MADISON, Wis.-Look for credit unions to herd members online in 2010 to newly enhanced virtual branches-online hubs that save money for the CU and meet an increasing number of members' service needs.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.-Beyond cyber-banking, the eight CUNA Technology Council Executive Committee members participating in the Credit Union Journal "Look Ahead" roundtable said there are other technologies to watch in 2010.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Though the risk of data loss due to retaliation from former employees is less worrisome to some CUs than the risk of data accidentally compromised in an e-mail, it's still important for IT managers to protect themselves against data theft after employee lay-offs, several analysts stressed.

BURBANK, Calif.-Disgruntled, laid-off employees may be inclined to walk out with confidential data stored under their belt, but a number of CUs say they are still more concerned that current employees will accidentally e-mail non-public information (NPI), rather than maliciously steal it.

Barclaycard will launch another contactless marketing push, this one featuring a rollercoaster ride through New York City, the issuer announced this week. The advertising effort follows an earlier one designed to promote contactless card payments through the use of commercials featuring waterslides.

Arcot Systems Inc. has released an application for mobile phones that enables consumers with EMV cards to authenticate card-not-present transactions, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said this week.

Total System Services Inc. plans to use mobile phones to gain a larger foothold in micropayments, Ashim Banerjee, the U.S.-based transaction processor’s chief information officer for TSYS Acquiring Solutions, tells PaymentsSource.

The number of small business owners who believe the economy is getting worse declined in December compared with November, according to survey data from Discover Financial Services.

The Federal Reserve earned $45 billion last year, money that will be returned to the U.S. Treasury. The dollar figure is the highest recorded in the 96-year history of the central bank and the numbers are good news for the federal budget.

At least 22 million adults in the United Kingdom, or 53% of the country’s 41.4 million regular Internet users, banked online in 2009, according to Financial Fraud Action UK, a trade group for the payments industry. Last year represented the first time the percentage of UK online-banking users exceeded 50% of regular Internet users, the trade group said Tuesday.

Inside Contactless is working with another France-based contactless-technology firm to develop kiosks and electronic wallets that use Near Field Communication, an Inside spokesperson tells PaymentsSource.

SAN DIEGO – USA FCU announced yesterday it has signed with ClairMail to power its new mobile banking technology and services.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – AllSouth FCU said it will implement TEKchand’s ATMLive Manager Platform for managing content and electronic journals on both its legacy and Windows ATM deployments.

The results of a pilot Discover Financial Services recently completed of its Zip contactless-payment sticker suggest consumers are eager to use contactless stickers for routine payments as a bridge before Near Field Communication-equipped mobile handsets are available on a mass scale, Discover says.

If the banking industry was seeking clarity on the trend in consumer loan delinquencies, it did not receive it in the latest American Bankers Association data.

Beaverton, Ore.-based First Tech Credit Union is warning its members of a new malicious banking application it discovered that apparently is designed to steal online banking account details on Google's new Android cellphones.

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – Texas Dow Employees CU has contracted with PSCU Financial Services for its Electronic Banking suite, which includes online and mobile banking platforms.

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Digital FCU has implemented fiVISION’s digitized wire transfer validation module designed to cut processing time in half.

BEAVERTON, Ore. – First Tech CU is warning its members of a new malicious banking application it discovered that apparently is designed to steal online banking account details on Google's new Android cellphones.

AUSTIN, Texas – Security experts are monitoring credit unions for a so-called "zeusbot" attack, which is bypassing many anti-virus and malware scanning software used by credit union members, putting their personal financial jeopardy when they log on to their home banking service.