Mobile Payment Industry News: 04/20/10

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

ANZ Shutting Down M-Banking Mobile Banking Service

ZDNet Australia is reporting that ANZ is shutting down it's mobile banking service "M-Banking"

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) will shut down its mobile banking service "M-Banking" effective 14 May. ANZ's general manager of online banking Barry Trubridge wrote a letter last week to customers, sighted by ZDNet Australia, which said that the service would be discontinued.
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ANZ Shutting Down M-Banking Mobile Banking Service

TD Bank Releases Mobile App

Safely Authenticate an Online Banking Session by

Swiping Your Card and Entering Your PIN.

Works with UBS Port and Earjack.

TD's free mobile app is now available for download from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch. The app offers the user access to banking, insurance and wealth management from their handheld devices.

"TD has more than four million online banking users and 850,000 WebBroker clients, so as the demand for smartphones grows, this is a natural evolution for us," said Paal Kaperdal, senior vice-president, online channel at TD. "TD's new app is our initial venture and we will continue to enhance our offering with new features and for additional devices in the months ahead."

Highlights of the TD mobile app include the ability to connect with TD Waterhouse agents to access market quotes, open accounts or place trades; the ability to offer secure online banking to both private and small business customers; and a built-in Accident Toolkit from TD Insurance with a to-do list in the event of an auto accident. The toolkit includes an Accident Notepad to record details on an accident to streamline any related auto insurance claims.

For more information, visit tdmobileapp.com/demo.

TD Bank Releases Mobile App

Safely Authenticate an Online Banking Session by

Swiping Your Card and Entering Your PIN.

Works with UBS Port and Earjack.

TD's free mobile app is now available for download from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch. The app offers the user access to banking, insurance and wealth management from their handheld devices.

For more information, visit tdmobileapp.com/demo.

VASCO Showcases DIGIPASS for Mobile at MEFTEC

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill., and ZURICH, April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VASCO Data Security Inc. (Nasdaq: VDSI;www.vasco.com ), a leading software security company specializing in authentication products, will showcase its DIGIPASS for Mobile authentication solution at MEFTEC (Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, 20th and 21st April, booth H301). DIGIPASS for Mobile is VASCO's authentication solution which leverages Internet enabled mobile phones for authentication purposes. DIGIPASS for Mobile can be used for two factor authentication and digital signature.

DIGIPASS for Mobile offers a solution to banks who want to secure multiple customer facing channels including e-banking, m-banking, phone banking using IVR and cash retrieval at the ATM.

An increasing number of banks protect their e-banking channels against fraud attacks, such as phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks, with two factor authentication. Banks are also increasingly introducing m-banking for their generation Y customers or in regions where the mobile phone penetration is higher than the Internet penetration. M-banking is facing similar challenges as e-banking when it comes down to protecting user accounts. VASCO's DIGIPASS for Mobile can be used to protect both the e-banking and m-banking channels using a one-time password (OTP) to access the banking application and e-signature to sign online transactions.

Furthermore the use of DIGIPASS for Mobile can be extended to phone banking. Most phone applications use Interactive Voice Response (IVR) which allows the customer to access their bank via a touchtone telephone or voice recognition. These systems often use simple passwords like: who are you and what is your mother's name. This information can easily be retrieved online using social engineering techniques. As a result the use of dynamic authentication messages becomes more important to avoid impersonation. DIGIPASS for Mobile can easily be integrated in an IVR system: when calling the bank the IVR system would immediately recognize the customer who would be prompted for a user ID and OTP to further access the banking system.

The use of DIGIPASS for Mobile can also secure cash retrieval at the ATM. ATMs have always been subject to fraud. Nowadays skimming techniques and ghost ATMs are used to obtain card details and plunder accounts. DIGIPASS for Mobile strong authentication can be added without having to change the existing ATM network, PIN validation will simply be replaced by OTP validation. The bank customer will activate the authentication application on his phone using a PIN-code. On PIN-insertion an OTP will be generated which the banking customer will type on the ATM keyboard.

"We are using VASCO's DIGIPASS for Mobile for 'Cep Sifrematik' which runs on a mobile phone. Our customers can access the Garanti Online/Mobile Branch using a one-time password generated by Cep Sifrematik. Since the mobile phone is used as an authentication device, customers can access their bank account whenever and wherever considering that they have their authentication device always in their pocket. Whether they want to access their account from somebody else's PC or in an Internet cafe they can do so in total security," says M.Feridun Aktas, Chief Security Officer at Garanti Bank (Turkey).

"The use of strong authentication for online banking is mandatory by the Turkish Banking Association. Halkbank's Sifrebazuses DIGIPASS for Mobile. It is very straightforward in use; simple and fast: we send the authentication application by SMS to our customers. They will download the application on their mobile phone and choose a password.

Every time they want to use Sifrebaz they will enter their password to generate a one-time password to access the online banking application," says Cenk Niksarli, Chairman of IT from Halkbank (Turkey).

DIGIPASS for Mobile uses proven VASCO VACMAN® authentication technology and supports more than 400 types of mobile phones and operates on Java phones, Blackberry, iPhone and Windows Mobile and platforms such as NTT Docomo.

"The mobile platform not only is becoming more attractive to hackers as more and more mobile applications are introduced, the mobile phone is also a loyal companion never leaving our side. As a result it is an excellent platform for strong authentication. Since the mobile phone is always in our pocket it can be used for user authentication at the ATM or to access e- and m-banking applications anywhere and any time," says Jan Valcke, President and COO at VASCO Data Security.

About VASCO

VASCO is a leading supplier of strong authentication and e-signature solutions and services specializing in Internet Security applications and transactions. VASCO has positioned itself as global software company for Internet Security serving a customer base of almost 9,500 companies in more than 100 countries, including approximately 1,400 international financial institutions. VASCO's prime markets are the financial sector, enterprise security, e-commerce and e-government.

VASCO Showcases DIGIPASS for Mobile at MEFTEC

DIGIPASS for Mobile offers a solution to banks who want to secure multiple customer facing channels including e-banking, m-banking, phone banking using IVR and cash retrieval at the ATM.

About VASCO

Alibaba Said to Buy into Minsheng Banking

HANGZHOU, Apr 20, 2010 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) --

Alibaba.com, the biggest B2B Web marketplace in China, is said to buy into China Minsheng Banking Corp. (SHSE: 600016 and SEHK: 1988).

Via the deal, its online payment platform Alipay.com will gain a payment-related license.

In order to enter the domestic mobile payment sector, China Mobile Ltd. (SEHK: 0941 and NYSE: CHL), the nation's biggest mobile phone operator, entered into a strategic partnership with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD Bank and SHSE: 600000), a city-level commercial lender in Shanghai, the financialhub of China, earlier this year. China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. (NYSE: CHU, SEHK: 0762 and SHSE: 600050), another leading Chinese telecommunications carrier, also reached an agreement with Bank of Communications (BoCom, SEHK: 3328 and SHSE: 601328), the fifth-biggest commercial lender in China, recently.

There is no smoke without fire, said industry experts, despite that both Alibaba.com and Minsheng Banking denied the report. Notably, an online banking interlink and intercommunication application system by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, will be formally launched in August. Alipay.com, together with other independent third-party payment platforms, may be suspended to access into the system. In order to avoid the situation, Alibaba.com is likely to team up with a bank to gain a payment-related license for the unit.

Source: www.hexun.com (April 20, 2010)

Alibaba Said to Buy into Minsheng Banking

Via the deal, its online payment platform Alipay.com will gain a payment-related license.

Source: www.hexun.com (April 20, 2010)

Veritec and PreVay Sign Collaborative Agreement to Launch Unique and Most Secure Visa Banking and Debit Card

Card Will Serve Both Banked and Un-Banked, Allowing Cardholders to Receive Paychecks Electronically Via Mobile Telephones; Need for Paper Checks Will Be Eliminated, With All Funds FDIC Insured

GOLDEN VALLEY, MN--(Marketwire - April 20, 2010) - Van Tran, CEO of Veritec, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: VRTC), today announced the signing of a collaborative marketing agreement with PreVay, New York, NY, to begin marketing a unique VISA blinx On-Off™ banking and debit card that will allow employers to pay employees electronically, transferring FDIC-insured funds directly into their cards using Veritec's Mobile technologies, in addition to those of PreVay. The card will also allow both banked and un-banked employees to send funds to whomever they wish, using their combination payroll, bank and debit-card via mobile phone. Additional cards can also be ordered for friends and relatives. "PreVay's excellent reputation for maximum knowledge and experience in banking, payroll, debit and mobile-banking arenas provides us a first-class partner for launching and marketing this great new product," said Ms. Tran. PreVay's President, Irene Marmott, said "We believe our collaboration with Veritec and its patented and proprietary technologies will revolutionize the way payrolls are issued and mobile banking is done. We are excited about the future with Veritec and believe its proprietary technologies and security features will revolutionize traditional payroll issuance, as well as the banking and debit card market. PreVay, with its strategic partners, offers a governmentally-approved payroll solution in every state recognizing payroll cards."

Veritec, through its subsidiary Veritec Financial Systems, Inc. (www.vtfs.com) (www.blinxcard.com), processes debit, pre-paid and gift card transactions for debit card issuers and sponsoring organizations. Under the MTC™ and blinx On-Off™ card programs, card issuers and sponsors may provide Veritec's private branded debit or gift cards to individuals with or without an acceptable credit history. The blinx On-Off™ card features the ability to turn card use on and off, make real time money transfers, and to provide notifications of card use. Cardholders have security and convenience while traveling and managing their funds, as well as transferring amounts from card to card or account to account, in real time anywhere in the world. Veritec technology can be deployed on both a closed or open loop processing platform. Veritec's instant issued MTC™ and blinx On-Off™ card programs, on Veritec's mobile banking platform, are connected to Security First Bank of Fresno, California.

About Veritec, Inc.

Veritec, Inc. is a pioneer and developer of proprietary two-dimensional barcodes and mobile banking debit card solutions. The company's portfolio of products includes its proprietary VeriCode® and VSCode® symbology, BioID-VSCode® multi-purpose card solutions, and suite of products known as PhoneCodes™ for delivering electronic tickets, coupons and gift cards to mobile devices (www.veritecinc.com).

About PreVay

PreVay is a female-owned company, has been involved in the electronic funds payments business for over 20 years and have provided clients with electronic payment platforms including representation of NSF checks, ACH transfer services, remote deposit under the Check 21 Act; along with merchant account processing and gift card services. It also provides sales, marketing, business development and consulting services to clients.

Veritec and PreVay Sign Collaborative Agreement to Launch Unique and Most Secure Visa Banking and Debit Card

Card Will Serve Both Banked and Un-Banked, Allowing Cardholders to Receive Paychecks Electronically Via Mobile Telephones; Need for Paper Checks Will Be Eliminated, With All Funds FDIC Insured

About Veritec, Inc.

About PreVay

Cybercrime's Financial and Geographic Growth Shows No Slowdown During the Global Economic Crisis

Symantec Blocks an Average of 100 Potential Attacks per Second in 2009

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwire - April 20, 2010) - Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) today released its new Internet Security Threat Report volume XV, which highlights key trends in cybercrime from Jan. 1, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2009. In a year bookended by two very prominent Cyber attacks -- Conficker in the opening months of the year and Hydraq at the very end -- Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report reveals continued growth in both the volume and sophistication of cybercrime attacks.

"Attackers have evolved from simple scams to highly sophisticated espionage campaigns targeting some of the world's largest corporations and government entities," said Stephen Trilling, senior vice president, Security Technology and Response, Symantec. "The scale of these attacks and the fact that they originate from across the world, makes this a truly international problem requiring the cooperation of both the private sector and world governments."

Notable trends highlighted in this year's report include:

An increase in the number of targeted threats focused on enterprises. Given the potential for monetary gain from compromised corporate intellectual property (IP), cybercriminals have turned their attention toward enterprises. The report found that attackers are leveraging the abundance of personal information openly available on social networking sites to synthesize socially engineered attacks on key individuals within targeted companies. Hydraq gained a great deal of notoriety at the beginning of 2010, but was only the latest in a long line of such targeted attacks including Shadow Network in 2009 and Ghostnet in 2008.

Attack toolkits make cybercrime easier than ever. Cybercrime attack toolkits have lowered the bar to entry for new cybercriminals, making it easy for unskilled attackers to compromise computers and steal information. One such toolkit called Zeus (Zbot), which can be purchased for as little as $700, automates the process of creating customized malware capable of stealing personal information. Using kits like Zeus, attackers created literally millions of new malicious code variants in an effort to evade detection by security software.

Web-based attacks continued to grow unabated. Today's attackers leverage social engineering techniques to lure unsuspecting users to malicious websites. These websites then attack the victim's Web browser and vulnerable plug-ins normally used to view video or document files. In particular, 2009 saw dramatic growth in the number of Web-based attacks targeted at PDF viewers; this accounted for 49 percent of observed Web-based attacks. This is a sizeable increase from the 11 percent reported in 2008.

Malicious activity takes root in emerging countries. The report saw firm signs that malicious activity is now taking root in countries with an emerging broadband infrastructure, such as Brazil, India, Poland, Vietnam and Russia. In 2009, these countries moved up the rankings as a source and target of malicious activity by cybercriminals. The findings from the report suggest that government crackdowns in developed countries have led cybercriminals to launch their attacks from the developing world, where they are less likely to be prosecuted.

Other ISTR Highlights:

Malicious code is more rampant than ever. In 2009, Symantec identified more than 240 million distinct new malicious programs, a 100 percent increase over 2008.

Top threats. The Sality.AE virus, the Brisv Trojan and the SillyFDC worm were the threats most frequently blocked by Symantec security software in 2009.

Downadup (Conficker) still very prevalent. It was estimated that Downadup was on more than 6.5 million PCs worldwide at the end of 2009. Thus far, machines still infected with Downadup/Conficker have not been utilized for any significant criminal activity, but the threat remains a viable one.

Compromised identity information continues to grow. Sixty percent of all data breaches that exposed identities were the result of hacking. In a sign that this issue is not limited to a few larger enterprises, the Symantec State of Enterprise Security Report 2010reported that 75 percent of enterprises surveyed experienced some form of cyber attack in 2009.

Another turbulent year for spam. In 2009, spam made up 88 percent of all e-mail observed by Symantec, with a high of 90.4 percent in May and a low of 73.7 percent in February. Of the 107 billion spam messages distributed globally per day on average, 85 percent were from botnets. The 10 major bot networks, including Cutwail, Rustock andMega-D now control at least 5 million compromised computers. Throughout 2009, Symantec saw botnet infected computers being advertised in the underground economy for as little as 3 cents per computer.

Applying security patches continues to be a challenge for many users. The report found that maintaining a secure, patched system became more challenging than ever in 2009. Moreover, many users are failing to patch even very old vulnerabilities. For example, the Microsoft Internet Explorer ADODB.Stream Object File Installation Weaknesswas published on August 23, 2003, and fixes have been available since July 2, 2004, yet it was the second-most attacked Web-based vulnerability in 2009.

Click to Tweet

In 2009, Symantec blocks an average of 100 potential attacks per second_http://bit.ly/b6sp23

Symantec releases new Threat Report: Cybercrime's Growth Shows No Slowdown during Economic Crisis_http://bit.ly/b6sp23

Growth in threats focused on enterprises. Symantec finds attackers use personal info found on social sites_http://bit.ly/b6sp23

Toolkits make cybercrime easier than ever for unskilled cybercriminals to compromise PCs and steal info_http://bit.ly/b6sp23

Today's attackers use social engineering techniques to lure users to malicious websites_http://bit.ly/b6sp23

Dramatic growth in attacks targeted at PDF viewers, accounting for 49 percent of Web-based attacks in 2009_http://bit.ly/b6sp23

Malicious activity takes root in countries w/ emerging broadband infrastructure_http://bit.ly/b6sp23

Connect with Symantec

Symantec Security Response on Twitter

Symantec on Facebook

Resources

Symantec Internet Security Threat Report XV Microsite

Threat Landscape Overview on Slide Share

Symantec Security Response Blog

Industry Resources at Delicious.com

2010 State of Enterprise Security Report

2010 State of Enterprise Security on SlideShare

About the Symantec Internet Security Threat ReportThe Internet Security Threat Report is derived from data collected by tens of millions of Internet sensors, first-hand research, and active monitoring of hacker communications, and it provides a global view of the state of Internet Security. The study period for the Internet Security Threat Report XV covers January 2009 to December 2009.

About Security Technology and ResponseThe Symantec Internet Security Threat Report is created by the Security Technology and Response (STAR) organization. STAR, which includes Security Response, is a worldwide team of security engineers, threat analysts, and researchers that provides the underlying functionality, content, and support for all Symantec corporate and consumer security products. With Response centers located throughout the world, STAR monitors malicious code reports from more than 133 million systems across the Internet, received data from 240,000 network sensors in more than 200 countries, and tracks more than 35,000 vulnerabilities affecting more than 80,000 technologies from more than 11,000 vendors. The team uses this vast intelligence to develop and deliver the world's most comprehensive security protection.

About Symantec Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available atwww.symantec.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec News Room at http://www.symantec.com/news. All prices noted are in U.S. dollars and are valid only in the United States.

Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT:

Yunsun Wee

Symantec Corp.

+1 (424) 750 7582

ywee@symantec.com

Dominic Cook

Symantec Corp.

+44 (0) 118 943 6384

dominic_cook@symantec.com

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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

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Card Will Serve Both Banked and Un-Banked, Allowing Cardholders to Receive Paychecks Electronically Via Mobile Telephones; Need for Paper Checks Will Be Eliminated, With All Funds FDIC Insured

Card Will Serve Both Banked and Un-Banked, Allowing Cardholders to Receive Paychecks Electronically Via Mobile Telephones; Need for Paper Checks Will Be Eliminated, With All Funds FDIC Insured

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