Category Archives: Tech-Geek

Stuff about the technology and cool geeky stuff that makes our world go

Banking Technology

Digital Banking Perspectives

June 15, 2013 – 4:26 pm

Last week I had a great few days on the West Coast with several customers. From a large bank visiting our headquarters from out of town to a handful of local banks and credit unions, the interest in online mobile web and digital banking in general continues to grow. In fact it’s table stakes now, Digital banking (mobile, web, phone, tablet, SMS, etc) Has become the primary way in which we interact with our financial institutions.

One financial situation recognized this early on and has been investing with best-of-breed solutions. As a consequence they aren’t delivering as an integrated a solution as they would like, but each individual channel has its benefits. As the primary provider for another financial situation we’ve delivered an end to end application that Brings Internet banking to all mobile devices. In that case, if you were hitting their website from any device, our experience would be similar, the data we see would be consistent, and the experience optimized for that channel. Admittedly however the experience and information we see or the things we do would not be as robust on every channel compared to the FI that has invested in best-of-breed solutions. So what do you do if you are bank or credit union that wants to deliver the best experience for your end-user? That’s almost a religious question that FIs and designers ask every day, are we looking for the easiest most elegant experience across all channels or the most stuff.

I think the answer is to keep innovating keep pushing but partner closely to make sure that everybody understands it’s an evolution not just a revolution at this point. In relationship management versus sales it’s not about the big bang. For most of my career I’ve been selling and creating inertia around a single project that changes the game with the overall implementation. These days my team focuses on incremental change that continues to move forward delivering improvements against our partner/customer’s business goals. For my forward thinking customers that can be frustrating. They see all that’s out there, all the can be done and believe me we want to do the same; but in order to balance what we have and where we’re headed it sometimes takes a little bit longer. Ironically for those customers that simply want stability, this push forward to new change has created anxiety and frustration as well. In fact some see it as a step backwards because the new technology creates a simplified experience that relies on end users to be familiar with the technology and approach to using online solutions. They want all the menus the way they were, they want interfaces not to change, and if they want change it’s about operational efficiency and simplifying their lives. So we seek to serve both our customers and their customers.

One thing is for sure, what we in the digital banking industry are doing with our customers in partnership is more important than anything in the history of the banking industry. Yes the change from manual accounting of accounts to back office processing was huge, it created operational efficiencies and growth to financial institutions beyond anyone’s vision. And parallel to all if this was the change to digital transaction processing and financial exchanges. But this will break down barriers between the customers of the financial institutions and the work, services and processes they provide to the point that financial institutions will in fact become a part of their daily lives or they won’t be a part of their lives at all. The consideration for building branches, back office processing, or other instruments of the past has to be considered legacy. The investments FI’s make going forward in digital banking technology primary.

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Business Tech-Geek

Upgrading to a new computer, tablet and smart phone

January 4, 2013 – 1:51 am

Computers:

Windows 8 or Mac OS X?

That’s not an easy question – you know windows because you have been using it so long but its about to change – Windows 8 is very different; the shell of Windows is underneath and you can get back to familiar places but the overall look and feel will be new and have a learning curve. You have a few options, online one of the best quality and best deals is still Dell Computer. You can look around – they seem to have split their laptop line into ultra light and standard. Both are very affordable and I would imagine you don’t need to purchase the high end models as you probably won’t be doing many processor or graphic intensive applications like gaming or video editing. The middle of the road NewInspiron 15 Laptop is a good option, New Inspiron 15R is thinner and lighter, I don’t recommend that you go to the Windows 8 tablets and convertibles – its just too much of a radical change at this point and they are so new and unproven. But its up to you, of course. I recommend getting extra memory and ample hard-drive space, for example a configuration with Microsoft Office Home and Student, 2 year warranty/protection, Virus subscription (you will want this for a Windows computer), etc – you would pay $671.99 for the New Inspiron 15; or $832.99 for the New Inspiron 15R. If you do want something thin, like a Macbook Pro or Macbook Air you will have to step up to the XPS 14 Ultrabook and they cost anywhere from 1,099 to 3,000. One that is configured similarly to a high end Macbook Air the XPS 14 Ultrabook will cost $2,237.99

Mac OS X will be an entirely new experience but one that will seem somewhat familiar because it’s built to be that way. Both of my parents have made the switch from Windows to OS X and seem comfortable with it. It will be frustrating at first and I highly recommend the $99 1 Year One-to-One contract for unlimited classes that you can buy with it when you first purchase your Mac. Every new Mac comes with iLife: photo, music, video and all the basics for email, browsing and calendar tools. It won’t come with Microsoft Office, however, so you will want to purchase that separately. There is a version of office Apple has developed called iWork: Pages, Keynote, Numbers – like Word, PowerPoint and Excel but it will require time to learn. One-to-One classes in an apple store are free and you can learn all of these. This all will cost you more. A Macbook Air is an amazing thin computer but it doesn’t have a drive and it doesn’t have a normal hard drive – its a solid state drive so no moving parts. You have a lot of choices here – but you can configure a bottom of the line that is still top of the line for most Windows PC’s – Mac just doesn’t offer cheap laptops, you pay a premium starting at $999 for an 11 inch or $1,199 for a 13 inch model (don’t be fooled by the size, I have a 13 inch MacbookPro and it is plenty big). You will want to upgrade the memory to at if you can spend a little extra – go for 8GB, and add an external drive, add the apple care protection for three years and one to one and it will configure out to $1,647.

You can get a bit more in a bigger package with more ports and things by moving to a MacBook Pro (they don’t make the white plastic MacBook our kids have anymore). It comes in the old configuration with a 500MB hard drive and high resolution screen. Upgrading to 8GB memory and the support options would cost you $1,647 It also comes in a MacBook Pro with Retina Display; a thinner model (almost as thin as the Macbook Air) that has a solid state drive and Ultra High Definition display (super super high resolution 2880×1800). A basic configuration with the Retina Display will be more like $2,426

Phones:

There are two competing operating systems and an also ran. Ironically, the also ran is Microsoft – they have never really gained market share in the phone market but they are making a big push with Windows 8. Google developed Android for mobile phones, tablets and netbooks (those ultra small computers that only surf the web) and Apple developed iOS to run on phones, tablets and iPod iTouch. I would stick to the basics either an iPhone or a Samsung Android based phone or an Apple iOS iPhone. The Samsung Galaxy S III on Verizon will cost $199 and the Apple iPhone 5 will also cost you $199. I would say go to the store and try them out, see what you like. As far as applications – the basics will be there on both; you get an address book, calendar, camera, etc. You can synchronize it with your computer so your contacts, calendar and pictures, etc. all match up. Apple has many more applications, most that you will get are free, in their store; but Android has many and its growing. My Pop has an iPhone, my Mom has an Android and they are both happy. For your specialized Apps – ask friends or go to the stores and see if they are there. There is the Google Android marketplace called Google Play and the Apple iTunes app Store. Both allow you to buy apps, download free apps, download music, etc.

The Apple iTunes store is a very integrated and cross device tool – its the brainchild of Apple and what makes it all different. With it you share music, applications, synchronize contacts, etc. Its what has led to the revolution that is the Mac computer coming back – people bought iPhones and then wanted a Mac, and vice versa. They have iCloud to let you store things on the internet in a safe and secure manner, then get it anywhere you are. Then you get an iPod for music, an iPad for reading and it goes on… once you succumb its like a part of your body. For me its completely ubiquitous. I move stuff from my iPad to my computer effortlessly.

Google has done a similar thing with GMail, Google Plus, Picassa, music – its creating a network of information sharing in the cloud as well. Once you get your Android device you will find yourself getting a gmail account and using that system across the board.

Tablets:

I’ll add one to the mix here – Amazon. They changed the game here first with the Kindle reader then with the Kindle Fire. The iPad and the Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab are just big phones without the talking. I’m not sold on the Android tablets yet – there simply isn’t anything like the experience of iOS on an iPad. They have cameras now and they do more but its all about the real-estate. And with that real estate many of the Apps behave differently. So for specialized programs they will have more functions and menus – to do more. Our online banking application for example does the basics on the phone and has more functionally to pay bills and review accounts on the iPad and Android Tablets.

The Kindle is a terrific unique device. Many people use the basic Kindle for reading only – its a great single use device that really does replace books. The Paperwhite for $119 or the basic Kindle for $69 is easy to read in daylight, but has a light for nighttime. It is lighter than a book and can store thousands of books forever. But you can’t drop it in the tub. The Kindle Fire is an Android tablet with unique capabilities from Amazon, starting at $199. They have integrated it into the Amazon marketplace – their online store to be able to easily download books, movies, etc. And browsing is fast because they enhance it with their own servers.

All of these run on WiFi – so you can use them in your house or in a place like Starbucks. The phones come with mobile phone and 4G service so you can use them everywhere. The Tablets have that option from Verizon too but its only for using the internet, not for calls. and you will add $100++ to get it plus a monthly fee. Though you can make a skype or video conference call on them – so that’s a way around it. I feel like the best thing in this case is to look at just the WiFi versions and use your phone as a data connection if you really need it on the go. For example – on the iPhone you can set it up as a hot-spot. Same for the Android – it can be a hotspot too.

 

 

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Business Tech-Geek

If you are going to be a SaaS provider expect zero tolerance of downtime

December 27, 2012 – 10:29 am

Looking back on the past few months it’s become incredibly apparent how mission critical the Internet and websites have become. Looking at this article on All Things D (WSJ)
If you are going to offer SaaS it means >99.95% uptime or you are going to lose customers. And there is no patience now. Especially if you are a core provider. It’s as much of an infrastructure as the mainframes of old.

Years ago we all relied in data processing core providers like Unisys IBM and NCR. They are still out these and probably laughing at us upstarts like Amazon and Intuit Financial Services. My company Intuit provides outsourced digital banking for well over a thousand financial institutions. Back in the day people expected slow and steady innovation or they went “in-house” to make it happen often to the awful reality that it was only worse that way. IBM is actually becoming a huge player in this space leveraging what it knew then with a huge service operation. The fact is we have to be perfect now and offer the innovation but absolutely excellent!

When we go down its not us that suffers but the bank you use to do financial transactions. In this article they talk about services like Netflix and how end users miss it. Gone are the days of end user tolerance. They expect it to be there, available and fast. And it’s not just in a web browser it’s Apps on phones, tablets, embedded payment systems and many other backbone services.

Amazon has some of the most powerful server technology available and still they struggle. They strive or uptime but much has to do with the software running on it. As a former Amazon architect now working for us said – the software has to be able to accommodate for hardware failures to automatically switch and sync and adjust on the fly. It’s not always the case in SaaS since they think of you as a black box. We are fighting to make it work in our own data center. And we are in a huge transition to amazing new technology. But the bank’s end users don’t know that or care- to them when online banking is down its a huge failure expecting perfection.

Gone are the days of adjust on the fly, tolerant end users and only understanding savvy people surfing these sites. Will they be tolerant though of slower innovation? It’s the new chasm. No they won’t and so the small guy will have to continue to rely on the Amazon and SalesForce and Intuit’s of the business world.

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Banking Business Tech-Geek

Banks branches going the way of checks – shift to Electronic banking

September 21, 2012 – 10:58 pm

Digital banking, mobile banking, online banking – call it what you will but the shift is finally happening. Banks are investing less in traditional infrastructure and more in the virtual bank

A Forbes Article quote:
Over the last year BofA has shut down 163 branches across the country. That’s the greatest number of closings for any U.S. bank. It’s opened just six in the same period for a net of 157 branches closed, according to data from SNL Financial.” In fact they are cutting an additional 16,000 people as part of this operational efficiency.

The fact is if it is going to exist at all branch banking will continue to change. Intuit engagement studies show that Americans walk into branches at most 2 times a month if at all yet use mobile and online as much as 30 times a month. I spend a lot of time with bankers and credit union execs who all know in their heart this is coming but still struggle to shift their investment patterns. Even in technology investment they still find it uncomfortable that they spend more on Internet banking than core processing when most of what core processing does today just isn’t that big a deal. Check volumes turned the corner over ten years ago and have been decreasing ever since. Why invest in proof of deposit, item processing or big iron to simply do accounting – that should all be in the cloud, payment networks or mobile transactions.

So think about it – shouldn’t the branch really be a place with “genius” bars – the platform bankers with investment and lending advice at most but tellers – really? Do you really need big iron counting checks and processing deposits? Help customers along to digital banking.

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Family Philosophy Politics Tech-Geek Technology

The law is the law, song sharing, driving and ethical dilemmas

September 11, 2012 – 11:18 pm

Sometimes breaking the law just a little isn’t a big deal – unless you get caught.

How much does sharing a song cost by the Wall Street Journal.

Ongoing case about peer to peer file sharing and it reaching a final $220k for sharing 24 songs! Excessive. Maybe but the point. It was against the law.

Just made me think about the kids who break the law just a little. Drinking under age, driving other kids on a provisional license, it’s just a little but it is the law.

I will be careful and I won’t get caught

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Business Philosophy Tech-Geek Technology

Apple Computer’s slow decline

September 11, 2012 – 11:09 pm

When Jobs passed people wondered if it was the end of Apple. The truth is he was the driving force but it wasn’t his ideas that made the company rather the people he brought in, focused, pushed hard and the things they created. Microsoft built in similar ways but instead of people they bought companies and technologies.
When good people leave or the acquisitions stop the growth stops and when you stop growing you begin to die.
Developer of Siri leaving a harbinger?

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Business Tech-Geek Technology

The truth about Magic Jack Costs – online chat session – not 19.95 but $80 to $190

September 10, 2012 – 3:29 pm

Hana: Hello, how may I help you?
Jim: I cannot seem to find the offer for 19.95/year – keeps taking me to somethign for $69
Hana: Thank you for brining up your issue.
Hana:
Our current pricing for renewals includes $29.95 that adds 1 Year to your magicJack license, and $99.75 that adds 5 Years to your magicJack license. You’ll get a $19.95 worth of yearly service if you opt for the 5 year plan which is $99.75.

That’s $99.75 divided to 5 years which will cost you $19.95 a year of service.

Hana: The previous prices that you are referring is no longer available.
Jim: that is misleading – I don’t understand – it said 19.95/year. So I have to pay how much? $100 for 5 years to get the Plus product?
Hana: The $19.95 renewal for 1 year is no longer available as it was updated to $29.95.
Jim: I am a new potential customer. I will have to pay $120 plus Shipping to get this product for five years or pay $70 plus S&H for one year?
Hana: The magicJack PLUS device costs $69.95 plus shipping and handling. This gives you one year of FREE CALLS within USA and Canada.
Hana: But if you add 5 year plan that will be $99.75.
Jim: total cost for 5 years?
Hana: $99.75.
Jim: including the device?
Hana: It is only for the renewal plan, no device included on this purchase.
Hana: The device is purchased separately.
Jim: for goodness sake. Please give me a total amount including shipping and handling for the device plus service for 5 years.
Hana: That will be $69.95 for device + $99.75 for 5 years and the $7.95 for shipping and a 4.8 percent US Regulatory fees.
Hana: That will be around $180.

===================

Then I get an email confirming that I actually ordered this – I had gone through the screens and thought it was going to be 19.95 for the year; then when I saw it was

REGULATORY FEES 4.8-T 1 $3.74 $3.74
MJPLUS6995-T 1 $69.95 $69.95
STDSHIP795-T 1 $7.95 $7.95

There was no confirmation screen – it was already done.

back to online chat ========================

Please wait for a site operator to respond.

You are now chatting with ‘Cherry’

Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK…………

Cherry: Hello, how may I help you?

Jim Charanis: I did not place this order – I went through the screens thinking it was only 19.99 and then saw the shipping fees and 69.00 and did not accept this.

Jim Charanis: Please cancel this immediately – I do not want ot pay taxes or shipping or anything.

Cherry: Is this the correct order number: TS——–?

Jim Charanis: I received an email

Jim Charanis: Order No.: TS——– Reference ID: ———–

Cherry: Please wait while I check that for you

Cherry: Thank you for waiting.

Cherry: As I have checked it here, it shows that you order a magicjack PLUS device.
MagicJack PLUS device cost $69.95 with a one year free of service and a free US number.

Cherry: This order is correct.

Cherry: The $69.95 is for the magicjack PLUS device.

Jim Charanis: I did not accept that screen – Please cancel this

Cherry: No worries Jim.

Jim Charanis: Says on your video – $19.95/year – but not that it means you have to commit to 5 years for it to average out to that.

Cherry: I am transferring you to one of our top 10% agents as rated by our customers. Please hold while I transfer you.

Jim Charanis: Okay – all I want is for you to cancel this order before it ships.

Please wait while I transfer the chat to the best suited site operator.

You are now chatting with ‘Jordan’

Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK————–

Jim Charanis: Please cancel Order No.: TS——– Reference ID: ———

Jordan: Hello. My name is Jordan. To better assist you, let me put you on hold while I read your previous chat/s. Thank you.

Jordan: Thank you for waiting.

Jordan: May I have your billing address?

Jim Charanis: 2….. (my address)

Jordan: Click here and confirm if you want to cancel the order.(hyperlink)

Jim Charanis: I clicked it – I want to cancel the order but there is no button there to do that. Or are you simply asking for me to confirm here in this chat session.

Jordan: Just confirm that order and I will cancel it here on our end.

Jim Charanis: that is the order please cancel it.

Jordan: Okay.

Jordan: One moment please…

Jordan: Thank you for waiting.

Jordan: I have already canceled the order here on our end.

Jordan: Is there anything else I may help you with today?

Jim Charanis: do I need a confirmation or anything – this will not ship to me?

Jordan: Please do wait for the email confirmation regarding the canceled order.

Jordan: Thanks.

Jordan: Is there anything else I may help you with today?

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Business Politics Tech-Geek Technology

Swarmly Waze – crowd sourcing Apps continue to appear, evolve and affect society

September 3, 2012 – 8:51 am

Would you annonomously share your location in Swarmly to make it useful? Trust it? care? What do you think possible business models come out of this? Only young demographics? Anyone try Waze and finding it works? Okay sharing your location then? Same for Yelp! Is it real, does the crowd really know what you like, is it dumbing down or bringing new opportunities?

I was reading this article: Swarmly Debuts Its ‘Waze For People’ On iOS — Know Where Is Hot Or Not, Right Now on Techcrunch.com as well as the article How Yelp Scores Make Or Break Restaurants on Gizmodo.com and thinking about how we continuously improve our lives by trusting the crowd but also trusting big companies and in the morality of society. There are. Still bad apples and will the crowd defeat them too.
What areas of history do you see similar comparisons? Operating mechanisms of government that might apply?

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Banking Business Tech-Geek Technology

The Core Processing vs Internet Banking Spend Question in #banking #onlinebanking #intuit

July 7, 2012 – 9:08 am

Over coffee this morning I was reading about all of challenges we are having in the economy, job growth and the engine that drives it: all selling things. I work at Intuit, and we sell Online Banking services to Banks and Credit Unions. One of the biggest challenges we face in our business, online banking, is the relative spend on our services to “core processing.” This usually refers to the traditional data processing vendors like Fiserv, FIS, Jack Henry, etc. These vendors come from the original core businesses of accounting for our money. They are usually the biggest spend at a financial institution next to personnel (and all the power they hold securing our moeny) and perhaps the physical infrastructure – branches and buildings (that house the safe, the records, the money).
So why so much on these systems – well these were really important huge pieces of hardware from the original big technology companies like Diebold, IBM, NCR, Unisys, etc. They provided the safe, the buildings, the mainframe with core data processing that was often so expensive it was time shared with other FI’s in an outsourced manner. It handled the most important functions efficiently and often still does. When we were kids, we brought our passbook into the same branch every time we made a deposit. We cashed our checks there and in fact many of our checks made it to the same place after floating through the system. These core processors eventually automated much of this and linked it all with advanced networks that allowed for branch networking so that we could walk into any branch and conduct our business with the person behind the counter knowing who and what we were. These tellers and platform salespeople relied on these systems and it led to even more automation – around their functions.
All this was so monolithic, even when separate systems cropped up for automating teller, ATM, call center, check processing, and other important tasks; they still were often tightly integrated with the core data processing vendors. Then came the internet. As we all know – this changed everything. Distributed technology linked by advanced virtual private networks created a balance of power if you will, companies could distributed processing away from monolithic mainframes, they could make choices on what vendors made the best products for the task and the core data processing vendors lost power. So they took their capital and started to acquire.
All along Internet banking chugged along, growing slowly and adding functionality as the technology progressed. But we in online banking didn’t yet have the public’s trust and we didn’t always have access to data, we focused on the former and improved the end user experience and partnered to get access to the data. Online banking vendors began integrating more and more functions into one place all in service to making the end user – the consumer’s life easier. Processing power shifted to the cloud and connectivity lead by industry giants like Cisco facilitated more and more capabilities into these systems until they began to automate the one thing decades of core processing could never do, the teller functions. We then began to take on more of the core processing, handling payments and financial analysis. Automating the functions that a teller or customer service representative could never do on the fly and pretty much all that they did do traditionally.
So that leads to the original topic of my morning coffee consideration: Spend. We are now becoming one of the most expensive items for any bank to consider when creating budgets and considering operational efficiency. While I don’t like eliminating jobs – let’s face it – the automation of America in service to a better way of life and more personal wealth has been about doing just that. These people will shift to other positions of service and in fact many work for us. But the consumer today would prefer to do just what you are doing – get their information from the internet, from their computer, phone, tablet, and eventually – any device that is connected to the cloud, the network. If we are effectively eliminating two of the most expensive functions that banks traditionally spend our money on – the bricks and mortar infrastructure and the teller/customer support line – why wouldn’t our systems cost the most to operate. Imagine – we are duplicating a person, we are that magic robot we all see in science fiction. We are the building that holds the safe that holds your money in a secure and controlled environment. And with the connectivity that manages the flow of this data, these functions, all in the cloud – we are the most important investment a bank can make today.

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Tech-Geek

Updated: iPad or iPhone home button becomes sluggish or doesn’t respond. How to fix!

June 16, 2012 – 11:30 am

I read a tip the other day that is suppose to restore “home” button on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch back to normal working condition, should it ever become hard to press or slow to respond to your double-clicks, etc.

Updated: i did see results but it still would become sluggish after while I have also just realized that I only had a few Gigs left in storage/memory. When I freed up space it became more responsive.

1. Launch an Apple default app such as the “Stocks” or “Camera” app.
2. Hold in the power button on the top edge of your device until you see the “Slide to power off” screen. Then let go of the power button.
3. Now hold down the home button and it will kill the Stocks app and the “Slide to power off” screen will disappear.

Apparently this is supposed to somehow reset or re-calibrate the home button. My home button was not responding and I was having to use the five finger pinch to get to home. This worked great!

8/23/12 update. This doesn’t seem to be working long term. Infuriating.

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