Your source for the latest technology information of interest to community banks across America.
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and stay on top of the latest technology trends in Hardware, Software, ATMs, Biometrics, Wireless, Online Banking, Marketing, Security, Internet Access and Call Centers.
Vendors that sell All-Flash Array (AFA) storage systems are transitioning to 3D TLC NAND because it increases density and performance while simultaneously reducing cost. Pure Storage is one vendor that is touting their new system's capabilities: 60TB of usable capacity per-rack-U, and simultaneously reducing costs to $1.50 per-GB of usable storage. Pure Storage includes its RAID, HA and software overhead in the 60 TB-per-U measurement and claims that its $1.50 dollar-per-GB metric reflects a 5:1 data reduction savings. Competitors such as Dell, Kaminario, SolidFire, HPE and others will certainly spur further price reductions in AFA systems in the very near future.
Cisco has rolled out three additions to its Network Convergence System (NCS) Series router line: the NCS 5000, with four routed 100G Ethernet ports for MPLS routing in metro aggregation; the NCS 5500, for up to 288 routed 100G ports for WAN aggregation; and the NCS 1000, which supports 100/200/250Gbps. They also enhanced their network operating system software IOS XR. The enhancements to IOS XR include software modularity and extensibility, large-scale automation and fine-grained visibility and control.
~~~
Some studies have shown that 25% of employees who start at a company will leave within the first year if proper onboarding techniques aren't used. Tasytt is one company that is looking to address this costly issue with their cloud-based app. Within the app, new employees can:
- view staff profiles to get to know their new co-workers
- have access to all the new hire documents they need
- view regular scheduled meetings and daily schedules
- receive ongoing training
SentinelOne has added a feature to its endpoint detection products that can restore files encrypted by ransomware. The company says that their Endpoint Protection Platform and the Endpoint Detection and Response products will include a rollback feature at no additional charge. SentinelOne is also adding some anti-tampering defenses to make sure that the machine's Volume Shadow Copy Service snapshots are protected.
Prosoft`s Data Rescue program includes Quick Scan, Deep Scan, Deleted Files Scan, Clone, and more, as well as the ability to work with RAID configurations and manage your past drive scans. Advanced features include block level tools, and a handy warning feature that tells you when your hard drive is having mechanical slowdowns. Data Rescue One retails for $49 for the 16GB USB thumb drive version, $139 for the 500GB USB hard drive version, $169 for the 1TB USB hard drive version and $409 for the Professional version`s annual license, which includes a 1TB USB hard drive, unlimited online backup space, and email and phone support.
~~~
Recently EMV-compliant ATMs in Mexico were compromised by EMV card shimming, which unlike typical card skimming, does not try to capture mag-stripe data. A shimmer is placed inside the ATM's card reader to intercept communications between the chip card and the chip reader. Information that can be captured includes the personal account number and expiration date. However, NCR has issued an alert that states that the only way for a shimming attack to be successful is if an issuer neglects to check the CVV when authorizing a transaction. They conclude that "card shimming is not a vulnerability with a chip card, nor with an ATM, and therefore it is not necessary to add protection mechanisms against this form of attack to the ATM."
Cummins Allison, the longtime provider (founded in 1887) of coin, currency and check processing technologies, announced that they are making a strong commitment to increase its ATM support network. Since launching its ATM Business Unit in 2013, Cummins Allison says that they have trained more than 485 of their service technicians in ATM installations and maintenance. The Mount Prospect, IL-based firm offers a full range of ATM models, from freestanding lobby units to full-function drive up units. The company also provides turnkey services, including consultation, rigging, branding and employee training.
~~~
According to Deloitte Touche, about 2 million people worldwide used their smartphones on a monthly basis to make payments in 2014, and they predict that number will rise to 30 million to 60 million people in 2015. Meanwhile a somewhat conflicting study from Accenture finds that nearly 52 percent of respondents to their survey said they know they can use their mobile devices to facilitate transactions, but usage is still relatively low, as only 18 percent of respondents said they use their phones to make payments. The survey also found 79 percent of respondents would be more likely to use their mobile phones for payments more often if different incentives were offered.
Card activation by smartphone camera is a new feature that is being touted as a timesaver for cardholders who can activate their card when and where it suits them without the need to make a call to the call center from their home phone, visit a local branch or manually type in card numbers online. The feature uses Optical Character Recognition embedded within the FI's mobile app to activate a new debit or credit card.
~~~
Dell announced a partnership with Cylance, an Irvine, CA-based company that specializes in detecting and blocking attacks on endpoint computers. Next year, Dell will wrap Cylance's Protect product in its Data Protection Endpoint Security Suite, Instead of using signatures, Cylance uses an algorithm-based approach that analyzes seven million characteristics of files and programs and scores those elements on the likelihood of them being malicious, and can block them. Dell performed due diligence on over 50 AV/malware vendors that used a combination of cloud computing, heuristics and behavioral analysis before finally choosing Cylance.
Morphisec unveiled their Moving Target Defense which defends against targeted and zero-day cyberattacks that exploit application vulnerabilities. Their solution utilizes the concept of polymorphism, a technique commonly used by attackers to evade traditional security solutions. Their "low footprint" client does not need any updates of rules, signatures or databases. Morphisec also offers forensic and threat intelligence capabilities and services.
Invincea`s trends reports are derived from the company's deployments across more than two million protected endpoints. The top threat in October was weaponized Office documents which often carry banking Trojans such as Dridex and Shifu. Slideshow plug-ins, ransomware and malvertising were among the other popular threats encountered.
~~~
Core Systems:
Supporting Omnichannel Delivery with the Core System
 |
 |
 |
~~~
Codigo's second annual study of FIs' branch remodeling plans shows that 64 percent of those conducting remodels were doing so in order to improve the customer experience, while 14 percent wanted to improve branch profitability, and 5 percent just wanted to freshen up the facility. Of FIs that were downsizing branches, 86 percent said the new footprint would occupy less than 2,000 square feet, reduced from a current average of 2116 square feet. Surveyed FI executives cited the following top branch technologies that will be included in their remodels:
~~~
Online Banking/E-Commerce/Website Design
According to a new study by Harbortouch, consumers are concerned about the fact that new chip-enabled payment systems take a longer time to process payments. The study of 5,000 U.S. adults was released a month after the Oct. 1 EMV transition deadline. They noted that on average, it takes between seven to 10 seconds to pay using a chip card versus two to three seconds to pay using a traditional swipe credit card. Moreover, nearly four times as many respondents were worried about speedy processing times than were concerned with chip card security or EMV terminal availability.
Nearly 30 percent of millennials report that they have never written a check, compared to just 16 percent of Gen X and 13 percent of Baby Boomers, according to a U.S. Bank survey. Despite the decline in paper checks, the survey also found people are not in favor of completely digitizing personal engagement. Almost two-thirds (63 percent) of Americans believe they will never make all of their financial transactions digitally. Plus 8 out of 10 Americans prefer working with a professional banker instead of a virtual one to resolve issues.
~~~
Acano`s products include gateways, and video and audio bridges designed to connect video systems from multiple vendors across both cloud and hybrid environments. The company was just purchased by Cisco who will use their products to deliver video to tens of thousands of users from the cloud to any screen, including Microsoft platforms, through support of the WebRTC protocol. Cisco says less than 10% of the conference rooms in the world are connected via video.
Colasoft offers three tools for analyzing network traffic and IP packets: Capsa Free, Capsa Professional and Capsa Enterprise. All three utilities assist with troubleshooting network issues by helping to pinpoint network bottlenecks via real-time graphing tools. You can capture and save data (more than 500 network protocols) transmitted over local networks and conduct both real-time and post-event analysis. You can give the free version a try and then, if it fits your needs, buy either the Professional or Enterprise edition to gain more features and functionality.
~~~
By some estimates, chat usage rates have risen from 38 percent in 2009 to 58 percent in 2014. Many contact center experts believe that the days of customer service being delivered exclusively by phone are far behind us and that a large segment of consumers prefer live chat over the phone for many reasons, e.g., chat saves them time and they can multitask; they are used to communicating via text and short messages; chat is often offered during extended hours; and more. Some observers contend that the keys to chat success are to ensure that your agents are well trained, armed with templates, and have immediate access to all chat history, as well as previous voice calls, texts, emails, and social media interactions.
~~~
