Atlanta, GA, October 25, 2011:  Online Banking Solutions (OBS) announced that Mike Balin joined its management team as Director of Product Consulting to focus on custom solutions and account relationship management. Balin is located in OBS’ new Boston office and brings 25 years of industry experience as a technology innovator and banker.   In addition to expanding the reach of OBS sales efforts, Balin provides pre-sale analysis and consulting services in support of OBS solutions for ebanking and secure file transfer to financial institutions.

Mike’s financial services background comprises management and development roles in online banking, treasury management, marketing, service delivery, operations and programming. This includes implementing cash management systems at Chase Manhattan Bank (now JPMorgan Chase), forming and managing what became the number four online banking business in the U.S. at the time (BayBank/BankBoston, which is now Bank of America), and product management responsibilities at Sovereign Bank (now Banco Santander). Prior experience at technology companies includes hardware, software and consumer electronics firms. During his seven years at Digital (now Hewlett-Packard), Mike’s responsibilities included international bank marketing, broadband R&D and a three-year assignment at the company’s Tokyo, Japan sales office as director of financial services marketing.

“The addition of Mike Balin in the product consulting function represents continued hiring of experienced and talented resources to drive the next phase of company growth,” says OBS CEO, Dan Myers. “OBS is all about true product innovation and Mike’s background demonstrates his ability to deliver creative technology solutions to meet the business needs of the financial services market.”

Following the news last week of activities in the fintech vendor triangle (ACI, S1 and Fundtech), there suddenly appeared a flurry of articles about the wonderful benefits of vendor consolidation for financial institutions (FI’s).  While we all know, this is the PR engine spinning in advance of these deals, it is probably worthwhile to explore this subject in a bit more detail.

In theory, the benefits of vendor consolidation are considered to be:

• One-stop shopping
• Multi-product discounts
• Integrated products
• Innovation

In reality, these “benefits” typically translate to:

• Less competition and higher prices
• Bundled pricing with a complex cost structure
• Product integrated “in name only” – but you can probably sign a single contract
• Less innovation, longer time-to-market, less willingness of the combined vendor in new product development
• The vendor decides what platform is best for you and when it will be updated

The consolidated vendor experience will be similar to traveling on a very large cruise ship.  You aren’t going to move very fast or get anywhere quickly, but the food and entertainment will be wonderful and you will make lots of new friends while watching product and customer opportunities go by like so many smaller, faster boats.

Enjoy those user conferences!

The Vendor: Joe Spatarella, VP, Sales & Marketing, Online Banking Solutions (OBS)

Innovation has been around for a long time and is almost always viewed as a key element to progress.  It requires creativity, forward-thinking and, oh yeah, time.  Well, we can all be creative on some level and we can all imagine our future, but if you don’t have any time to think about innovation, it all just stops there.  Doesn’t it?

How can we possibly invent and introduce something new for online business banking when we spend most of our time absorbed with the clients, products, services and systems we already have?  Ironically, many FI project teams are spending 1 to 2 years working to implement technology solutions that used to be fresh and new.

So is innovation relegated to interesting reading and lively conversation? Hardly.

It actually can be more a matter of personal philosophy: if you accept the fact that every ebanking product, service, process, method and procedure can be improved, and that a minimal investment of time and effort can yield great results, you will constantly innovate.

History and experience demonstrate that only a fraction of new system functionality ever gets implemented. All the resources are focused on the initial implementation and then redeployed to another critical project.  The benefits of mining features and functions that were never turned on during “phase 1” can be substantial.

Drivers for innovation can be internal or external.  Internal drivers include:  improvement of cost, value, timing, process and quality.  Even with new products, you can implement and improve simultaneously, provided you have budget and resources to accomplish the additional work.  External factors tend to have a greater impact on us as they include: new technology, economic climate, client needs and requirements, integration challenges and, of course, company initiatives.  Think of internal as the “you have to want to” and external as “you better find a way to get this done”.  As fear can be a great motivator, you can see how external forces can drive more innovation.

So, as you can see, our ability to innovate is less about time than it is about our state of mind and willingness to go one step farther with every task, regardless of the challenges.

The Analyst: Maggie Scarborough, Managing Director, FinServ Strategies

Fire Fighting Leaves Little to Spend, Collaboration Not Frustration is Key to Execution

Clearly, the Corporate/Small Business Banking line of business at many banks is chafed by the lack of monetary commitment from the CIO’s office, which holds the budgets for technology expenditures and technology investment in tools for innovation.  The irritation rages, especially when transaction fee revenue from business customers of all sizes has helped the bank withstand the ravages of the recession.

The IT reality:

After mandates are satisfied, only 23-28% of budgets remain for technology improvements. Fast rising compliance demands now eat up to 30% of IT budgets. IT budgets remain relatively flat when accounting for spending pent-up by recession-driven fiscal conservation.

IT has a lot of mouths to feed, therefore, large institution-wide projects (due to scale), tend to get the most investment, but they have the highest incidence of failure or significant delay (60%). Moreover, capability can be diluted to the lowest common denominator, causing the business banking line of business to “go AWOL” and invest in its own solutions using operating budget. This type of investment can be a business line saver to meet goals. The strategy is driving sales to software as a service (SaaS) based solutions, which IT may have never considered before, but it doesn’t do much for business line-IT relations. Moreover, because operating budget isn’t roomy, the business line may fall into the trap of buying on price rather than capability best suited to their business customers and markets. The best strategy is for the business line and IT to work together.

Business Line-IT Collaboration Best Practices: 

Work together. Over the last several years we have seen increasing numbers of institutions creating business line – IT counterparts. Capital One Bank is an example of an institution, whose business line and IT work closely to achieve business and technology goals and get the most out of investment on both sides.

Keep informed by IT. Understand what IT’s plans are and inform them with your needs, influence early.

Leverage Your Solution Investment. Think of other areas of the institution that can benefit from the proposed solution – allow them to buy in with you early.

How Leverageable is the Vendor Solution? Make sure you understand how frictionless the effort is to add applications, customizations, and roll out new services to your customers. You may want to buy the solution all of the big banks are buying, but if you don’t have time and resources to support an ocean liner maybe you need a power-yacht.

Core Providers, Aren’t Your Only Provider. Core banking application vendors are typically one-stop shops when it comes to consumer and business banking, particularly in the community banking market.  But, be realistic about core’s focus on business banking – it’s not their “core” revenue generator and you may get much more capability from an independent business banking provider through SaaS.

Be Realistic about Implementation. Ego, control and staff considerations may drive your desire to implement a business banking solution on the bank’s premises. Be realistic, can you support the platform as efficiently as the vendor can serve you on a SaaS implementation? Over 63% of US institutions have implemented SaaS-based solutions.

Maggie Scarborough, Managing Director, FinServ Strategies
www.FinServStrategies.com
Maggie@FinServStrategies.com

OBS Predicts Major Shifts in Online Banking

In 2011, we see major shifts in the online banking market:

Market specialization: larger banks will invest resources and technology in pursuit of global clients and vertical markets such as healthcare, while smaller commercial banks, community banks and credit unions will focus on acquiring and aggressively marketing new business banking services.

Technology: online banking services will become “channel-neutral” will a greater emphasis on wider service distribution. Efforts to improve user experience will lead to business function-specific packaging with automated processing and information integration to financial software and accounting systems. Business payables and receivables functions will drive product innovations along with increased fraud monitoring and controls.

Security: private cloud computing technology will be leveraged to provide secure environments for online banking and payments processing. Continuing issues and challenges with commercial web browsers will push both FI’s and technology providers to “private” browsers and secured desktop applications.

User Experience: FI clients will have higher expectations of online banking and payments services forcing replacement of basic “vanilla” functionality with contemporary solutions. The web channel will be used to view, research and adjust payments and information processing while the transactions will migrate to file-based processing. Overall, users will demand a uniform, consistent interface regardless of the delivery channel.

We’d like to share our outside interests with you and hope you’ll, in turn, tell us about yours! What do you do when you’re not working?

Visit the Passions Page on our website to learn more about the OBS team!

Atlanta, GA, November 2, 2010:  Online Banking Solutions (OBS) announced that Robert Surko joined Online Banking Solutions (OBS) as Director of Banking Sales with a focus on Community Banks and Credit Unions. Surko has 27 years of online banking and payments industry experience as both a vendor and a banker. Based out of the new OBS Dallas Sales Office, he will be offering the full line of leading-edge OBS solutions to financial institutions assisting in expanding the geographic reach of the OBS sales efforts.

For 16 years, Surko has held executive positions and successfully built Treasury Management businesses at various Texas banks..  His accomplishments include developing a full suite of products and services, working closely with core processors, selecting 3rd party service providers, implementing financial services delivery infrastructure and generating related income.  Surko is known for successful implementation of electronic payments and online banking services for market segments ranging from large corporate to small business including highly successful deposit generation strategies.  Prior to his banking positions, Surko worked with two leading global 3rd party organizations promoting their outsourced and proprietary electronic banking products to the same financial institutions, core processors and credit union sectors.

“Adding Robert Surko to the OBS team underscores OBS’ commitment to bringing the most competitive and innovative online banking and channel technologies to the community bank and credit union segments,” says OBS vp of sales and marketing, Joe Spatarella.  The SaaS-based, OBS Messenger Financial Center offering has a strong value proposition for financial institutions of any size interested in implementing an adaptable, scalable commercial e-channel strategy. “Messenger Financial Center provides a competitive array of online banking, online payments and secure file transfer at an affordable cost enabling FI’s to both retain clients and grow revenues through Web, mobile and FTP channels.”

When you think about cybersecurity, remember that electronics such as cell
phones and PDAs may also be vulnerable to attack. Take appropriate
precautions to limit your risk.

Why does cybersecurity extend beyond computers?

Actually, the issue is not that cybersecurity extends beyond computers; it
is that computers extend beyond traditional laptops and desktops. Many
electronic devices are computers from cell phones and PDAs to video games
and car navigation systems. While computers provide increased features and
functionality, they also introduce new risks. Attackers may be able to take
advantage of these technological advancements to target devices previously
considered “safe.” For example, an attacker may be able to infect your cell
phone with a virus, steal your phone or wireless service, or access the data
on  your  PDA. Not only do these activities have implications for your
personal information, but they could also have serious consequences if you
store corporate information on the device.

What types of electronics are vulnerable?

Any  piece of electronic equipment that uses some kind of computerized
component is vulnerable to software imperfections and vulnerabilities. The
risks increase if the device is connected to the internet or a network that
an attacker may be able to access. Remember that a wireless connection also
introduces  these  risks  (see  Securing  Wireless  Networks  for more
information). The outside connection provides a way for an attacker to send
information to or extract information from your device.

How can you protect yourself?

* Remember physical security – Having physical access to a device makes it
easier for an attacker to extract or corrupt information. Do not leave
your  device  unattended in public or easily accessible areas (see
Protecting Portable Devices: Physical Security for more information).
* Keep  software up to date – If the vendor releases updates for the
software  operating your device, install them as soon as possible.
Installing them will prevent attackers from being able to take advantage
of known problems or vulnerabilities (see Understanding Patches for more
information).
* Use good passwords – Choose devices that allow you to protect your
information with passwords. Select passwords that will be difficult for
thieves to guess, and use different passwords for different programs and
devices (see Choosing and Protecting Passwords for more information). Do
not choose options that allow your computer to remember your passwords.
* Disable remote connectivity – Some PDAs and phones are equipped with
wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, that can be used to connect to
other devices or computers. You should disable these features when they
are  not  in  use (see Understanding Bluetooth Technology for more
information).
* Encrypt files – If you are storing personal or corporate information,
see if your device offers the option to encrypt the files. By encrypting
files, you ensure that unauthorized people can’t view data even if they
can physically access it. When you use encryption, it is important to
remember your passwords and passphrases; if you forget or lose them, you
may lose your data.
_________________________________________________________________

Authors: Mindi McDowell, Matt Lytle
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Produced 2005 by US-CERT, a government organization. Terms of use
US-CERT

Note: This tip was previously published and is being
re-distributed to increase awareness.

“XML makes it easy to transcend the barriers posed by different standards and requires less intervention by people,” Joe Spatarella explains in the article that details the value of XML as it applies to treasury management. To read more, visit the article at Treasury & Risk’s website here.