BANK tech-trends News
 

August 31, 2009 - September 4, 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

Sony has unveiled a new range of high definition pan tilt zoom (PTZ) security cameras designed for surveillance and applications such as identification and motion detection. The SNC-RH series are Internet protocol (IP) network security cameras that offer HD surveillance and the ability to pan 360 degrees. Sony said that they have increased the resolution three to four times to gain clearer images, while HD now provides better facial recognition.

Stratus Technologies announced the fifth-generation Stratus ftServer line, delivering continuous availability for business- and mission-critical Windows applications. The ftServer 2600, 4500 and 6300 models, based on Intel Xeon 5500 "Nehalem" processors, are one- and two-socket servers delivering quad-core processing power for full-function, fault-tolerant computing. Stratus claims that applications run with no software modification or failover scripting required, benefiting from the processing power of all eight logical cores and nearly 99.9999 percent availability.

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ATMs/Kiosks

Mid-tier ATM manufacturer Tranax Technologies has spent the first half of 2009 redoubling its focus on self-service and kiosk applications. They recently held a seminar to cover the applications for their TK1000 kiosk which is a stand-alone model, plus they also offer a through-the-wall version of the TK1000. The company and their partners demonstrated various applications such as money transfer and bill payment. Tranax also demonstrated its latest check scanners, including a single-feed model and an all-in-one version that features a fingerprint scanner, barcode reader and USB and serial connections, as well as a bulk check imager.

The cybercriminals allegedly behind some of the biggest data breaches - TJX, Heartland Payment Systems, Hannaford Bros., and 7-Eleven - may be connected with yet another major attack: that of a network of Citibank-branded ATM machines. According to a new report in the Financial Times, Albert Gonzalez and his associates breached the ATM network of 2,200 kiosks located inside 7-Eleven stores for several months, starting in late 2007 and through around February 2008. The ATMs were owned by CardTronics, and the perpetrators allegedly pilfered card and PIN numbers from the machines to create new cards that they then used to withdraw about $2 million in cash from ATM machines in other locations.

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Thanks to a facial identification system, an Indiana man was caught attempting to gain his 11th different drivers license in that state. He allegedly had all the correct paperwork and then posed for his photograph. However, in the evening after his application was approved, the photograph passed through the new facial recognition system, which spotted a remarkable similarity with 10 other licenses. He was charged with forgery and is currently in incarcerated.

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Mobile phone maker Nokia announced the launch of a financial service called Nokia Money, designed to let consumers pay bills and send money to friends and family using their cell phones. Nokia Money will team up with Obopay, a mobile-payment provider that lets its customers pay for items via their mobile phones. Nokia said the service is designed to operate with different networks and financial institutions. On the consumer's end, it can also work with any cell phone, not just Nokia models. "Rural consumers will particularly benefit from money transfers and, for urban consumers used to online services, we are enabling services such as payment of utility bills, purchase of train and movie tickets, top-ups, all through their mobile phones," said a Nokia spokesperson.

Some analysts recommend that banks looking to roll out mobile banking should first appoint someone to take ownership and make sure that they are paid and incented to drive adoption and growth. They note that the bank's strategy should focus on profitable segments and should be executed in a targeted and cost effective manner. Two areas of focus include:

1) Trying to move customers that frequent ATMs for a balance to mobile banking
2) Encourage customers that phone into the call center for a balance to enroll in mobile banking on the spot

Smartphone sales will surpass worldwide PC sales by the end of 2011, says a new report from RBC. The research firm estimates that by that time shipments of both will be approaching 400 million a year.

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Accidental security leaks happen more frequently and cause more damage than malicious insiders, according to a study by research firm IDC. Their research revealed that 52 percent of respondents characterized their insider threat incidents as predominantly accidental, while only 19 percent believed the threats were deliberate. Twenty six percent believed their insider issues were an equal combination of accidental and malicious threats, while 3 percent were unsure. One of the most common offenses in enterprises is the maintenance of expired user accounts, the study says: "Out-of-date and/or excessive privilege and access control rights for users are viewed as having the most financial impact on organizations."

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), there have been 356 data breaches so far in 2009, and 46 of those breaches have involved financial institutions. The 46 financial services-related breaches tracked by the ITRC this year are divided into seven types:


•Insider theft: 12 breaches;
•Skimming: 8;
•Missing paper documents: 10 of the breaches
•Exposure of data on the Internet: 4;
•Accidental breaches: 2;
•Stolen or missing hard drives/laptops: 5;
•Outside network intrusions: 2;
•Unknown cause: 3.

Phishing attacks declined noticeably during the first half of the year, but cybercriminals may simply be shifting to Trojans that are more effective in nabbing personal data, according to IBM in its semi-annual security threat report. The researchers believe that phishing might have fallen off because computer users are getting smarter about identifying phony websites, and security software is also getting better at filtering out phishing sites before Web surfers ever seen them. However, the researchers warn that "we wouldn't tell anybody that phishing has died as a threat."

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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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American consumers have become accustomed to generous rewards programs for using their credit cards, and now many are expecting the same types of programs for their debit cards. Unfortunately, this may not be feasible since by some estimates redemption programs for debit cards require twice the amount of spending by customers to receive the same rewards. According to the TowerGroup, in an average credit card rewards program, cardholders must spend about $17,000 to receive travel rewards worth $100. That compares with $33,000 with a debit card program.

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ACH data shows Internet-based e-check traffic approaching transaction volumes of check conversions for conventional bill payments. ARC, the accounts-receivable conversion code for checks sent to lockboxes, is declining while WEB, which comes from consumers making online bill payments that draw funds from their demand deposit accounts, is increasing. WEB and the young BOC, for back-office conversion, were the only two of NACHA’s five electronic-check codes to grow in the second quarter on a year-over-year basis.

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WAN acceleration vendor Certeon is rolling out new software functionality that lets users protect the data on their networks by replicating it over the wide area network. The company's aCelera Sync backup and replication acceleration software, which is installed as a virtual appliance, provides disaster recovery over the WAN at performance increases of as much as 97%, according to the company. The aCelera Sync software installs on industry standard servers in mirrored data centers or remote offices over the WAN, and pricing for aCelera Sync starts at $4,000 for up to T-1 links.

Some organizations are cutting their ISDN PRI/BRI cord - the phone "trunk" into their business - and replace this with "SIP trunking" to connect through their ISP, sharing phone traffic with their Internet service. The switch can streamline your monthly fees, but you'll have to add hardware to make this transition. Many SIP systems can work with your currently installed PBX hardware using border controller hardware, which in turn connects to your Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP). Your hardware costs to switch to a SIP trunk will vary based on your current infrastructure. If your bank already has a compatible PBX system, gateways such as those from Ingate will run about $5,000 or less.

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Some call center experts maintain that post-call surveys should be quite brief: 5-7 questions at most. They recommend focusing on such things as:

- the customer’s overall satisfaction with the call center (wait times, IVR experience, call routing, etc.)
- the customer’s satisfaction with the agent (knowledge and authority, communication, courteousness/professionalism, listening and comprehension, etc.)
- whether or not the customer’s issue was resolved (to gauge First Call Resolution).

They say that well-designed surveys feature the following response options depending on how the question is posed:

- rating scale (e.g., 1-5 or 1-10);
- a satisfaction scale (“very satisfied”, “satisfied”, “neutral”, “dissatisfied”, “very dissatisfied); or
- an agreement scale (“strongly agree”, “agree”, “neutral”, “disagree”, “strongly disagree”)

The best surveys also feature a couple open-ended questions that give callers the opportunity to provide detailed responses or to elaborate on previous ones..

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