Tech Talk: Banking on the cloud, digital HELOCs, open banking for SMBs, and more!

• Public cloud network for banks
• Cloud-based custom banking platform
• A digital HELOC solution
• Global recurring cross-border payments
• Bank launches eWallet for tech firms
• Open banking for SMBs
• NCR bans financial aggregators
• Card-stealing competition
• Friendly fraud prevention
• Spam, Scams & Breaches
• Updates, Patches & Alerts
• and on the lighter side...

Public cloud network for banks
Evolving threats and mounting regulatory pressure to protect data privacy is driving the financial sector to abandon legacy technology for more secure data storage alternatives. Bank of America teamed up with technology giant IBM on an industry first, financial services-ready public cloud. The highly encrypted cloud-computing service is designed to help banks and their technology vendors meet regulatory and compliance requirements that are unique to the financial services industry while securely protecting consumer data. Banking Dive has the details.

Cloud-based custom banking platform
Online and mobile banking platforms traditionally come in "one size fits all." Features that some customers find invaluable may not appeal to or be useful for other customers. Restrictions imposed by legacy IT architectures has hindered banks' ability to create more personalized products. British core banking software provider Thought Machine has released a cloud-based banking platform that enables banks to offer different varieties of financial products that their customers can further customize themselves, reports Computer Weekly.

A digital HELOC solution
To save consumers time and provide competitive rates with no origination fees, the U.S. subsidiary of BBVA and San Francisco-based fintech Prosper have launched a digital Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) platform. The HELOC platform allows customers to complete an online application in minutes and receive an instant prequalification. Currently available in four states and rolling out to additional states soon, the bank will also offer a BBVA-branded version of the digital HELOC to a select group of its customers, reports The Paypers.

Global recurring cross-border payments
The complexity of international payments coupled with fragmented rules and regulations in various countries often inhibits businesses from global expansion. U.K. fintechs GoCardless and TransferWise have teamed up to launch the first global network designed for recurring bank debit payments, such as subscriptions, invoices and installments. In lieu of having to open a bank account in every country where they collect payments, the network enables businesses to collect payments from all over the world at the real exchange rate. Banking Dive has the details.

Bank launches eWallet for tech firms
Faced with growing competition from non-banks and tech companies and significant loss in revenue – around $280 billion over the next five years according to a recent Accenture report – banks are looking for innovative ways to keep their slice of the payments market pie. Global financial services provider JPMorgan has developed an eWallet tailored for tech firms, such as Airbnb and Amazon, that enables them to offer millions of customers virtual bank accounts with lower payment processing fees. PYMNTS.com has the details.

Open banking for SMBs
Open banking has given consumers more control over their financial data and provides banking customers with increased access to innovative applications and services through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). With some B2B (business-to-business) use cases for open banking still being explored, several fintech firms have forged ahead with API-powered open banking solutions for small businesses. PYMNTS.com has the details.

NCR bans financial aggregators
The technological advances that are designed to help consumers better manage their finances, such as open banking and APIs, are increasingly being exploited by criminals to gain access to consumers bank accounts. Following a series of account takeover attacks in which hackers automated unauthorized logins and bypassed multi-factor authentication measures, global enterprise technology company NCR temporarily blocked two major financial aggregators from accessing its online banking platform used by hundreds of financial institutions, reports Krebs on Security.

Card-stealing competition
In the world of cybercrime (or any criminal enterprise for that matter) there is no honor among thieves. While in the business world it's generally considered unethical to poach a competitor's clients, apparently on the financial cybercrime scene all targets are fair game. Websites built on the Magento e-commerce platform have been heavily targeted by Magecart, the umbrella term that encompasses several different threat groups who all use the same modus operandi to launch card skimming attacks. Security firm PerimeterX has discovered that multiple Magecart attacks are simultaneously skimming card data from ecommerce sites at the same time, reports Threatpost.

Friendly fraud prevention
While technology designed to detect and block criminal fraudsters is increasingly being refined and enhanced, a large percentage of fraud losses impacting online retailers involves friendly or first-party fraud – chargebacks and lost goods due to intentional and unintentional exploitation of disputes by actual customers. Cybersecurity firm Kount has developed the Friendly Fraud Prevention Solution, which leverages AI and machine learning technology to detect transaction fraud and defend digital companies against both criminal and friendly fraud. ATM Marketplace has the details.

Spams, Scams and Breaches

• Help Net Security: Risky mobile transactions on the rise
• IT-Online: Email phishing scams continue to lure victims
• Threatpost: Voice assistants vulnerable to hacking via laser beams
• Threatpost: Banking trojan resurfaces with new tactics and techniques
• Security Week: Vendor email compromise scams target supply chain ecosystems
• Security Week: Threat actor delivering new malware samples via spear phishing emails
• Threatpost: Global crime ring stole thousands of dollars from servicemembers and veterans

Updates, Patches and Alerts...

• US-CERT: Current Activity
• November 2019 Patch Tuesday forecast: Out with the old, in with the new
• Security Week: Cisco patches vulnerabilities in small business routers, RoomOS
• Help Net Security: New, improved Microsoft 365 security and compliance features

See what other current hot cyber and technology topics affecting financial institutions BOL users are discussing in the Technology Forum.

And on the lighter side...

Smartphone addiction is a growing problem in today's connected society. So much so that digital detox packages during which you give up your digital devices for a brief period of time are now available at some luxury hotels. Or you can try a using a paper phone to help you detox from digital dependence.