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Credit Union tech-talk News
April 27, 2009 - May 1, 2009
General News
* Arizona State CU Chooses Coinstar
* IA Systems & Raddon Financial Group to Host Northeast Lending Forum
* Spokane Teachers CU Chooses iRise Visualization
* Westerra CU Selects TCI’s DecisionLender
Coinstar announced that Arizona State Credit Union, the largest state-chartered credit union in Arizona, has replaced its existing self-service coin counting machines with Coinstar kiosks. In addition to replacing eight machines, Arizona State Credit Union has expanded the Coinstar service to eight more locations across the state bringing the total to16 branches.
IA Systems, an Open Solutions business unit and provider of lending software to credit unions, announced it will host the first Northeast Lending Forum on Friday, May 29, at the Hilton Newark Penn Station in Newark, NJ. Raddon Financial Group (RFG) will co-host the free event, which will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
iRise, a leading visualization solutions company, announced that Spokane Teachers Credit Union (STCU), one of the largest credit unions in the Pacific Northwest serving more than 80,000 members, has chosen iRise to visualize software projects before coding as way to speed delivery and cut costs. iRise has already been used to simulate enhancements to existing Web-based systems and will soon be used in new software applications that provide enhanced online services to STCU’s members.
TCI announced that Westerra Credit Union has purchased TCI’s DecisionLender, a loan origination software solution, for direct and indirect lending. Westerra will use DecisionLender for their auto indirect lending program. Because DecisionLender is delivered as a Web-based solution (ASP), it does not burden existing IT resources and can go live in weeks, not months.
Hardware News
Dell is moving into managed services with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) desktop management solution dubbed ProManage Managed Services. Dell estimates that for every one dollar that organizations spend on hardware, they spend two dollars to manage it. The program includes alerts for 24/7 remote monitoring of networks, severs, PCs, mobile devices and applications - including non-Dell brands. If Dell can't fix an issue remotely, it will send a local Dell or certified partner onsite for the repair. During a pilot, Dell claims it resolved over 90% of problems remotely. The service model is flexible, requiring no upfront investments or long-term contracts.
RDM Corporation announced the release of its new EC7500i series which features what they are calling the industry's first low cost check scanner with an integrated receipt printer with magstripe. The EC7500i series of check scanners features a standard USB port for connection to PC-based applications, in addition to a variety of optional features, such as configurable options for check defacement, double or single sided imaging as well as magstripe and receipt printer.
Hewlett-Packard is partnering with Microsoft and VMware to expand the appeal of desktop virtualization solutions. Learn more about virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) in the May issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe today.
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Software Updates
If your credit union uses Microsoft Exchange and you would like to get complete control over e-mail signatures, you may want to take a look at Red Earth Software’s Policy Patrol 5. The package has many features including a rather advanced signature builder. It can drop in images, custom Active Directory fields, different behavior for new messages vs. replies, logos, disclaimer text, and even time-sensitive marketing messages if you would like to tell members about your latest loan or deposit promotions.
With free and open-source tools, network forensics can be affordable. Daemonlogger, tcpdump, and tshark are three examples of free, open-source tools that do a good job of capturing network traffic to the disk. Each one supports ring-buffering, so you can define how much data they should store on disk (by percentage), how to split the different capture files (by time or size), and how to automatically overwrite the oldest files. Once you have the network data captured to disk, you can use other low-cost tools for analysis, such as Wireshark, NetWitness Investigator, or NetworkMiner.
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Software Section Sponsored by
Raddon Financial Group (RFG)
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ATMs/Kiosks
Dash ATM announced plans to begin marketing ATMs from Triton Systems of Delaware and Nautilus Hyosung. The Texas-based company will provide a turnkey solution for any new ATM deal it signs, and it will include the ATM/kiosk enclosure as well as installation and first- and second-line maintenance service. Dash ATM says it expects to offer both purchase and lease options on new ATMs.
By some accounts, the most important channel for fraud losses in the next three years is expected to be the ATM. That is why ABI Research is predicting big growth for sophisticated video surveillance systems. The firm says that ATM deployers will be looking to systems that feature high resolution cameras and software that can do facial recognition.
Looking to help the unemployed, more than two dozen New Mexico credit unions are waiving non-member surcharges on unemployment insurance debit cards. The partnership between the CU Anytime ATM network and the state Department of Workforce Solutions will waive the standard $1.75 fee.
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ATMs/Kiosks Section Sponsored by
Code Green
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Biometric Digest Highlights - WWW.BIODIGEST.COM
According to a recent report published by Global Industry Analysts, the world market for Dynamic Signature Verification is forecast to reach $130 million by the year 2015. This growth will be driven by growing concerns over national security, online fraud, and rising incidences of fake identification. They predict that future demand is expected to stem from virtually all end-use industries including financial, banking, insurance, legal, defense, governmental, and retail. Key players in the market include: Advanced Software Design Corporation, Communication Intelligence Corporation, Cyber SIGN, Dynamic Biometric Systems, Parascript, ProgressSoft, SOFTPRO, SQN Banking Systems, WonderNet, ACECAD Enterprise, Interlink Electronics, UC-Logic Technology, and Wacom, among others.
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Wireless World
Eight financial applications for mobile phones are forecasted to become part of the daily routine of nearly 2.2 billion mobile phone users worldwide over the next five years, says a new market research study released by the Insight Research Corporation. These eight mobile financial applications will generate nearly $124 billion for application developers and for the cell phone companies:
- mobile banking
- mobile stock trading
- mobile proximity and retail
- mobile credit cards
- mobile bar coding
- mobile peer-to-peer
- mobile gaming
- mobile gambling
AT&T says that they are upgrading their 3G HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network across the country to provide peak download speeds of about 3.6Mbps. The company's current generation of technology offers peak download links speeds of 1.7 Mbps. Of course, real world data speeds are much lower - usually around 700 Kbps. While the company plans to continue to upgrade its 3G network to squeeze out more capacity, AT&T has also said that it plans to deploy a 4G wireless network using Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. Verizon Wireless also plans to deploy LTE for its 4G network.
2009 was supposed to be a year of progress for Near Field Communication (NFC), but difficult economic conditions have slowed implementation. We will cover the progress of mobile payments in the May issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Security Section
Symantec has expanded its small and midsize business offerings with the introduction of two new product suites and the acquisition of Mi5 Networks. Symantec's new Endpoint Protection - Small Business Edition is an antivirus, anti-malware package that offers built-in tools, such as a client installation wizard and a streamlined user interface, that are designed to make it easier to deploy. It includes preconfigured notifications, recommended Symantec security defaults, and automatic security reporting. The company also launched Symantec Protection Suite - Small Business Edition, which includes the Endpoint Protection product, as well as a messaging security suite and a backup/recovery suite.
ElcomSoft has upgraded their password cracking and management tool called ElcomSoft Distributed Password Recovery (EDPR). EDPR lets administrators use off-the-shelf graphics cards from Nvidia to crack passwords, taking advantage of the parallel processing capability that can figure out passwords or encryption keys much faster than desktop CPUs. The update adds GPU acceleration, which Elcomsoft says speeds up password recovery between 10 to 200 times more than using only desktop CPUs. A single Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 using EDPR can work about 15 times faster than an Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz chip, the company said.
The Mercator Advisory Group is advising prepaid card issuers to beef up their security and fraud controls. While the same basic principles that govern credit and debit card fraud management systems also apply to prepaid card systems, prepaid fraud systems also need to check the "value and velocity" of transactions, both when value is subtracted from cards when they are used and when value is added to cards through loads and reloads. The research firm adds that "the degree of cross-industry coordination to combat fraud and money laundering needs to accelerate. While it's not a new idea in the slightest, the demand for collaborative, systemic fraud controls has really never been greater."
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Leaders Roundtable
Security:
Protecting Member Data at Rest and in Motion
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Technology and Marketing
According to research from Aberdeen Group, about 67% of U.S. adult Internet users cited e-mail as a preferred mode of communication when dealing with business, compared with 35% listing postal mail, 29% for fixed-line telephone and 5% for instant messaging. Many marketing gurus think that e-mail has the best ROI of any marketing medium today. They point to research from MailerMailer, an e-mail marketing and newsletter service, that shows that financial services firms received higher response rates for e-mail in the second half of 2007 than any other industry. Financial companies reported an e-mail open rate of 29%, and a 7% for click-through rate.
Greylock Federal Credit Union is turning to local high school students for assistance in developing programs that will appeal to and help the teen market. The Pittsfield, MA-based credit union has formed a Youth Advisory Board that is comprised of 16 students between the ages of 13 and 18 to help them develop products and services that promote financial literacy and good savings habits.
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Online Banking/E-Commerce/Website Design
The number of US online banking customers continued to grow at a steady rate throughout 2008 as customers looked to keep a close eye on their finances during the recession, according to research from Web metrics firm comScore. Respondents were also quizzed on their interests in online tools to help manage their finances. More than 60% expressed interest in free identity theft services, while free credit score monitoring appealed to 52%. Around 37% showed a strong interest in online personal financial management tools, with half of those interested indicating they were willing to pay a modest monthly fee for the services. An instant messaging service would appeal to 30%, widgets to 27% and blogs to 20%.
Yodlee announced Yodlee PostcardCheck which is aimed at increasing efficiency and lowering the significant costs associated with paper payments in online bill pay. Nearly two of every ten payments originated online in the U.S. are still processed via paper check. Financial institutions offering online bill pay to their consumers incur per item costs of a single paper payment up to ten times higher than comparable electronic payments. Yodlee says that PostcardCheck can lower the cost of single check payments by up to 30%, and is available for integration with any existing online bill pay solution.
U.S. companies saved $605 million last year by using direct deposit of payroll for employees, according to NACHA, the regulatory body for the automated clearing house association. The group said that two out of three employees now use Direct Deposit which is a 20% increase over the past ten years.
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Internet Access
Xorcom, which makes telephony interfaces and appliances based on Asterisk open-source software, has introduced three new models of the Xorcom IP-PBX. These new, stand-alone IP PBXs feature high-bandwidth and high-density USB 2 technology and support all the main analog and digital telephony interfaces, including FXS, FXO, E1/T1 PRI, E1 R2 and BRI ISDN. The XR1000 supports up to 16 analog and digital (BRI) phone ports, up to 50 users and up to five concurrent calls; the XR2000 supports up to 160 PSTN/analog phones ports with external Astribank units, up to 300 users and up to 60 concurrent calls; and the XR3000 is an enterprise grade IP PBX that supports up to 640 PSTN/analog phones ports with external Astribank units, up to 1000 users and up to 300 concurrent calls.
Voice over IP (VoIP) is perhaps one of the most important game-changing technologies on the market, but it is new territory for many IT Departments. We will offer some tips from industry experts on how to correctly roll out this technology in the May issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Call Centers
AT&T announced that it has expanded its contact center portfolio with a new hosted service that features a shared platform using Genesys software. AT&T's new Hosted Integrated Contact Services is fully managed contact center service that provides a virtual contact center hosted in an AT&T Internet Data Center. AT&T already supports Avaya, Cisco, Genesys, and Nortel contact center platforms. However using the shared and hosted capabilities enabled by the Genesys platform, AT&T now offers organizations an alternative to dedicated equipment.
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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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