Below are interesting stories the Banking.com staff has been reading over the past week. What have you been reading? Let us know in the comments section below or Tweet @bankingdotcom.
- Four Ways the FTC’s New Privacy Rules Affect Mobile Banking Apps
The Federal Trade Commission has been toughening its stance on consumer privacy protection, and this directly affects the mobile applications banks offer their customers. On Saturday the agency issued a report, Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency, that offers advice on keeping using consumers’ data private. It offers recommendations to four sets of stakeholders: operating system providers (like Apple and Google), app providers, advertising networks, and app developer trade associations. Banks that provide mobile banking, PFM, trading or wallet apps fit in the app provider category.
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- Bank Tech Vendor Shakeup Continues: FIS to Acquire mFoundry
The consolidation trend in the bank technology solution provider space continues to accelerate, with news today that Jacksonville, Fla.-based FIS has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining 78% interest in mobile banking and payment solutions provider mFoundry. Previous to this transaction, FIS held a 22% interest in mFoundry (Larkspur, Calif.), which was founded in 2004 and now serves more than 850 clients in financial services and retailing. According to a statement from FIS, the addition of mFoundry “enables FIS to leverage its technology assets across a broader client base.
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- The Latest Trends That Will Redefine Online Banking
Online banking has had a tremendous effect on banks because people can now complete financial transactions by visiting secure websites that are maintained by brick-and-mortar or virtual banks, credit unions or brokerage houses. While this is convenient consumers are also concerned that their financial information may be accessed by hackers via the Internet, and banks are intent on providing security for their customers and keeping up with the latest technological trends at the same time.
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- ‘Me Too’ Rules in Mobile Banking
Anthony Genovese, a vice president at payments company Compass Plus stated that central advice from Compass Plus to credit unions is to “focus on the importance of the mobile channel” and to take steps to make use of uniquely mobile features such as built-in GPS (the phone knows where it is), a camera, and in an increasing number of phones NFC, the near-field communications payments chip. Genovese added that “the stickiness of mobile user is questionable. Financial institutions aren’t offering many features that compel users to keep using the channel.”
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- Apple Patent Reveals Peer-To-Peer Mobile Banking Idea, Using iTunes As Bank
Fast Company checks in with last year’s Most Innovative Companies to see how their big ideas fared in 2012–and how they’ll play out in 2013 and beyond. Apple has just revealed one of its more out-there ideas in a patent application titled Ad-Hoc Cash Dispensing Network. The proposed patent, in short, is a peer-to-peer lending concept that would use iTunes accounts as a connection to let people loan or borrow small amounts of money to each other. The patent, which was reported on by the Unwired View website, shows just how far outside the box the thinking goes over at Cupertino.
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- Will You Be Ready When Mobile Wallets Turn Banking Upside Down?
Financial marketers had better wrap their heads around the impending mobile-dominant landscape, and fast. Mobile devices will soon be the central tool consumers use to manage banking relationships. When consumers start embracing mobile wallets and making digital transactions, banking will never be the same again. Around every 10 or 20 years, something big comes along that completely transforms the world of banking — ATMs, debit cards, the internet. Unquestionably, the next big thing to rock banking will be mobile wallets.
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- The Forgotten Secrets Of The Enterprise Giants: Virality, Word Of Mouth, And Other Radical Experiments
Today, Intuit is generally recognized as the only party to “own” the accounting channel, but they came at it via a totally radical approach that its competitors seem to have forgotten (which is probably why Intuit has had such firm footing for decades, despite legions of challengers). Don’t be afraid of failure. Be afraid of not trying. Salesforce, Concur and Intuit weren’t, and now we can’t imagine a world without them.
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- Bank of America’s online banking crashes Angry customers vent frustrations on Twitter.
Bank of America says its online banking website crashed Friday, leaving customers unable to access their accounts. Starting late Friday morning, customers trying to log on saw a message that the site was “temporarily unavailable.” The lender announced a few hours later that the problems had been resolved, but not before it endured a fire storm of complaints and criticism. Angry Bank of America customers took to Twitter to say that they were left frustrated, trying to do their banking on the first day of the month.
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- Identity: The New Security Perimeter
Traditional security perimeters encircling corporate networks no longer meet the needs of today’s enterprise. As businesses move to cloud computing, employees are able to gain access to their work apps and corporate networks through almost any internet-connected device. The breadth of access, and choice of devices, breaks down traditional security boundaries and forces IT to seek a new security model that can deal with this anywhere reality. Security, therefore, must evolve from an on-site protection model and adapt to securely provide access to off-premises devices.
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