Branch Closures Push Consumers Away
ATLANTA-Three in 10 consumers who use bank branches say they would switch financial institutions if the branch they use most often were to be permanently closed, according to a recent survey by SYNERGISTICS Research.
The study, "Branch Networks in Transition," asked branch users which of several actions they would be likely to take if their primary branch were to close permanently. More than four in 10 said they would start using a different branch of their current financial institution. However, three in 10 report they would switch to another financial institution with a more convenient branch. One in seven say they would use another method of handling financial matters such as ATMs, online banking, call centers, or mobile banking.
"Results from our survey show that branch networks continue to be very important for both account acquisition and retention," said Bill McCracken, CEO of SYNERGISTICS. "Those providers considering the closure of some branch locations should be prepared for a degree of account runoff as a result...Younger consumers (18 to 49) are more likely to indicate that they would switch."
For info: www.synergisticsresearch.com
Most Savvy Marketers? Phishers
TACOMA, Wash.-Phishers are becoming more sophisticated criminal marketers, according to Internet Identity, a provider of technology and services that help organizations secure their Internet presence.
The company said one of its recent studies revealed a quarter that was a "watershed for data breaches," from unprecedented large-scale attacks at Sony and Epsilon, to penetrations against security companies themselves, and even assaults on small, non-traditional targets like a knitting community. Between recent direct attacks and exposures caused by password re-use, Internet Identity said industry leaders are calling for new, resilient security practices that assume network compromise has already occurred, so efforts be directed to detecting and containing them quickly.
To see how these events are shaping thoughts and planning within enterprise environments, IID surveyed its clients who are leading enterprises on the threats from spear phishing, a more highly targeted form of phishing. More than 85% of respondents acknowledged some concern about spear phishing, with 33% saying that they are "extremely concerned." Further, fully half of all respondents reported that their organizations had been victimized by spear phishing in the past year.
Phishers increasingly used a technique called URL rewriting to target multiple legitimate domains simultaneously through compromised shared servers that host hundreds of unique URLs at a single IP address, the company said. This practice allows phishers to bypass many anti-spam measures and increase deliverability of their lure messages.
IID found the overall phishing increase quarter to quarter was a "significant" 11%. Yet since IID only counts one compromised IP address per phishing attack in its overall statistics, the actual increase in overall attacks if URL rewriting was to be included would be dramatically higher (more than 80%).
Why CEOs Can't Sleep
GREENWICH, Conn.-A recent survey of more than 200 chief executives found third-party lawsuits and identity theft are the biggest areas of concern.
When asked by Chief Executive Group, which conducted the survey, what keeps them up at night, 37% of respondents said being sued by a third party was a "high" or "very high" area of concern, while 57% indicated identity theft as such.
The purpose of the survey was to ascertain senior executives' awareness of "invisible risks" and measure their risk preparedness. Survey results indicate that while most CEOs surveyed were aware of risks to "hard" assets-homes, cars, boats, jewelry, etc.-many were not aware of the extent of the personal liabilities they face as highly visible and frequently targeted individuals. Most had inadequate insurance protection against associated risks.
Other findings show that while significant majorities of CEOs were confident in the levels of insurance coverage obtained for automobiles (95%) and homes (97.5%), only 52.2% were confident that their companies provided them adequate Directors & Officers (D&O) Insurance liability coverage to protect them. A whopping 41% said they were not sure if the boards on which they serve even have adequate insurance coverage for them.
For info: www.chiefexecutive.net
Bank Deposits at Record High: Nearly $10 Trillion
Has art SAN ANSELMO, Calif.-Total deposits in FDIC insured institutions continues to increase, reaching a historic record of $9.8 trillion at the end of June.
Analysis from Market Rates Insight found the record amount of deposits increased by $343 billion in the first half of this year. Most of the increase in deposits in the first half of this year (99%) occurred in domestic accounts.
The shift of money from CDs to liquid accounts (checking, savings and money market) continues, MRI said. In the first half of this year, balances of CDs, which require time commitment, decreased by $94 billion-from $1.978 billion to $1.884 billion, whereas balances of liquid accounts increased by $446 billion-from $5.895 billion to $6.341 billion.
Additionally, the shift of balances from business to retail consumer deposits continues. In the first half of this year, the amount of retail consumer deposits increased by $382 billion, whereas business deposit balances decreased by $29 billion. As of June, retail consumer balances made up 90.1% of total deposits, up from 89.2% in the beginning of the year.
"We projected this phenomenal growth in deposits and the shift from term to liquid accounts in the analysis we produced last year," said Dan Geller, Ph.D. Executive Vice President at Market Rates Insight. "The reason we are witnessing such growth and shift in deposits despite meager interest rates is because consumers are very fearful about the economy, and are fleeing to the safety and security of insured and liquid deposits."
For info: www.marketratesinsight.com,
Study: Insider Fraud An Issue For FIs
SEATTLE-Many organizations, including credit unions, have risk-management issues with insider fraud, according to a recent study.
A survey conducted by Attachmate Corp. and the Ponemon Institute found that 21% of respondents, including representatives from financial institutions, respondents from financial institutions, reported that employee-related incidents of fraud are found approximately 53 times per year.
Other findings included:
* 64% said the risk of insider fraud is "very high" or "high" within their organizations.
* Most respondents said that CEOs and other C-level executives may be ignoring the threat.
* The majority of insider fraud incidents go unpunished, leaving organizations vulnerable to future such incidents.
* The majority of respondents do not believe their organization has the appropriate technologies to prevent or quickly detect insider fraud, including employees' misuse of IT resources.
For info: www.attachmate.com
January Financial Anxiety Improves
SAN FRANCISCO-The Money Anxiety Index for January stood at 93.9, an improvement of 1.4 index points over the same month in 2011.
The Money Anxiety Index has been on the rise since the beginning of the recession in December 2007, and peaked in mid-2011 at 99.5. The index improved gradually in the past six months, which its author said indicates a higher level of consumer financial confidence.
However, said Dan Geller, trend analyst at Money Anxiety Index, there is a "cloud" hovering over the improvement in the financial confidence of U.S. consumers, and that is the instability of the Eurozone financial system.
For info: www.moneyanxiety.com
White Paper: How CUs Can Turn ATMs Into Marketing Tools
PHOENIX-With increased state and federal regulation affecting bottom lines, interest rates at an all-time low, and consumers wary of paying additional fees, many credit unions and banks have had to cut back on advertising budgets.
To help maintain awareness, Express Teller Services has released a white paper titled "Turn Your ATM into a Powerful Marketing Tool" that it said identfies the benefits of ATM branding as an alternative to more expensive traditional advertising for financial institutions.
The white paper, which is available as a free download, was written by Josh Ettesvold, president and CEO of Express Teller Services. He said financial institutions can use affordable ATM branding to increase awareness, attract new members/customers, promote products and services, and increase ATM fee income. He detailed how the use of ATM topper signage with compliance information built-in can protect financial institutions from costly ATM fee disclosure lawsuits.
"At less than $400 per terminal, the one-time fee for an ATM wrap equates to less than half a cent per user, for an ATM with an average of 1,000 transactions a month," Ettesvold said.
For info: www.expresstellerservices.com
White Paper: Four Common Mistakes CUs Make Online
DES MOINES, Iowa-PolicyWorks has released a white paper on compliance.
"Credit unions are held to many of the same regulations governing the big banks and the way they advertise their products and services," writes the white paper's author, Compliance Officer Kyle Woodmansee. "Therefore, they need to apply as much scrutiny and due diligence to their creative messages as do large financial institutions."
With open media such as websites, PolicyWorks said an innocent oversight or simple ignorance of the rules is broadcast to any number of people watching for mistakes. In the white paper, Woodmansee addresses common missteps made by credit unions, as well as ideas for quickly rectifying mistakes.
For info: www.policyworksllc.com/white-papers.cfm
Study: Retail Banking IT Spending On Rise Amid Economic Turmoil
LONDON-Global spending on retail banking technology will increase by $3.6 billion (3.2%) in 2012, and will hit $135 billion over the next five years, according to Ovum.
"The technology investments will be mainly driven by the need to grow revenues but the changing regulatory compliance will also contribute significantly," said Jaroslaw Knapik, Ovum financial services analyst and author of the forecast. "Returning revenues to pre-recession levels will be a priority for a number of institutions, as too will be the focus on improving customer trust and increasing sales and servicing effectiveness."
Ovum said this focus will lead to accelerated investment in channel technology, predominantly online banking, which will become the fastest growing area globally in 2012, rising 5.3%, to hit $8.3 billion by year end. Elsewhere, mobile will see an increase of 5% globally in 2012, reaching $3.3 billion, while management information systems and multi-channel integration/customer information systems will also see high growth rates.
"Technologies that allow 'smarter' selling and servicing, such as customer analytics and customer data management, are expected to remain hot areas in the near future," said Knapik. "
With risk and compliance permanently on the CIO agenda, ever-increasing regulatory expenditure, which in 2012 will be predominantly related to Dodd-Frank and Basel III, will drive investments into technologies that reduce costs, such as data management, business process management, business intelligence, and analytics.
For info: www.ovum.com
