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Credit Union tech-talk News
January 5, 2009 - January 9, 2009
General News
* CU*NorthWest Offers New Marketing Service
* FSCC Signs WV United FCU
* CU*Answers Holds CEO Strategies Week
* Service CU Offers IMM’s Remote Signature Technology
CU*NorthWest announced it is offering its clients a new marketing service at no cost for an introductory period of two months. Member Reach Plus services use core product tools from CU*NorthWest’s core processing platform, CU*BASE, as well as a variety of delivery channels, to contact members. Contacts are done in multiple channels to include targeted email messages, web banking and statement messages, postcards, e-newsletters and CU*TALK audio response.
Financial Service Centers Cooperative (FSCC) announced that WV United Federal Credit Union in Charleston, West Virginia, has joined the network, expanding locations in the Mid-Atlantic region for Shared Branching. FSCC currently provides 5,500 full service deposit-taking locations in the U.S. and four foreign countries.
CU*Answers, a CUSO headquartered in Grand Rapids, recently held its 3rd annual CEO Strategies Week. Fifty CEOs attended the event, with the goals of the week to brainstorm and coach on a peer-to-peer level by discussing tactics and tools that will assist credit union leaders in not only developing their business plan, but to inspire staff to learn and work toward a collective vision.
Integrated Media Management, a document output management and automation technology provider, announced that Service Credit Union has gone live with TotaleAtlasWeb, its remote signature capture and secure document delivery solution. TotaleAtlasWeb is a software application that allows credit unions to serve their members anywhere in the world by securely viewing documents and capturing digital signatures, securely, via the Web.
Hardware News
Intel and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies have teamed up to make flash-based solid state drives (SSD) used in computer servers and storage. Intel will be the only supplier of flash for Hitachi Data systems. Intel also announced that it is expanding its X25-M 2.5-in. and X18-M 1.8-in. SATA SSD family with a 160GB drive in a 2.5-in. size.
Toshiba is to ramp up production of a new type of Lithium Ion battery that can charge to 90 percent of its capacity in a few minutes and is highly-resistant to short circuits. The Super Charge Ion Battery (SCIB) is a Lithium Ion battery based on proprietary technology developed by the company and means that a laptop should be able to run its lifetime on the SCIB without need to replace the battery. Production of the battery, which has been in development for several years, has already begun for the industrial market.
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Software Updates
Research firm Gartner has released their annual rankings of the top 10 strategic technologies for the year ahead. Gartner has ranked virtualization as the No. 1 strategic technology for next year, and here is the complete list:
1. Virtualization
2. Cloud computing
3. Computing fabrics
4. Web-oriented architecture
5. Enterprise mashups
6. Specialized systems
7. Social software and social networking
8. Unified communications
9. Business intelligence
10. Green IT
While analog and network cameras have come down in price, the software needed to manage large amounts of raw video data can still be quite pricey. Fortunately, there is a new package on the market that can integrate video management and video analytics at a very affordable price point. We will cover it in the February issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Software Section Sponsored by
Raddon Financial Group (RFG)
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ATMs/Kiosks
At the recent ADT Financial Security Symposium there were a wide range of security topics discussed by speakers and attendees, including ATM security. Many attendees from larger institutions noted an increase of attacks using heavy duty equipment such as over-sized forklifts and full size front-end loaders. To counter this, some facilities are being retrofitted to prevent frontal attacks on the ATMs. Some are considering a hinged, "flip-back" design that nullifies the ramming power of the heavy duty equipment, while others have undertaken efforts to build massive steel cages around the ATMs to prevent them from being lifted out of their location.
The Barclays branch at Piccadilly Circus in London is the first institution to incorporate Microsoft Surface technology. Microsoft's Surface technology enable visitors to grab digital content with their hands and navigate information about Barclays' accounts with simple gestures and touches. A large self-service area includes a foreign ATM dispensing dollars and Euros and deposit machines for cash, checks and coins.
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Biometric Digest Highlights - WWW.BIODIGEST.COM
Finger vein authentication, introduced widely by Japanese banks in the last two years, is claimed to be one of the fastest and most secure biometric methods. Developed by Hitachi, VeinID verifies a person’s identity based on the lattice work of minute blood vessels under the skin. In addition to ATMs, it is also used in door access systems.
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Wireless World
According to a new report from Mercator Advisory Group, payments from remote devices, especially smart phones, are poised to grow from an estimated $389 million in 2009 to $8.6 billion in 2014. Smart phones such as Apple’s iPhone and the Blackberry Storm with their bigger screens and more user-friendly Web browsers than those on conventional cell phones mean new opportunities for one-time payments. Mercator points out that the number of users of the mobile Web, currently estimated at 40 million, could rise by 50% in 2009, and that 75% of mobile subscribers use data services.
A Mexican credit union is using PDAs in their efforts to reach rural areas. With the assistance of the World Council of Credit Unions, Caja Morelia Valladolid has provided PDAs to their field officers that allow them to transmit account information wirelessly to the credit union’s data center in real time. The credit union, one of Mexico’s largest, also uses portable printers to produce member receipts.
VeriSign, which provides security services for mobile banking, reported SMS volume among their financial institution clients rose to 58 billion in the third quarter, up from 26 billion over the same period in 2007. Some analysts believe that conducting mobile banking via SMS offers several advantages over other formats, and we will explore their reasons for believing this in the February issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Security Section
As the economy sours, more consumers are trying to pass counterfeit bills. The Secret Service notes that the holidays are a particularly popular time for counterfeit notes as many cashiers are overwhelmed with long lines. In 2008, the number of arrests for counterfeiting increased 28%, which is the highest increase since 2004. Counterfeiters passed a record $64.4 million in fake bills - a 5% increase over 2007. The spike is attributed to the struggling economy, along with the fact that more technologically advanced printers and scanners make bills easier to duplicate.
Fraudsters and phishers are highly motivated to continually developing new bogus email techniques. One firm claims that they have a powerful appliance that uses a proprietary technology to minimize unsolicited emails. We will tell you how it works in the February edition of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Leaders Roundtable
Security:
Protecting Member Data at Rest and in Motion
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Technology and Marketing
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, falling mortgage rates have pushed mortgage applications in the U.S to a five-year high. The Association’s index of applications to purchase a home or refinance a loan rose to 1,245.7, the highest level since 2003. The average rate on a 30 year fixed rate loan dropped to 5.1%, the lowest level since records began in 1990. Meanwhile, the average on a 15 year, fixed rate mortgage declined to 4.9%, the lowest since March of 2004.
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Online Banking/E-Commerce/Website Design
Online Resources Corporation's third survey of US bill paying habits reveals how different bills rank in consumers’ stacks, in order of priority:
- Mortgage
- Insurance
- Loans
- Utilities
- Healthcare
- Phone
- Credit Card
Across industries, ORCC's survey results show that one in three households was contacted by a collector in the past year. Preference for resolving delinquencies online has increased by 18 percent over the past year, but only one percent of delinquent households were contacted via the Internet.
Cross-selling and up-selling new members when they first join the credit union is difficult at the branch, and even more so if the member opens their account online. We will cover the online onboarding process in the February issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now to learn more.
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Internet Access
Broadband-over-power-line (BPL) technology has always sounded like a good idea as an affordable alternative to DSL and cable, but it has made little headway. Silicon vendor DS2 has developed a new generation of chips that they believe will drive the technology forward. They have managed to push transmission speeds to 200Mbps, with 400Mbps now being tested. Plus, another recent innovation, called notching, lets the chips switch frequencies when meeting interference. IBM, along with their partner International Broadband Electric Communications, is working with local utilities to supply broadband in rural areas not served by other technologies.
Microsoft's ResponsePoint is a small business PBX replacement in a box. It consists of an XP Embedded-based base station with five or more satellite phones, and targets organizations with 50 or fewer users. It connects to one or two traditional phone lines and uses Ethernet-based network cabling internally for connecting it all together. ResponsePoint isn't a watered down version of an enterprise product, but rather it was conceived and designed specifically for the small business market.
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Call Centers
Why is it so important to have on hold messages or music? Because research by the North American Telecommunications Association shows that 90% of callers on silent hold abandon after 40 seconds. We will reveal some other interesting findings about on hold music and messages in the February issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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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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