Bank Technology News articles from November 2004

Bank Technology News archives from November 2004

The Innovators & Ingenuity Of 2004: Profiling those whose imagination has had impact.
November 1, 2004... Every year presents a different array of challenges than the year before. While some issues stick around, they tend to take on greater importance as the pace of change quickens and unforeseen changes in the market and economy require fast, yet...

Crime: Steal A Little Off The Top: Skimming is a danger that's below the radar.
November 1, 2004... In the movie "Office Space," the main characters exact their revenge on The Man by writing a computer program that pilfers fractions of pennies off of corporate transactions by rounding off monetary amounts to the nearest cent, then depositing...

Mortgage: Web Services Are Lenders' New Legacy: Players like First Franklin make upgrades easier.(First Franklin Financial Corp)
November 1, 2004... The mortgage industry changes fast, with volume going from peak to valley with each interest rate cycle-business tides that come complete with their own waves of new products, customer acquisition strategies and technology plays. Keeping...

Edit Index.
November 1, 2004... A, B, C Advanced Financial Solutions 58 Advanta 50 Aurum Technology 10 BancFirst 58 BancWest Corp. 10 Bank One 10 Bank of America 24 Bank of New York 24 Carreker...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
November 1, 2004... Amex's Merchant Processing The central theme of your October article "With Its Long Green Arm, Amex Reclaims Processing" is inaccurate and I am writing to ask that you set the record straight. Here are the facts. Processing is not a new...

Taking a Closer Look Into IT Governance Globally.(information technology)
November 1, 2004... The strategic value of IT governance isn't lost on the financial services industry, yet until recently no entity had a beat on whether institutions globally are making inroads in the area. That changed when the IT Governance Institute...

Outsourcing: Jobbed-Out Work Returns To The Mother Ship: UBS, JPMorgan to bring long-time contracts in-house. And that could be just the start of an insourcing trend.
November 1, 2004... Taking a hard-line stance on curbing IT costs, two banks announced plans to reintegrate billions in outsourced work. Market observers say this may signal an IT "in-sourcing" trend. JPMorgan Chase terminated a $5 billion, seven-year contract...

News Makers.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Bank of America Deploys VOIP tech Bank of America is beginning to deploy 180,000 Cisco Internet Protocol telephones throughout its 5,800 banking and enterprise centers in 29 states and the District of Columbia. The deployment, in phases...

Top Tech Deals.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Number One Metavante signed an agreement to acquire all the outstanding stock of VECTORsgi, a firm that provides a number of banking transaction applications, including electronic check image processing and image exchange. Number Two...

New Markets: Latin Pension Privatization Yields Tech Investments: Chile, Colombia and Mexico are among the nations where banks are utilizing tech to manage privatized pensions.
November 1, 2004... While Europe debates and America flirts with pension and Social Security reforms, significant change has already taken hold in Latin America. The privatization of public pension systems in many Latin American nations has opened new markets for...

Bad Security: The War on Cybercrime Hits a Penetrable Patch: Research shows Internet crime is making inroads on several fronts. And it's affecting consumer confidence.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... There's no shortage of strategies and rhetoric when it comes to protecting e-banking and other Internet-related businesses from the criminals hatched by the New Economy. There's enough patches, protection plays and promises of safety to...

Techies.(appointments)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Stephen Yates was named evp and CIO of Cleveland-based KeyCorp. Werner Vetsch was named head of operations and technology for the U.S. investment operations outsourcing business of Northern Trust. Syracuse, NY-based Community Bank System named...

Message Board.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... "They were making it bigger than they were supposed to." Robert Lord, vp, Harte-Hankes, on the lack of focus of investments and strategies in the early days of CRM spending. "There's not an appetite for just one." Richard Beidl,...

CRM: It's a Mixed Bag When It Comes to Measuring CRM: Banks continue to struggle with how best to gauge their CRM investments, but progress is being made.(Customer relationship management)
November 1, 2004... After being touted as the saviour of business in 2001, the term CRM became nearly radioactive in the executive suite as investments didn't seem to deliver results. But TowerGroup's Kathleen Khirallah says the real problem lies in banks' poor...

Take Special Care When Marketing with E-Mail: The author and e-mail marketing specialist says sales driven e-mail can hurt a firm just as easily as help it.(Interview)
November 1, 2004... It doesn't cost nearly as much to market via e-mail when compared to other methods, such as television, so companies often don't pay as much attention to what they're doing when positioning themselves in the electronic channel. That's a...

Trading: Direct Execution Players Get Beefy: BNY, BofA, CSFB and Goldman are among those stocking up on tech and management tools-bundling direct access with algorithmic trading-as the industry gets more competitive than ever.
November 1, 2004... Banks and brokers are ramping up their equity service offerings, particularly by bundling direct access execution with algorithmic trading and commission management services, to keep institutions and hedge funds coming back to their stock...

Trade Services: Banks Refocus On The EX/IM Business: Automating the import-export trade services space is part of banks' strategy to entice corporate customers to once again use them to secure payment and delivery of foreign goods.
November 1, 2004... The top U.S. banks are seeking to recover market share in providing import-export trade services to corporate clients by automating and standardizing the sometimes lengthy, paper-heavy process and porting it to the Web. Wachovia and other...

Payments: New Payment Czars Guide Bank Strategy: In the electronic age, payments are a line of business unto itself. With myriad options, channels and competitors, banks are appointing execs to oversee everything related to payments.
November 1, 2004... Payment czar might not be the term of choice by banks, but ever since Celent analyst Gwenn Bezard coined the term last year banks have increasingly seemed to get hip to the idea-with good reason. In his report he said banks generate about...

Business Banking: A Global Concierge From Silicon Valley: Silicon Valley Bank isn't shy about drumming up business in the globe's far-flung technology centers. The California wunderkind has opened offices in England and India. China and Israel are next.
November 1, 2004... Silicon Valley Bank's opening of two units in London and Bangalore, India-with plans to open others in China and Israel in 2005-may signal a new breed of business banking: a unique merchant services/private banking hybrid designed to be all...

Data Management: Webster Tries To Redefine CRM: The promises of 1990s-bred data mining and event-driven cross-selling are well-worn, but improved profitability models hope to breathe new life into one-on-one marketing.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... For all the hope and money that went into customer relationship management software and strategy in the 1990s, the final results were lukewarm at best. But now many of these plays are being improved upon, and Webster Bank svp John Menke...

S1 Takes a Shot at Running the Whole Ship: S1's ambitious goal of providing the first integrated, multi-channel front-office solution is getting put to the test by Zions Bank. The next year will determine if the tech firm can deliver on its promise-a bet it's willing to take.
November 1, 2004... Jaime Ellertson, CEO of S1 Corp., says that his company's ambitious goal to create the financial services industry's first integrated multi-channel solution for the entire front office-a project originally envisioned and pitched to analysts,...

Small Business: Advanta Lets Fingers Do The Clicking: Its alliance with Interland is aimed at making it easier for small entrepreneurs to build an Internet presence, a strategy that's just as important as a Yellow Pages listing.
November 1, 2004... The Yellow Pages aren't the only place people turn to when they're looking for a hardware store that's within four blocks of their home, or a checklist of nearby bakeries. The Internet is a tool that's just as important, and even the smallest...

E-Banks: Some Ideas Die Hard: Branchless Banking for Example: The EverOne Financial Center arrives even after a number of other virtual pureplays have flamed out.
November 1, 2004... Branchless banking has been a tough nut to crack, with flameouts like WingspanBank well-publicized and many other screens going blank over the last several years. Even the most well-known Internet bank survivor, Egg, has taken a few...

On-line Security: A Simple Phone Call Can Protect Users From Id Theft: E*Trade is among those using new phone call verification for consumers.
November 1, 2004... Several financial services companies are using a new user-authentication product from Strikeforce Technologies that the vendor and analysts alike say takes a new approach to combat on-line fraud. E*Trade, for one, has embarked on a pilot...

Customer ID: Frontier Bank Seeks New Level Of Security: Georgia community bank deploys eFunds' ID verification system, which also contains a fraud prevention and risk management solution from the technology company.
November 1, 2004... Frontier Bank of LaGrange, GA, had only two simple requirements for its new customer identity program: keep the gates up, but the costs down. The $305 million community bank in West Central Georgia was already challenged in meeting...

Contact Centers: Finding a New Route to a Better Service Destination: OneBeacon Insurance improves front- and back-office connections to save big bucks on cost per call and process improvements.
November 1, 2004... Here it is the information age and financial companies are still grappling with a fundamental problem-how to communicate with their customers. Automation and consolidation hold a golden promise of ever-greater efficiency, cost savings, speed...

Substitute Checks: On Oct. 28, Image Became Everything: Or did it? Check 21's passage into law means years of talking are over, but will that give imaging the kick it needs? If so, early adopters have a substantial head start.(electronic check processing)
November 1, 2004... Talk to banks across the country and you get a similar theme: Check 21's official entry into the lawbooks on October 28 could be a boon for imaging, particularly for firms that have embraced the technology early on. "We've been using check...

Network Security Threats Require Diverse Protection.
November 1, 2004... Financial institutions must tackle network security from several directions-defending against malicious attacks while considering everything from regulatory compliance (Sarbanes-Oxley, GLBA) to proactively protecting revenue-generating on-line...

The Appliance of E-mail Controls in the Age of Regs.
November 1, 2004... Skyrocketing volumes are turning e-mail from an indispensable communications tool into a double-edged sword with the power to cut business efficiency off at the knees. According to a recent report from the Framingham, MA-based advisory group...

Not All ID Theft Solutions Are Created Equal.
November 1, 2004... Consumers are more concerned with identity theft than ever before. Last year it topped the list of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the fourth consecutive year. Financial institutions are under increasing pressure from...