BANK tech-trends News
 

September 7, 2009 - September 11, 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

3Com is kicking off a new integration of security and networking with the introduction of new firewall/VPN gear. Next up on the road map will be hardware blades integrating 3Com's Tipping Point IPS for use in data centers and later, blades that support antivirus and antimalware blocking applications. Throughput on the initial firewalls being added to the 3Com mix range from 200M to 40Gbps and include both SSL and IPSec VPNs. The SecBlade VPN Firewall cards can be deployed in high availability mode so if one fails a hot standby takes over. The blades are supported by 3Com Switch 8800, H3C Switch 9500, 3Com Switch 7900 E and the H3C 7500 E. The firewall family also includes H3C SecPath Firewall appliances F1000 series and F5000-A5. The Tipping Point IPS blade will have all the features that Tipping Point appliances have and are being designed for deployment with data center switches.

More than half of new servers installed in 2009 will be virtualized, and that number will hit 80% by 2012, signaling huge growth in the hypervisor market, according to a report by TheInfoPro. In 2008, about 30% of new servers were virtualized. In the first quarter of 2009, 50% of new virtualization licenses deployed on x86 servers were from VMware, and 24% were from Microsoft, according to IDC's Worldwide Server Virtualization Tracker. Analysts say that questions about performance and manageability are the greatest impediments to virtualization, but these concerns are not likely to stop the upward momentum.

Back to Top

Back to Top

ATMs/Kiosks

The ATM Industry Association has announced the release of its best practices for ATM-skimming prevention, which follows the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council’s recent release of new requirements for preventing skimming at POS devices. Douglas Russell, director of DFR Risk Management and one of the authors of the new manual, has compiled an international classification system for skimming devices and skimming methods, to provide the industry with a better understanding of the range and types of skimming attacks and how to combat them.

Diebold plans to launch enhanced mobile banking services for financial institutions in the U.S. this fall. Diebold is also developing a system for consumers to use their phones to authorize ATM withdrawals which will add a layer of security: when a withdrawal starts, a six-digit PIN is sent to the user’s mobile phone that must be entered during the ATM transaction in order to complete the withdrawal.

Mid-tier ATM manufacturer Triton has created a new company that will specialize in multivendor ATM parts, repair, refurbished ATM sales, and training services. The new company, ATMGurus, is doing multibrand ATM repair and offers multibrand training in their "Guru University," and they plan to sell ATM parts from various manufacturers shortly. New and refurbished parts come with a 180-day warranty, and closeout parts come with a 30-day exchange warranty.

Back to Top

Nuance Communications is touting their "spoken token," which the vendor says is "arguably the most accurate, convenient and cost-effective way to authenticate a person's identity." Voice biometric proponents note that companies like ABN Amro, Bell Canada, National Australia Bank, and TD Waterhouse are using voice biometrics as a means for authenticating callers for trades, transfers, and other transactions. Meanwhile detractors say that background noise, illness, age, and differences in telephones and microphones can cause problems with voice identification and authorization, and the technology is not ready for prime time.

Back to Top

The NFC Forum and the Mobey Forum announced plans to work together to further ongoing efforts to create open standards that enable the delivery of services that provide secure and interoperable mobile financial transactions. The Mobey Forum, whose customers represent the entire Mobile Financial Services (MFS) Ecosystem, will communicate the critical business requirements of the financial community for consideration in open technical standards developed by the NFC Forum, many of whose customers are mobile communications, semiconductor and consumer electronics companies.

ING Direct Australia has launched a free Home Loan Toolkit iPhone app for prospective home buyers. The app has three basic functions:

- Calculators to determine how much you can afford to borrow and what the payments would be
- A call-me request form
- Average home prices by area

Back to Top

A new IEEE security standard calls for increased security for printers via encryption, authentication, and electronic "shredding." The 2600 Profile, which includes specifications for building secure printers and a checklist for evaluating printer security using ISO's Common Criteria framework for evaluating security requirements, calls for vendors to build printers that include password protection, hard drive encryption, electronic shredding, security logs, and separate connections for fax and network communications. An IEEE spokesperson who worked on the standards said that "you have got to treat printers like another computer node and make sure you put the right controls on them."

According to new data collected by ScanSafe, which filters more than a billion Web queries each month, some 76 percent of companies are now blocking social networking sites -- a 20 percent increase over the past six months. More companies now block social networking sites than block Webmail (58 percent), online shopping (52 percent), or sports sites (51 percent), ScanSafe says. The firm notes that many organizations are concerned that social networking sites can expose them to malware, and if not used for business purposes, can be a drain on their productivity and bandwidth.

Back to Top

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

Back to Top

Reality Interactive, a provider of design and development of content for self-service, digital merchandising and digital signage applications, announced its bitSHUTTLE digital signage offering. The system is designed so that banks can easily localize and communicate updated rates and new product information to customers in real time. Brand messages and content are created by Reality Interactive or the bank’s existing agency. Messages are displayed on digital frames that are typically smaller than computer screens. Off-the-shelf digital frames can be strategically positioned in different areas of the branch and target customers with a variety of customized messages.

Back to Top

According to Forrester Research, an influx of people ages 18 to 29 (Generation Y) will account for 40 percent of online banking households by 2014. Online banking growth has run about an 8 percent annual average from 2005 to 2008, and the firm predicts that between 2009 and 2014, growth will slow to an annual growth rate of 4 percent. During this time, Forrester expects the total number of U.S. households banking online to grow from 54 million to 66 million. To keep the online banking momentum going, Forrester recommends the following:

• Coordinate account activation across channels;
• Offer a prominent security guarantee;
• Ensure that the first login is successful;
• Target specific online features to appropriate account type

Back to Top

Internet Protocol (IP) communications solutions provider 8x8 Inc. announced the addition of a new Web-based conferencing service to its existing portfolio of business communication offerings. The "8x8 Virtual Meeting" Web conferencing service is an online collaboration tool accessible instantly – no software download required – from any Web browser. The Virtual Meeting platform is designed to let users conduct centralized online meetings with integrated voice conferencing, presentation slide sharing, desktop and application sharing, instant messaging, chair control, conference control and call recording, with up to 50 participants per conference.

InVox, a business telecom service provider, has launched a new IVR service for businesses that features a quick setup and a pay-as-you-grow pricing plan. According to InVox, the new service is easily configured by the user through a drag-and-drop interface, and is being offered for the first time ever in a cloud-based, “Telephony as a Service” format. They state that their IVR is built on an open-standards architecture that can integrate with any PBX hardware vendor or hosted provider.

Would you like to know how long it takes to load your bank's webpage? This program will measure the time for you. Enter the URL to be measured and watch the top of the window. The StopWatch can only measure websites that can be displayed in a frame. Some websites use javascript to break out of frames. This is not a StopWatch bug. Click here to check your website: http://www.numion.com/Stopwatch/index.html

Back to Top

Los Angeles-based CallFire is touting their "Cloud Call Center" as an economical way for call centers to obtain rapid outbound dialing results with minimal effort. With CallFire's Power Dialer, employees upload contacts and in minutes, the system will connect them to names on the list. According to company officials, CallFire’s auto dialer can call up to four phone lines per agent and will leave answering machine messages so agents don't have to. Cloud Call Center features multi-line auto dialer with agent popup, answering machine message drop, lead management, maps and statistics, agent barge, monitoring and report, support 1 to 500 agents and it requires no special hardware or software.

Back to Top