Credit Union tech-talk News

August 25 - August 29, 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

* mailmethods Releases Credit Union Email Survey 
* Symitar Adds IMM to Their Vendor Program 
* uMonitor Ranks Among America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies
* Ongoing Operations Launches “TOTAL” 
* Digital Dialogue Experiences Record Call Center Volume

mailmethods, a developer of cutting edge email solutions for credit unions, announced the results of their recent “Question of the Month” survey on the most effective method for capturing member email addresses. The results reflected a wide range of email collection efforts with the top three categories being: 1) teller incentives (17%); 2) upon account opening (13%); and 3) via the credit union’s website (13%). Another logical tie-in for obtaining email addresses is via the marketing of e-statements which naturally require a valid email address. Some other valid methods that credit unions utilize to obtain email addresses include: signage within the credit union (6%); direct mail (4%); and telemarketing (2%).

Integrated Media Management (IMM), a document output management and automation technology provider, announced that it has joined the Symitar Vendor Integration Program (VIP). Participation in this program enables IMM’s solutions to tightly integrate with Symitar’s Episys core processing system. 

uMonitor, an innovative financial solution services provider for member acquisition and retention, announced that it ranked in the top quarter of the 2008 Inc. 5000 list. The company’s 304.7 percent revenue growth from 2004 to 2007 earned it a place among these highly successful companies. 

Ongoing Operations, a leading provider of business continuity solutions, announced the unveiling of a fully managed business continuity solution calling it: “TOTAL”. This offering provides credit unions of all sizes a way to implement a comprehensive continuity and recovery program that passes the stringent compliance requirements of the NCUA.

Digital Dialogue, a PSCU Financial Services company and nationwide provider of 24/7 call center operations and software solutions to credit unions, achieved record call volume in the month of July. Call center activity peaked at 211,167 incoming calls, a 65 percent increase over last year.

Hardware News

At the Flash Memory Summit, Intel demonstrated its latest version of Turbo Memory based on flash memory to accelerate application performance in Windows. Intel is offering a "dashboard" for Windows that allows the user to choose and control which applications or files are loaded into the Intel Turbo Memory cache (based on flash memory chips) for performance acceleration. Intel calls this "user pinning." However, Windows Vista already has a feature called "ReadyBoost" that can use storage space on some removable media devices, such as USB flash drives, to speed up your computer.

Intel was also showing off some amazing technology at their recent Intel Developer Forum. Demonstrations spotlighted the wireless transmission of electrical power, dexterous robots with new sensory abilities, a direct interface to the brain, programmable materials that can be used for shape-shifting devices such as resizable cell phones, and silicon photonics that enable chips to communicate via photons rather than electrons. There was even a discussion of the concept of concept of "singularity" where machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence. 

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ATMs/Kiosks

According to the 2008 Debit Issuer Study, debit card issuers are increasingly offering their customers surcharge-free ATM access as a way of providing a higher level of service. The report, commissioned by the Pulse network, found that just over half (56 percent) of the total debit card issuers surveyed offer cards that participate in a surcharge-free ATM network. Among the credit unions which took part in the survey, 84 percent offer surcharge-free ATM service to their members for certain types of “off-us” transactions occurring at other ATMs. Also, nearly half (48 percent) of respondents offer reimbursement of ATM surcharges, but usually only to a portion of their cardholders. Of the institutions that reimburse ATM surcharges, 45 percent limit total monthly per-cardholder reimbursements. 

The Raminator is an antitheft ATM device that is comprised of a dual metal plate that acts as a shock absorber. The Australian manufacturer claims that it has helped stop hundreds of ATM thieves since being introduced. It basically tilts the ATM on an angle and bolts it firmly in place when attacked. 

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Digitus Biometrics’ MSN6100 door access devices consist of two parts. Outside the door, a unit contains a numeric keypad, LCD display and a fingerprint scanner. Mounted inside the door, a network-connected controller box contains security software and a database contains the user IDs and fingerprint templates. The electric strike that keeps the door secure only connects to the controller box. The firm says that this approach is different from similar access control systems, which use a single box sitting outside the door with wires on the back connecting to the network and the lock. They have also developed a very sophisticated code-hopping system that, each time the two halves of the unit communicate, they encrypt communications differently. Similarly, the prints themselves are not stored. A template is created that references certain points on the fingerprint and is stored as a long, encrypted binary number that cannot be reengineered to re-create the fingerprint. 

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So-called "smart stickers" are starting to appear in the market that obviate the need to carry a separate credit card. These quarter-sized stickers are entirely self-contained, contactless payment devices that adhere to multiple metallic and plastic surfaces including mobile phones, PDAs and more. For example, Blaze Mobile will be delivering a Blaze Debit MasterCard with PayPass payment sticker. Unfortunately, many merchants are still reluctant to update their POS terminals to accept contactless payments, e.g., there are only about 110,000 MasterCard PayPass merchants worldwide. 

Top banks in the United Kingdom are looking to make money off of mobile banking by charging for text alerts. Typical charges run $5 or $6 a month to subscribe to a message service from the bank, plus 50 cents every time a customer requests information via text. Banks continue to provide basic account balance summary texts for free. However, some analysts believe that it is unlikely that American banks will follow the U.K. banks' lead and charge consumers for text messages because alerts have already been positioned as a free service. In fact, Chase has moved beyond alerts into mobile coupons. They have partnered with Visa on a consumer pilot that will enable its credit and debit cardholders to receive merchant offers and discounts via SMS text message. Cardholders will be able to set preferences on a website and choose offers and merchants that are most relevant and compelling to them, and they will be able to redeem them at the point of sale or the website of participating merchants. 

Some businesses are replacing their business DSL (digital subscriber line) service for a less-pricey, higher-bandwidth 3G Evolution-Data Only (EVDO) cellular wireless service. Others are using EVDO as a secondary or backup, rather than a primary, communication option. Security and management issues have stopped some organizations from moving forward, but proponents say that they have those problems solved. We will tell you about both sides of the issue in the September issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.

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BitDefender announced the launch of BitDefender Total Security 2009 which the company says provides proactive protection for PCs by combining advanced protection against malware, unsolicited email and other e-threats with minimal impact on system performance. Unlike other security solutions, which rely heavily on a list of pre-existing viruses, BitDefender uses proactive B-HAVE technology that they say identifies and blocks new and zero-day threats. The software also includes Instant Messaging and hard disk encryption.

Fair Isaac, a provider of analytics and decision-management technology, has introduced its Fraud Alert Network Forum — an online community where financial professionals share tips, techniques and experiences about sophisticated fraud schemes. The new forum, previously known as the CardAlert Fraud Forum, originally launched in 2002. The forum provides a secure environment for members to discuss specific criminal attacks. Members can also alert each other to emerging fraud trends and share ways to mitigate losses. Membership is free for credit union professionals.

Credit union IT Departments that want to launch targeted phishing attacks, also known as spear-phishing, against their fellow employees have a new tool to help them measure the effectiveness of their security awareness and policies. The new Lunker phishing attack and audit tool uses templates that can be customized and it comes with monitoring features that analyzes the phished user’s actions in response to the phishing email. Lunker runs on PHP-based Web servers. 

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Online Banking:

Online Banking…. Catering to Your Most Desirable Members

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

Exstream - http://www.exstream.com   Read Jerry Driscoll's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Exstream.pdf

Fiserv - http://www.cu7.fiserv.com Read Dave Selina's comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Fiserv.pdf

Fiserv - http://www.cu7.fiserv.com Read Jay Slavin's comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Galaxy.pdf

Gartner - http://www.gartner.com   Read David Schehr's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Gartner.pdf

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

Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com   Read Marley Gray's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Microsoft.pdf

Open Solutions - http://www.opensolutions.com Read Michael Nicastro's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/OSI.pdf

uMonitor - http://www.umonitor.com   Read Dinesh Sheth's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/uMonitor.pdf

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Customer Effective, a reseller of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, recently announced a partnership with ExactTarget, a leading provider of on-demand, e-mail and one-to-one marketing solutions. With this partnership, Customer Effective will provide an integrated solution that helps businesses effectively target customers and prospects through integrated e-mail campaigns within Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Utah-based America First Credit Union has noticed an increase in transaction volume and account balances among members who put a personal photograph on their cards. Monthly transactions by debit card holders who participate have risen 8.19%, and participating credit-card holders' average monthly balance has grown 10.91% since inception. The credit union's program is dubbed Picture Perfect and is run with the help of Serverside Group Ltd. of London.

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Guardian Analytics has announced the general availability of FraudMAP 2.0 which analyzes all online account activity within and across sessions, including actions such as viewing check images or updating contact information. The company says that sophisticated algorithms predict and weigh inherent risk by a number of parameters, such as expected account holder behavior and size of potential loss, to more accurately alert credit unions to suspicious activity while minimizing false positives. In addition, FraudMAP 2.0 provides extensive session and member-specific context for advanced fraud and identity theft investigation and prevention. 

TMG (The Members Group) is expanding its prepaid product line by announcing the availability of general purpose reloadable cards to its credit union clients. The reloadable card service, called ATIRAreload, allows cardholders (and other authorized users) to load money onto the credit union-branded card, which can be used for purchases almost anywhere Visa Debit cards are accepted. The cards also function as ATM cards, giving cardholders instant access to cash. Cardholders can load cash onto their reloadable cards in their CU branch, online or via direct deposit, plus cardholders will soon be able to visit any Visa ReadyLink reload network location.

Acculynk, formerly known as ATM Direct, can let any EFT network - and therefore any credit union on that network - enable consumers to do online (or mobile) purchases with secure entry of their PINs via display of a host-provided “floating PIN pad.” We will cover this increasingly popular payment method in the September issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.

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Fonality is targeting smaller organizations with their two VoIP systems: trixbox and PBXtra. The firm says that it offers enterprise features on their VoIP systems at prices that small companies can afford. Fonality was chosen by Dell as their go-to-market small business telephony partner.

CallCopy, a provider of call recording and quality monitoring software, has introduced CallCopy Essential, the company's new VoIP call recording solution. CallCopy Essential helps small organizations easily capture and archive inbound and outbound calls. The software comes with a host of features, including a server-based architecture which doesn’t require installation at employees' desks. Recorded calls can be saved by administrators as WAV or MP3 files. 

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The inContact platform by UCN provides intelligent routing of multi-media contacts to member service representatives located anywhere. An enterprise-grade Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is included in their software application, along with other features like skills-based routing, IVR, speech recognition and computer telephony integration (CTI). The application also features a number of capabilities for optimization of agent performance, such as caller experience surveys and agent scoring analysis, call monitoring, call recording, and workforce scheduling and forecasting.

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

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

November 13-15, New Orleans - Credit Union InfoTech Conference

June 4-5, Lake Las Vegas - Credit Union InfoSecurity Conference

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