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Discover how token-based authentication works, its types, and why businesses trust it to secure sensitive data.

Discover how data and analytics can enhance deposit growth strategies, improve customer engagement, and drive financial wellness for banks and credit unions.

By: Staci Baker According to Wikipedia, mobile banking is defined as, “a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments, credit applications, etc. via a mobile device such as a mobile phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).” However, as several large lenders and phone carriers test mobile banking and mobile payments, there is still much to be deciphered. Will it help businesses compete? Is it safe for a consumer? Should a bank offer a mobile solution; and if so, what precautions will they need to take to ensure their customer’s information, i.e. fraud, consumer identity? Peter Garuccio, spokesman for the American Bankers Association in Washington D.C., noted that “various experts predict that some 20 million people may be banking via cell phone this year, and that number is projected to skyrocket to 50 million by 2013.” And, according to a mobile payment study by Juniper Research ,“Combined market for all types of mobile payments is expected to reach more than $630B globally by 2014.” For the purpose of this blog, I will focus on the mobile banking solution, and questions to consider before entering into the mobile banking arena. Mobile banking today is akin to online banking a few years ago. It’s new, getting a lot of press, late adopters want more information, while the early adopters are already participating and it appears to be on the verge of taking over more conventional banking and payments. Before entering into the world of mobile solutions, there are a few things to consider: How will new regulations, such as the Durbin Amendment to the Frank-Dodd Act (a new Interchange fee proposal), affect implementation and usage? The current average interchange fee is between $1 and $1.30, the new cap at $.12 will reduce the charges by up to 90%.While the interchange fee proposal will not be finalized until after February, it is not known how the new “swipe fee” legislation will affect mobile solutions. If the new amendment directly affects debit cards only, mobile solutions can become a new revenue stream for many lenders. As more information becomes available regarding the Durbin Amendment, I will relay additional details and implications. What fraud prevention solutions do you have in place? Fraud is an issue in all industries; therefore utilizing fraud best practices specific to your market, or identifying fraud trends is essential in keeping retailers, consumers and your company safe. As consumers replace the need for a wallet with a phone, identity theft can become an issue. This is especially true of phones with minimal security, or if their phone gets into the hands of a hacker. Therefore companies can initiate an identity theft prevention program to raise awareness in consumers and retailers. As well as implement new internal processes and requirements. As we delve further into an IT-led economy, businesses will continually need to adjust how they do business in order to meet consumer demand, as well as finding new revenue streams. I am curious, how many businesses have already begun to implement a mobile solution, and what issues or results have you already seen? If you have not already implemented a mobile solution, is this in your planning for the upcoming year?

By: Kari Michel Lending institutions are more challenged today than ever before when assessing credit risk to find creditworthy consumers. Since 2006, the start of the housing bust and recession, consumer’s overall creditworthiness has deteriorated, especially those consumers who once had a high score (low risk). “For example, a study earlier this year by VantageScore® Solutions LLC found that the probability of serious delinquency, defined as nonpayment for 90 days or more, had increased by 417 percent among “super prime” borrowers between June 2007 and June 2009. Default risk during the same period rose by 406 percent for the second-highest rated category of “prime” consumers, and nearly doubled for those at the “near prime” scoring level.”* The VantageScore® credit score model is one example of a credit risk model that was recently redeveloped to capture the changing consumer behavior of repayment. The development data set included 45 million consumer credit profiles for the time period of 2006 to 2009.  The VantageScore® credit score will be released for lenders use January 2011. *Source: The Washington Post, “Walk-aways leading to big changes for all borrower’s credit score, November 5, 2010 Link for article:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/05/AR2010110502133.html

By: Kristan Frend According to the 2011 Identity Theft Assistance Center Outlook (ITAC), new forms of small business identity theft are emerging. This shouldn’t be a surprise that criminals view small business accounts as a lucrative funding source. What is surprising is that the ‘new’ form of small business identity theft consists of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service reporting a surge in criminal rings using small business information from stolen mail, check writing software and other tactics to counterfeit checks. That’s the new wave of small business identity theft??? I consider this one of the least sophisticated types of fraud that can easily be eliminated by small business owners not leaving mail unattended. Reading this report makes me realize that we have a long way to go in identifying and reporting the more sophisticated types of small business fraud.  As I’ve mentioned before, the industry has come a long way in advancing consumer fraud solutions.  Yet, as fraud has migrated into business accounts, we as an industry still have a ways to go in reporting the latest business fraud trends and tracking statistics.  I’m adding this to my wish list for 2011… What’s on your wish list? On a side note, I’ve noticed nearly all of the articles posted in our blog include no reader comments. I’d like to think that this means our readers are too busy to add comments and/or our articles are so well-written that they answer all of your questions. One can dream right? Seriously though, as we approach 2011 and plan our topics, we’d love to hear from you- if you can think of any topic you’d like us to cover more in depth, please let us know.