Credit Union tech-talk News

December 25 - December 29, 2006

• General News
• Hardware News
• Software Updates
• ATMs/Kiosks
• Biometric Digest Highlights
• Wireless World
• Security Section
• Leaders Roundtable
• Technology and Marketing
• Online Banking/E-Commerce/
  Website Design
• Internet Access
• Call Centers
• Conferences

* USERS Launches Next Generation Hardware Platform
* John H. Harland Co. to be Acquired by M&F Worldwide Corp. 
* Corporate Central Signs with Symitar 
* IntegraSys Experiences Growing Adoption of Ancillary Solutions

USERS Incorporated, a business unit of Fiserv, announced that it has certified its DataSafe core processing system to run on the next-generation hardware platform from Hewlett-Packard. USERS has certified its core system to run on the Hewlett-Packard family of Integrity Servers, the supplier’s next generation of high-availability servers. In testing at USERS, most core system jobs ran an average of 20 – 30 percent faster, with some taking as much as 50 percent less time to complete.

Atlanta-based John H. Harland Co. announced that it has agreed to be acquired by M&F Worldwide Corp. M&F Worldwide is the parent of well-known check printer Clarke American. If approved by federal authorities, Harland will become a wholly owned unit of M&F Worldwide in 2007.

Symitar announced that Corporate Central Credit Union has contracted directly with Symitar for core data processing. Symitar, the Jack Henry subsidiary that provides credit unions with software systems and related services, will provide service to Corporate Central Credit Union through Symitar's Episys-based service bureau offering. 

IntegraSys, a business unit of Fiserv and provider of information technology services to credit unions, announced that it has experienced steadily growing adoption rates for several of its value-added solutions. In the lending arena, IntegraSys recently implemented its 300th client for Loan Advantage. IntegraSys’ e-fichency report and document imaging tools have also experienced tremendous growth with 362 clients using e-fichency for report archival and 71 clients already signed up for e-fichency’s document imaging module announced late last year. Plus in the last 12 months, 74 new clients have chosen IntegraSys’ Wisdom Financial Management Suite products for their business. 

Hardware News

If your credit union is donating older computers to charity, be sure and wipe out any sensitive files before you hand them over. Of course, reformatting a drive or deleting its partition doesn't truly erase its files, so you will need a special program in order to render an old drive's files unreadable. Fortunately, Darik's Boot and Nuke is a block-erasure utility that is available for free. DBAN overwrites each block on a computer's hard drive several times - up to standard levels specified by the U.S. Department of Defense. If you need help finding a charity, you can turn to Share the Technology (www.sharetechnology.org) which allows you to list computers for donation. 

It is important to note that most charities will not accept very old computers. If you have a museum piece or specialized hardware, a charity may not want it because it is not capable of running modern software. Since some computer components are toxic, you do not want to simply place the hardware in the dumpster. UsedComputer.com lists companies that will recycle old computers and electronics. Because the materials in the computer aren't worth a great deal, some recyclers charge a small fee, but the hazardous materials will be disposed of properly. Another option is Electronics Recycling (www.electronicsrecycling.net) which lists recyclers by state.

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ATMs/Kiosks

Mercator Advisory Group has released a new report entitled "EFT/ATM Network Procesing Review: Purchasing Services, Building Volume". It is geared towards community financial institutions and provides lots of good information on debit processing, cost differences between PIN-debit and signature-debit transactions, and the impact of rewards programs on issuers, merchants and consumers. We will summarize their findings in the January issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe now.

NCR recently released its latest set of self-service and ATM management tools, known as Gasper Exchange. The package includes three tools: EJ Exchange, Software Exchange and Ad Exchange. Gasper EJ Exchange provides remote electronic journal (EJ) retrieval for mixed-vendor ATM networks. Software Exchange offers the ability to remotely apply software patches and updates to the ATM network. Finally, Gasper Ad Exchange provides a flexible way to distribute advertising campaigns throughout an ATM network. Campaigns can be built using NCR’s APTRA Promote software toolset, and then remotely delivered using Gasper Ad Exchange. 

Looking to increase Brand Recognition and provide members with surcharge free ATMs?

Nationwide Money Services, Inc.’s Branded Cash Program is the answer. Fully endorsed by the VA Credit Union League and the CU 24 Network, our Branded Cash Program provides the ATM equipment, great locations, processing, maintenance, insurance, marketing rights and surcharge free transactions for your members, you only provide the cash and cash services for the ATM just as you would if you owned them. The ATMs look and act like your own, extending your reach or filling out your current market.

Our current CU partners include: AEDC, Beacon, Bronco, Carolina Collegiate, Educators, Freedom First, Food Lion Credit Association, Heritage Trust, Martinsville Dupont, NSWC, Old Hickory, Peoples Advantage, Southeast Financial and US Courthouse.

NMS also offers their ‘ATMs Made Easy’ Program for full service ATM management and placement services if you like the idea of having ATMs, but don’t want the hassle of day to day management and the associated costs for maintenance and unplanned expenses like triple DES.

For more information about the Branded Cash Program contact Bob Colabrese, EVP of Sales & Marketing at:

904-395-1147 or

bob.colabrese@GLXS.biz

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LendingTools.com, a leading application service provider for community financial institutions, announced it has experienced a surge in deployments of its biometric security product that encompasses fingerprint recognition software and fingerprint scanners. LendingTools.com has teamed with DigitalPersona, a leader in fingerprint based biometric security, to place more than 3,000 fingerprint readers with clients in the past 60 days.

Safeguard Internet Banking against Authentication Attacks and Phishing

Today's consumers are demanding financial institutions, and for that matter any organization of any size that provides a logon page to personal and business information, deliver unquestionable security whilst maintaining an ease of use balance.

myBiometrix efficiently meets and exceeds these criteria and that of FFIEC and NCUA guidelines through our proprietary interface that addresses the needs of both Consumer and Provider in securing transacting online:

   • Authenticating the consumer (verifying who is accessing information by who they are not what they have)
   • Verifying the providers site (ensuring a Phishing episode is not being perpetrated).
   • Confirming the source of the transaction (originating PC)
In other words, all aspects of the transaction are secured.

myBiometrix leverages an array of foreground and background technology presented through an intuitive user interface that provides multi-factor “personal trait” authentication.

   • irrefutably authenticates “personally” to a website using traits including
   • prevent others from falsely using the owners credentials to log on
   • eliminating the growing incidence of Phishing and Pharming attacks
   • eliminating Key Logger exposure as the keyboard is not used
   • eliminating the need to remember or write down pass-phrases

myBiometrix authenticates through a range of methods including:

   • Finger recognition
   • Voice recognition
   • Face recognition
   • Biometric Smart Card
   • Geometrical code
   • Others…

myBiometrix is a scaleable solution that can be hosted by us as a Managed Service or run In-House. Delivering irrefutable authentication and security and monitoring mechanisms, whilst maintaining a practical usability balance, myBiometrix conveys a holistic approach that is a world leader in irrefutable Authentication and Verification.

Collaboration and Reseller enquiries are welcomed for our range of proprietary Biometric solutions.

LEARN MORE ABOUT myBiometrix:

 www.myBiometrix.com

OR CONTACT US DIRECTLY AT:

busdev@myBiometrix.com

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According to research from Javelin Strategy & Research, a majority of consumers are ready to try using contactless payment devices at over 35,000 merchant locations in the United States that now accept contactless payments include quick service restaurants, convenience stores, pharmacies, theaters, and sports venues. The survey responses clearly indicate that the strongest motivator for such use is convenience. Both current users and potential adopters rated speed at checkout as the most compelling reason for using contactless payment (71%). Other significant factors included ease of use (65%), security (41%), and the ability to carry around fewer items (35%). Only 25% of the survey respondents who had never used such devices indicated that they would be unlikely to use them in the future. 

We will cover some of the top wireless trends for 2007 in the January issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe today.

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Vulnerability assessment tools aren't just for scanning devices and pinpointing vulnerabilities anymore. They are progressing beyond this basic task and are now being bundled with configuration management, policy, and penetration testing functions. Some security experts see two trends: VA/configuration management and compliance, and VA/penetration testing tools. Others see it even becoming part of network access control (NAC) tools. That is because NAC can do security configuration, as well as provide enforcement if vulnerability scans show that devices are not meeting minimal security configuration policies - in which case they can be quarantined or denied network access.

Security awareness training is arguably the most important part of a successful security program. Unfortunately it is not a simple task to create and run a security program. Here are just some of the challenges your IT Department faces when creating a security awareness program:

- Creating curriculum 
- Making sure the curriculum is customized to your credit union
- The actual training itself (distributing for self-training or getting everyone to class) 
- Keeping track of who has taken the course 
- Testing to ensure the class is actually working 
- Tracking test scores and retakes needed 
- Security awareness reminders (posters, login banners, mouse pads, etc.) 

The Computer Security Resource Center at NIST has developed a resource page for security awareness that lists many companies and organizations that can help you develop a useful program: HTTP://csrc.nist.gov/ATE/  

We don’t just offer a world of authentication choices. We offer a world of experience.

Take the anxiety out of choosing an authentication solution by turning to the provider that offers the proven solutions, practical experience, and resources to make your deployment successful. With RSA Security, you can rest assured you’re implementing the same solution being used by more than 50 leading institutions — large and small. You have the backing of a well-resourced company committed to supporting you along the way — from technical integration to end-user experience. And, you benefit from the widest selection of authentication methods, including:

• Transparent risk-based authentication—Thanks to the industry’s lowest false-positive rate legitimate users are protected, but not bothered. That means fewer calls to your care centers and less drain on your bottom line.
  
• Visible site-to-user authentication– Widely-deployed “shared secret” technology increases your members’ confidence in transacting online by assuring them that they’ve logged on to your legitimate site.
  
• Tangible one-time password authentication — time-synchronous technology provides peace-of-mind to members who are more prone to risk, and those who prefer more tangible security.

For more, download the Tower Group Report: Doing the Right Thing: Bank of America Voluntarily Implements Strong Online Authentication

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CORE SYSTEMS: 

Getting Upgrades and Conversions Right

AFTECH - http://www.aftech.com   Read Joseph Antellocy's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/AFTECH.pdf

COCC - http://www.cocc.com   Read Marco Bernasconi's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/COCC.pdf

CU*Answers - http://www.cuanswers.com   Read Randy Karnes' comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/CUAnswers.pdf

Enhanced Software Products - http://www.espsolution.net   Read Matt Lefler's comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/ESP.pdf

GalaxyPlus - http://www.galaxyplus.com   Read Vince Francone's comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/GalaxyPlus.pdf

Harland Financial Solutions - http://www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com   Read Patricia Stark's comments:     http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/HFS.pdf

IntegraSys - http://www.integrasys.fiserv.com Read Albert J. Ku's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/IntegraSys.pdf

Open Solutions - http://www.opensolutions.com   Read Michael D. Nicastro's comments: http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/OSI.pdf

Summit Information Systems - http://www.summitsite.com   Read Kevin Sparks' comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Summit.pdf

Symitar - http://www.symitar.com   Read Kathy Hooker Burress' comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/Symitar.pdf

USERS - http://www.users.com   Read Terry Murphy's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/USERS.pdf

XP Systems - http://www.xpsystems.com   Read Janet Wall's comments:   http://www.cunews.com/roundtable/XPSystems.pdf

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Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are approaching their first decade on the market, but they still mean different things to different people in different industries. Some analysts say that at heart, CRM tries to do one thing: bring accurate and relevant information about customers to employees' desktops. They believe that the bottom line is that CRM should help you develop a "corporate memory" about all your members, so that you can serve them consistently and remember the issues that are important to each member. In an ideal world, everyone at the credit union would have access to the CRM system so they are on the same page and work as a stronger team to serve the member. 

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Research firm Celent predicts that international remittance should grow 10.1% through 2008. Currently, the big money transfer companies dominate the $233 billion international remittance market, but financial institutions are jumping onboard rapidly. Of course, credit unions must have money-laundering and anti-fraud measures in place when involved in foreign money transfers. PayQuik, a payment processing company in Bala Cynwyd, PA, is looking to work with FIs to help them meet OFAC and other guidelines. The company says that their network of retailers and financial institutions in other countries takes care of the technical details, leaving their financial institution clients free to focus on marketing. 

According to a recent study by Digital Insight, online bill payers maintained aggregate balances up to 257% higher than their offline counterparts, and were 78% more likely to stay with the credit union over time than were their offline counterparts. (Demographics between the two groups are almost identical). The firm determined that the net annual value to the credit union, per member, averaged $812 higher for online bill payers than for offline users, and $241 higher for Internet banking users than for offline users. The bottom line of their study was that online members, and especially online bill payers, are the most profitable members.

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According to the Radicati Group, instant messaging (IM) is the fastest-growing communications medium of all time. The research firm is predicting that the number of IM accounts worldwide will grow from 995 million in 2006 to more than 1.6 billion by 2010. Credit unions looking to implement IM must look for an encrypted solution and one that provides archiving; plus they will need policies to govern IM use that address what needs to be archived and who is allowed to talk to whom.

If you want to test how vulnerable your own employees are to phishing attacks, then Core Security's new version of its Impact penetration testing tool is for you. It includes a module that, like an effective phish, lets you build fake emails that look legitimate. It's a way to test both how well your end-user anti-phishing education and policy and anti-phishing tools are working. The new version 6.2 of Core's commercial penetration testing tool includes templates that reflect the latest trends in phishing and social engineering exploits. It also lets you automatically generate emails to a group of "targets," but with personalized content to each recipient. 
 

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Witness Systems, a company that specializes in workforce optimization solutions for contact centers, this fall conducted a survey to determine the top concerns of call centers. The firm found that first call resolution (37% of respondents) topped the list of challenges faced by customer service organizations. Other concerns included:

Customer satisfaction and retention                                23% of respondents
Root cause analysis                                                       11% of respondents
Creating effective training initiative                                   9% of respondents
Agent satisfaction                                                          8% of respondents
Improving up- and cross-selling rates                                 6% of respondents
Other (e.g. insufficient staffing, retaining good employees)  6% of respondents

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Catch Tom and Bill Rogers, Associate Editor of Credit Union tech-talk at the following conferences in 2007:

Feb. 27-28, Miami Beach - Winter Biometric Summit

June 7-8, Las Vegas - Credit Union InfoSecurity Conference

October 10-13, Albuquerque - Firefighters' National Credit Union Summit

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