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November 30, 2009 - December 4, 2009
General News
* EPL Holds 31st Annual Client Conference
* Fiserv Recognized as a Top Online Bill Payment Provider by Aite Group
* CUSO Hosts Collaboration Event
* Jefferson Financial CU Rolls Out Consumer Source Capture from Fiserv
EPL, a credit union-owned integrated technology solutions provider founded 32 years ago, announced that they had a good turnout of customers and partners at their recent 31st Annual Client Conference held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville. EPL highlighted their newly developed paperless solution and soon to be released embedded MRM for i-POWER, as well as several integrated partnered solutions.
Fiserv, a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced that the company was recognized as a top online bill payment processor in a recent report by Aite Group, a financial services research firm. In the report, “Online Banking Bill Payments: A Vendor Performance Update,” Aite Group highlighted the performance of leading online bill payment processors from 2006 through the first half of 2009.
Xtend, a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based multi-owned cooperative CUSO, recently hosted a back office best practices meeting to discuss a cross-network approach to servicing the needs of its credit union owners and clients. The meeting was attended by four CUSOs: Xtend, Spokane, Washington-based CU*Northwest, Mobile, Alabama-based CU*South, and Portland, Oregon-based CUByDesign.
Fiserv, a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced that Louisiana-based Jefferson Financial Credit Union (JFCU) has implemented its Consumer Source Capture solution. JFCU is a $180 million full service credit union serving more than 25,000 members with five locations. Consumer Source Capture from Fiserv enables members to scan images and make deposits from their home or small business-based devices.
Hardware News
Canon is coming out with a new imageFORMULA P-150 Personal Scanner that they say is ideal for remote deposit capture. Measuring only 11 inches long, 3.7 inches wide and 1.6 inches high and weighing just over two pounds, the P-150 comes with an automatic document feeder that scan a batch of up to 20 letter-sized documents at up to 15 pages-per-minute (ppm) and 30 images-per-minute (ipm). The P-150 can use electrical power via a single USB cable connected to a PC, and when first connected will immediately launch Canon CaptureOnTouch Lite. This “Plug-and-Scan” capability lets users start scanning without installing drivers or imaging applications.
Many industry analysts say they expect that leasing will increasingly become the preferred path for many organizations, especially as they look to preserve capital. Plus, in many cases larger IT vendors have the backing to extend credit, giving them a leg up over many other financing options. We will cover leasing pros and cons in the December issue of Credit Union tech-talk - subscribe today.
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Hardware Section Sponsored by
Millennial Vision, Inc. (MVi)
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Software Updates
DeskCenter Management Suite, a systems management tool aimed at small-to-midsized businesses, is now available in the U.S. The suite offers discovery, inventory, OS deployment, software distribution, and patch management. According to DeskCenter, the applications in the suite are as easy to use as Windows Explorer and have such a small installation footprint that they can be installed on a laptop. The suite boasts a $3,000-$15,000 price tag for deployments of 25 to 250 users, and they also offer the suite as a service, so if you have a short-term need for a task such as inventorying a network, there is no need to make a long-term commitment.
Windows users have access to one of the more powerful FTP clients available: FileZilla. Now in its third major generation, this handy application makes transferring large quantities of files easy. It includes a capable queue management system with a wide selection of configuration options, and is a free tool.
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Software Updates Sponsored by
Raddon Financial Group (RFG)
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ATMs/Kiosks
German ATM manufacturer Wincor Nixdorf plans to make cash-cycle management the focus at their upcoming Wincor World 2010 in January. The company says that their Cash Cycle Management solutions can significantly increase efficiency, transparency and security. When properly implemented, they say that savings of more than twenty percent in the costs of cash processing can be achieved.
Credit unions that have Triton ATMs need to be aware that the firm will release its next-generation in ATM communications language, TDL, on Jan. 1. The new language will supersede the Triton Standard Communications Protocol and Message Format. However, TDL is a superset of Triton Standard, with additional functionality. According to Triton, TDL is more flexible, gives processors more control over the ATM, and can be used to create custom applications. Triton ATMs in the field can continue to run their existing software or they can be updated with new software to take advantage of the additional features provided by TDL.
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ATMs/Kiosks Section Sponsored by
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Biometric Digest Highlights - WWW.BIODIGEST.COM
National Australia Bank (NAB) is preparing to replace SMS pass codes with biometric voice verification to secure its mobile banking users. Text message passwords that are sent to the same device that is used to bank online present a security risk if the phone is stolen. In addition, the process of entering a code on the phone, toggling between screens, is unwieldy. Using the biometric system, mobile bankers who initiate a transaction would be called by NAB to verify their voice print and complete the process.
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Wireless World
Mercator Advisory Group has released a new report entitled "The Global Contactless Payment Card Market: Increased Adoption in Close Proximity?" Report highlights include:
- The global contactless payment card marketplace has grown to almost 1% of all card-accepting merchants, and roughly 3.5% of all general purpose payment cards.
- Transit has been the consumer incubator for contactless card usage.
- Merchants in retail verticals have been gradually adopting contactless bankcards, and financial institutions have begun issuing contactless cards, but each side continues to wait for the other to make the first big move.
- The future success of contactless depends on broader awareness and a more robust value proposition for the consumer.
- The introduction of "no signature required" rules for transactions under the given regional threshold for both contactless and contact payments robs contactless of a potential differentiator.
According to Javelin Strategy & Research, U.S. financial institutions have made considerable progress in fighting identity fraud, but still lag in their use of one of the most potent weapons in their arsenal: putting anti-fraud controls in the hands of the consumer. Prevention methods Javelin looks for include multifactor authentication, bans on collecting full Social Security numbers, and mobile banking programs. Detection methods looked for include credit monitoring and account alerts to consumers. Resolution methods include next-day replacements of debit cards and next-day availability of stolen funds. The research firm notes that alerts - especially in the form of text messages - are effective in detecting and stopping fraud almost immediately.
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Security Section
Ksplice, a new security company that offers services to speed the deployment of security patches, is the winner of the Cyber Security Challenge, a part of the annual Global Security Challenge. Ksplice offers a service that speeds the deployment of security patches in Linux environments without requiring system reboot. These rebootless updates are based on traditional source code patches, the company says - they are as effective as traditional updates, but they can be applied seamlessly, with no downtime. The runners-up in the challenge were ExactTrak, based in the U.K., and SCIT Labs, which is based in Virginia.
According to a new study from the Computer Security Institute, malware and financial fraud were among the chief "growth threats" posed to businesses in 2009. CSI's 14th annual security survey reveals big jumps in the incidence of financial fraud (19%, over 12% last year); malware infection (64%, over 50% last year); denials of service (29%, over 21% last year), password sniffing (17%, over 9% last year); and website defacement (13%, over 6% last year).
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Leaders Roundtable
Core Systems:
Helping CUs Focus on Opportunities
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Technology and Marketing
Mintel Comperemedia has come out with a somewhat controversial survey that states that Americans prefer branches over Internet for communicating with their financial institution. Mintel states that around two in three adults say their preferred method of communication with their FI is to talk to a member of staff in a branch. This is significantly greater than those who favor using the FI's website (44%), the phone (43%) and e-mail (34%). The Mintel survey contrasts with other surveys that show that more people prefer managing their finances online compared to any other method.
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Online Banking/E-Commerce/Website Design
Wesabe announced the launch of GetSpringboard.com, a personal finance management (PFM) platform, available via a cloud-based services model for credit unions that want personal finance management tools without the engineering requirements of hosting the platform in-house. Wesabe says that credit unions can customize their Springboard platform site with features that offer their members money management tools to help them reach their financial goals. Pricing for the GetSpringboard.com will be based on the size of the implementation and customization features chosen.
According to research by Auriemma Consulting Group, more than half of holiday shoppers plan on purchasing gift cards as presents this season and expect to spend one-third of their total holiday volume on gift cards. The firm notes that general purpose gift cards are gaining at the expense of private label gift cards, in part because consumers fear the sponsoring store will go out of business.
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Internet Access
Toshiba announced an entry-level unified messaging solution. The new product, called Strata Messaging, is sized and priced to address the needs of smaller organizations that also use Toshiba Strata CIX40 and CIX100 VoIP systems. The Strata Messaging system resides on an external Linux-based appliance with support for two to eight ports of voice mail, up to 400 mailboxes, and has 300 hours of storage.
Riverbed Technology has a plan to help organizations accelerate access to applications and storage resources that are located in a cloud computing environment and delivered over the Internet to private data centers and distributed branch offices. The first product will be a software version of their flagship Steelhead WAN optimization controller. Dubbed "virtual Steelhead for the cloud," this software can run on servers located at a public cloud computing facility.
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Call Centers
Mitel unveiled enhancements to its Mitel Applications Suite (MAS) with a new Mitel Customer Service Manager (CSM) and Mitel Business Dashboard. The CSM is designed to help work groups or entry-level contact centers route calls to the most appropriate agent; it also provides reporting, screen pop, PIM integration, and e-mail routing. The Business Dashboard offers reporting to more easily monitor call traffic and collect trend data on call volumes and times so users can assess the effectiveness of how call traffic is handled and adjust for maximum benefit.
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Call Centers Sponsored by
Telecom Recovery
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During any of these events your members' calls would still ring to the right people - with just a few clicks on the mouse to re-route all incoming calls and faxes.
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Conferences
Catch Tom and Bill Rogers, Associate Editor of Credit Union tech-talk at the following conferences in 2009:
February 21-25, Washington - CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference
May 19-21, Las Vegas - Credit Union InfoSecurity Conference
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