BANK tech-trends News
 

February 22, 2010 - February 26, 2010

• Hardware News
• Software Updates
• ATMs/Kiosks
• Wireless World
• Security Section
• Leaders Roundtable
• Technology and Marketing
• Online Banking/E-Commerce/
  Website Design
• Internet Access
• Call Centers

Hardware News

Staples has launched a technology unit to deliver everything from data center hosting to printer management to network services. The division, Staples Technology Solutions, is especially targeting organizations with 40 to 50 employees. Staples Technology Solutions has the following services:

- Managed services and on-site and remote server and desktop support;
- Printer fleet management;
- Data center assessments and supplies;
- And hardware sales.

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ATMs/Kiosks

Wincor Nixdorf and Sicap have unveiled ATMs specially designed for mobile money services, including cash-in /cash-out transfer facilities. The ATMs have initially been setup to offer three options: mobile cash remittance, cash topup and self-service subscription management. Sicap and Wincor Nixdorf have jointly pioneered the design and development of the three solutions whereby Wincor Nixdorf manufactures the ATMs and the server-based software, while Sicap designs and implements the service to the telecoms.

Skimmers have been around for years, of course, but the scam artists are constantly improving them. Some of the latest skimmers sold via criminal forums are extremely sophisticated, incorporating features such the ability to send an SMS text message to the thieves’ mobile phone whenever a new card is swiped. One thing to look for is an additionally flap below the card acceptance slot that holds the electronics used to capture the card data. Banks should tell their customers that when they see something that doesn’t look right — such as an odd protrusion or off-color component on an ATM — that they should strongly consider going to another machine.

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The “Mobile Money Study” by Data Innovation found that a strong majority of US smartphone users (68.7%) had accessed banking or other financial services on their mobile phone in the past three months. The top activity was checking account balances, followed by looking for posted transactions. Nearly three in 10 smartphone users paid bills via mobile, and many used nonbanking financial services, such as paying credit card bills (more than 50%). More than 65% of smartphone users said their mobile browser was their primary vehicle for mobile banking, compared with less than one-fifth who preferred mobile apps. A majority of respondents also said they would be interested in the possibility of a “mobile wallet,” which would allow users to swipe mobile phones like credit or debit cards and would store data such as loyalty cards and coupons.

Meanwhile, new forecasts from ABI Research indicate that in 2015 about 244 million people worldwide will carry out financial transactions using their mobile phones. Of those, some 66 million will be in North America. The report notes that North American growth has been somewhat limited so far because – in contrast to financial institutions elsewhere – the North American FIs are offering mobile banking primarily to existing users of their online banking services. Also, wide access to computers and easy access to physical branches lessens consumers’ motivation to adopt the mobile banking model in North America.

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IronKey announced its Trusted Access for Banking solution which is an application and services suite that utilizes the capabilities of IronKey’s Trusted Computing Environment platform to allow banks to provide identity protection, strong authentication and fraud protection at the endpoint for their business customers. IronKey says that their solution which plugs into a USB port isolates access to the online banking system from the host PC, creating a trusted virtual computing environment and protecting business customers from current and next-generation malware and fraud schemes.

Research by the security vendor Webroot shows that four in five IT professionals believe Web 2.0-based malware will pose the biggest security threat this year. Almost 75% believe Web-based threats are more difficult to manage than email-based threats, and 23% said their organization was vulnerable to attacks on Web 2.0 applications including social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

A company called RavenWhite has come out with their Blue Moon Authentication system which is an authentication mechanism used for password resets. Rather than ask your mother's maiden name, it asks you to check whether you like or dislike a list of 15 items for which you have previously registered your like or dislike. The company claims Blue Moon Authentication results in less than 1% false positives. It is meant to overcome problems other methods have such as bad sites capturing the answer to authentication questions and applying them to other sites the user accesses and that ask the same question.pened credit card accounts increased to involve 39% of all ID-fraud victims last year, up from 33% in 2008.

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Security:

Managing Risk and Security Efficiently and Affordably

Cyveillance - http://www.cyveillance.com Read James Brooks' comments: http://www.banktt.com/Cyveillance.pdf

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

Guardian Analytics - http://www.guardiananalytics.com Read Terry Austin's comments:     http://www.banktt.com/Guardian.pdf

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

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

Hyland Software - http://www.onbase.com Read Steve Comer's comments: http://www.banktt.com/Hyland.pdf

Innovative Strategic Solutions - http://www.issone.com Read Jon Rhodes' comments: http://www.banktt.com/ISS.pdf

Millennial Vision - http://www.mviusa.com Read Scott Cowan's comments: http://www.banktt.com/MVI.pdf

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

Ongoing Operations - http://www.ongoingoperations.com   Read Kirk Drake's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/OGO.pdf

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

Software and Management Associates - http://www.smausa.com Read Michael W. Taylor's comments: http://www.banktt.com/SMA.pdf

Trusteer - http://www.trusteer.com   Read Rakesh Loonkar's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/Trusteer.pdf

WhiteHat Security - http://www.whitehatsec.com   Read Anurag Agarwal's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/WhiteHat.pdf

Xceedium - http://www.xceedium.com   Read Cheryl Traverse's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/Xceedium.pdf

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Celent, a Boston-based financial research and consulting firm, has released a new report entitled Top Technology Trends in Retail Banking for 2010. In it, they note the following technology and marketing trends for American banks:

1) Banks Employ Self-Service as a Way to Please Consumers and Cut Costs

2) Mobile Banking is Moving Mainstream, but Remains Basic

3) Branch Renewal Waits Another Year

4) Banks Start to Address the Implications of Social Media

5) Banks get Serious about PFM

6) Behavior Analysis Becomes a Standard Tool

7) Paper Becomes the Exception in Branches
 

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February is Go Direct/Direct Express Month, and the Go Direct campaign is sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve Banks. It is designed to encourage Americans to use direct deposit for their Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and other federal benefit payments. The campaign is looking to partner with banks, social service agencies, community-based groups and other organizations to promote direct deposit. Their website is: www.godirect.org.

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Nextiva has been awarded a “2009 Product of the Year” by INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine for their Nextiva Connect 360 hosted business VoIP service. Starting at around $20 a month, Nextiva’s Connect 360 includes IVR, voicemail, dial-by-name, call transfer, find me/ follow me, and a host of other features that larger organizations were once only able to afford.

Many organizations are looking to replace receptionists with “virtual receptionists” in the form of Internet-based software. While the human interaction is lost, virtual receptionists have some features live ones do not such as real time texting of important voice mails. Vendors include:

- eVoice ($12.95 a month after a six-month free trial)
- Onebox
- VoiceShot
- DaVinci Virtual Receptionist

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Contact centers that handle chat often cross train their agents on handling calls, e-mails and chat. However chat conversations tend run longer than calls because except for a few impatient callers, most of the chats drag on because callers are often busy online and responding at the same time. Some centers consider four concurrent chats as a good target, as anything over this starts to delay the response, or the quality of service can take a dip.

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