ATERAS announced that the Policy Number Expansion Project for Claims IT Systems at Progressive using DB-Shuttle™ Enterprise Change capabilities has been a success! The purpose of the project was to use a standard automated method to identify and change the field definition and length of 69 different DB2 columns (including policy number, street names, form numbers and status codes) across multiple databases in the Progressive Enterprise.

ATERAS used DB-Shuttle Enterprise Change technology to collect and analyze 11,186,985 lines of code. During the analysis, DB-Shuttle identified 41,431 lines of code impacted by the changes and identified 2,827 possible lines of code to change. DB-Shuttle generated the required change rules and applied them to 1,993 programs and copybooks, including changes required within the logic for handling numeric to alphanumeric changes. The modified programs were delivered to the Progressive teams, ready for installation and testing. All modifications were migrated to production on April 26, 2008.

Enterprise Field Change Manager identifies every line of code that might be affected by the required change. Recommendations on the required code changes are also made automatically. In addition the tool can determine additional “watch fields” as data moves between fields and programs. DB-Shuttle generates the change rules to make all the source code changes. Once the changes are accepted, the rules are automatically applied and the revised application code is generated ready for testing.

The automated process that Enterprise Field Change Manager offers allowed Progressive to continue with production changes throughout the testing phase. New production changes were collected each month and the change manager analysis repeated with the new code, then the deltas were delivered to Progressive.

“Our patent-pending DB-Shuttle automation technology offers a full suite of modernization tools for Global Enterprises. The Enterprise Change technology allows any organization the ability to affect change through minimized risk by using an automated solution. Insurance companies benefit from this unique capability as their business changes or mandated regulatory changes occur. ATERAS is the natural choice for modernization without adding risk,” says Scott Miller president and chief executive officer of ATERAS.

About Progressive Insurance
The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies, in business since 1937, is the country’s third largest auto insurance group and largest seller of motorcycle and personal watercraft policies based on premiums written, and is a market leader in commercial auto insurance.

Progressive is committed to becoming consumers’ #1 choice for auto insurance by providing competitive rates and products that meet drivers’ needs throughout their lifetimes, superior online and in-person customer service, and best-in-class, 24-hour claims service, including its concierge level of claims service available at service centers located in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States.

Progressive companies offer consumers choices in how to shop for, buy and manage their auto insurance policies. Progressive offers its products, including personal and commercial auto, motorcycle, boat and recreational vehicle insurance, through more than 30,000 independent insurance agencies throughout the U.S. and online and by phone directly from the Company. Private passenger auto products and prices are different when purchased directly from Progressive or through independent agencies. To find an agent or to get a quote, go to www.progressive.com

About ATERAS
ATERAS has supported global enterprises for 25 years offering value-driven legacy modernization solutions that enable companies to leverage their IT assets for increased business value and improved competitive advantage. Global enterprises benefit from a comprehensive suite of automated tools and services, from IT global assessments, impact analysis, COBOL workbenches, automated documentation to automated database and application migrations. Migration of mission critical applications and databases can be either mainframe to mainframe or mainframe to distributed platforms utilizing the .NET framework.

For more information on ATERAS’ solutions visit www.ateras.com.

Read Full Article

NetEconomy, the global leader in financial crime management and compliance solutions and a business unit of Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), announced that IBS Publishing has ranked NetEconomy as the top-selling provider of global anti-money laundering (AML) solutions. IBS determined the ranking by analyzing the AML market for the number of new name wins achieved in 2007.

“NetEconomy has had an exceptional year, leading the way with 38 new customer wins in the United States and Western Europe, putting it ahead of the rest of the field,” said James Ling, sales league table editor of IBS.

IBS Publishing produces a number of publications and events around the world focusing on the back office banking systems and operations market, with independent, unbiased coverage. The results of IBS's new AML market survey demonstrate which systems and markets are most popular.

The industry’s top-selling solution in 2007, NetEconomy’s AML Compliance Manager, is a fully-integrated, easily-deployable and highly-effective anti-money laundering system. It uniquely combines transaction monitoring, list checking, risk scoring, case management and automated reporting, delivering the highest degree of accuracy and operational efficiency.

“Compliance is serious business for every financial institution. By offering unrivalled system flexibility, configurability and scalability we can better serve market demand from both the largest, most complex implementations, to single site implementations for smaller financial institutions,” said Sebastian Kuntz, chief executive officer of NetEconomy. “We are very pleased to be recognized by IBS, reinforcing our success and growth of the company over the last 18 months, as well as our leadership in the global anti-money laundering market. In addition, the ongoing expansion of our customer base means we have a vibrant community of users that will continue to drive the enhancements of our solutions to meet market needs.”

About NetEconomy
NetEconomy, based in The Hague, with offices around the globe, is the leading provider of financial crime management and compliance solutions. With more than 150 implementations across 60 countries, NetEconomy brings business value to its worldwide client base through its personalized customer approach for minimizing regulatory risk, delivering measurable results and protecting corporate brand and reputation. For more information, please visit www.neteconomy.com. For more information on NetPractice, visit www.netpractice.org.

About Fiserv, Inc.
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides information management and electronic commerce systems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing, outsourcing, electronic bill payment and presentment, investment management solutions, business process outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., the company is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. In 2007, the company completed the acquisition of CheckFree, a leading provider of electronic commerce services. Fiserv reported nearly $4 billion in total revenue from continuing operations for 2007. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.

Read Full Article

Supports trading and real-time analytics, high-speed message platforms and CEP, as well as real-time feed normalization

Read Full Article

Risk Management Solution Helps Mitigate Inherent Risks Associated with Financial and Operational Data

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), a leading provider of integrated technology solutions and data processing services for financial institutions, announced that the Enterprise Exception Management Suite (eEMS) provided by its ProfitStars division has been selected by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Nasdaq: SCHW)  to automate its reconciliation processes. Charles Schwab is one of the nation’s largest providers of financial services and offers a complete range of investment services and products.

eEMS is an enterprise risk management solution that is driven by a real-time rules engine that helps diverse financial services organizations proactively identify and mitigate the risks associated with financial and operational data. eEMS compiles data from disparate sources, automatically matches data elements, identifies exceptions, and loads each exception into a queue for resolution in a fully automated, secure environment. This innovative solution enables more effective and efficient data management through reconciliation, exception processing and business intelligence.     

According to Jennifer O’Reilly, vice president, Operations Control for Charles Schwab “We believe an enterprise-wide exception management solution will better protect our clients, their assets, and our firm. After a lengthy due diligence process, the ProfitStars team clearly demonstrated that eEMS could replace disparate applications we developed internally over the years, automate manual processes, and be tailored to support our specific needs. We anticipate that automating our reconciliation processes with eEMS will ensure the integrity of our data, generate operational efficiencies, and seamlessly support our unique, evolving, and increasingly complex reconciliation requirements. We have developed a valuable partnership with ProfitStars and are excited about the positive impact that eEMS will have on our near- and long-term operations.”

David Foss, general manager of ProfitStars, said, “We consider the evaluation and selection of our enterprise exception management solution by a progressive, highly respected firm like Charles Schwab to be a solid endorsement of our system’s functionality and the tangible value it provides. We are excited about the addition of firms like Charles Schwab to our client roster, and believe we have significant opportunities to expand our market presence as increasing numbers of financial services organizations elect to implement automated solutions for mitigating and controlling the risks associated with their financial and operational data.”

About ProfitStars

ProfitStars, a division of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc., provides best-of-breed solutions that improve the performance of financial institutions of all asset sizes and charters, and diverse corporate entities.  These solutions facilitate revenue and growth, risk mitigation and control, and cost control; and complement virtually any core information processing platform.  Additional information is available at www.profitstars.com.

About Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY) is a leading provider of computer systems and ATM/debit card/ACH transaction processing services primarily for financial services organizations. Its technology solutions serve more than 8,700 customers nationwide, and are marketed and supported through three primary brands. Jack Henry Banking™ supports banks ranging from de novo to mid-tier institutions with information and transaction processing solutions. Symitar™ is the leading provider of information and transaction processing solutions for credit unions of all sizes. ProfitStars provides highly specialized products and services that enable financial institutions of every asset size and charter, and diverse corporate entities to mitigate and control risks, optimize revenue and growth opportunities, and contain costs. Additional information is available at www.jackhenry.com.

Read Full Article

The CheckFree service blocks more than 21,000 attempted fraudulent bill payment transactions

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading provider of information technology services to the financial and insurance industries, announced that the CheckFree FraudNet™ automated fraud detection and case management system has blocked more than 21,000 attempted fraudulent bill payment transactions totaling $287.9 million since the service went live in November 2005.

While the actual incidence of fraud for electronic payments is low, FraudNet provides a powerful solution for financial institutions to lower fraud rates even further. The FraudNet service is part of a suite of fraud prevention solutions offered by Fiserv that helps detect and mitigate fraud from log-in authentication to back-end payment processing, resulting in a lower cost of ownership in the online channel for financial institutions.

FraudNet provides automated fraud detection and prevention for 462 of the nation’s financial institutions. These customers have deployed FraudNet to help mitigate the risk of attempted fraudulent bill payment transactions for their institutions and their customers, while complying with Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) regulations.

FraudNet is a centralized fraud detection and integrated case management system that scores each online bill payment and halts the processing of suspicious transactions until they have been reviewed by fraud specialists. By detecting suspicious scenarios and examining behavioral patterns, Fiserv continually updates its business rules with real-time intelligence that identifies new types of fraudulent activity. Both consumer behaviors and merchant transaction activities are analyzed. The sophisticated FraudNet engine leverages advanced algorithms and proprietary negative file history, making it extremely accurate in detecting fraudulent transactions.

CheckFree FraudNet has resulted in savings for large financial institutions and community institutions alike. Using FraudNet, a top-10 financial institution proactively detected and stopped more than $7.4 million in electronic payment fraud in a single month, while a regional bank halted approximately $308,000 in attempted fraud during a four-month period.

Since its implementation in October 2007, FraudNet has helped PSCU Financial Services, the nation’s largest credit union service organization, minimize fraud. Monthly, PSCU Financial Services credit unions generate in excess of 2.8 million online bill payments. FraudNet has enabled PSCU Financial Services fraud representatives to halt $203,000 in attempted fraudulent online bill payments.

"CheckFree FraudNet is a powerful tool for our credit unions in the battle against attempted fraud," David Serlo, chief executive officer, PSCU Financial Services. "Since FraudNet detects and prevents fraudulent payments from being processed, this tool provides our credit unions with added peace of mind about the security of our PayLynx™ online bill payment service, which is also provided through CheckFree." 

Designed to ensure that online transactions remain safer for consumers than paper-based transactions, CheckFree FraudNet was developed as a powerful solution for monitoring and stopping fraudulent transactions before they are processed. Due to stringent fraud management practices at financial institutions and increased consumer awareness, the actual instances of fraud involving online banking and electronic payment services have historically been low in comparison to other types of transactions. Still, one of the main barriers to online bill payment adoption remains concerns over online security, and FraudNet was designed to help alleviate those concerns.

"FraudNet’s strength lies in the ability to leverage advanced algorithms and a powerful network of financial institutions sharing negative file data," said Todd Lesher, executive vice president and general manager of CheckFree Electronic Banking Services, now part of Fiserv. "While attempted online bill payment fraud is minimal relative to other channels, FraudNet enables us to work closely with our financial institution customers to remain vigilant and protect this important channel as a safe and trusted place for consumers to use in conducting their financial transactions."

According to a study released in January 2008 by Javelin Strategy & Research, overall identity fraud declined by 12 percent in 2007. However, the average time to resolve new fraud cases increased 23 percent from 40 to 49 hours. By automating detection and prevention efforts for electronic payments, FraudNet helps reduce the time and resources required by financial institutions to manage potential fraud cases to as little as 15 minutes or $12.50 per case. This compares to the industry average of 49 hours or $2,450 per case, based on a total employee cost of $50 per hour. By accelerating financial institutions' ongoing fraud investigations, FraudNet can help financial institutions achieve a return on investment in the service in as little as one week, which lowers their overall total cost of ownership for the electronic payment service.

"Identity fraud is a complex, continually evolving crime that often involves multiple sources and methods. Businesses and consumers must fight back with robust fraud mitigation strategies across multiple channels," said Jim Van Dyke, president of Javelin Strategy & Research. "Financial institutions need to continue to develop and refine their fraud controls to combat the ever-changing fraud landscape, while providing consumers with the knowledge and tools to prevent detect and resolve fraud."

FraudNet enables customers to feel comfortable replacing traditional paper financial transactions with electronic versions. According to Javelin Strategy & Research identity fraud is more frequently committed using traditional methods – a lost or stolen wallet, access of account information from paper mail and trash, and via telephone – and more frequently perpetrated by people the victims know rather than by hackers who use malicious spyware, viruses and mallware to compromise user identifications and passwords and invade accounts.

Americans who monitor their financial accounts online detect fraud more quickly than those who rely on other methods, which is why the 2008 Javelin Strategy & Research identity fraud study recommends that consumers move financial transactions online. For educational tips on how to make the switch to electronic transactions, please access www.checkfree.com/idprotect.

Fiserv, Inc. and CheckFree are committed to educating consumers and businesses through the PayItGreen™ campaign about the environmental benefits of choosing electronic billing, statements, and payments instead of paper. Learn more at www.payitgreen.org.

About PSCU Financial Services

Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, PSCU Financial Services is the nation's largest credit union service organization (CUSO) and serves more than 1,100 financial institutions nationwide. As a non-profit cooperative, the company is owned by more than 500 member credit unions representing more than 11 million cardholder accounts and more than 580,000 online bill payment subscribers. Its Contact Center handles more than 14 million inquiries a year. PSCU Financial Services maintains an Eastern operations center in St. Petersburg, Florida, and a Western operations center based in Phoenix, Arizona. The cooperative’s wholly owned subsidiary, Digital Dialogue, operates two 24/7 call centers in Detroit, Mich., that specialize in member services, new member acquisition, cross-selling and automated lending solutions.

Established in 1977, the company provides a broad array of cost-effective, high quality financial services that include credit, debit, ATM, prepaid, bill payment and contact center solutions. PSCU Financial Services uniquely offers its members a full range of processing options, any combination from full service to in-house pass through processing for credit, debit and ATM transactions. As a leader in the credit union movement, the company offers gateway access to national and regional networks. It also provides full function ATM terminal driving services. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.pscufs.com.

About Fiserv, Inc.

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides information management and electronic commerce systems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing, outsourcing, electronic bill payment and presentment, investment management solutions, business process outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., the company is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. In 2007, the company completed the acquisition of CheckFree, a leading provider of electronic commerce services. Fiserv reported nearly $4 billion in total revenue from continuing operations for 2007. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.

Read Full Article

Testing proves solution can support 10,000+ concurrent users with Microsoft SQL Server

Fiserv CBS Worldwide, a business unit of Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), has announced that it has exceeded its performance goal of 10,000 concurrent users with its Aperio customer interaction management solution. Jointly executed by Fiserv, Microsoft and Fiserv’s development partner Portrait Software, the testing involved multiple complex business processes emulating deployment for major institutions. The scalability testing shows Aperio can handle the demands of Tier one, two and three banks with diverse deployment requirements.

"We were very happy to exceed 10,000 concurrent users in our scalability testing with Microsoft SQL Server. This positions us to confidently provide our solution to the world’s largest financial institutions," said Andrew Steadman, director of channel strategy, Fiserv CBS Worldwide.

Fiserv Aperio is a next-generation customer interaction management solution for global financial institutions. Created using the Microsoft Application Platform, including Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition (64-bit) database software, Aperio integrates and automates business processes, tracks customer interactions across multiple channels and gives organizations the capability to proactively make decisions about how to proceed with their customers based on real time data. With growing demand for Aperio, which is now licensed in every region that Fiserv serves including North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America, the company wanted to test its scalability for larger organizations.

Building upon the Microsoft Application Platform has helped Fiserv CBS to create a solution that can support even higher processing. "We’ve always been impressed by the scalability of SQL Server. We’ve consistently found that the SQL server provides a solid reliable platform that scales up very well. It is an excellent environment in which to work," said David Saunders, technical architect, Portrait Software, whose framework underlies the Fiserv Aperio solution.

Fiserv CBS partnered with Microsoft to ensure that Aperio was fully capable of providing capacity for large financial institutions while simultaneously offering a scalable solution for financial organizations that aspire to grow. For Microsoft, the initiative was a positive one.

"The results of this project demonstrate that systems based on Microsoft technology are scalable, reliable and secure enough to handle large volumes of data at the heart of a bank’s transaction processing environment, and that they serve mission-critical needs of our customers in the financial services industry," said Kim Saunders, senior director, Microsoft SQL Server Marketing.

About Fiserv CBS Woldwide

Fiserv CBS Worldwide is a unit of Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company that serves more than 18,000 clients in 66 countries around the world. Fiserv CBS Worldwide delivers end-to-end business and technology solutions for retail financial organizations, consumer finance institutions and credit unions throughout Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and the United States. Through its offices in the USA, UK, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Australia, China, Indonesia, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico, Fiserv CBS Worldwide enables financial institutions globally to deliver integrated solutions for managing the entire customer relationship from core banking to multi-channel customer contact and business intelligence. Fiserv CBS Worldwide can be found on the Internet at www.fiservcbs.com.

About Fiserv, Inc.

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides information management and electronic commerce systems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing, outsourcing, electronic bill payment and presentment, investment management solutions, business process outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., the company is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. In 2007, the company completed the acquisition of CheckFree, a leading provider of electronic commerce services. Fiserv reported nearly $4 billion in total revenue from continuing operations for 2007. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.

Read Full Article

Open forum addresses government and market issues on the horizon

Read Full Article

Five new British Columbia based credit unions select iSpectrum to meet their strategic, long-term technology needs

Seeking a core system to satisfy their business needs into the future, five British Columbia credit unions have selected iSpectrum from Summit Financial Technologies Canada, part of Fiserv Solutions of Canada, Inc., a business unit of Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV). The five most recent credit unions to select iSpectrum include Integris Credit Union of Prince George ($392 million in assets); Bulkley Valley Credit Union of Smithers ($215 million in assets); North Peace Savings & Credit Union of Fort St. John ($196 million in assets); Williams Lake & District Credit Union of Williams Lake ($171 million in assets); and Spruce Credit Union of Prince George ($93 million in assets).

“As many credit unions across Canada are nearing the end of long-term technology contracts, they are questioning the restrictive systems presented by their current vendors and favoring the enabling features and technology of iSpectrum,” saidKevin Sparks, president of the Fiserv Summit business line. “Built from the ground up to satisfy needs at every level of the enterprise, iSpectrum allows credit unions to conduct business in the manner they choose, address emerging market trends and meet strategic objectives. Our five new British Columbia clients illustrate this trend. We are very pleased and proud tobe their partner of choice to help them realize their long-term goals. 

”Facing an imminent and forced change due to the sunset of their system, the five credit unions collaborated in a search to identify a replacement. Following a rigorous selection process, the system search team unanimously selected iSpectrum over the incumbent vendor. iSpectrum was deemed to be superior from a number of technology and operational perspectives.

“Our Functional Review Team, which included staff from the five credit unions, spent a week reviewing each of the two short-listed systems. Each team member used a scorecard to evaluate the various system features and iSpectrum was rated higher than the other system in every single category. There was no question which system our users preferred,” said Nancy Meyer, manager of operations for the Bulkley Valley Credit Union. “Team members were given the opportunity for hands-on experience processing various transactions on iSpectrum. Everything was so intuitive and easy-to-use, there was no need to guess what to do or to remember codes. System wizards take you through frontline processes, making each task easy and fast.”In addition to ease-of-use, the technology of iSpectrum was also important in the group’s selection decision. 

“The technology of iSpectrum was definitely a key part of our selection process. From our list of technology requirements, we weren’t just looking for a system with disaster recovery. We were looking for business continuity, a system that never goes down. It is clear iSpectrum offers that,” said Glen Martin, manager of information systems and technology, Williams Lake & District Credit Union. “With iSpectrum, we have a system that will easily integrate with third parties, allowing us to be as productive and effective as we possibly can be. For all of the credit unions involved in the selection process, the ability to respond quickly to member needs in a competitive market is imperative, and iSpectrum will allow us to rapidly launch new products and offerings as they are developed.”

Built exclusively for Canadian credit unions, iSpectrum uses Internet standards and Web service protocols, making connectivity with best-of-breed products and services fast, easy and inexpensive. The three-tiered open architecture includes separate tiers for presentation, application and data, allowing any of the three tiers to be upgraded or replaced independently as requirements or technology change. Increased interest and demand for iSpectrum in 2008 has stemmed not only from use of cutting-edge technology but also from the efficiency and profitability benefits recognized by operationsstaff and executive-level managers.

“Each credit union is interested in having a larger share of their members’ business and iSpectrum facilitates that,” said Ken Dickson, chief operating officer, Integris Credit Union. “Marketing prompts are displayed to frontline staff to show the nextbest-product offer based on each member’s specific needs, giving employees the ability to offer a product that is truly inthe member’s best interest. Because iSpectrum is built like a Web site, employees with Internet experience can quickly andintuitively begin using the system and training time for new employees will be significantly reduced.”

 About Summit Financial Technologies Canada

The iSpectrum system provides Canadian credit unions with advanced technology to help them succeed in today’s competitive financial services industry. Summit Financial Technologies Canada delivers iSpectrum services and client support via an operations office in Burnaby, BC and data centres in Vancouver, BC and Toronto, ON as part of Fiserv Solutions of Canada, Inc. Staffed with industry experts, the data centres support license, service bureau/ASP and resource management delivery and service options of the iSpectrum system. For more information on iSpectrum, visit www.summitsite.com/CA.

Read Full Article

Open forum addresses government and market issues on the horizon

Read Full Article