TechTalk with George Milner and Teri Wesley
Shut out bank attacks
With cyber attacks targeting banks reaching all-time highs and weekly reports of banks scrambling to recover from DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks, the best defense for banks is a good offense. While these attacks reportedly coming from the hactivist group Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters have not resulted in any known data loss, banks suffer reputational damage and a decline in customer trust from these attacks just as they do from data breaches and other threats. Bank Systems & Technology has some offensive steps banks can deploy to help mitigate these attacks.
Mobile banking scoring big
In its 2013 Consumers and Mobile Financial Services report, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) found that of the 87% of U.S. consumers who use mobile phones, 52% have smartphones. Increasingly, those smartphone owners are using their phones to access financial services, with nearly half of them taking advantage of mobile banking. This is great news for banks, providing the cost savings and the means to reach out to new customers, particularly the 10% of Americans that are unbanked - many of which have smartphones. Finextra has more on the rise of mobile banking and a link to the FRB's full report.
Mint teams up with banks
Consumers are not only looking for more convenient ways to conduct banking transactions that integrate into their busy lifestyles, they also want the right tools to help them quickly and efficiently manage their finances. Intuit financial services is offering its personal financial management (PFM) tool Mint to financial institutions to complement their digital and mobile banking offerings. Bank Systems & Technology has the details and how your bank can score points with its customers by incorporating this valuable PFM tool into its digital banking services.
Quicker account access
In what seems to be a growing new trend, consumers can now check their bank balance and transaction history from their mobile devices without logging into their bank accounts. Bank of the West has experienced notable daily usage of its free Quick Balance mobile banking app launched last month, with three out of four users opting into the service that allows them to see account balances with just a swipe of the finger, reports Finextra.
Pandora Storm strikes out fraud gang
It was the perfect storm - or rather a "Pandora Storm" operation - when the joint efforts of twenty law enforcement agencies from multiple countries took down a card fraud network that targeted 36,000 card holders from 16 European countries and resulted in $2.5 million in fraud losses. Equipping POS (point-of-sale) terminals and ATMs with skimming devices, the thieves purloined credit and debit card details and PINs and used the stolen data to create counterfeit payment cards for fraudulent transactions in several countries, including the U.S. Computerworld has the story.
Virtual heist steals virtual coin
The value of virtual currency Bitcoin has been on the upswing with the digital dollar value hitting an all-time high of $142 this week and the value of all Bitcoins in circulation soaring to more than $1 billion. As with anything that increases in monetary value, Bitcoin's burgeoning success caught the attention of cybercriminals. Online Bitcoin storage service Instawallet experienced a data breach and Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox was hit with a DDoS attack that prevented users from being able to access their accounts. Threatpost has the details. As these incidents highlight, secure storage of the popular virtual currency remains a challenge.
Check to card convenience
Banks are facing increasing competition from non-bank providers of financial services that appeal to unbanked and underbanked consumers. A new RDC (remote deposit capture) solution with mobile loading capability for prepaid cards is stepping up to the plate. Fiserv has partnered with check guarantee service Valid Systems to give prepaid processors the ability to guarantee checks that prepaid cardholders deposit via their smartphone app. ATM Marketplace has the details.
Banking with Bluebird
American Express and Walmart's virtual alternative to traditional bank accounts is swooping in to gather up consumers who are disenchanted with banks. Account enhancements made to its Bluebird virtual bank offering include FDIC insurance, the availability of paper checks and cashiers checks, and more features that appeal to the unbanked, underbanked and those disenchanted banking consumers, reports ATM Marketplace.
What's in your wallet?
There's been a lot of buzz around digital wallet technology in recent months and we've been reporting on the emerging options. Following Microsoft's recent Digital Wallet Foundry hackathon (where Barclays took the prize), Finextra sat down with payments expert Julian Wilson, who explained the evolving definition of the digital wallet and why it's all (finally) coming together now.
Spam, Scams, & Breaches
- Threatpost: Malware every 3 minutes
- Help Net Security: Banking trojan gets a little WinHelp
- InfoWorld: Telephone attacks tying up emergency lines
- Help Net Security: Fake Facebook security check phishes for info
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