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Diamond CU Selects Tyfone for Digital Banking
Digital banking provider Tyfone announced Diamond CU has selected its nFinia Digital Banking platform for commercial and retail members. Diamond is also leveraging Tyfone’s Skip-A-Pay and Quick Pay solutions.
Thought Machine Becomes Mastercard Core Banking Partner
Thought Machine has become Mastercard's first strategic end-to-end core banking partner, with the pair offering their combined capabilities to CUs looking to modernize their technology stacks. The partners say that Mastercard's global network and digital solutions, combined with Thought Machine's core banking and payments platform, can enable CUs to transition from legacy technologies to cloud-native ones.
Sharetec Signs 3 Puerto Rican CUs
Sharetec announced three new CU partnerships in Puerto Rico. Sharetec started 2024 by signing with Coop Hermanos Unidos ($96M in assets), Coop Lomas Verdes ($75M in assets), and Coop Manati ($310M in assets).
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SmartMetric Announces the Successful Manufacture of Its GEN4 Fingerprint Activated Credit Card
SmartMetric announced the manufacture of its advanced GEN4 biometric fingerprint activated credit and debit card. Embedded inside the card is the SmartMetric miniature fully functional fingerprint scanner that scans the cardholder’s fingerprint in less than a half a second. The card user touches the sensor on the card’s surface that immediately senses whether the fingerprint is from a live person and performs an instantaneous scan of the fingerprint and match of the user’s pre-stored fingerprint encoded and encrypted inside the card’s memory.
Fortinet Eases Firewall Management with Hardware-as-a-Service Package
Fortinet is unveiling a hardware-as-a-service offering that promises to ease the stress of keeping up with the latest firewall technology. The new FortiGate-as-a-Service (FGaaS) offering lets customers choose the hardware they want the FortiGate next-generation firewalls to run on, and Fortinet will configure and manage the devices.
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Microservices Are at the Core of Core Banking’s Appeal
PYMNTS notes that the assembling of independent financial services, with speed and agility, has been hallmark of composable banking. They state that new generations of core platforms are based on MACH principles: microservices, APIs, cloud and headless — representing the third generation of core banking infrastructure’s evolution.
11 Best AI Meeting Assistant: Top Tools for Seamless Meetings
AI meeting assistant tools can provide a productivity boost during meetings by transcribing, captioning, and summarizing discussions, identifying speakers, and tracking action items, allowing you to concentrate on your conversations without distraction. This article evaluates the best AI meeting assistant tools to see how they compare on features, pricing, pros and cons, and use cases to help you determine the best virtual assistant for your organization.
AI Yields Real Results for This CU’s Short-Term Loan Product
First Financial of Maryland FCU ($1.3B, Sparks, MD) is using staff smarts to create and fine-tune a short-term loan product that relies on artificial intelligence and machine learning. The credit union’s AnyTime Express Loans offers $1,000, $1,500, or $2,000 with a fixed rate of 5.99% for a 12-month note. Borrowers can apply for loans through online banking or the First Financial mobile app. In turn, the CU instantly funds loans upon approval. They created their own AI/ML short-term loan system in three steps that involved extensive cross-enterprise commitment. Application abandonment has dropped along with the number of apps that have to go to manual underwriting.
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Are Teller Cash Recyclers Reaching a Tipping Point?
One feature for ATMs that has received a lot of attention would be cash recyclers. These machines allow ATMs to recycle deposited cash to use for withdrawals, cutting down on the time needed to refill the machines and in turn improving security and the user experience. In addition, some branches are utilizing Teller Cash Recyclers to directly store, sort and reuse cash. This article explores the future of TCRs.
7 Cash Management, Recycler Strategies to Follow
The author contends that many Teller Cash Recycler brands have become obsolete with limited parts, and that some are even at end of life and are a security risk. He offers some tips for how to keep TCRs up to date.
Anticipating a Cashless Society
A professor of digitalization at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark contends that a cashless society is more productive than a cash-intensive society because the transaction costs are lower, while on the payer’s side, it’s more convenient. He adds that from an environmental aspect, cash produces huge amounts of CO2 in its production and transportation. Plus he is convinced that a cashless society makes it slightly more cumbersome for criminals to wash their money or at least conduct transactions, and that branch robberies will go away. He does admit that if cash vanishes, there will be groups such as the aged or [others without digital access] who may have difficulty making electronic payments.
Are Your ATMs Ready for PCI DSS 4.0 Changes?
PCI DSS v4.0 was released in March 2022 and addresses a wide range of topics designed to help organizations keep the payment system secure — including a few items that could make 2024 an especially challenging year for ATM fleet owners. This article highlights some of the more substantial issues facing ATM operators in their ongoing quest to keep their fleets secure and PCI compliant.
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Mobile Payments Will Account for More than $1 Trillion in US Point-of-Sale Transactions in 2027
Proximity mobile payment transaction value will increase by 21% this year and by double digits through the end of eMarketer's forecast in 2028. They state that Apple Pay is the No. 1 proximity mobile payment platform by users in the US. No. 2 is the Starbucks mobile app, followed by Google Pay.
Visa Offers New Digital Card Replacement
Visa announced its Digital Emergency Card Replacement, a new service that promptly delivers a digital card replacement on behalf of card issuers via text or email. Once received, cardholders can authenticate and add the new card into their digital wallet, offering a more convenient, fast and secure solution that helps enhance travel experiences.
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BforeAI Launches PreCrime Guarantee Program
BforeAI announced the launch of PreCrime Guarantee in partnership with a leading global provider of cyber insurance. In action, PreCrime Guarantee reimburses customers up to ten times the value of their service contract if impacted by a cyberattack due to a failure of BforeAI's predictive solution. The firm claims that their PreCrime platform predicts, blocks, and preempts malicious campaigns before they can impact an organization.
Ransomware, Zero-Day Exploits Keep Network Security Pros Scrambling
This article states that fighting ransomware, watching for deepfakes, and implementing network segmentation in complex enterprise environments are top-of-mind issues for today’s security practitioners. Without a doubt, attacks are getting more and more sophisticated and new appproaches are needed. Cisco claims to have an AI-based solution dubbed Hypershield architecture which promises to let organizations autonomously segment their networks when threats are a problem, gain rapid exploit protection without having to patch or revamp firewalls, and automatically upgrade software without interrupting computing resources.
Protecting Against Deepfake Fraud in the Financial Industry
Deepfake incidents in the FinTech sector increased 700% in 2023 from the previous year. Deepfakes could even be used to fraudulently open accounts and apply for credit cards. The author is convinced that the danger and damage of deepfake scams are far ranging and FIs cannot afford to sit still. He goes on to discuss identity security which he feels will help in the battle against deepfake scammers.
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Technology and Marketing
How Gen AI and Data Democratization Can Drive Consumer Journeys
Automation and AI are well established within the banking sector with machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) deployed for many years across areas such as reconciliations and settlement. The author insists that by applying gen AI to simple tasks – such as instantly alerting new loan applicants to missing, inconsistent or incomplete data in their application forms – dropout rates are reduced, and turnaround times improved. He goes on to cover how embracing data democratization can help organizations build new partnerships and create new business value with personalized insights and personalized products.
Gen Z Is ‘Fickle,’ but Also a Ripe for Switching to a CU
A new report, “How Credit Union Innovation Can Drive Gen Z Engagement," from PYMNTS and Velera, found that over the past year 42% of Gen Z CU members switched their primary FI. “To put that propensity to switch in perspective, Gen Z consumers are 2.5 times more likely than their Gen X counterparts to have switched their primary FI in the past year, while less than 4% of baby boomers and seniors recently switched,” PYMNTS/Velera stated. The report concludes that by 2030, Gen Z consumers will increase their spending sixfold, meaning they will likely need access to more sophisticated financial products.
How FIs Can Counter Bad Advice from 'Finfluencers'
Advancing financial literacy and financial wellness through education has gotten much more difficult for FIs thanks to the rise of the so-called ‘finfluencer’ community. In the right hands, such expansive consumer reach and influence could have a positive impact on global financial well-being. However, the trouble is finfluencer advice can be ambiguous, misleading — and sometimes, flat-out wrong. This article points out that with the right financial literacy strategy, subject matter experts (SMEs) and content teams, FIs can effectively counter the influence of financial misinformation.
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Visa Revamps Its Payments Approach
Visa is taking up the notion of a digital payment identity and making it part of its product mix. For example, the Visa Flexible Credential is but one of several products the payments network formally debuted recently, including broader tap-to-pay capabilities, a passkey service, pay by bank, and added security for account-to-account payments. The Visa Flexible Credential is a tool that Visa says will enable consumers to access multiple accounts via a single credential. It enables a single card product to toggle between payment methods, such as debit, credit, buy now, pay later, or pay with rewards points.
Debit Cards Remain Top Consumer Payment Choice
Just over 70% of customers surveyed say they use a debit card at the point of sale, either by tapping, dipping or swiping their card in person or entering their account number online or in a mobile app, according to the J.D. Power 2024 Debit Card Satisfaction Study. That’s higher than all other payment methods, including cash, credit cards and digital wallets. Debit cards also have the highest proportion (68%) of customers with a favorable impression of the payment method when compared with other forms of payment, such as credit cards, digital wallets and buy now pay later (BNPL), the findings show. Customers under 40 years old continue to be the most likely users of debit cards (82%) and most likely to have a favorable view of debit cards (77%).
BNPL Finds Favor Among Consumers amid Rising Prices
Buy now, pay later, the now established installment-payment option, is finding favor among consumers facing higher prices. Twenty-five percent of the 2,000 U.S. consumers surveyed by Talker Research say they use BNPL options to shop, and 56% of them are using it to manage costs.
‘Digital First’ Isn’t Enough — FIs Must Differentiate in a Crowded Field
The author says that FIs can’t casually engage in a “digital-first” world just for the sake of not falling behind. It’s a maturing strategy worthy of data-informed, mindful upkeep, and it must still speak to an institution’s core functions. She notes that some financial services are shifting toward a Netflix-like experience, in which certain likes and behaviors cue related products and services. She concludes that many people desire access to financial habits and savings guidance, both digitally delivered and in-person.
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AWS Follows Google Cloud in Ending Cloud Switching Costs
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has taken a page out of Google Cloud's book by waiving cloud egress fees for customers. In January, Google Cloud discontinued charging customers for data transfer fees when they switch to a different cloud provider.
Tata Communications Partners with Versa Networks on Hosted SASE
Tata Communications says that their Hosted Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), offered in partnership with unified SASE platform vendor Versa Networks, “converges software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) and secure service edge (SSE) capabilities in a single pass technology.” The firm will host and manage the service on its globally distributed network, providing “carrier-grade performance,” it said, adding that the service also offers detection and real-time protection through a threat intelligence platform which integrates data from its own network and other sources. Additionally, the unified SASE platform provides disaster recovery via Versa’s backup cloud gateways.
Complexity Snarls Multicloud Network Management
Without a doubt, managing a multicloud network is a highly demanding task. Gaining firm control over a multicloud network environment can deliver performance, efficiency, and security gains – but it is not an easy endeavor. The primary challenges include maintaining a holistic view of security controls, meeting regulatory standards across varied cloud platforms, securing data across multiple providers to prevent unauthorized access or accidental loss, and managing the architectural and operational complexity of utilizing multiple providers.
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What Is the Best Dialer for My Call Center?
There are many types of call center dialers, for example: 1) Auto dialer; 2) Power dialer; 3) Preview dialer; 4) Predictive dialer; and 5) Progressive dialer. This article explores how each of these call center dialer types has specific capabilities, strengths and weaknesses.
Genesys Introduces AI to Expand Automation, Analytics and Conversational Intelligence
Genesys announced new AI capabilities to their contact center solution: Agent Copilot, Virtual Agent, Empathy Detection and Modern Agent Workspace for the Genesys Cloud platform. Genesys Copilots give organizations a suite of automated assistants powered by large language models (LLMs) to provide real-time support to employees. They say that their Virtual Agents offer enhanced capabilities to handle ambiguous requests; improve information gathering; and automate wrap-up and self-service summaries. They claim that theri Empathy Detection module furthers organizations’ ability to make consumers feel seen, heard and understood, and that their Modern Agent Workspace for Genesys Cloud will give agents an adaptable and composable desktop, enabling them to configure their view and consume context, data and insights quickly.
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