Credit Union tech-talk News

September 1 - September 5, 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

* Symitar Adds 30 Clients in Fiscal 2008
* Two Credit Unions Select VendorXpert
* Enhanced Software Products Renews 2 Credit Union Contracts
* Network Box Releases Web Content Filtering Engine
* Ongoing Operations Opens Denver Area Disaster Recovery Center

Jack Henry & Associates announced that its Symitar division added 30 new credit unions to its client roster during its fiscal year 2008, ended June 30. Twenty-seven credit unions replaced competitive platforms with Symitar's Episys system, a highly customizable IBM Power System-based solution. Twenty-five of these credit unions chose Episys as an in-house solution, and two elected to outsource their information and transaction processing to Symitar. Three credit unions replaced competitive alternatives with Cruise, a Windows-based client/server solution for smaller credit unions.

Prince George's Community Federal Credit Union and Healthcare Systems Federal Credit Union have selected VendorXpert to manage their relationships with third party organizations and thereby comply with NCUA’s Letters 01-CU-20 and 07-CU-13 to Credit Unions urging them to perform due diligence on vendors. Innovative Strategic Solutions (ISS) delivered the robust Web-based risk management solution which was developed by Sydel Corporation.

Enhanced Software Products (ESP), a full service Core Solution Provider for credit unions exclusively, announced the renewal of two of the longest standing FORZA3 (ESP Core Processing platform) clients: Oshkosh Truck Credit Union (Oshkosh, WI) and CONE Credit Union (Neenah, WI). Oshkosh Truck CU has been a client of ESP since their inception in 1996 and has signed on for another 5 years, while CONE CU has been a client of ESP since 1996 and has inked a 3 year contract.

Network Box USA, the American arm of managed security company Network Box Corp., announced the release of a web content filtering technology to support Google Safe Search and Safe Browsing functions. The new capabilities, which will be standard on Network Box unified threat management (UTM) products, will allow credit unions to easily implement protection against Internet threats and prevent sites and web pages with inappropriate content from appearing in search engine results.

Ongoing Operations, a leader in providing Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Services and Business Recovery Facilities, announced the opening of a new Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) in Denver, Colorado. The new facility is 9,000 square feet of workspace and data center complete with redundant private OC-48 connectivity. The DRC will offer space for credit unions to purchase as a part of their preparedness plan.

Hardware News

Digital Check announced the first shipments of its new check scanner designed for RDC (remote deposit capture) for the merchant and small and medium business markets. The CheXpress CX30 provides a number of new features including adaptive Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) and scan and return mode of operation. The CheXpress CX30 can read the varying qualities of magnetic inks produced by desktop check printing applications, including support across printed checks with MICR intensity ranging from 40 to 200 percent. Digital Checks also says that the scanner is the first scanner in its class to support 300 and 240 dpi scanning in black and white, grayscale and color.

NextIO has launched an I/O platform that allows IT Departments to connect virtually any networks together. The company’s Adaptive Connect platform consists of a switch that incorporates PCI-Express adapters to connect to the transport of the user’s choice, whether it is Fibre Channel, Gigabit Ethernet, InfiniBand, Fibre Channel over Ethernet, iSCSI or Serial Attached SCSI. It supports any server, operating system or hypervisor, and any application. It does not require new drivers on the host side, nor the addition of host bus or network adapters in the server.

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ATMs/Kiosks

The ATM Industry Association has released its position paper on environmental aspects of ATMs. In it they say that ATMs are both highly efficient and low-energy users. The overall consumption of power by ATMs, when calculated over time, including idling times of extremely low consumption as well as during peak operation and power consumption spikes, is relatively low, especially when the number of families/households which ATMs typically service is taken into account. The paper recommends that ATMs set a "no receipt" as default, making receipts available by customer request only.

Pentagon Federal Credit Union recently added CodeGreen’s BranchMap service to its website services to enhance the credit union’s capabilities of leveraging its 27 branches and 70 ATMs worldwide plus the following surcharge-free networks: Allpoint Network, CU24/CUHere, Cashpoints, and a network of fee-less ATMs, which total over 41,000 locations. BranchMap enhances the Pentagon’s ATM search process by consolidating these locations into one interactive search and mapping tool, without sending members away from its website. BranchMap allows members to search nationwide, zoom in and out, see satellite photos, and obtain turn-by-turn driving directions, hours, and other details for each location.

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LemonScreen is free facial recognition software and can be used on Windows XP webcam-enabled computers. When you first use it, you will be able to type a master password, in case LemonScreen locks your computer and it is unable to recognize your face to unlock your computer again. You will also have to create a face model, so that anyone's face in front of the webcam can be compared with the face model when your computer is locked. This program can be setup to lock your computer after a predefined time of inactivity or the locking feature can be activated manually with mouse or keyboard shortcut.

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C.N.S.C. (Charge Notification Services Corp.) has launched their proprietary and patented credit, debit card and ATM transaction security service. The premise of the C.N.S.C. service is to put the cardholders in control of their own identity security by instantly advising them via SMS (Short Message Service) to their cellular telephones or PDAs each time a charge or withdrawal from a C.N.S.C. covered card is made.

The Go-Tag is a contactless payment sticker with reloadable prepaid card capabilities that First Data says will allow people to turn almost anything into a payment device. First Data expects many consumers will want to attach the stickers to their mobile phones. The Go-Tag currently offers only prepaid capabilities, though there are no technical obstacles to enabling the product to handle standard credit and debit card accounts. The tags can be reloaded at the point of sale, using credit and debit cards or cash, and can establish recurring reloads online, charged to a credit or debit account. First Data is developing a system to reload the tags with automated clearing house transactions.

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Despite rapid growth, the incidence of online banking fraud is “extremely low,” according to the TowerGroup. However, the research firm warns that financial institutions must prepare for the emerging threats coming down the road - some of which "cannot be detected and prevented with current technologies." Credit unions should utilize the fraud detection tools used in the credit card industry such as transaction analysis and behavioral profiling. The firm also recommended looking for suspicious patterns in a deposit member's behavior, and using IP geolocation to determine the location of a user's computer.

Metavante announced that its enterprise-wide fraud monitoring and reporting efforts will be supported by solutions from Actimize. Metavante plans to introduce Actimize’s real-time, fraud prevention analytics solutions as one component in an enterprise-wide fraud prevention framework. The technology will first be available for its online bill pay solution with deployment to follow across other Metavante banking and payment solutions.

Panda Security announced the general availability of its 2009 retail product line: Panda Internet Security 2009, Panda Antivirus Pro 2009 and Panda Global Protection 2009. The company says that by extending their proprietary Collective Intelligence technology across all three products, users will benefit from faster and more efficient detection and disinfection rates; minimum PC bandwidth consumption; and full vision and traceability of the latest malware techniques and distribution points.

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Core Systems:

Core Systems – Collaborating to Better Serve Members

COCC - http://www.cocc.com Read Joe Trafton's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/COCC.pdf

CU*Answers - http://www.cuanswers.com Read Randy Karnes' comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/CUAnswers.pdf

Enhanced Software Products - http://www.espsolution.net Read Matt Lefler's comments:    http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/ESP.pdf

Fidelity Information Services - http://www.fidelityinfoservices.com Read John Schooler's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/FIS.pdf

Fiserv - http://www.cu7.fiserv.com Read John Edwards' comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Fiserv_XP.pdf

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

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

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

ShareOne - http://www.shareone.com Read Daryl Tanner's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/ShareOne.pdf

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

Symitar - http://www.symitar.com Read Kathy Hooker Burress' comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Symitar.pdf

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According to Deloitte Consulting, credit unions have a great opportunity to harness the revenue potential of retiring baby boomers, but they must offer innovative product packages and investment advisory services that will allow them to compete with financial services specialists such as insurance companies, mutual fund firms and brokerages. We discuss some options that credit unions can offer their older members in the October issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe today.

Altier Credit Union, formerly SRP Credit Union, is offering its members an auto loan perk. Any existing and new members can receive up to 1.25 percent cash back with an Altier CU new or used auto loan. Members are eligible to receive up to $625 back, depending upon the size of their loan.

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According to research from TowerGroup, free online bill payment services will cost the US financial services industry $1 billion by 2010. The research house estimates that nearly 24 million Americans currently use electronic bill payment and presentment services (EBPP). Usage is increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 18% and is set to rise from 2.11 billion transactions in 2008 to 3.87 billion in 2012. One way in which credit unions can offset some of the costs is by charging for expedited bill payments. TowerGroup says many customers are willing to pay to ensure that payments are made within 24 hours to avoid being charged for late payments.

Fiserv announced that its MyMoney convenience banking application on Facebook Platform has won The Banker Technology Awards 2008 Retail Award for Online Innovation. Recognizing the popularity of Facebook among Gen Y consumers, who are desirable prospects for many credit unions, Fiserv developed MyMoney to enable Facebook users to search for and join a credit union and manage their funds via the familiar Facebook interface. Using MyMoney, they can view account balances, history and transfer funds right from their Facebook profile.

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Industry research firm InfoTech is reporting that Mitel is the US market leader for IP telephony for small businesses. InfoTech said that Mitel captured 17.2 percent of the 2007 SMB Internet telephony market, which puts them ahead of major competitors such as Cisco, NEC, Avaya and Nortel. Mitel merged with InterTel in 2007, gaining 8.5 percent of market share and beating its closest competitor NEC by 3.4 percent. Earlier this year, Mitel launched new unified communications products that include messaging, audio and Web conferencing, mobility solutions, and easy-to-use IP desk phones.

The number of branch offices keeps climbing - and with it the need to address WAN optimization and application acceleration options for distributed office sites. In response, Expand Networks unveiled its retooled branch office appliances, which are designed to provide organizations with greater scalability options. Both the Expand Accelerator 4830 and 4930 can scale from 128K up to 6Mbps. If users want to increase capacity, all that is required is a licensing upgrade, not a hardware swap. The Accelerator 4830 is priced starting at $2,395, and the Accelerator 4930 starts at $2,495.

Response Point from Microsoft is a simple telephony solution for the less than 50 telephone user setting. We will describe how it works in the October issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.

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Inova Solutions has released a Web-based tool that will allow call center managers to retrieve comparative statistical information immediately. The firm says that their “Performance Tracker 2.0” will gather data from workforce management systems, internal databases and ACDs and produce charts, gauges and grids that will help call centers reach their daily goals. Performance Tracker is accessible by the Internet, compatible with most contact center data sources and based on Microsoft’s SharePoint platform. Plus, the solution is offers dashboard views tailored for various business roles that may be configured to display a contact center’s metrics, real-time or historical.

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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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