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Bank Systems & Technology: The Blog

« July 2007 | Main | September 2007 »

It sometimes haunts me to think that I have been in the bank tech business longer (as long in the case of Metavante) than the top six core companies. Other times, it provides me with the hutzpah I need to offer this "what if" blog.

By Maria Bruno-Britz, Bank Systems & Technology

We haven’t heard too much this year about the flu pandemic. News of isolated outbreaks have been few and far between when compared with the feverish reporting during the earlier part of the year and 2006. However, the idea of a pandemic is still fresh in the minds of the financial services industry and the U.S. government as they gear up for a wide-scale test later this month called the FBIIC-FSSCC Pandemic Flu Exercise of 2007.

NOTE: This blog was written in conjunction with the 2007 Gartner Financial Services Technology Summit held in New York City from Aug. 27-29.

It was too bad that Michael Oxley, former U.S. congressman, co-author of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and currently Vice Chairman of the NASDAQ and Advocate for Corporate Accountability, didn't take any questions after his keynote presentation Monday to kick off Gartner's Financial Services Technology Summit 2007, which wraps up today in New York City. If he had there probably would have been some interesting queries about the mushrooming subprime mortgage mess and how things could have gotten so bad, when Sarbanes-Oxley was intended to improve corporate governance.

Scott Flemming, vice president, information technology at Wachovia, discusses how he turned his focus towards automating the smaller, often-ignored IT processes to help fulfillment organizations become more efficient. Flemming also discusses how financial services IT has changed during his career.

Arizona Federal Credit Union CIO Jim Phillips talks about the ambitious strategic plans that's he's implemented since his arrival at the organization in late 2005. In order to keep up with AZFCU's rapid growth and the rapid pace of change in technology, Phillips aimed to make sweeping changes in the organization's IT systems. Phillips also discusses the new collaborative relationships between financial institutions and their vendors.

BancorpSouth's Michael Lindsey, SVP and Manager of Electronic Delivery Services, explains how he was able to create an approach to mobile banking that helped propel the mid-sized bank to the status of early adopter at a time when many large banks are still in the pilot stage.

National City's Chief Information Office Joseph McCartin is a firm believer in IT as the key to differentiation in financial services. McCartin discusses the importance of IT to the customer experience, as well as the bank's core systems refresh and two programs he initiated to help with National City's project execution strategies.

Brenda Rideout, CIO and senior vice president information technology at Toronto-based ING DIRECT, says that as an enabler to the business IT is focused on making sure its products are simple and can be automated. She discusses how this has been accomplished through development of an architecture that embraced SOA principles ahead of their time; as well as through an ever-increasing concentration on security.

Description: After 40 years in the financial services industry, Wayne Mekjian, Wells Fargo's Group Technology Executive and Chief Information Officer, has witnessed quite a bit of change. However, nothing compares to the possibilities opened to banks by the Internet, he says. Mekjian also discusses the bank's Technology Information Group Vendor Innovation Program that he initiated to create a more cooperative innovation process at the bank.

Deal with Postilion enables CNB to issue and process prepaid cards for other banks, retailers.
By Maria Bruno-Britz, Bank Systems & TTechnology

I'd like to begin this blog with story about a nice experience dating back to the sixties when I worked for a large consulting firm. Our client was an airline called TWA. The board of directors hired our firm to answer a question that management and the board couldn't resolve - Should TWA move its reservations center to Rockleigh, New Jersey or leave it in Kansas City?

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog titled, "Surprise! Kids Are Going to Bank in New Ways." I admit, the entry was a bit snarky and I was a little harsh on Celent's report, "The Millennials, Financial Services, and the Web."

It's just, as an almost Millennial, I wasn't thinking like a banker, or even a bank customer, who hasn't been using Internet banking, cell phones, or even ATMs, his or her whole life.

By Richard Muirhead, CEO and Founder, Tideway Systems

Going green is a red hot issue these days, particularly in the data center which is a big consumer of energy. Rising energy costs, combined with the increasing number of servers, cooling equipment and related infrastructure being deployed, are creating new pressures on corporate bottom lines in financial services organizations and in many other industry sectors.

By Maria Bruno-Britz, Bank Systems & Technology

Typically, when a person goes online and decides to join a virtual world like Second Life, it’s to escape the every day problems of the real world. What better way to get away from it all than to create a virtual persona and live vicariously through him or her? Well, a trip to Hawaii might also work, assuming you’ve got the cash! But I digress.

By Maria Bruno-Britz, Bank Systems & Technology

The world of payments just got a tad less confusing, thanks to NACHA, the Herdon, Va.-based payments organization. Effective March 20, 2009, all international payments made via the ACH Network will be identified as International ACH Transactions using a new Standard Entry Class (SEC) Code—IAT. The new rule will also require that IAT payments include specific data elements defined by the Bank Secrecy Act’s (BSA) Travel Rule.

Executive VP Gary A. Refinski was named chief information officer of Milwaukee-based Metavante. He will be responsible for operations and service delivery, technical support, technology infrastructure and corporate systems. Also, SVP Dave Fortney was named chief technology officer of the company. He will report to Refinski and will provide leadership for Metavante’s technology direction and also lead the Technology Committee.

Joe Purzycki was appointed chief operating officer for Barclay’s U.S. credit card business (Wilmington, Del.). Purzycki is responsible for all operational aspects of the business, including customer support, collections and technology.As the COO, Purzycki will lead efforts to drive bank-wide efficiency, innovate with new technologies, improve the customer experience and provide foundational
support for Barclays growth.

First, let me warn anyone who is still reading my techno rants and raves, that I am not a fan of mobile banking. The reason is simple. There are 14 better ways for a commercial or retail customer to handle banking chores. And I believe there are still wonderful activities in life that one can enjoy without being wired to a bank.

- By John De Santis
CEO, TriCipher

Throughout 2006, a series of high-profile incidents occurred that very painfully and very publicly highlighted how flimsy usernames and passwords are in protecting a person's online identity. Phishing and various other forms of online fraud sent the e-business community--particularly in financial services, which bore the brunt of these attacks--into a tailspin. In a bold move, one of the world's largest banks aggressively promoted its deployment of multi-factor authentication as a free, required service to all of its online banking customers.

Banks should start up their own blogs, according to research compiled by Javelin Strategy. According to the research firm, 20 percent of all U.S. consumers read blogs and readership rises to 34 percent among the more affluent tech-wise surfers.*

IT services provider Hexaware Technologies (Mumbai) and Pemtrad International will launch Risk Technology International (RiskTech). The new entity will focus exclusively on offering a comprehensive suite of technology-intensive solutions in the domain of enterprise risk and compliance management, primarily for financial institutions worldwide. RiskTech will have offices in U.K., U.S. and India.

Payments solutions provider First Data (Denver) and mobile solutions company mFoundry (Sausalito, Calif.) entered a partnership where they will work together to deliver mobile banking and payment services to U.S. and international mobile subscribers. The firms hope the newly forged relationship will leverage each company’s respective strengths to offer mobile operators, mobile subscribers, merchants and financial institutions a flexible and easy-to-use solution for mobile financial services.

By Maria Bruno-Britz

Will the days of corporate IT’s imperious reign over all matters tech-related soon end? When it comes to the immediate needs of the end-users within a company, it will. In fact, according to Yankee Group, it’s already happening.

My wife and I took a little breather from the bay breezes of Cape Cod to experience the value of NYC's high-culture. For her, it meant haute couture as well. The Fiserv/CheckFree announcement reached me from the telephone messages left at my Dallas office, and from what I read in the WSJ. I had a few opinions about the deal.

By Maria Bruno-Britz, Bank Systems & Technology

Some people just don’t give up. Everyone knows just how dangerous things are these days in terms of cybercrime. If you’re a bank, you’re target numero uno for determined hackers.

By Maria Bruno-Britz, Bank Systems & Technology

After getting hammered by consumers and legislators alike over last year’s data breaches and the apparent cavalier attitude some merchants took toward securing card data, merchants are starting to get the hint. According to Visa (San Francisco) 96 percent of large businesses that accept Visa for payment are not storing sensitive account data, such as PINs and security codes.

It's not often that I open up my email in-box and my first thought is, "Wow" –- but that was my reaction this morning when I saw the announcement that Fiserv is buying CheckFree in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.4 billion. These big deals always come as something of a surprise, even when there's been speculation about the status or future of the players.

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