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Credit Union tech-talk News
January 12, 2009 - January 16, 2009
General News
* CU*Answers Reports Record Year for 2008
* Securityplus FCU Selects Open Solutions for Check imaging
* Record Sales for Share One
* uMonitor Announces Special Promotion
* Tropical Financial CU Deploys UltiPro’s Payroll Reporting Solution
CU*Answers, a West Michigan-based CUSO, announced it had a record 2008 financial year, with several milestones achieved. The CUSO’s 2008 highlights included providing $1.14 million in combined dividend/ interest returns back to its credit union owners, as well as a stock value increase of 33%. CU*Answers also announced a series of price reductions and freezes to clients utilizing its CU*BASE system for the 2009 year.
Baltimore, MD-based Securityplus Federal Credit Union announced it has selected Open Solutions ' imaged-based item processing solution to achieve a streamlined Check 21 strategy. Open Solutions is a leading provider of integrated enabling technologies for credit unions throughout the United States, Canada and other international markets. Securityplus FCU is one of the largest credit unions in Maryland with more than $275 million in assets and over 36,000 members.
Despite a global financial downturn, Share One, a technology provider for credit unions nationally, closed 2008 with record sales and solid projections for 2009. Share One signed contracts with over 20 credit unions in 2008 and will provide core technology solutions for these new clients with conversion dates stretching well into 2009.
uMonitor, a financial solution services provider for member acquisition and deposit growth, introduced a special promotion for its online account opening and funding solution, uOpen & uFund. For a limited time, credit unions can deploy uMonitor's account opening and funding solution without any fees for implementation, monthly minimum applications, or annual maintenance.
Ultimate Software, a leading provider of human resources, payroll, and talent management solutions, announced that Tropical Financial Credit Union is rolling out their payroll reporting system. Previously, Tropical Financial used a payroll service bureau, but that inefficient process has now been replaced by one that significantly streamlines the day-to-day responsibilities of its HR/payroll associates.
Hardware News
Lenovo announced four new PCs: the IdeaPad Y650, Y550, Y450 laptops and an all-in-one desktop dubbed the IdeaCentre A600. The Y450 and Y550 start at $829, while the Y650 runs $1,199. The A600 desktop is Lenovo’s first all-in-one design and comes with a 21.5 inch screen. Lenovo also introduced the unusual ThinkPad W700ds which is a dual screen mobile workstation. The W700ds has a 17 inch screen and a 10.6 inch secondary screen attached. The secondary screen can also pivot. This dual-screen laptop starts at $3,663.
Hewlett-Packard has launched the Mini 2140, a netbook the company says is suitable for use in business. Powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processer, the HP Mini 2140 has a 10.1-inch display. The keyboard is 92% the size of a full-size PC keyboard, and the whole machine weighs just 2.6 pounds. The netbook comes with a choice of an 80GB solid-state drive or a 160GB hard disk drive; and a choice between a three-cell or six-cell battery. It uses 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and has options for Bluetooth 2.0, a USB docking station, and an HP USB optical disk drive.
USB has been the most successful interface in the history of personal computing: over 6 billion products are in the market, and over 2 billion ship a year now. Next up for USB is the 3.0 standard. We will tell you all about it in the February issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Software Updates
Group Policy is good at controlling hundreds of Windows' settings, but controlling the thousands of applications that run on Windows, and their settings, isn't easy. PolicyPak Software seeks to help in this regard by using Active Directory Group Policy to ensure application compliance and to manage your application's settings. PolicyPak has two editions and offers preconfigured PowerPaks for some common enterprise applications. There is also PolicyPak Professional with its PolicyPak Design Studio that enables administrators to create their own configurable PolicyPaks for any third party or in-house software. The company says that PolicyPak can ensure that applications' security features are always re-established to your set standards, even if users try to change them.
VMware announced VMware View which is an update to its desktop virtualization product. The product now includes desktop cloning from a master image. This means that instead of having a full image copy for each virtualized desktop, the system contains one "golden" image, from which new virtual instances are created as needed. When a user makes some changes (saves some data, etc.) to a specific virtual desktop, those changes are captured and stored in a difference file. The first benefit of their approach is that storage is vastly decreased, but more importantly the arduous task of keeping desktops up-to-date by applying patches, keeping virus definitions current, and so on becomes much simpler when only one image must be kept current.
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Software Section Sponsored by
Raddon Financial Group (RFG)
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ATMs/Kiosks
Source Technologies has launched the ServPoint family of self-service kiosks. The ServPoint series offers a range of touch screen, interactive self-service kiosks designed for a variety of applications. The kiosks come in a variety of sizes ranging from 7.5” to 19” and offer a range of processor speeds on a modular design platform. The devices utilize the Windows Embedded for Point of Service operating system and can support an array of external device options including printers, biometric devices, RFID readers, and others.
Open Solutions has expanded its relationship with Consumer Network Services to provide electronic funds transfer products and services to its clients. CNS EFT solution sets include ATM driving and monitoring, ATM and debit card transaction processing, and comprehensive ancillary services, including risk management, card production and consultative services. CNS processes more than 20 million EFT transactions per month for Open Solutions' clients.
More than 1,000 Co-Op Financial Services branded credit unions in North America have signed on to use Transaction Network Services' TNSLink solution for ATMs. The TNSLink solution is an end-to-end managed data communications solution designed specifically for the ATM, kiosk and POS-terminal markets, and also includes check imaging, kiosk transaction processing and remote-graphics distribution.
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Biometric Digest Highlights - WWW.BIODIGEST.COM
Augusta Metro Federal Credit Union in Augusta, Georgia has installed a biometric hand scanner which allows entry into the safety deposit box vault. The scanner only takes about five minutes to program, and, from there a member only has to enter their code, scan their hand and they are allowed access to the vault. The biometric scanner is manufactured by Schlage and the credit union noted that it only cost slightly more than a regular lock system.
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Wireless World
While the volume of attacks on mobile banking systems is negligible, consumers are still nervous about the channel. According to Javelin Strategy and Research, security concerns are the single biggest factor inhibiting consumer acceptance of mobile banking. The firm notes that attacks will rise as adoption builds, and in particular, as operating system consolidation and platform standardization increases. However, with a well-designed security program in place, mobile has inherent safety advantages such as its speed of notification that make it one of the most protected channels for remote banking.
A recent survey conducted by Callahan's Internet Strategy Consortium showed that members are much more familiar with text messaging than accessing the Internet through their mobile phone. The proportion of members who access the Internet through their mobile phone ranged from a low of 19% to a high of 42%. While these numbers may suggest that SMS is the way to go, the survey noted that the functionality provided by text-based products versus mobile Internet-based products will simply serve to attract different segments. Credit unions will need to consider their membership bases when deciding which access method to deploy, or they could cover their bases and offer both access methods for their mobile channel.
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Security Section
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, reports of data breaches in the U.S. rose almost 50 percent in 2008. About 12 percent of the reports came from financial services firms, up from 7 percent in 2007. Financial institutions reported more than 18 million records breached last year. Overall, more than 35 million records were compromised in 2008, the report says. The bulk of breached data was unprotected by either encryption or even passwords. Malware attacks, and insider theft accounted for nearly 30 percent of breaches that cited a cause, the ITRC said. Insider theft more than doubled between 2007 and 2008, accounting for 15.7 percent of the breaches.
Trendnet offers smaller organizations a low cost, wireless security surveillance kit that includes one 7" Wireless Internet Camera and Photo Monitor, the TV-M7, and a Wireless Internet Camera, the TV-IP110W. The TV-M7 displays streaming IP Camera video in real time via the wireless network. The TV-IP110W is capable of providing real-time, high-quality wireless video, and can perform motion-detection recording, e-mail alerts, and scheduled recordings.
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Leaders Roundtable
Security:
Protecting Member Data at Rest and in Motion
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Technology and Marketing
LogicBright CRM, a small business CRM vendor, recently conducted a survey to discover what smaller organizations want in their CRM solutions. 81 percent said they want to use their CRM system simply as a straightforward contact manager in an effort to centralize their data for all employees to access. The firm says that their research shows that these small businesses just want to perform the basics of contact management within an easy to use interface - at an affordable price point.
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Online Banking/E-Commerce/Website Design
Magensa announced the launch of QwicKey, a new portable online security device that offers password management, automated form completion and one-click login. The system works with a secure magnetic stripe reader, browser software and the existing magnetic stripe cards in consumers’ wallets (credit cards, payment cards, many state licenses, insurance cards and other forms of identification). Magensa says that QwicKey enhances online security by eliminating the possibility of sensitive consumer data being stolen by keyboard loggers or virus programs. QwicKey starts at $49.95 and includes the complete QwicKey kit and a free first year subscription.
There are numerous online personal finance products on the market today that help consumers manage their finances. We will cover some of the pros and cons of various packages in the February issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Internet Access
Communications provider NuVox announced the availability of SIP Trunking to its Southeast and Midwest customers. The idea behind businesses using a Session Initiation Protocol connection is to help simplify administration because the SIP connection typically will use the same Internet connection that is used for normal data. SIP Trunking helps organizations establish more efficient bandwidth, along with enhanced voice and data connections to the web, PSTN, and private MPLS data networking services. NuVox SIP Trunking is compatible with a variety of premise-based IPPBX systems including Cisco, Avaya, Ingate, and Digium, and features Quality of Service (QoS) capability.
Larger credit unions that utilize high-speed Ethernet wide area networks (WANs) may be interested in SafeNet's new 10 gigabit, line-rate Ethernet Encryptor. The company says that encryption at layer 2, such as Ethernet, is the superior solution to protecting data in transit over the WAN where it can be done with low latency and with no additional increase in bandwidth. SafeNet encryptors offer central management that helps with administration and audit reporting across multiple circuits and network protocols.
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Call Centers
According to a new Infonetics report, sales of IP contact centers will grow in 2009, but probably not as dramatically as they did in 2008. Infonetics says that the improved efficiency and capability that IP contact centers can deliver promise a better bottom line for businesses that rely on the centers for sales and customer service. Avaya leads competitors in both the number of seats sold and in revenues, controlling 40% of the seats and 35% of the revenues, with Cisco and Alcatel-Lucent lagging behind. Cisco, however, is gaining, perhaps as a consequence of its success selling IP PBXs, the firm notes.
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Conferences
Catch Tom and Bill Rogers, Associate Editor of Credit Union tech-talk at the following conferences in 2008:
April 6-8, Park City - 2009 MVi Users Conference
June 4-5, Lake Las Vegas - Credit Union InfoSecurity Conference
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