Technology projects often fail because business employees are left out of the loop, according to one credit union IT manager here.

EPL Inc. has inked a deal to provide secure authentication for credit union members' online-account-access through EPL's CUe-Branch home banking. Having analyzed the top security providers, EPL found RSA Security's proven track record in protecting online identities through a flexible portfolio of solutions to be second-to-none. RSA Security is a premier provider with a long history of setting the standard for excellence in security.

With phishing scams remaining prevalent, the Financial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC) said it is taking a "major step forward" with the launch of a major project aimed at authenticating financial institutions to their customers.

One year after Hurricane Katrina and the storm surge has given way to subsequent deposit and loan surges.

The following are members of The Credit Union Journal's Technology Panel. They are all given the opportunity to respond to reader questions, in addition to providing input to our technology coverage.

Keep security simple.

Employees may do more than get mail when they check their outside e-mail accounts from the credit union.

Hundreds of customers at Dollars Tree discount stores have reported funds being stolen from their credit union and bank accounts in recent weeks by unauthorized ATM withdrawals, authorities said.

Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union unveiled a new website with a "flying money" theme that's featured in local advertisements.

IntegraSys, a business unit of Fiserv Inc., said Gateway Metro Credit Union, St. Louis, will use the company's solution to create and maintain one of the largest protfolios of health savings accounts (HSAs) among credit unions. The $171-million GMCU, which runs IntegraSys' Premier core processing platsform, began offering HSAs in October of 2005. IntegraSys noted the HSA program is part of a larger initiative by Fiserv to help financial institutions participate in the increasing adoption of consumer-driven health plans.

ECU To Implement OSI Solution

Research by RSA Security has found that the biggest challenge in online security is balancing the need for those security measures with the need to keep the consumer experience friendly.

TruStar FCU said it will install Replicon's Web TimeOff, a web-based solution for tracking employee time off. The system helps users control operating costs by better tracking employee scheduling for attendance, vacation and sick leave. The system's main features include master calendar views, and automated and centralized recording system and automatic email notifications. Replicon is based in Calgary, Canada.

TriCipher, Inc. announced the signing of CheckFree Investment Services for its Armored Credential System, a multi-factor authentication solution.

Visitors to www.WescomCreditUnion.com are hit with an array of offers for auto, home, credit card and payday loans.

A document management solution should be a staple for all credit unions, but an electronic workflow system that automatically routes documents and assign tasks is still out of reach, according to Hudson Valley FCU (HVFCU) here.

We are preparing to introduce wireless access, but we're concerned about making it totally secure. What are some of the things we are most likely to have missed in trying to secure wireless access?

Fair Isaac Corp., maker of the ubiquitous Falcon anti-fraud payment system, said it has agreed to undertake a study on click fraud and click quality in pay-per-click advertising. The study, conducted with the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, will be used to help online businesses to differentiate between Internet advertising "clicks" that are genuine expressions of human interest and those that are not. Fair Isaac scientists believe the neural networks they use to detect fraud for 450 million active payment cards worldwide can be used to differentiate between real and fake "clicks." SEMPO members and non-member advertisers will have an opportunity to contribute anonymous click stream data to the study. In exchange, they will receive meaningful analysis of their search engine advertising and potential click fraud.

United Financial CU it has signed to provide comprehensive identity theft prevention and resolution services through Identity Theft 911, Scottsdale, Ariz.The $86 million CU will provide the services free to its 13,000 members.

Texans CU announced it has acquired 12 more image-enabled ATMs from NCR, giving it a total of 15.