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July 27, 2009 - July 31, 2009
General News
* CU*Answers Offers CU*BASE Daily Report Booklet
* Continuity Engine Adds Mike Nicastro to Board
* CO-OP Financial Services Wins 55 New Contracts
* Demographic Data Now Available for CUs from Apple Advertising
CU*Answers, a CUSO headquartered in West Michigan known for providing its flagship core data processing system CU*BASE is now offering “Our Favorite CU*BASE Daily Reports”, which is designed to assist credit union staff in understanding automated reports produced at Beginning and End-of-Day processing. It can help in due diligence of member, staff, and G/L activity in CU*BASE.
Continuity Engine, the creator of an on-demand platform that offers solutions to the regulatory compliance process for credit unions, recently announced that financial services technology veteran Mike Nicastro has joined its board of directors. Nicastro currently heads the Central Connecticut/Greater Bristol Chambers of Commerce in Bristol, CT, after retiring from his role as the SVP and chief marketing officer of Open Solutions.
CO-OP Financial Services announced 55 new contracts have been won in 2009 for its flagship offering, CO-OP Network. A total of nearly 3,000 credit unions, about one-third of all credit unions in the United States, participate in CO-OP Network, a nationwide network of surcharge-fee ATMs.
Apple Advertising, an advertising and PR agency that was established in 1972, is offering credit unions in-depth demographic studies, including data on major competitors, which includes a one-page narrative explaining the data. The firm says that a key difference between this new service and traditional ones is that it includes a personal consultation with a human data analyst who will customize the data request and deliver a cover report, and the fact that it is very affordable even for the smallest credit union.
Hardware News
Dell just announced its first all-in-one PC for small-and-medium businesses. The Vostro All-In-One is targeted at SMBs who want a cleaner and more productive workspace. The PC is powered by an Intel processor and comes with options for the Windows Vista or Linux operating systems. It feature a 17-inch screen, supports up to 2GB of memory and up to 250GB of storage. The Vostro all-in-one is priced starting at $629.
Intel has launched new solid-state drives that are less expensive and have faster write speeds than their predecessors. Intel's X25-M SSDs, for laptop and desktop PCs, deliver close to double the write performance of their predecessors, according to Intel. Meanwhile, Seagate and Western Digital have released environmentally friendly traditional hard drives that use less power but are also slower than typical hard drives. The new "green" hard drives are designed to use less power in part by spinning more slowly than the latest generation of drives and produce less heat thus requiring less cooling. Seagate is offering their new $299 Barracuda LP SATA 3Gb/s 2TB drive, while the $329 WD RE4-GP from Western Digital achieves its energy savings in part from its IntelliPower feature which, according to the company, balances spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms to provide power savings.
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Software Updates
Equifax and FICO have introduced the Credit Capacity Index to give lenders and credit grantors easy access to a new analytic tool to better assess consumer credit risk. The Credit Capacity Index can be used in tandem with BEACON credit scores, which rank order consumers’ repayment risk based on current credit profile information. Both scores are built on Equifax credit data and are designed to help lenders differentiate consumers who present the same repayment risk on their current obligations but vary in their capacity to assume new debt or incremental credit balances.
In response to zero-day attacks, Microsoft is quickly working to update its patching tools to incorporate short-term, quick fix technologies in an effort to thwart malware. Microsoft's goal is to add its Fix-it technology into its overall patch management toolbox, which is best known as Patch Tuesday. The Fix-it code provides immediate protection and can act as a placeholder until a patch is developed and tested. Fix-it technology is not applicable to every security vulnerability but works well when certain features need to be turned on or off, rather than fixes that have multiple configuration options.
IDEAL Administration 2009 brings dozens of administrative functions into a central management console for IT Departments. The $600 program aggregates these items in a centralized management pane:
- Management of both domain and local users and groups
- Service management for services running on managed systems
- Registry management for managed systems
- Viewing event logs
- Remote software deployment
- Migration and consolidation of existing file servers to other servers
- User group and shared folder migration between servers
- Mailbox creation, deletion, and management for Exchange systems
- Ability to record file usage and logon session statistics throughout the network
- Creation of a centrally managed network database that includes files, directories, printers, network configuration, software, patches, and more
- Modification of file and folder permissions
- Management of shared folders
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ATMs/Kiosks
Magnetic stripe technology is gradually being replaced around the world by the Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) chip and PIN standard but the US remains a holdout due to the fact that the migration to EMV is expensive and time-consuming. When and if the US makes the move, the ATM manufacturers are ready. NCR, Diebold, Wincor Nixdorf and GRG have all deployed EMV-compliant ATMs and upgrades in markets outside the United States. Even the smaller manufacturers are onboard - newer models from Nautilus and Triton come equipped with EMV compatibility and they recently announced the availability of EMV upgrades for some existing ATM models.
The Monimax 7600T from Nautilus Hyosung is a full-function ATM that accepts automated bundled cash and check deposits. Nautilus says that they are one of the few ATM manufacturers that has developed its own counterfeit-detection and bill-validation technology. The company adds that the Monimax 7600T recently passed the European Central Bank's system test for counterfeit note detection and bill validation. Thousands of Monimax 7600 series ATMs have been deployed in the United States through Nautilus' U.S. arm, Nautilus Hyosung America.
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Biometric Digest Highlights - WWW.BIODIGEST.COM
Diebold has introduced its Electronic Vault Attendant Elite, a dual-controlled vault and safe-deposit box access system. Diebold says that the self service system reduces labor costs for credit unions and uses identity management, biometrics and access control to offer secure member access. The platform supports various biometrics including fingerprint, hand geometry, and signature capture, as well as card swipe.
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Wireless World
Visa is testing a mobile phone-based notification service in Europe that sends customers a text message every time their card is used. Card holders will receive an update with the time, location and amount of each transaction to their phones. As well as SMS notifications, users can opt for e-mail alerts or download an application to smartphones.
Charleston, WV-based WV United Federal Credit Union is the first financial institution in the US to offer a iPhone remote deposit capture application. The $25M CU built the free app in-house and it allows members to snap a picture of check, resize it and then submit the image. The deposit is identified by the member's registered iPhone number. With the iDeposit app, the picture is not stored on the member's iPhone and it is transmitted in an encrypted format.
Many people think that mobile banking is for those on the go, but one report that just came out says that for many users their primary point of access is from their home. We will provide more insight in the August issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Security Section
The American Management Association has estimated that about half of all U.S. employers have policies restricting workers from visiting social networking sites, while other polls indicate that the number is even higher - up to 71%. This issue is becoming a growing source of tension between IT and users, especially younger workers who expect to use sites like Facebook and Twitter to network and connect with people. One company that is touting a compromise is Palo Alto Networks who offers next generation firewalls and filtering appliances that give IT much more granular control. For example, an organization can allow employees to go to Facebook or Flickr but prevent them from uploading files, in order to protect corporate data.
SonicWALL announced the SonicWALL Comprehensive Anti-Spam Service (CASS), a solution delivering advanced unsolicited email protection integrated with SonicWALL's Unified Threat Management Firewalls. The new service is designed to be easily enabled on SonicWALL TZ, NSA and E-Class NSA Series security appliances, and the company says that it will filter SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) email traffic to remove unsolicited email, phishing threats and malware.
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Leaders Roundtable
Online & Mobile Banking:
Saving Costs & Increasing Marketshare
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Technology and Marketing
According to J.D. Power and Associates, consumers place a great deal of importance on a financial institution’s brand image when choosing a FI. The 2009 Retail Bank Shopping Study found that that 36% of a shopper's selection decision is driven by the FI's brand image, while branch proximity (21%) and products and services (14%) are also considerable influences. The study finds that nearly one-third of consumers who avoid considering a particular FI altogether do so because of a previous poor service experience with them. Other commonly cited reasons for avoiding a particular FI include issues with branch proximity/operating hours, as well as poor policies, such as high rates and fees.
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Online Banking/E-Commerce/Website Design
According to recent research from Gartner, consumers rank security the most important online feature, followed by single sign-on. They also rate highly the ability to deposit checks online from home and set up a separate account to save for a specific goal. Other top ranking features included the ability to set up alerts for account and credit card balances and to analyze spending and cash flow. Younger respondents value features that enable customization of their online banking experience, while older users seek tools that let them use current services more effectively or communicate better.
Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union’s newly formed eCommerce division is rolling out new online banking tools, dubbed “e2.” The e2 offering includes:
• Security Key which allows members to enter a randomly-generated code from their Security Key which comes as an application for smartphones, or as a keychain token.
• e-Deposit gives members the ability to deposit their checks by scanning them with a scanner and uploading them via online banking.
• Mobile Banking to view account balances and transactions histories, as well as conduct transfers and make payments.
Virtual credit cards were developed more than five years ago to protect those reluctant to do business over the Internet, but they have not gotten much traction. Some observers say that this should change and we will cover their thoughts in the August issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Internet Access
A VendorGuru.com article, “Unlocking Instant Returns from Your VoIP System,” highlights the options organizations have when making a new phone system choice in order to minimize upfront costs and start saving with VoIP. The article covers ways to navigate around the costs of a complete on-premise VoIP phone system including costs for network equipment, servers, IP phones, management and diagnostic tools, and costs associated with having to train users and IT personnel to use the new system. Various options are detailed: a hosted phone system, pay costs over time through a leased approach, or partner with a provider for a phased implementation.
Riverbed Technology is introducing a virtual version of its WAN optimization controller that makes it less expensive for small organizations to get into optimizing traffic between individual machines and corporate offices. The Steelhead Controller Virtual Edition software runs on a Riverbed Steelhead WAN optimization appliance. Previously the controllers were sold only as appliances at an entry cost of $12,995 for the hardware and the minimum 30 licenses. However, the virtual version sells with a minimum of 10 licenses for a cost of $5,995.
A virtual PBX (private branch exchange) is a good option for smaller and mid-sized credit unions on a tight budget. We will cover some things to look for in a virtual PBX in the August issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.
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Call Centers
The T3i Group has released a report predicting that the global interactive voice response (IVR) market will grow to $514 million by 2013, up from an estimated $431 million this year, A big part of this growth will include voice XML (VXML) technology. They forecast that 95% of IVR ports shipped in 2013 will support VXML, compared with less than 75% today. VXML allows voice applications to be developed and deployed in an analogous way to HTML for visual applications. Just as HTML documents are interpreted by a visual web browser, VoiceXML documents are interpreted by a voice browser.
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Conferences
Catch Tom and Bill Rogers, Associate Editor of Credit Union tech-talk at the following conferences in 2009:
October 4-7, Las Vegas - Firefighters' National Credit Union Summit
October 28, St. Louis - Green IT CIO Summit
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