BANK tech-trends News
 

November 7, 2011 - November 11, 2011

• 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

Complimentary Webinar

Voice Recovery & Business Continuity Insurance

This program will educate and demonstrate how to comply with FDIC emergency preparedness guidelines by protecting the communications of your community bank in the event of a communications outage. This new, easy-to-use technology ensures restoration of incoming calls and faxes soon after a natural disaster or other telecom outage. The service is affordable for large or small banks, and satisfies all FDIC compliance requirements for communications emergency preparedness.


What You Will Learn:

- How to rapidly recover from outages
- How to regain complete control of incoming calls and faxes
- How to reroute up to thousands of phone numbers in minutes or even seconds
- How to broadcast recorded messages to small or large groups of people

Who Should Attend: This program will benefit senior managers, IT Directors, VPs of Operations, and anyone at the bank who is interested in telecommunications, disaster recovery or business continuity.

Presented By: Telecom Recovery is an industry pioneer in the rapid recovery of communications after a telecommunications outage, with a unique focus on the restoration of the incoming calls to existing phone numbers.

Date: Schedule a 30-minute live demonstration at your convenience that could one day save your business. If this isn't the easiest to use, most affordable, and most powerful inbound telecom disaster recovery system that you have ever seen, we will send you a free gift - seeing is believing!

To Register: http://www.banktt.com/webinars.htm  
 

~ This Week's News is Sponsored by MARQUIS Software Solutions ~

Please contact John Kassing @ johnk@gomarquis.com, or call 800-365-4274 to learn more about MCIF, referral tracking or CRM solutions that you can and will actually use!

Hardware News

VMware is launching the Rapid Desktop Program which allows OEMs to build pre-configured appliances for desktop virtualization. The stackable vStac VDI appliance can be used to run between 50 and 1,000 virtual desktops. How many users each system can support depends on the kind of applications users are running. Each appliance has two processors with six cores each, along with 96GB of RAM, 3TB of standard storage and another 200GB of solid state storage. To increase the number of virtual desktops, up to eight appliances can be integrated into one system. The cost per desktop starts at about $350.

Larger laptops with big screens (16 inches and above) can incorporate powerful hardware you won't find in smaller, lighter models, plus these machines are often as powerful as a desktop PC. PC World recently rated their ten favorite laptop replacements:

1. Dell Precision M6600
2. Asus G73SW
3. Origin EON 17-S
4. Acer Aspire 8950G-9839
5. Asus G74SX
6. MSI GT683R
7. Toshiba Qosmio X775 3D
8. Sony VAIO F-Series (VPCF215FX)
9. Dell Inspiron 17R
10. Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7106

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ATMs/Kiosks

Diebold has introduced a re-engineered bezel and the Opteva BezelSentry Service to fight skimming activity. The company has re-engineered its Opteva ATM hardware to support anti-skimming efforts with a new design for the bezel - the portion of the ATM containing the card slot and the surrounding area. The re-engineered bezel incorporates geometric fascia alterations, making it more difficult for perpetrators to attach a skimmer to its surface. In addition to the re-engineered card-reader bezel, Diebold is now offering an interchangeable bezel service that delivers pre-scheduled or emergency bezel changes to an individual ATM or an entire fleet.

Mid-tier ATM manufacturer Triton has adopted pre-paid card dispensing technology from Arizona-based Better ATM Services. Triton will modify their machines to incorporate Better ATM Services' patented technology, enabling them to dispense pre-paid cards through cash trays. According to Better ATM Services, their technology integrates with existing and new Triton models with no expensive upgrades or add-on devices.

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According to a First Data survey, consumers will start to use contactless payments technologies widely only after at least 40 percent of merchants are equipped with compatible POS terminals. The survey found that consumers view financial institutions as the preferred and trusted choice for supplying them with a mobile wallet, while a smaller number prefer PayPal. Hurdles to adoption include security concerns, with respondents most concerned about payment information being compromised and losing their mobile phone. Nevertheless, many consumers expressed interest in using a mobile wallet and mobile apps to pay for products and services.

Huntington Bancshares has rolled out a new SMS program called “24 Hour Grace,” which notifies a customer by text that they have overdrafted their account. The Columbus, Ohio-based bank then gives the customer 24 hours to replenish funds before they charge any overdraft fees.

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Imperva announced the availability of SecureSphere 9.0 and introduced ThreatRadar Fraud Prevention Services. The company says that ThreatRadar Fraud Prevention empowers organizations to easily mitigate malware-driven fraud. It integrates with Trusteer Pinpoint, and provides security alerts and graphical reports that allow fraud analysts to investigate suspicious activity. As for 9.0 of the SecureSphere Web Application Firewall, Imperva states that their new version helps stop bots and automated attacks by differentiating between bots and legitimate users, making it easier to block undesirable activity.

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Core Systems:

Growing the Community Bank with the Help of Core Systems

FIS - http://www.fisglobal.com Read Patricia Valentino's comments:   http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/FIS.pdf

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

Harland Financial Solutions - http://www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com Read Jennifer Roberts' comments: http://www.banktt.com/roundtable/HFS.pdf

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

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Visa has filed a patent for a system in which a shopper's brick-and-mortar transactions and other data are used to build a profile of that shopper, which is linked to an Internet user. Online ads based on his or her earlier store purchases are then directed at that person. Data in addition to transactions that Visa could potentially tap to build profiles includes "information from social network Web sites, information from credit bureaus, information from search engines, information about insurance claims, information from DNA databanks," and other sources.

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Immediate funds transfer (IFT) is a convenient, certain, secure, and low-cost means of electronically transferring money between FI accounts with no or minimal delay in receivers’ receipt and use of funds. The Chicago Fed has published an essay entitled, "Evaluating the potential of immediate funds transfer for general-purpose payments in the United States". They conclude that IFT could improve the U.S. payment system and bring overall efficiencies to the U.S. economy. Yet they hedge this conclusion with the statement "whether the benefits of an IFT service would outweigh the costs is unclear. However, it is important to recustomer that while one-time costs required to start up a new system or retrofit an existing system could be significant, the benefits associated with IFT would be ongoing."

PayPal is touting the flexibility of their mobile wallet solution. Specifically, they note that users of PayPal’s mobile wallet application will be able to choose how they want to pay for purchases even after the sale. That means a purchase can be transferred to a different credit card, a debit card, a PayPal account or even a store gift card, if necessary, directly through the PayPal app. The payment could also be split between multiple cards/payment sources. Reasons for transferring a balance could include avoiding overcharge penalties or taking advantage of a lower interest rate or rewards program. The grace period will vary by retailer, but will likely be at least five days post-purchase and could be up to 30 days.

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Digium has introduced Asterisk 10, providing extensive updates to the open source communications platform that enhance its voice and video capabilities. New Asterisk 10 features include:

• A new HD conferencing application called ConfBridge.

• Support for videoconferencing since using ConfBridge capabilities to relay video of a designated speaker or the current speaker to other participants in the conference.

• New fax capabilities with T.38 gateway capabilities.

• Text message routing has been added to the existing capability to send and receive text messages.

Xblue X-50 VoIP Phone System recently received the Design and Engineering Award at CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) Innovations 2011. The Xblue X-50, a low cost VoIP telephone system and Wireless Router, is designed for smaller organizations, and supports both traditional phone lines and VoIP phone lines. Here is the maximum system configuration:

• 14 Telephone Lines
• 6 Standard Telephone Lines
• 8 VoIP Telephone Lines
• 24 X-50 VoIP Telephones
• (4) Auto Receptionist ports-answers and processes four calls simultaneously
• Voice Mail system - (32) hours of voice message storage
• (1) Analog Telephone Port (FXS) - for fax or cordless telephone
• (1) USB Port for network printer

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Contact centers agents communicate with dozens of customers every day and act as ambassadors of the bank. Many call center experts believe that call centers must do everything that they can to keep their agents both engaged and satisfied with their jobs. The authors of the popular book, 'The Carrot Principle' have done extensive research on employee engagement and have concluded that the top three worldwide drivers of employee engagement are:

• Opportunity and Well Being: Feeling appreciated and taken care of by an employer
• Pride: Being proud of the products and services that you are behind
• Trust: Trusting the organization you work for, as well as managers and colleagues

They recommend that you have a formal and consistent program for recognizing and rewarding agents, and that you that agent praise should be: frequent, specific and timely.

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