Headlines:
Aggregation Guidelines Updated
BITS, the technology arm of the Financial Services Roundtable, has published account aggregation guidelines.
Ever since online account aggregation hit the scene about three years ago, banks have been trying to think through how to let their customers view - and, in some cases, manipulate - information about accounts held at a variety of institutions. The practice of screen scraping, or grabbing data from another firm's Web site with the customer's explicit approval but without the other company's overt cooperation, became common, even though most practitioners viewed it as a necessary evil. Direct data feeds among the companies involved have been viewed as preferable, and are encouraged by industry consortiums such as BITS.
BITS said the publication announced Monday updates a 2001 document and focuses on security, privacy, consumer education, and the regulatory environment. The new guidelines encourage secure, robust, and scalable direct data feeds.
Danvers Savings Gets Intranet
Intranets.com has completed work on a corporate intranet for Danvers Savings Bank of Danvers, Mass.
The Woburn, Mass., vendor said the bank is using its technology to improve collaboration and information-sharing across its 12 branches.
Until now employees of the $840 million-asset bank have relied exclusively on group e-mails and paper manuals and forms to communicate. Now management can instantly distribute crucial company news, manuals, and other information to all employees through a Web browser.
Lisa Rose, a senior vice president at Danvers Savings and its chief information officer, said in a press release Monday that Intranets.com "is saving us tens of thousands of dollars a year compared to the cost of building and maintaining a solution in-house and offers all of the collaboration tools we need and more."
