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Affinity Plus FCU Introduces Installment Payment Option for Credit Cards
Affinity Plus FCU is now offering its members an installment-payment option on qualifying credit card purchases, giving them affordability and predictability with paying off larger purchases. These qualifying purchases can range from $100 and $9999. Members will have 3 options to break up their eligible purchase over multiple payments - it will include 3 fixed rates tied to 3 terms, ranging from 3 to 18 months.
Enzoic Unveils BIN Monitoring to Help Reduce CU Credit Card Fraud
Enzoic's new BIN (Bank Identification Number) Monitoring solution aims to detect and prevent fraudulent activities using pilfered credit card information. The solution harnesses Enzoic’s proprietary Dark Web intelligence to scan for credit and debit cards associated with CUs’ BINs, providing immediate notification of any breaches containing the digits. It includes features like real-time notifications, comprehensive reporting, and customizable rules for organizations to effectively manage and respond to potential risks.
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Juniper Delivers 4 New Firewalls
Juniper has rolled out four new 1U firewalls: the SRX1600, SRX2300, SRX4300 and SRX4700. The boxes support a variety of link speeds from 25G to 400G, and throughputs range from 24 Gbps to 1.4Tbps. The SRX Series platforms include embedded Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chips and unique, cryptographically signed device IDs for standards-based Secure Zero Touch Provisioning (SZTP). In addition, all of the new devices include EVPN-VXLAN Type 5 support so customers can embed security across the entire EVPN-VXLAN fabric.
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Deep Instinct Goes Deeper with ‘Preventive’ Storage Protection
Deep Instinct for Storage uses deep learning technology to help detect and prevent cyber threats in storage devices. Any new file additions or changes are scanned instantly for malicious content, and automatically quarantined or deleted. The system is able to do that, according to the company, because it uses a deep-learning framework to programmatically train itself to recognize malicious code.
Logging Made Easy: No Cost Log Management Solution from CISA
CISA launched a new version of Logging Made Easy (LME), a straightforward log management solution for Windows-based devices that can be downloaded and self-installed for free. Logging Made Easy can show where administrative commands are being run on enrolled devices, as well as show who is using which machine.
Copilot Is Ready for Takeoff: Microsoft Rolls out Artificial Intelligence for Windows
Beginning with its October security updates, Microsoft has begun a staged rollout of built-in artificial intelligence in the form of Copilot for Windows. This article discusses when and how Copilot will be enabled.
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Are Surcharge-Free ATMs Inevitable?
ATM fees are actually growing - a study by Bank Rate found that the average fee for an out-of-network ATM transaction hit $4.73 this year, the highest since 2019. However, the author points out that there are also more options than before to avoid fees, such as the Allpoint Network, which offers surcharge-free access to cash at more than 55,000 ATMs worldwide. He also points out that overall, 85% of ATM transactions are in-network and only 15% are out of network, and suggests that FIs should eliminate ATM fees as a way to improve the overall accountholder experience.
The Future of ATMs: Embracing New Management Models & Agile Tech Architectures
This article states that an upgraded ATM architecture is no longer a luxury but a necessity. A modern ATM architecture no longer operates on monolithic structures but adopts a layered approach, structured into an integrated ATM solution. This connects more effectively with external entities like other channels or transaction processing layers. It goes on to explore ATM as a Service (ATMaaS) as one future path forward for ATM deployers.
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What’s the Future of Wearable Payment Devices?
The global market for wearable payment technology is expected to be worth $137bn by 2030, whether that’s using smartwatches, bracelets, jewellery – or even having a chip embedded under you skin. The author is convinced that wearable payment devices are not gimmicks because they offer fast, convenient and secure ways to pay. Most are based on near field communications (NFC) technologies, enabling smart payments, processed automatically via secure links between the device, payment terminal and the consumer’s FI account and/or digital wallet. Smart payments also generate data that a card issuer, FI or brand could use to inform personalized services. He concludes that the future is bright for wearables, except for under the skin NFC devices due to the fact that Visa and Mastercard appear unwilling to work with implants at present.
Nearly 6 in 10 Consumers Who Use Mobile Wallets to Pay Bills Face Difficulties
While the level of satisfaction among consumers using mobile wallets to pay bills is notably high, they are still far from completely reliable, as more than half of users claim to have experienced issues when paying their bills with these systems. This article breaks down the operations, payments and security issues around mobile wallet bill pay.
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Web App, API Attacks Surge as Cybercriminals Target Financial Services
Web application and application programming interface (API) attacks against the global financial services industry grew by 65% in Q2 2023 compared to Q2 2022. The growing use of APIs gives attackers more ways to break authentication controls, exfiltrate data, or perform disruptive acts, driving API security up the agenda for businesses and the cybersecurity community. Local file inclusion (LFI) vulnerabilities were the top driver of web app and API attacks, accounting for almost 58%. LFI vulnerabilities were followed by cross-site scripting (XSS) and structured query language injection (SQLi), accounting for 24% and 11% of web app and API attacks, respectively.
DataVisor Launches AI Co-Pilot
DataVisor announced the launch of AI Co-Pilot, a generative AI solution. The solution uses advanced AI to automate rule creation and tuning, and offers automated feature-script generation from natural language input. It also delivers coding and debugging recommendations to help simplify the feature engineering process.
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Technology and Marketing
Trigger-based marketing involves identifying specific consumer behaviors or events and tailoring marketing efforts accordingly. If implemented properly, it enables FIs to deliver relevant offers or solutions at the right time. However, the sheer abundance of trigger data options and the complexity of acting on the insights can be overwhelming for even the most seasoned marketing professionals. This article provides some trigger-based marketing tips, techniques and strategies.
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Preparing for FedNow Fraud with Lessons from P2P
Though not a P2P platform, FedNow replicates cybercriminals’ favorite aspect of P2P transactions—fast transfers—and amplifies it. With the ability to move up to $500,000 in a single transaction, the stakes are high. The author notes that the growing pains experienced from P2P fraud provide a compelling reason for engaging fraud professionals early and building upon the lessons learned. He goes on to offer some suggestons for preparing for a FedNow rollout from a fraud prevention perspective.
Instant Payments Are Critical: Is Your Core System Ready?
The launch of FedNow was only a first step in helping U.S. FIs catch up to their international counterparts when it comes to instant payments. Consumers are accustomed to seamless, instant money movement in many of their digital interactions. Yet, lagging systems modernization at many FIs has created friction and opportunities for nonbank disruptors. This article takes a deep dive into how faster payments are reshaping banking and core systems.
From Screen Scraping to Open Banking
Screen scraping refers to the practice of using a robot to extract data from a website, while open banking is a system that allows third-party developers to access banking data through APIs. This article highlights all of the issues with screen scraping and details how open banking has emerged as a more secure and efficient solution.
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Gartner Analysis: Forces Reshaping the SD-WAN Landscape
The maturing SD-WAN market is being transformed by secure access service edge (SASE), artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud adoption, according to Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant report. This year, Gartner's leaders in the SD-WAN market are Cisco, Fortinet, HPE's Aruba Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Versa Networks and VMware. Their report forecasts that generative AI technology embedded in SD-WAN offerings will be used for 20% of initial network configuration by 2026, up from “near zero” in 2023.
Versa Extends SASE Platform to the LAN Edge
Versa Networks announced Versa SD-LAN, a software package that the company says will let customers integrate security, switching, routing, network and AI management services on approved white box Ethernet switches and access points. The Versa Secure SD-WAN provides a range of networking capabilities, including packet steering and packet loss reduction. Secure SD-WAN is part of Versa’s broader SASE platform, which runs the Versa Operating System (VOS) and integrates networking and security services into a platform that supports cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. Versa SASE includes VPN, secure SD-WAN, edge compute protection, next-generation firewall, firewall as a service (FWaaS), secure web gateway (SWG), data leak protection, zero-trust network access (ZTNA), and cloud access security broker (CASB).
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Can ChatGPT Improve the User Experience?
The author asked ChatGPT numerous questions about how it interacts with contact centers. After his interactions, he stated that while ChatGPT presents lots of intriguing opportunities related to contact centers, thoughtful leaders will consider the ramifications of relying on AI to provide information to consumers and how much information it should have access to if they move forward. He concluded that while contact center leaders may augment their operations with AI, the human contact center agent isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
The Basics of Bringing Automation to the Contact Center
Contact centers are leaning into an automation technology, called robotic process automation (RPA), that provides short-term fixes to these problems. It’s used to digitize common, reproducible agent tasks that extend the life of many of the older applications that permeate contact centers. There are basically two forms of RPA available: 1) Your agents likely would use RPA bots working in "attended" mode. and 2) Unattended RPA bots autonomously execute scheduled back office tasks which are picked from a work queue.
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