Bank Technology News articles from December 2004

Bank Technology News archives from December 2004

Student Loans: Universities Try to End the Paper Chase: Digitized products are increasing in popularity.
December 1, 2004... By the end of this decade, the number of students enrolling in colleges and universities is expected to hit 17.2 million, a rise from 15.9 million this year, according to the Department of Education. Less than half of them, or their parents,...

Wealth Management: Amex Puts a New Tool into Broker's Hands: Morningstar unit helps with annuity allocation.(Morningstar Associates L.L.C., American Express Financial Group)
December 1, 2004... American Express Financial Group (AEFG) has opened a master suite of new variable annuity products, and is bringing a tool that marries ease-of-use Internet navigation with investment risk assessment. It hopes the combination scores big with...

Core Systems: The Key to Big Savings: Small banks save by upgrading platforms.
December 1, 2004... Changing even a small part of a core-banking platform does not come easily to any bank, as it is the lifeblood of operations. But for the $300-million asset First State Bank, based in Waynesboro, MS, running the nightly batch cycle was...

Outsourcing Gets a Closer Look. But is It Different?
December 1, 2004... The strategic value of outsourcing has always been the source of some debate in banking. The question is, "Is it different than in years past?" Good question, and the answer depends on the size of institution. While small to mid-tier banks...

Security: Harland Tackles Forgery in The Check 21 Environment: Its new pilot program could be used to safeguard consumer checks from fraud at the point of sale.(John H. Harland Co.)
December 1, 2004... The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act went into effect in October, and while it is generally being hailed as a positive step that allows the industry to develop technologies to digitize checks, there is no question that these emerging...

News Makers.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... U.S. Bank Sells Cellphone Minutes U.S. Bank, the third largest ATM operator in the United States, last month became the first major bank in the country to offer prepaid wireless phone minute "top-ups" through its ATMs. Nearly 4,000 ATMs in...

Core Platform: Central Pacific Upgrades As It Moves Into Wholesale: The new Web platform is intended to both entice brokers and stay on top of a slew of mortgage regs.(Central Pacific Mortgage Corp.)
December 1, 2004... In business for 27 years with over 100 retail offices nationwide, Central Pacific Mortgage is trying replicate its growth and knowledge by building a flexible, decentralized platform for retail originators to entice wholesale brokers into its...

Top Tech Deals.(Mosaic Software Holdings Limited)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Number one Five on-line security providers-Symantec Corp., Corillian Corp., NameProtect, PassMark Security and Internet Identity-formed the Anti-Fraud Alliance, the first end-to-end anti-fraud and ID theft solution network. Number two...

Outsourcing: Morgan Stanley Finds A Specialist For Mortgages: MSDW jobs out mortgage processing as large institutions figure out what to do with a product that's still siloed.(Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Credit Corp.)
December 1, 2004... Mortgages are just about the most complicated financial service, so it's not surprising that decisions regarding IT for real estate transactions have more moving parts than other business lines-with wildly swinging volume levels, rate changes...

Image Is Everything: Keeping Tabs On A Law That Will Keep On Giving: The largest banks in the U.S. will be image-enabled by 2006, as well as more than half of other institutions.
December 1, 2004... It's all over but the spending as far as Check 21 is concerned, with the law firmly on the books and check stand-ins moving around the country as if equivalents were always the norm. But investment in technology and other infrastructure...

Techies.(Bridge Capital Holdings)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Martin Doyle was named president of the electronic security futures exchange OneChicago. * Jonas Lindstrom was scheduled at press time to take over trading technology firm Orc Software as CEO. v Robert Webb will join Equifax as CTO and will...

Message Board.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... "I'm a reluctant expert." Joe Forman, COO of Bond Street, on his struggles as an early adopter of Web conferencing. "Once you have built the foundation, it becomes an economic decision." Joe Cornelius, product manager of Wachovia,...

Check Processing: Options Proliferate, As U.s. Check Use Devolves: Checks are morphing into ACH payments and images. This is forcing players to rethink their strategies.
December 1, 2004... It's true: checking accounts are wildly profitable, generating a whopping $4.2 billion in annual fee revenue on the retail side alone, according to a new report by Celent Communications. However, the nature of the business is changing-and...

Wachovia Checks Deposits Into the 21st Century: The bank holding company hires AFS Direct Merchant for its remote capture solution, a benefit of Check 21 regs.
December 1, 2004... There are all sorts of ways to embrace innovation, and it doesn't always require the deployment of a newly developed piece of technology. Sometimes, in response to a new rule or regulation, an existing function or piece of software can be given...

Cards: RBC Brings Canada's Debit Culture To U.S.: RBC is the first Canadian bank to offer debit card usage in the U.S. for its Canadian customers. It's a smart move considering they use debit in droves and visit the states as a matter of course.(RBC Royal Bank)
December 1, 2004... Canadians like to shop in the U.S., and they like debit cards. And since most people who live north of the border live on or near the border, RBC figures it makes sense to combine debit cards with U.S. retailers before the other Canadian banks...

Equipment Leasing: Instead Of Limping Along, Bb&t Opted For An Upgrade: Deal with International Decision Systems aims to improve pricing and give detailed financial performance.(BB&T Leasing Corp.)
December 1, 2004... BB&T Leasing Corp. wasn't in crisis mode, but there was a sense of urgency. The database system it had used since 1985 to track leases and manage contracts ranging from $10,000 to $10 million was working adequately. But earlier this year,...

Customer Service: Mechanics Spans The Gap To Its Customers: The Bay Area bank has huge competitors on all fronts. But it's hoping for an edge with a client-centric focus that includes a new account management package from ITI and other CRM staples.(Mechanics Bank of Northern California)
December 1, 2004... The Mechanics Bank of Northern California doesn't merely have a David-versus-Goliath story to tell. This independent community bank with $2.3 billion in assets is competing for customers against a half dozen giants-financial institutions with...

A Reversal of Fortune ?(outsourcing)
December 1, 2004... For years, the financial industry has relied on outsourcing to shore up areas where institutions sought advanced technology, greater economies of scale and lower costs. But when JPMorgan Chase and UBS yanked their long-term contracts with IBM...

The Evolution of Outsourcing: What to Expect Tomorrow.
December 1, 2004... Heard any good jokes about bankers' hours lately? Probably not. The days when customers were forced to conduct their banking business before the lobbies closed at 3:30 in the afternoon are gone. In an age when technology delivers everything...

Web Conferencing: Bond Street Joins The E-conference: California firm gets more bang out of its training buck by using a Webified way to decentralize instruction for employees on new products and regulations.(Bond Street Capital)
December 1, 2004... Bond Street Capital's Joe Forman says it's hard to read a sheet of paper and listen to someone speak to you at the same time. And in the midst of a training session, competing for attention doesn't make for the best learning environment. ...

Data Management: Hitting the Bull's-Eye On the Trading Floor: An evolution in software allows bankers and brokerages to see what data they're actually using, helping them exercise better cost controls over a very expensive service.(Harco Technologies)
December 1, 2004... Third-party software that can analyze market data consumption on the trading floor is reaping huge benefits for banks and brokerages, which have begun renegotiating contracts with top data providers like Reuters and Bloomberg. Some firms have...

Business Continuity: Still Not Entirely Ready For Disaster: Keeping financial markets moving is a $2.5 billion business, with a third going to trading infrastructure. But many observers say vulnerabilities are still a problem.
December 1, 2004... Ever since the attacks of 9/11 exposed the vulnerabilities of the financial markets, the industry as a whole has worked hard to obviate those risks, particularly when it comes to trading operations. Business continuity planning, or disaster...

Procurement: Controlling Supplies And Sourcing Moves To The Fore: With the promise of cutting costs, Gartner says half of all global 2000 firms will have a chief procurement executive by 2008.
December 1, 2004... When it comes to hot topics in the financial services sector, new procurement technology has become a favorite subject. "There is a sea change happening in the industry," says Brian Desmond, vp of product marketing for PeopleSoft. "Years ago,...

Training: Homebanc Gets Real Through Simulation: New application brings reps up to speed on new mortgage products, minimizing in-person instruction. The lender hopes to cut costs and give more detailed knowledge.(HomeBanc Federal Savings Bank)
December 1, 2004... The hypothetical is getting increasingly realistic for Homebanc, where the latest in simulation is bringing real knowledge to sales staff. Faced with the need to rollout a new in-house Web mortgage sales processing application to more than...

The Road to Grid Computing: Are You On It Yet?
December 1, 2004... A new computing revolution is dramatically changing how Financial Services (FS) institutions use their IT resources to drive competitive advantage. Whether it's called on demand, grid computing, adaptive enterprise or service-oriented...

Moving Toward the Virtual Finance Organization.
December 1, 2004... As competitive pressures force retail banking business models to change, those organizations that have embraced a flexible IP-based infrastructure and 'virtualized' their applications will be well placed for success. The Internet and other...

Personalized Wealth Services Needs a Jolt.
December 1, 2004... Throughout the financial services industry, banks and other institutions have built powerful consumer campaigns on the promise of personalized service. Nowhere is this more relevant than in the area of wealth management, where high net worth...

Automating the Fight Against Laundering.(anti-money laundering software)
December 1, 2004... Financial organizations have been required to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) since it took effect, but recent BSA enforcement actions and a heightened awareness by regulators make compliance in this area more important now than ever. In...

M&As Won't Work Without Segmentation.
December 1, 2004... Congratulations! The contracts have been signed, the bankers have been paid, and the celebratory champagne has been drained from the bottle. With your recent acquisition, you are the proud executive of a new financial services organization that...