Credit Union tech-talk News

April 7 - April 11, 2008

• General News
• 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
• Conferences

* Harland Financial Solutions Posts Record Year for Internet Banking Sales 
* Nexsan and Jack Henry Announce Strategic Alliance
* Open Solutions and Mortgagebot Announce Partnership 
* CUTEK Helps Install NowDocs Document Management Solution at 5 CUs
* CU*Answers Promotes Member Connect 

Harland Financial Solutions announced that its Electronic Banking Business signed more than 100 new Cavion Internet Banking clients in 2007 – a new record for the business.
Harland Financial Solutions’ Electronic Banking Business offers electronic banking services for credit unions, including Internet banking, business banking, voice banking, website development & hosting, Internet connectivity, security solutions, and mobile banking applications.

Nexsan, a leading provider of energy efficient, long-term disk storage, announced a strategic alliance and marketing agreement with Jack Henry & Associates, a leading provider of integrated computer systems for financial services organizations. Jack Henry plans on integrating the Nexsan Assureon secure storage solution with its Synergy Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform and its 4|sight check imaging platform. Synergy is the modular ECM solution marketed to the more than 650 credit unions supported by its Symitar division, and sold outside its core client base through its ProfitStars brand. 

Mequon, WI-based Mortgagebot and Glastonbury, CT-based Open Solutions, a leading provider of integrated enabling technologies for credit unions across the United States, Canada and international markets, have announced a strategic referral partnership. Under the terms of the new referral agreement, Open Solutions will recommend Mortgagebot’s consumer-direct, Web-based loan origination systems to its clients and prospects.

CUTEK, a financial technology consulting firm for credit unions using Symitar’s Episys core processing system, has helped five credit unions install NowDocs International’s NowForms enterprise check printing software solution. The credit unions CUTEK helped install NowDocs document management software include: Keelser FCU (Biloxi, MS); Family Trust FCU (Rock Hill, SC) • Colorado Springs CU (Colorado Springs, CO); Associated Credit Union of Texas (Texas City, TX); and SilverState CU (Las Vegas, NV).

CU*Answers, a CUSO with clients in 16 states, says that credit unions using their CU*BASE processing system are connecting with members more consistently by utilizing their Member Connect solution. This product was recently announced as a standard CU*BASE feature and provides a single focal point to access many different marketing delivery channels. A primary benefit of Member Connect is that it allows clients to export desired data to a single file which can be used to reinforce a credit union’s message to its members.  

Hardware News

In one of the biggest server changes that IBM has made in recent years, Big Blue said that its System i midrange machines will become part of a new product line that will support every operating system in IBM's portfolio except the ones for its mainframes. In effect, IBM is unifying its System i and System p servers. The newly unified product line will be based on IBM's Power6 processors and will support the operating system from the System i as well as Linux and IBM's AIX variant of Unix. In addition, IBM plans to release blade servers that can support all of those operating systems plus Windows.

Smaller credit unions with older VCR-based security systems may want to consider moving into an advanced digital surveillance system from a California-based company. The firm has 20 years experience delivering low cost security monitoring systems and their latest product converts any notebook computer into an affordable digital video recording surveillance system. Learn more about it in the May issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe today.

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ATMs/Kiosks

According to the latest research from NCR, 86 percent of U.S. and Canadian consumers say they are more likely to do business with a company that offers the flexibility to interact using self-service – whether via the Internet, on a mobile device or at a kiosk or ATM. That’s an increase of 11 percent over those who gave the same response in last year’s study. Moreover, 56 percent say their likelihood to use self-service has increased over the past year.

Fiserv announced that Alaska USA Federal Credit Union has selected its Integrated Cash Operations Modules (iCom) to optimize its entire cash supply chain for its more than 200 ATMs and 50 branch offices throughout Alaska and Washington. By selecting the end-to-end iCom Web-based cash management solution, Fiserv says that the credit union can potentially reduce its cash flow and transportation costs by 20 to 40 percent.  

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At the recent CTIA show in Las Vegas, Kyocera was showing off new cell phones with NFC (near field communications) technology for making purchases with embedded credit/debit card information. Its demo handset, a Kyocera E2000, features a fingerprint scanner for identifying the phone's owner. Without the necessary finger touch, the handset would not allow NFC purchases. What's more, Kyocera says that you can train the phone to use different credit cards depending on how you swipe the scanner.

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Anam Mobile unveiled a service that will allow global money transfers via SMS. SMS Money Transfer allows consumers to send money to people in their contact list using a three-step procedure. First, the user writes an SMS that begins "#cash" followed by the amount they wish to send and selects the person they want to send it to from their address book. Then the system confirms the transaction and asks for the sender's PIN. When the PIN is entered correctly the money is instantly debited from the sender's credit union account in what the firm calls "a virtual ATM transaction" and simultaneously credited to the credit union account of the recipient. 

Boulder, CO-based BME Federal Credit Union is bringing free wireless Internet access to parts of the city. Their Wi-Fi network also covers several square blocks surrounding its main office at 28th Street and Arapahoe Avenue. The free service is also partially sponsored via partnerships with local businesses and non-profits.

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Some organizations are attempting to prevent data loss via USB thumb drives by completely disallowing all thumb drives, but that isn't a decision that some organizations are ready to make. For them, the real question is how to secure the data that the users place on the drives - not how to prevent data from being written to the drive. One solution is to take a hybrid approach, using a software product that only allows usage of thumb drives with pre-defined serial numbers in conjunction with a product like IronKey to handle the encryption. Plus some antivirus suites, like Symantec's Endpoint Protection (SEP) 11, already offer this type of capability. 

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has published the 2007 Internet Crime Report. For the year, IC3 received 206,884 complaints of crimes perpetrated over the Internet during 2007. Of the complaints received, more than 90,000 were referred to law enforcement around the nation, amounting to nearly $240 million in reported losses. This represents a $40 million increase in reported losses from complaints referred to law enforcement in 2006.

Fortinet, a leading provider of unified threat management (UTM) solutions, announced a new FortiGate-310B multi-threat security appliance. The company says that by incorporating into the FortiGate-310B purpose-built FortiASIC network processors previously reserved for its high-end product lines, they are able to deliver firewall and virtual private network (VPN) throughput performance to gigabit-per-second (Gbps) speeds, and enabling wire-speed firewall performance. 

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Security:

Perimeter, Host and Endpoint Security – Finding the Right Mix

Arcot - http://www.arcot.com   Read R. 'Doc' Vaidhyanathan's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Arcot.pdf

Astaro - http://www.astaro.com Read Alex Quinonez's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Astaro.pdf

Code Green Networks - http://www.codegreennetworks.com   Read Brian Czarny's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/CGN.pdf

Digital Resolve - http://www.digital-resolve.net Read Dennis Maicon's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/DigitalResolve.pdf

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

Galaxy - http://www.fiserv-galaxy.com Read Vince Francone's comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Galaxy.pdf

Harland Financial Solutions - http://www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com   Read Peter McKellar's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/HFS.pdf

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

Integrated Computer Solutions - http://www.icsinc.com   Read Stephen Goldsby's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/ICS.pdf

MagTek - http://www.magtek.com   Read Kiran Gandhi's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/MagTek.pdf

Netsecuris - http://www.netsecuris.com   Read Leonard Jacobs' comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Netsecuris.pdf

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

Perimeter eSecurity - http://www.perimeterusa.com   Read Kevin Prince's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Perimeter.pdf

Proofpoint - http://www.proofpoint.com   Read Sandra Vaughan's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Proofpoint.pdf

Sydel - http://www.sydelcorp.com   Read Antonio Gonzalez's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Sydel.pdf

TraceSecurity - http://www.tracesecurity.com   Read Jim Stickley's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/TraceSecurity.pdf

TriGeo Network Security - http://www.trigeo.com   Read Michelle Dickman's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/TriGeo.pdf

ZixCorp - http://www.zixcorp.com   Read Dena Bauckman's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Zix.pdf

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TSYS Loyalty announced the development of a product that calculates points and rewards for members who subscribe to multiple products with a single credit union, which include, but are not limited to direct deposit, credit, mortgage, insurance and Certificate of Deposit accounts. TSYS Enterprise Rewards also supports a Web interface, which allows the credit union’s members to manage their total relationship with a single access point. 

Customer Effective, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and implementer of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, announced the release of Capital Effective, a front-office relationship management software suite based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform and designed exclusively for the financial services market. The firm says that employees benefit from direct access to member information through Office Outlook, which permits them to receive critical information in the office or from remote locations.   

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ACI Worldwide, a provider of software for electronic payment systems, announced the latest version of its online banking solution, ACI Enterprise Banker 7.4. ACI says that Release 7.4 extends capabilities for integrating with a credit union's portal and to other third parties, including bill payment providers. It also enhances import and export capabilities. 

Myriad Systems Inc (MSI), a provider of financial document capture, processing, printing, and mailing services, announced that it has completed the roll-out of their check and item processing system available based entirely on the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model. Under the SaaS model, MSI’s solution applications and the credit union’s data are hosted and maintained in MSI’s redundant and secure data centers. All functionality is accessed by the credit union’s staff, using standard Web browsers over the Internet. MSI’s item processing SaaS suite now includes applications for Remote Deposit Capture, Branch Capture, Proof of Deposit, Returns, Exceptions, Check and Document Archive, and Image Exchange, as well as e-Statements and e-Notices. 

Most credit unions have a myriad of choices regarding the types and styles of deposit accounts they might open. That is why some credit unions are implementing new account recommendation tools to help both current members and prospective members wade through their options. In the May issue of Credit Union tech-talk we will provide some recommendations that credit unions might want to follow when designing and upgrading any such tools - subscribe now.

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According to Nemertes’ Advanced Communications Services research of midsize to large organizations, 73% report using MPLS (multi protocol label switching) in some capacity. Displacing more costly and less flexible frame relay and ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) services, Nemertes says that MPLS has become the de-facto standard for site-to-site connectivity because it has: 

* Lower cost (in terms of price and the actual costs for the carriers to operate) when compared with private line, frame-relay or ATM alternatives.
* Native ability to support service guarantees for classes of IP traffic.
* Ability to support any-to-any connectivity, eliminating the need for hub-and-spoke routing architectures.
* Support for services hosted in the carrier network, such as Internet access (often coupled with managed security services) or hosted applications, such voice or video. 

Zeacom Communications just unveiled the latest version (5.0) of its flagship unified communications solution. The updated solution includes enhanced voice conference capabilities, and extends UC from the desktop to mobile devices. Further, it integrates with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS). The system includes voice conferencing features that allow for the organization of live communications among as many as 64 parties. Voice conferences can be conducted directly from the desktop, without requiring any third-party call provider. Meanwhile, the Executive Mobile feature in Zeacom Communications Center lets users manage their presence and availability status from a desktop or laptop computer, or from a mobile device. All functions available on the desktop - such as single mailbox, presence profiles and directory - are also available on BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices.

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PreVisor’s Contact Center Solution is designed to be a predictive agent selection tool that can help contact centers efficiently screen job candidates. This system combines job simulation and comprehensive behavioral assessment software. The Contact Center Solution features four interactive simulations that present agent candidates with realistic calls. The simulations assess each candidate’s ability to use available information and respond to caller needs, navigate screens, and accurately and efficiently enter data.

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Catch Tom and Bill Rogers, Associate Editor of Credit Union tech-talk at the following conferences in 2008:

June 5-6, Las Vegas - Credit Union InfoSecurity Conference

October 15-18, Las Vegas - Firefighters' National Credit Union Summit

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