Gemalto has announced commercial launch of the Ezio Optical TAN, a unique optical authentication reader for online banking access that is specially designed for the German market. According to the company, "the reader, the size of a credit card, fits in a wallet along with the banking card. Users present the device in front of their computer screen and optical sensors capture the data they would normally enter from the reader keypad to carry out and sign online transactions. No software needs to be installed to use the device." READ MORE

ThreatMetrix has unveiled a new mobile security application for smartphone users called SafeAndSurf - a web browser that securely stores a smartphone user's personal data until he or she is ready to sign-on to a social network, execute an online banking transaction, or complete an ecommerce purchase. According to the company, "SafeAndSurf is the only mobile security application to safeguard a smartphone user's personal information and also allow the user to automatically insert that information to transaction data fields, a combination that allows consumers to shop, bank and play on their smartphones more safely and easily." SafeAndSurf is available today for use on the Apple iPhone. READ MORE

After 17 years in the personal financial management software business, Microsoft has announced that it is withdrawing from that market:

With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed. After suspending annual updates of Money Plus in 2008, Microsoft is announcing today that we will no longer offer Microsoft Money Plus for purchase after June 30, 2009.

More details here.

Javelin Strategy & Research has released a new report that shows how it believes that financial institutions must create a Customer-Driven Architecture (CDA) that gives customers what research shows they want most: financial control. According to Javelin, "with many consumers’ finances in shambles, today’s economy is the perfect time to finally put customers in charge. The seven attributes of CDA outlined in the report shows bankers how to prioritize technology investments in order to achieve iPhone-like monetary control." READ MORE

Andera has announced that it has entered into a strategic relationship with Digital Insight, an Intuit company and an outsourced provider of online banking and financial management capabilities to banks and credit unions in the United States. This agreement enables Digital Insight to provide Andera’s online account opening and funding solutions to its client financial institutions. READ MORE

Wesabe has announced that Delta Community Credit Union, the largest credit union in Georgia, is its charter Wesabe Springboard customer. Using Wesabe's Springboard offering, Delta Community Credit Union will have full access to Wesabe's suite of applications, including account management, goal setting/tracking, community forums, widgets, and merchant tips and comparisons. READ MORE

VeriSign has announced its VIP Access for Mobile application is now available in the Apple iTunes App Store. The application turns the iPhone into a dynamic VIP one-time-password (OTP) credential that can be used in conjunction with a username and password to strengthen the security of online accounts. See Glenn Fleishman's review on TidBITS. READ MORE

New research released today by HSBC Direct shows that 49 percent of the online population conducts most, if not all, of its banking via the Internet, up nearly 23 percent from early 2007. READ MORE

Fiserv has released results of a newly commissioned survey by Forrester finding that U.S. consumers are using the online banking channel more frequently to access their accounts during the current global financial crisis.

"Some 71 percent of consumers said they are keeping a closer eye on their finances than they did a year ago. Slightly more than three-quarters of the consumers surveyed said they use online banking, with non-users making up the remaining one-quarter. Online banking usage increased far more than any other banking channel, with 28 percent of consumers indicating they are using online banking more than they did a year ago, and 63 percent said managing all of their accounts online from one site would help them feel more in control of their finances."

Digital Insight, the financial institutions division of Intuit, has delivered Small Business FinanceWorks™ to help financial insitutions acquire low cost small business deposits and sustain a competitive advantage by offering an online hub for their small business customers.

"Small Business FinanceWorks is a new online financial management tool that small businesses can access through the online banking site of their local financial institution. By offering Small Business FinanceWorks to their customers, banks and credit unions now have the unique opportunity to attract new small business customers, strengthen existing relationships and gain a competitive advantage." READ MORE

The Bank of Canada has published a working paper titled "Market Structure and the Diffusion of E-Commerce: Evidence from the Retail Banking Industry" by Jason Allen, Robert Clark, and Jean-Francois Houde.

This paper studies the role that market structure plays in affecting the diffusion of electronic banking. Electronic banking (and electronic commerce more generally) reduces the cost of performing many types of transactions for firms. The full benefits for firms from adoption, however, only accrue once consumers begin to perform a significant share of their transactions online. Since there are learning costs to adopting the new technology firms may try to encourage consumers to go online by affecting the relative quality of the online and offline options. Their ability to do so is a function of market structure.

Gemalto has announced that its Ezio Pocket Reader is "the first fully certified reader made available to the market for MasterCard Advanced Authentication for Chip. The Advanced Authentication for Chip specification allows two-factor authentication on any EMV card already in use, whether or not it has been personalized according to the MasterCard Chip Authentication Program™ (CAP)." READ MORE

Authentify has announced that HSBC has deployed Authentify’s services to protect online and remote transactions from fraud. According to the company, "HSBC, the world's largest bank by asset size, is using Authentify’s services to automatically authenticate online users attempting certain transaction against HSBC accounts. The out-of-band process requires user or transaction specific details to be entered via telephone, separately from the Internet side of the exchange. The process isolates the authentication from Internet threats making it more difficult to tamper with an account even if armed with compromised identity information." READ MORE

The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency has released its final report, "Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency" . "The Commission’s three major findings are: cybersecurity is now one of the major national security problems facing the U.S.; decisions and actions must respect American values related to privacy and civil liberties; and only a comprehensive national security strategy that embraces both the domestic and international aspects of cybersecurity will improve the situation."

Intuit's Digital Insight unit has announced the availability of its FinanceWorks online financial management solutions for banks that "makes it possible for consumers to manage accounts across more than 5,000 financial institutions and credit card sites, ensure bills are paid on time regardless of the method they use to pay them, and see where their money is going, including future transactions. All this within the financial institution’s Web site." READ MORE

Earlier this week, Intuit held its annual investor day to review its growth strategies. The presentation slides are available online along with an accompanying webcast.

Offering free online bill payment solutions to retail banking customers will cost the financial services industry $1 billion (USD) by 2010, according to TowerGroup estimates. "This aggregate amount represents spending on the portion of the service that financial services institutions (FSIs) outsource. While financial institutions traditionally accepted this expense as a cost of doing business, the “soft” revenue associated with online bill pay (enhanced customer retention, cross-sell opportunities, reduced call center activity, and higher profitability of online bill payment users) no longer compensates for the “hard” dollars institutions must spend to facilitate it." READ MORE

According to a survey sponsored by CheckFree, "more Americans than ever, an estimated 63.1 million households or three-fourth of those online, are paying their bills online rather than writing paper checks. The 2008 Consumer Banking and Bill Payment Survey, the eighth conducted by CheckFree since 2002, highlights Americans’ growing use of online banking and bill payment services to help manage their personal finances." READ MORE

Jim Bruene takes a look at Intuit's recently introduced Quicken Beam service - "the free service sends users text messages balance and activity alerts from most U.S. bank, credit card, and credit union accounts." Here's the press release introducing the service. Quicken Beam is one of the first services introduced by Intuit Labs.

Metavante has announced an alliance with Connect Software Solutions, an online banking provider for credit unions to bring Metavante’s bill presentment and payment solutions and Connect’s online banking platform together into a fully integrated online banking and bill pay product that will be delivered to the credit union market by Connect. READ MORE

Guardian Analytics has announced the general availability of FraudMAP 2.0 - saying that this release extends its "proprietary Dynamic Account Modeling technology to model all individual online account holder activity session by session, from login to logout, increasing FraudMAP's ability to detect suspicious actions and flag behaviors inconsistent with predicted account holder behavior." READ MORE

Glenbrook's Russ Jones recently met with Ken Myles of NACHA to get an update on NACHA's Secure Vault Payments initiative. Read on for Russ' insights and reactions to what he learned. READ MORE

Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson recently interviewed Murali Subbarao, CEO of Billeo, about the status of the online bill payment marketplace in the US. Read on for her full interview . READ MORE

Tom Wills, Senior Analyst, Security and Fraud, at Javelin Strategy and Research has published a new report titled "Consumer Authentication for Retail Banking: Compliance Does Not Equal Security".

"With the majority of financial institutions in compliance after the frenzied rush to meet the authentication requirements of the 2005 FFIEC Guidance, a number of financial institutions have relaxed into a satisfied mode. Compliance is not security, however, and complacency increases risk. Weaknesses have already been proven for widely adopted methods such as mutual authentication and device recognition." READ MORE

Wells Fargo has begun rolling out its new vSafe service to customers in 18 states – Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming – and the Greater Sacramento area. The vSafe service was announced in March and has been undergoing internal testing since that time. With the new service, "customers can protect and easily access electronic copies of financial, legal and personal files, such as loan and tax documents, wills, passports, medical records, photographs and more, in a safe online location." READ MORE

Chris Skinner writes that he's found the "first Bank 2.0. It's Spanish. It's BBVA." More information - including some snazzy screenshots of how the online bank looks on an Apple iPhone - on BBVA's developer's website - Strands. Earlier this year, Strands acquired both NetworthIQ and Expensr.

APACS, the UK payments association, has released figures showing that the number of adults using online banking in the UK has increased by 505% in the past seven years from less than 3.5 million in 2000 to just over 21 million last year. READ MORE

Forrester has published a new report titled "Consumers Are Apathetic About Mobile Banking" by Emmett Higdon. According to the summary: "online bankers and bill payers are uninterested in the mobile banking pitch. ... Why? Online bankers and bill payers don't see their transactions as urgent enough to warrant mobile access. Instead, they prefer to wait until they can access the Web, ATM, or phone channel."

Aladdin Knowledge Systems has announced a partnership with IdenTrust to provide identity authentication solutions for secure online banking and financial transactions. READ MORE

comScore has released a report on the Canadian online banking sector showing that Canada is one of the world's most developed markets for online banking. "Canadians are typically very savvy Internet users, a fact that is underscored by their heavy usage of online banking," said Brent Bernie, president of comScore Media Metrix, comScore Canada. "But because the Canadian online banking sector is so developed and competition already so fierce, banks need to closely examine how they are meeting the needs of their consumers online if they are to achieve customer growth and retention through this increasingly important channel." READ MORE