some existing ATM models.

The Monimax 7600T from Nautilus Hyosung is a full-function ATM that accepts automated bundled cash and check deposits. Nautilus says that they are one of the few ATM manufacturers that has developed its own counterfeit-detection and bill-validation technology. The company adds that the Monimax 7600T recently passed the European Central Bank's system test for counterfeit note detection and bill validation. Thousands of Monimax 7600 series ATMs have been deployed in the United States through Nautilus' U.S. arm, Nautilus Hyosung America.

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Diebold has introduced its Electronic Vault Attendant Elite, a dual-controlled vault and safe-deposit box access system. Diebold says that the self service system reduces labor costs for banks and uses identity management, biometrics and access control to offer secure customer access. The platform supports various biometrics including fingerprint, hand geometry, and signature capture, as well as card swipe.

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Visa is testing a mobile phone-based notification service in Europe that sends customers a text message every time their card is used. Card holders will receive an update with the time, location and amount of each transaction to their phones. As well as SMS notifications, users can opt for e-mail alerts or download an application to smartphones.

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The American Management Association has estimated that about half of all U.S. employers have policies restricting workers from visiting social networking sites, while other polls indicate that the number is even higher - up to 71%. This issue is becoming a growing source of tension between IT and users, especially younger workers who expect to use sites like Facebook and Twitter to network and connect with people. One company that is touting a compromise is Palo Alto Networks who offers next generation firewalls and filtering appliances that give IT much more granular control. For example, an organization can allow employees to go to Facebook or Flickr but prevent them from uploading files, in order to protect corporate data.

SonicWALL announced the SonicWALL Comprehensive Anti-Spam Service (CASS), a solution delivering advanced unsolicited email protection integrated with SonicWALL's Unified Threat Management Firewalls. The new service is designed to be easily enabled on SonicWALL TZ, NSA and E-Class NSA Series security appliances, and the company says that it will filter SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) email traffic to remove unsolicited email, phishing threats and malware.

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Online & Mobile Banking:

Saving Costs and Increasing Marketshare

eEminder - http://www.eeminder.com   Read Thomas Utsch's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/eEminder.pdf

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

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

Harland Financial Solutions - http://www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com   Read Jeff Marshall's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/HFS.pdf

MShift - http://www.mshift.com Read Pamela Livingston's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/MShift.pdf

Syphr - http://www.syphronline.com Read Chris Langeley's comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/Syphr.pdf

TowerGroup - http://www.towergroup.com Read Charul Vyas' 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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According to J.D. Power and Associates, consumers place a great deal of importance on a bank’s brand image when choosing a bank. The 2009 Retail Bank Shopping Study found that that 36% of a shopper's selection decision is driven by the bank's brand image, while branch proximity (21%) and products and services (14%) are also considerable influences. The study finds that nearly one-third of consumers who avoid considering a particular bank altogether do so because of a previous poor service experience with them. Other commonly cited reasons for avoiding a particular bank include issues with branch proximity/operating hours, as well as poor policies, such as high rates and fees.

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According to recent research from Gartner, consumers rank security the most important online feature, followed by single sign-on. They also rate highly the ability to deposit checks online from home and set up a separate account to save for a specific goal. Other top ranking features included the ability to set up alerts for account and credit card balances and to analyze spending and cash flow. Younger respondents value features that enable customization of their online banking experience, while older users seek tools that let them use current services more effectively or communicate better.

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A VendorGuru.com article, “Unlocking Instant Returns from Your VoIP System,” highlights the options organizations have when making a new phone system choice in order to minimize upfront costs and start saving with VoIP. The article covers ways to navigate around the costs of a complete on-premise VoIP phone system including costs for network equipment, servers, IP phones, management and diagnostic tools, and costs associated with having to train users and IT personnel to use the new system. Various options are detailed: a hosted phone system, pay costs over time through a leased approach, or partner with a provider for a phased implementation.

Riverbed Technology is introducing a virtual version of its WAN optimization controller that makes it less expensive for small organizations to get into optimizing traffic between individual machines and corporate offices. The Steelhead Controller Virtual Edition software runs on a Riverbed Steelhead WAN optimization appliance. Previously the controllers were sold only as appliances at an entry cost of $12,995 for the hardware and the minimum 30 licenses. However, the virtual version sells with a minimum of 10 licenses for a cost of $5,995.

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The T3i Group has released a report predicting that the global interactive voice response (IVR) market will grow to $514 million by 2013, up from an estimated $431 million this year, A big part of this growth will include voice XML (VXML) technology. They forecast that 95% of IVR ports shipped in 2013 will support VXML, compared with less than 75% today. VXML allows voice applications to be developed and deployed in an analogous way to HTML for visual applications. Just as HTML documents are interpreted by a visual web browser, VoiceXML documents are interpreted by a voice browser.

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