Canada is about to become synonymous with chip and pin cards. Our northern neighbor is well on its way to full implementation of the EMV standard. We have written about this before, but to recap, the focus is to replace the current magstripe-based card system in the country with the chip and pin card program that is currently in use in Europe. Chip cards are plastic cards equipped with a microchip adhering to the standard developed by EuroPay, MasterCard, and Visa (hence EMV). The objective is to upgrade card security in Canada and to provide conformity to a standard that is a growing security initiative worldwide.  If Europe is any indication, the technology works as card-present fraud has been significantly reduced. (There are many factors involved and the ABA Banking Journal feature article in July 2011, “New gold standard?” offers a good overview.)

[This is Dan Fisher’s 50th “Beyond the Bank” blog for ababj.com, spanning two and a half years. All his blogs are still posted. One of our favorites is “If you could read my mind,” the first of several in which Dan—aka “The Wombat”—reported on the implications of brainwave-reading technology used in Mattel’s Mindflex game. That post was a good example of the theme of his blog: looking for tech-related developments outside the usual bank technology world. Appropriately for his 50th, he looks both backwards and forwards at breakthroughs he’s been personally involved with. The forward look will be of interest to any banker seeking to improve branch efficiency—in other words, just about every banker whose job covers branch banking.  — Bill Streeter, editor-in-chief]

Comical could best describe the reaction that occurs when a user of Twitter fails to realize that they just launched a bomb. Mere moments after they press the “enter” key, things begin to fly.  Suddenly the author is overcome with the reality that neither Twitter nor the internet has an erase key. Be it a post facto epiphany (PFE)—knowledge that comes to someone immediately after they have done something—it is still too late. The damage, also known as the MONDO BOOFAW, occurs at the speed of light. Yup, a Tweet heard around the world!

Yes, it is true! You can reduce your computing costs by 75%.

In a paper published in 1965, Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, predicted that computing power would double every 18 months. Hence, … Moore’s Law. He has since modified his assertion from 18 to 24 months. Looking back, we can most certainly agree that Moore was right then and he continues to be right today.

“Hacked” used to be a term that referred to one’s anger over a situation. In today’s context, hacked means another system breach and a lot of upset (hacked) customers. The alarming part has to do with the fact that these events are becoming more and more common.

Competition, cost, creativity, and technology are the fundamental elements that drive our free-market system today. I am fascinated by the many different business models that continue to emerge as a neverending stream of ideas and approaches. I often wonder: “What next?”

Netflix, internet-enabled game consoles, and N-routers (the new faster, version of wireless communications in the home and office) are re-defining the banking delivery channel. “Fast food” has hit the internet in the form of immediate fulfillment, or “I want it now!”

Without warning, notice, or even a hint, Cisco just KO’d the flip video camera product line! Wow, I truly did not see that coming and I am having a hard time coping with being flipped off! Here’s the link on the announcement: http://Flipped OUT

Just in case you haven’t heard, Interac, the payment association that governs debit cards in Canada, has an initiative in place that most certainly will affect debit card fraud in the United States.