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Credit Union tech-talk News

April 20, 2009 - April 24, 2009

 


General News

* Fiserv Renames Premier CU Platform to Portico
* eEminder Launches Secure Mobile Banking Product for Twitter
* COCC Issues Product and Services Credit to Clients
* Indirect Lending Technologies Becomes Integrated Lending Technologies
* TCU Financial Group Extends Partnership with CGI

Fiserv, a leading provider of financial services technology solutions, announced it has reintroduced the Premier Credit Union Platform as Portico. The new name coincides with two significant events: the completion of the migration of virtually all Premier credit union clients to the system’s new .NET platform and the rebrand of all Fiserv business units as one Fiserv.

eEminder, a leading provider of secure SMS Text Message mobile access products for credit unions, announced that it teamed with Solution Oriented Systems to produce a full featured, fully secure mobile banking solution that runs via Twitter. Credit unions offering the eEminder solution can offer their members real time account balances, activity, account transfers, bill payments, transaction search, and No-Wait Member Service call back via eEminder’s patent-pending multi-factor authentication technology for SMS text messaging.

COCC, a leading provider of next generation technology services for credit unions, has issued a product and services credit to its clients for the purchase of new information technology. The company, a cooperative since its founding in 1967, is owned exclusively by its client financial institutions. The total amount of the product and services credit exceeds $500,000.

Indirect Lending Technologies, L.L.C. has changed its name to Integrated Lending Technologies, LLC. ILT owns and operates the web-based DILLS system for managing the indirect lending process as well as PILS, a system for managing remote unsecured lending. More than 90 credit unions use one or both of its systems.

CGI Group Inc., a leading provider of information technology and business process services, and TCU Financial Group, a Saskatchewan based credit union, announced a three year extension of their partnership for hosted banking system services and integrated solutions. CGI serves 120 financial institutions from Newfoundland & Labrador to British Columbia, and 25% of Canadian credit unions have selected CGI as their provider of choice.


Hardware News

Lexmark has introduced a series of printers designed for smaller working groups. The company has unveiled nine monochrome laser multifunction products (MFPs) that are designed to provide users with a small profile device that is optimized for use with small and midsize workgroups. The Lexmark X460 Series features the company's customizable e-Task color touch screen, which offers access to a range of features such as two-sided scanning, advanced copying and user authentication for enhanced security. Lexmark designed all these new models to be more environmentally friendly. They come standard with built-in two sided printing to reduce paper waste in addition to Eco-Mode and Quiet Mode to save energy and reduce noise.

Samsung announced it is shipping its first self-encrypting solid-state disk (SSD) drives, and claims its SSD is the first to come with FDE (full disk encryption). Samsung's news drives, which come in 256GB, 128GB and 64GB capacities, use AES encryption along with management software from Wave Systems. Samsung said its SSD performance is not affected by FDE, a drawback sometimes seen with hard drives.

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Software Updates

TransUnion is rolling out its Consumer Risk Indicators service, a product designed to improve visibility into the hidden risk of mortgage assets. The package delivers current and historical loan-level consumer credit information so that mortgage lenders can perform in-depth risk analysis. It includes the ability to determine adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) exposure (beyond the loan in question) and the member's capacity to pay.

Virtualization is gradually moving from servers to desktops which means centralized management will become even more important. We will cover this topic in the May issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe today.
 

 

Software Section Sponsored by
Raddon Financial Group (RFG)


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ATMs/Kiosks

NYCE has announced that it will offer balance inquiries by text message to its financial institution participants as a standard feature of full participation in the NYCE Network. The basic text message transactions will be an extension of the balance inquiry functionality commonly available at NYCE Network ATMs, with no additional fees for mobilization. The new service, powered by Monitise Americas, will allow consumers to use text messaging to request and receive real-time balance information on their primary accounts. Text message balance inquiries will work for virtually all mobile phone users regardless of their mobile carrier or the type of handset they use.

DASH ATM LP has released a new ATM security product that offers security benefits similar to the ATM sleeve it released last year. According to DASH, the new ATM base-safe shroud is an armored shroud that fits only around the ATM's safe. It is currently being used on Wincor Nixdorf ProCash 1500 ATMs, and the firm says that they will release one for the NCR Personas 77 ATM line shortly.

Skimmers are small electronic devices that can be assimilated into an ATM's card slot so that when users insert or swipe their ATM cards to make transactions, their account details can be stored or transmitted to the fraudsters. In the past, skimmers were usually found in retail locations, such as gas stations or in markets, but they are now moving to branch locations. We will cover the latest trends in skimmers in the May issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.

 

ATMs/Kiosks Section Sponsored by
Code Green

 

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Credit Union tech-talk readers receive one month of free service and free setup!

Sign up today: http://branchmap.com/cunews.html

 

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Biometric Digest Highlights - WWW.BIODIGEST.COM 

San Francisco-based 3VR Security and Diebold are partnering to delivers intelligent video management solutions to help reduce fraud. 3VR’s technology combines multi-analytic capabilities, facial surveillance capabilities, license plate recognition and advanced motion analytics. The company says that their facial surveillance technology enables users to capture, index and catalog faces; search for and track suspects using face similarity searching; build, manage and share watch lists of faces; and intelligently store optimized face images. Diebold is testing the performance of the solutions through a pilot deployment at Bank of Hawaii.

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Wireless World

Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed Eclectyk, a system to replace credit and consumer loyalty cards with a handset outfitted with near field communication (NFC) technology. Eclectyk stores credit card data in the phone, and automatically chooses the correct customer loyalty card information for the user's purchase, according to which store the user is in. Eclectyk also comes with a "remote wipe" feature that lets users erase their card data from anywhere should the phone get stolen or lost.

MasterCard recently approved the LAKS Smart Transaction Watch 2, a black and stainless steel analog timepiece with an embedded antenna coil that functions as a contactless PayPass device once a tiny SIM-like M/Chip is inserted. LAKS introduced its first Smart Transaction Watch in 2006 as a limited edition FIFA World Cup sports watch. The watchmaker then improved upon its original design by adding a slide-in slot below the 9 o'clock position that enables users to quickly and easily insert their M/Chip and turn their timepiece into a tap-and-go credit card.

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Security Section

Verizon investigated 90 confirmed data breaches in 2008 and found 91% of all breached records were linked to organized criminal gangs. Nearly all breaches (98%) shared at least one of three characteristics: thieves were aided by the target's error in security practices (67%); the target's network was hacked (64%); and malware was used to collect data (38%). The minority of breaches were the result of the misuse of privileges (22%) or direct, physical attacks (9%). To help prevent breaches, Verizon recommends that organizations find, track, and assess data; collect and monitor event logs; audit user accounts and credentials; and test and review web applications.

In a related story, Symantec's Annual Internet Security Threat Report found that criminals are now buying full personal identities (names, addresses dates of birth, and credit card details) for less than a dollar. The report notes that it's not just the technology and code that is getting better, but also the approach and the strategy behind the attacks. Plus the prevalence of DIY kits online has fuelled the growth in malware and phishing, as the tools for creation and modification of attacks are readily available to anyone.

Delta Community Credit Union has been working with Verint Systems since 2003 when it replaced its legacy VCR systems with Verint networked digital video recorders. Now the Atlanta-based credit union has installed Verint Systems’ Nextiva NetDVR II and MicroDVR II data surveillance and capture solutions which will give them the ability to monitor ATM transaction data and video centrally with greater reliability and security, as well as more rapidly detect and investigate fraud.

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Leaders Roundtable

Security:

Protecting Member Data at Rest and in Motion

 

CheckFree - http://www.checkfree.com
Read Christopher Beier's comments:

 

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Code Green Networks - http://www.codegreennetworks.com  
Read Rod Murchison's comments:

 

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

 

 
Gladiator Technology - http://www.gladiatortechnology.com
Read Danny Johnston's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Gladiator.pdf

 

Guardian Analytics - http://www.guardiananalytics.com
Read Tom Miltonberger's comments:    
http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Guardian.pdf

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 
Intrepidus Group - http://www.intrepidusgroup.com  
Read Rohyt Belani's comments:  
http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Intrepidus.pdf

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 
Reclamere - http://www.reclamere.com  
Read Kevin Doyle's comments:

 

 
Simpler-Webb - http://www.swinc.com  
Read Jeff Simpler's comments:  
http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/SimplerWebb.pdf

 

 
SkyRecon Systems - http://www.skyrecon.com  
Read Sean Martin's comments:  
http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/SkyRecon.pdf

 

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

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Technology and Marketing

For the first time, U.S. credit card reward program members outnumber airline frequent flyers. COLLOQUY’s 2009 U.S. loyalty marketing census shows that membership in U.S. financial services rewards programs has reached 422 million, a 77% increase since COLLOQUY’s 2007 census, vaulting financial services past airline frequent flier programs as the economy’s largest market for loyalty programs. “Just a few years ago, the industry regularly talked about how 50% of all credit cards had reward programs tied in. Today, estimates range from 75% to 80%. For debit cards, 2006 estimates were 10% to 15%, but the latest industry analyses put the numbers at 25% to 50% due to the explosion of merchant funded network programs,” COLLOQUY Partner Kelly Hlavinka said.

Meriwest Credit Union has created a Hardship Assistance Team designed to work closely with borrowers in an effort to structure solutions to their specific financial situations, including assistance with first mortgages and HELOCs. The goal of this program from the San Jose-based credit union is to help troubled homeowners and other borrowers will their financial restructuring needs.

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Online Banking/E-Commerce/Website Design

According to a study by PayItGreen, if employees signed up to use Direct Deposit, individually they would save almost a pound of paper every year. Plus, if every employee who had access to Direct Deposit used it, it would save 11 million pounds of paper, 4 million gallons of gas, and avoid releasing 32 million pounds of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year. PayItGreen was formed in 2007 to educate consumers about the positive environmental impact of choosing electronic bills, statements and payments over paper alternatives.

Fiserv is working with more than 25 financial institutions across the country to encourage their account holders to make the switch to online bill payment by planting a tree in a national forest for each bill paid online during April and May. This is the third year in a row that Fiserv has partnered with financial institutions and the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees. They say that the average household that replaces traditional payments with online bill payments could save more than $50 per year on postage and five hours of time writing checks and stuffing envelopes, while simultaneously reducing the need to purchase checks, envelopes and gas to drive to and from the post office provides additional cost savings.

New payment products are emerging which combine elements of prepaid cards with a small dollar credit line. We will discuss these products in the May issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.

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Internet Access

Siemens Enterprise Communications announced the availability of new Siemens OpenScale Operate service packages, claiming that they will help organizations better manage their communications infrastructure. Siemens says that organizations can take advantage of their global service delivery network to cover multi-vendor environments, and also hybrid environments comprising legacy, time-division multiplexing (TDM)-based voice and converged session initiation protocol (SIP)-based voice and data networks. OpenScale Operate service packages consist of three standard offerings: OpenScale Essential, OpenScale Essential Plus, and OpenScale Assurance. OpenScale Essential provides basic 24x7 remote break/fix service. OpenScale Essential Plus offers managed services with service level agreement (SLA)-based delivery and monitoring as well as dedicated service desk and service management. OpenScale Assurance provides complete, end-to-end Managed Services to maintain, monitor and operate an entire enterprise communications infrastructure - voice, data and security.

D-Link introduced its next-generation PowerLine adapter kit that connects computers in home and small offices. The PowerLine HD Ethernet Adapter Starter Kit (DHP-303) allows the user to take advantage of existing electrical wiring to create or extend a network by turning “every power outlet in the home into a wall-to-wall network for connecting” when connected to a switch. (The kit includes two wall plugs/adapters.) The PowerLine Adapter uses Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) for one-button security and uses Quality of Service support to help prioritize data in the pipeline.

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Call Centers

In order to assist companies in selecting an IP contact center vendor, Datamonitor has published “Decision Matrix – Selecting an IP Contact Center Vendor.” The report provides a three-pronged framework for evaluating IP contact center vendors. According to the report, core IP contact center features and functions continue to be the most important consideration when selecting a vendor. The report features a “shortlist” category that covers two different vendors: Avaya and Alcaltel-Lucent/Genesys.

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Conferences

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

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

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