The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) raises the high water mark for data security. But there's a persistent myth that PCI compliance equals security. The reality is that PCI is only a baseline, and one that needs to be monitored constantly as the threat landscape changes. In the months following what may be the largest the data breach in U.S. history at Heartland Payment Systems®, many people are wondering if PCI is effective. In response, the PCI Security Standards Council has released new guidance around risk-based compliance and Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) reviews and remediation. But will these be enough to calm the concerns that merchants have with PCI? This report includes an update of PCI, an overview of emerging technologies, and lessons learned from the Heartland breach. Hashing, tokenization, end-to-end encryption, and Chip and PIN are covered in depth. More Information

Financial institutions are faced with increasing competition from non-FI payment brands seeking to usurp transaction volume and consumer mindshare, particularly in the online channel. Combined with the consumer shift away from credit cards to various forms of pay-now methods, financial institutions must seek to embrace “alternatives” to maintain the primary position as arbiter of consumer payments. This report reviews nine vendors: Acculynk, eBillme, HomeATM, Mazooma, Moneta, NACHA SVP, Noca, SeerGate, and Verient, and rates their value for consumers, merchants and financial institutions. More information

The economic crisis has accentuated consumers’ hunger for effective money-management tools. Web startups such as Mint, Geezeo and Wesabe have raised consumer expectations, vividly demonstrating how practical and simple such tools can be for monitoring and analyzing one’s finances. But banks and credit unions still hold the fundamental advantage of being able to pair such tools with the unmatched ability to conduct transactions in a trusted environment. Included are a product roadmap and detailed feature comparison and ranking of seven online-banking vendors: Digital Insight, Fiserv, Jwaala, Harland Financial Solutions, Metavante, S1 and Yodlee. Part one of a two-part series, this report will be followed with a second report highlighting the consumer attitudes and behaviors. More Information

Over the past seven years, Javelin research indicates that consumers and business owners want more control of their finances. With the advent of the iPhone, consumers can easily manage their music collection, contact lists and endless other facets of their life. Consumers should now be able to easily navigate their financial information in a similar manner, but the technology belies a historic focus on putting providers’ need first. The customer-driven architecture seeks to differentiate financial providers by putting customers’ financial needs first. It is a way for customers to simply and safely know and control every important aspect of their finances. More Information