BB&T Kicks Off Visa Contactless Card Pilot Program

Winston Salem, N.C.-based BB&T has begun issuing BB&T Check Cards with the Visa Contactless feature to select clients in Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., in a pilot program. The Contactless BB&T Check Card speeds purchases by enabling clients to hold their card near a secure contactless card reader. A chip in the card sends the payment information to the reader so the card never leaves the consumer's hand. "Clients expect to be able to make fast, convenient and secure purchases. They get all of this along with the traditional features of a check card with the Contactless BB&T Check Card," said BB&T deposit access products manager Scott Qualls in a release. "This technology provides a faster purchasing experience for both clients and merchants."

Cardholders receive the same security protections provided with the traditional BB&T Check Card, including BB&T's Zero Liability protection and fraud monitoring. The chip embedded in the card also generates a unique digital watermark for every purchase to prevent fraud.

** Wachovia Taps RSA for Online Authentication

Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia has deployed the RSA Adaptive Authentication solution to provide additional protection of its online banking customers' funds and personal information. At the core of the Adaptive Authentication solution is risk-based authentication, a system that operates behind the scenes of online banking applications, at the front door and within the application, according to Bedford, Mass.-based RSA, the security division of EMC (Hopkinton, Mass.). The system applies to all online users, regardless of the other methods used to authenticate themselves.

** Texas State Bank Encrypts With PGP

Texas State Bank (McAllen, Texas) deployed the Encryption Platform from Palo Alto, Calif.-based PGP. Based on a unified key management and policy infrastructure, the PGP Encryption Platform offers integrated applications for enterprise data security. The solution enables organizations to meet current needs and expand as security requirements evolve for e-mail, laptops, desktops, instant messaging, PDAs, FTP, bulk data transfers, backups, and shared files on network storage, according to the vendor. The PGP Encryption Platform architecture is designed to automate management and policy enforcement, enabling transparent operation for end users and administrators, PGP adds.

** HSH Nordbank Implements Cognos BI

HSH Nordbank AG (Hamburg, Germany) implemented Cognos' (Burlington, Mass.) business intelligence technologies as the reporting standard for the bank's front-office activities across all business lines. By using Cognos as the front end for report generation, distribution and presentation, team members at the bank's five main worldwide locations gain real-time, Web-based access to information to help manage active portfolios and overall operational management of the bank's market activities, Cognos says. HSH Nordbank's real estate, finance, and risk and global markets departments currently are using Cognos' BI applications.

BB&T kicks off Visa contactless card pilot program.

Winston Salem, N.C.-based BB&T has begun issuing BB&T Check Cards with the Visa Contactless feature to select clients in Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., in a pilot program. The Contactless BB&T Check Card speeds purchases by enabling clients to hold their card near a secure contactless card reader. A chip in the card sends the payment information to the reader so the card never leaves the consumer's hand.

"Clients expect to be able to make fast, convenient and secure purchases. They get all of this along with the traditional features of a check card with the Contactless BB&T Check Card," said BB&T deposit access products manager Scott Qualls in a release. "This technology provides a faster purchasing experience for both clients and merchants."

Cardholders receive the same security protections provided with the traditional BB&T Check Card, including BB&T's Zero Liability protection and fraud monitoring. The chip embedded in the card also generates a unique digital watermark for every purchase to prevent fraud. *