bank

SAN FRANCISCO--A widely used technology to authenticate users when they log in for online banking may help reduce fraud, but it does so at the expense of consumer privacy, a civil liberties attorney said during a panel at the RSA security conference on Thursday.

When logging into bank Web sites, users are typically asked for their user name and password. But that's not all that is happening. Behind the scenes, the server is taking measures to identify the device being used in an attempt to verify that the person logging in is the person whose account is being accessed … Read more

Bankers are finding it hard to get a little love these days. Their spouses offer a cold shoulder. Their relatives, a cold consomme. Their golden retrievers, cold comfort.

As they spend their lonely nights sipping their VSOP and trying to make an online appointment at the Emperor's Club, perhaps they might slide over to Facebook just for moment.

Facebook, like the odd banker or two, makes a mess of things sometimes. But there is a certain sweetness in the way in which the company's upper echelons sometimes remember who their customers are. And, perhaps even more importantly, how … Read more

Curt Sleeper is a man ahead of the curve. The curve that begins the downward spiral.

Understanding that humanity is regressing to its cave-dweller roots, he and his wife Deborah bought their own cave in Festus, Mo., back when most people were tossing their home equity down a cavernous hole.

The Sleepers even sold their DVD collection to buy the 17,000 square foot cave. I don't even want to think what their heating bills must be. However, I know they are now experiencing a deep chill.

The cave cost $160,000, of which the Sleepers put down half. … Read more

Someone asked me recently whether I thought mobile banking was safe or not. I admitted that I don't do it but that doesn't really say much. Then I mumbled something incoherent and vowed to get a real answer.

After talking to a number of mobile and security experts, I've come to the conclusion that far from being less secure, mobile banking may even be more secure than logging on to your bank Web site over your PC. And the consensus is that it's probably less risky than using checks, which can be forged, and credit cards, … Read more

When you buy a product online and use either a credit card or Paypal, a significant percentage of your transaction cost--from 2.5 percent to 4 percent when all the fees are considered--goes straight to either the credit card processing company or to PayPal. With so many retailers operating at such slim margins already, this is a material expense. While payment processing will probably never be free, a new company, Noca, is launching today that undercuts payment processing by an order of magnitude: It charges just 0.25 percent for transactions.

Noca, CEO PJ Gupta told me, does not enable … Read more

As the economy worsens and more people get laid off, online fraud and financial scams are rising, security experts say.

Many of the scams lure people in with promises of quick and easy money. For instance, there has been a marked increase in money mule recruitment scams for people to transfer funds online between countries, and other illegal work-related spam in recent months, security firm Panda said on Thursday. Such offers promise $225 or more a day for what they call "rebate processing" work at home.

"The schemes are aimed at people who are desperate in rough … Read more

In February of 2005, a Miami man sued Bank of America for not adequately protecting him against a $90,000 fraudulent wire transfer to the Parex Bank in Latvia. Joe Lopez was the first online user to sue his financial institution for not protecting his assets from a computer hacker.

Lopez, owner of a computer and copier supply business, accused Bank of America of negligence and breach of contract for not alerting him in advance to the existence of a piece of malware known as "Coreflood" prior to April 6, 2004, when the alleged theft took place.

Shortly … Read more

AT&T today announced a new Mobile Banking solution for the Apple iPhone on AT&T that allows users to manage their finances. The Mobile Banking App will include checking balances and transaction history, transferring funds, receiving offers, viewing and paying bills, and tracking rewards points. The service that this App interfaces with is now available from all Firethorn financial institution partners that include: America First Credit Union, Arvest Bank, BancorpSouth, Carolina First, FirstBank, Mercantile Bank, SunTrust, Synovus, USAA and Wachovia. According to the AT&T press release:

"Our customers are increasingly using their mobile phones … Read more

In the Apple TV spots, actor Justin Long plays a comfortable and lucrative role. He is cool, slightly superior, but ultimately just clever enough.

In the new movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Long plays a role many actors might have turned down. Moreover, many clients, on hearing the character their main spokesperson had chosen to play, would have attempted to prevent him from appearing in the movie at all. They might even have threatened to cancel his contract.

After all, here we have the most recognizable film personification of one of the world's most recognizable brands, Apple. … Read more