New KeyBank EVP Carpetto Brings New Payments Perspective

Al Carpetto, KeyBank's new EVP, says he wants the bank to be viewed as a top-tier payments provider, including in areas such as treasury management, foreign exchange and institutional asset services.

KeyBank is gaining a new perspective on payments. In February, Alfred Carpetto joined the Cleveland-based bank as EVP and head of the Enterprise Commercial Payments Group. Carpetto brings to the position the benefit of having seen the payments industry from different vantage points throughout his career.

Most recently, Carpetto served as head of global transaction services for the Americas at Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Prior to that, he was a sales executive within the Treasury and Securities Services Group at New York-based JPMorgan Chase, where he spent 18 years. He also has held leadership positions at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and at Dean Witter Reynolds.

"I am very excited about this opportunity," Carpetto tells BS&T. "Having worked in the payments industry, I think KeyBank has a unique opportunity with its clients. ... They've chosen KeyBank in many aspects of their business."

One of the many challenges that Carpetto says he looks forward to managing is the development of what he calls the group's brand. "I'm not sure everybody fully understands what the Enterprise Commercial Payments Group brings to the table," he explains. "Most people may think it's just cash management, but it's not."

KeyBank's ($89 billion in assets) Enterprise Commercial Payments Group includes not only treasury management, but also international foreign exchange and institutional asset services -- businesses that historically have been separate at the bank but have recently been pulled together under a singular payments umbrella that's being managed by Carpetto. "KeyBank's restructuring and renaming of this business is an example of another major bank saying the paymentsbusiness is important and it needs to be leveraged and cross-sold into client relationships," he says.

Carpetto says he plans to tackle the brand development with a "two-front assault." First, he'll work internally to get the once-separate business segments to understand the group's structure and value proposition. Then he'll lead the group in using that knowledge to provide client messaging and to drive that understanding externally.

"We manage products that are sold by everyone in the bank. So whether you're a large corporate relationship banker or middle-market banker, it doesn't really matter because every client can use the payments products we offer," Carpetto relates. "We talk to clients very frequently, and as a result that leads to conversations that can tee-up other opportunities. We clearly have an advantage when we're talking to clients from a payments perspective."

Product Development: A Vertical Leap

Developing products and client relationships in more verticals is another task on Carpetto's list. "You're going to see some really aggressive moves by some banks in the next two to three years -- and KeyBank will hopefully be one of them -- to start to focus on different verticals that are very paper-intensive," he says, explaining that as businesses desire to make more progress toward paperless, automated processes, financial institutions can help them achieve their goals of becoming more efficient.

Carpetto says one of the verticals he'll be "pushing very hard" is the healthcare vertical. "As the economy improves, we're going to start getting more prospects on the table for discussion, and I think the payments business is a great business to lead with," he comments.

From a broader, more long-term perspective, Carpetto says, "I want us to be viewed as a top-tier payments provider." He stresses that when he says "payments," he means all products under the Enterprise Commercial Payments Group umbrella, including cash management, payments receivables, information reporting, foreign exchange and trade, as well as institutional asset servicing.

"At the end of the day," Carpetto notes, "I want our people to understand their roles and responsibilities. But most important, I want them to act as trusted advisers to clients. When you sit across from a client you should add value. And the only way you're going to add value is to advise them."

Vista Proposal for Misys Threatens Misys-Temenos Merger Talks

Vista Equity Partners has made a nonbonding proposal to acquire Misys, threatening a possible merger between Temenos and Misys that was announced earlier this month.

San Francisco-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has made a nonbonding proposal to acquire London-based financial software vendor Misys. The proposal disrupts merger talks announced earlier this month between Geneva-based banking software provider Temenos and Misys.

Vista is proposing to acquire outstanding shares of Misys for cash but has not yet made a firm offer, which the company must do by March 19. The companies have indicated that they'll make further announcements once the Misys board of directors has had a chance to review the offer and make a recommendation.

New KeyBank EVP Carpetto Brings New Payments Perspective

Al Carpetto, KeyBank's new EVP, says he wants the bank to be viewed as a top-tier payments provider, including in areas such as treasury management, foreign exchange and institutional asset services.

KeyBank is gaining a new perspective on payments. In February, Alfred Carpetto joined the Cleveland-based bank as EVP and head of the Enterprise Commercial Payments Group. Carpetto brings to the position the benefit of having seen the payments industry from different vantage points throughout his career.

Most recently, Carpetto served as head of global transaction services for the Americas at Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Prior to that, he was a sales executive within the Treasury and Securities Services Group at New York-based JPMorgan Chase, where he spent 18 years. He also has held leadership positions at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and at Dean Witter Reynolds.

"I am very excited about this opportunity," Carpetto tells BS&T. "Having worked in the payments industry, I think KeyBank has a unique opportunity with its clients. ... They've chosen KeyBank in many aspects of their business."

One of the many challenges that Carpetto says he looks forward to managing is the development of what he calls the group's brand. "I'm not sure everybody fully understands what the Enterprise Commercial Payments Group brings to the table," he explains. "Most people may think it's just cash management, but it's not."

KeyBank's ($89 billion in assets) Enterprise Commercial Payments Group includes not only treasury management, but also international foreign exchange and institutional asset services -- businesses that historically have been separate at the bank but have recently been pulled together under a singular payments umbrella that's being managed by Carpetto. "KeyBank's restructuring and renaming of this business is an example of another major bank saying the paymentsbusiness is important and it needs to be leveraged and cross-sold into client relationships," he says.

Carpetto says he plans to tackle the brand development with a "two-front assault." First, he'll work internally to get the once-separate business segments to understand the group's structure and value proposition. Then he'll lead the group in using that knowledge to provide client messaging and to drive that understanding externally.

"We manage products that are sold by everyone in the bank. So whether you're a large corporate relationship banker or middle-market banker, it doesn't really matter because every client can use the payments products we offer," Carpetto relates. "We talk to clients very frequently, and as a result that leads to conversations that can tee-up other opportunities. We clearly have an advantage when we're talking to clients from a payments perspective."

Product Development: A Vertical Leap

Developing products and client relationships in more verticals is another task on Carpetto's list. "You're going to see some really aggressive moves by some banks in the next two to three years -- and KeyBank will hopefully be one of them -- to start to focus on different verticals that are very paper-intensive," he says, explaining that as businesses desire to make more progress toward paperless, automated processes, financial institutions can help them achieve their goals of becoming more efficient.

Carpetto says one of the verticals he'll be "pushing very hard" is the healthcare vertical. "As the economy improves, we're going to start getting more prospects on the table for discussion, and I think the payments business is a great business to lead with," he comments.

From a broader, more long-term perspective, Carpetto says, "I want us to be viewed as a top-tier payments provider." He stresses that when he says "payments," he means all products under the Enterprise Commercial Payments Group umbrella, including cash management, payments receivables, information reporting, foreign exchange and trade, as well as institutional asset servicing.

"At the end of the day," Carpetto notes, "I want our people to understand their roles and responsibilities. But most important, I want them to act as trusted advisers to clients. When you sit across from a client you should add value. And the only way you're going to add value is to advise them."

Vista Proposal for Misys Threatens Misys-Temenos Merger Talks

Vista Equity Partners has made a nonbonding proposal to acquire Misys, threatening a possible merger between Temenos and Misys that was announced earlier this month.

San Francisco-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has made a nonbonding proposal to acquire London-based financial software vendor Misys. The proposal disrupts merger talks announced earlier this month between Geneva-based banking software provider Temenos and Misys.

Vista is proposing to acquire outstanding shares of Misys for cash but has not yet made a firm offer, which the company must do by March 19. The companies have indicated that they'll make further announcements once the Misys board of directors has had a chance to review the offer and make a recommendation.

A New Customer Experience Leader: Q&A With USAA's Jeff Easley

At a time when banks often are public enemy No. 1, how did USAA Federal Savings Bank manage to top Forrester Research's 2012 Customer Experience Index? Simply by putting the customer first, says Jeff Easley, USAA executive director of deposits product management.
The best site of auto http://www.mawiniwe.blogspot.com .
The financial industry has experienced a swell of consumer discontent over the past year with the rise of movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Bank Transfer Day. But amid the negative attention being given to banks in recent months, San Antonio-basedUSAA Federal Savings Bank ($48.8 billion in assets) has been recognized for its efforts to satisfy its customers. The bank, which serves military personnel and their families, scored higher than any other institution in the most recent Customer Experience Index from Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research, an annual study that this year surveyed more than 7,500 consumers about 160 brands across 13 industries. This is the first time in the survey’s five-year history that a bank topped the list, which includes retail giants such as Amazon, Costco and Kohl’s. Bank Systems & Technology senior associate editor Olivia LaBarre spoke recently with Jeff Easley, executive director of deposits product management at USAA, about how the organization has become a leader in customer experience and what it plans to do to keep its customers happy.

Bank Systems & Technology: How has USAA been keeping its banking customers satisfied during a time when public perception of banks has been notably negative?

Easley: Our mission is to facilitate the financial security of our members. That's our core value, that's our DNA. So a sustained focus on that has allowed us to continue to find ways to improve our customer service and deliver that value.

Our members are really first in terms of the decisions that we make. ... At a time when other institutions are adding fees, we're still offering a free checking account and reimbursing ATM fees that other banks charge. We offer free mobile banking and free web bill pay. We see that as our mission, and we make that core to what we do.

Bank Systems & Technology: Which specific innovations or initiatives have positively impacted the customer experience at USAA over the past couple of years?

Easley: Innovations such as Deposit@Home and Deposit@Mobile, the services that allow our customers to capture images of checks with their smartphones or their scanners at home, have been great innovations for us and bring great value to our members. In the past year, we launched a service at the UPS Store called Easy Deposit. This allows our members to deposit checks through the more than 2,000 UPS Store locations.

We've also been launching new financial centers, which are in major markets and allow our members to do more than just banking with us. They have the full range of products and services that we offer. We also launched Money Manager, our [personal financial management tool]. That was in 2010, and we've since seen great adoption of that capability, with high member satisfaction.

Bank Systems & Technology: What role does technology play in the customer experience at USAA?

Easley: The focus on our members is what drives our innovation. Technology is absolutely key to delivering on that promise of convenience to our members. We strive to provide a seamless, integrated solution and exceptional service in any channel, whether members are calling us for help or are using mobile or Internet channels. We use technology to be that one, consistent USAA while providing the channel of choice for our members.

We were also among the first to leverage technology for the deposit solutions I mentioned earlier. Some of that insight for developing those products was driven by how mobile many of our members are. Since [the military families that we service] move around the world and the United States as they do, mobile technology is certainly important in terms of how we provide services to them.

In our financial centers we have video telephony, which is another way to connect our members to our member services representatives in a face-to-face environment. That's also a key channel for us as well. Overall, technology permeates all of the services that we offer and has enabled us to provide that channel of choice to our members.

Bank Systems & Technology: How does USAA plan to maintain or even improve its customer experience?

Easley: We plan on continuing to invest heavily in making our channels better. We'll just continue to focus on what our members need and how these technologies and channels add value to them, make their lives easier and help move them up the financial security scale.

Mobile and tablets appear to be full of potential in terms of adding more value for our members. We'll certainly keep an eye on the industry and where things are going, and it's our priority to make sure we're there when technologies are available.

We understand the unique needs of our military families, and we want to be able to provide something great to our members and meet their lifestyles and their needs. In terms of our hard wiring, that's what we do and what we focus on. It's exciting to leverage technology and what's available in the marketplace and bring those things together to accomplish our mission.

A New Customer Experience Leader: Q&A With USAA's Jeff Easley

At a time when banks often are public enemy No. 1, how did USAA Federal Savings Bank manage to top Forrester Research's 2012 Customer Experience Index? Simply by putting the customer first, says Jeff Easley, USAA executive director of deposits product management.

The financial industry has experienced a swell of consumer discontent over the past year with the rise of movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Bank Transfer Day. But amid the negative attention being given to banks in recent months, San Antonio-basedUSAA Federal Savings Bank ($48.8 billion in assets) has been recognized for its efforts to satisfy its customers. The bank, which serves military personnel and their families, scored higher than any other institution in the most recent Customer Experience Index from Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research, an annual study that this year surveyed more than 7,500 consumers about 160 brands across 13 industries. This is the first time in the survey’s five-year history that a bank topped the list, which includes retail giants such as Amazon, Costco and Kohl’s. Bank Systems & Technology senior associate editor Olivia LaBarre spoke recently with Jeff Easley, executive director of deposits product management at USAA, about how the organization has become a leader in customer experience and what it plans to do to keep its customers happy.

Bank Systems & Technology: How has USAA been keeping its banking customers satisfied during a time when public perception of banks has been notably negative?

Easley: Our mission is to facilitate the financial security of our members. That's our core value, that's our DNA. So a sustained focus on that has allowed us to continue to find ways to improve our customer service and deliver that value.

Our members are really first in terms of the decisions that we make. ... At a time when other institutions are adding fees, we're still offering a free checking account and reimbursing ATM fees that other banks charge. We offer free mobile banking and free web bill pay. We see that as our mission, and we make that core to what we do.

Bank Systems & Technology: Which specific innovations or initiatives have positively impacted the customer experience at USAA over the past couple of years?

Easley: Innovations such as Deposit@Home and Deposit@Mobile, the services that allow our customers to capture images of checks with their smartphones or their scanners at home, have been great innovations for us and bring great value to our members. In the past year, we launched a service at the UPS Store called Easy Deposit. This allows our members to deposit checks through the more than 2,000 UPS Store locations.

We've also been launching new financial centers, which are in major markets and allow our members to do more than just banking with us. They have the full range of products and services that we offer. We also launched Money Manager, our [personal financial management tool]. That was in 2010, and we've since seen great adoption of that capability, with high member satisfaction.

Bank Systems & Technology: What role does technology play in the customer experience at USAA?

Easley: The focus on our members is what drives our innovation. Technology is absolutely key to delivering on that promise of convenience to our members. We strive to provide a seamless, integrated solution and exceptional service in any channel, whether members are calling us for help or are using mobile or Internet channels. We use technology to be that one, consistent USAA while providing the channel of choice for our members.

We were also among the first to leverage technology for the deposit solutions I mentioned earlier. Some of that insight for developing those products was driven by how mobile many of our members are. Since [the military families that we service] move around the world and the United States as they do, mobile technology is certainly important in terms of how we provide services to them.

In our financial centers we have video telephony, which is another way to connect our members to our member services representatives in a face-to-face environment. That's also a key channel for us as well. Overall, technology permeates all of the services that we offer and has enabled us to provide that channel of choice to our members.

Bank Systems & Technology: How does USAA plan to maintain or even improve its customer experience?

Easley: We plan on continuing to invest heavily in making our channels better. We'll just continue to focus on what our members need and how these technologies and channels add value to them, make their lives easier and help move them up the financial security scale.

Mobile and tablets appear to be full of potential in terms of adding more value for our members. We'll certainly keep an eye on the industry and where things are going, and it's our priority to make sure we're there when technologies are available.

We understand the unique needs of our military families, and we want to be able to provide something great to our members and meet their lifestyles and their needs. In terms of our hard wiring, that's what we do and what we focus on. It's exciting to leverage technology and what's available in the marketplace and bring those things together to accomplish our mission.

Google Wallet PIN Cracked

Fix for vulnerability could require banks to take over some of security responsibility.
When researchers late last year revealed that the Google Wallet app stored sensitive user data in plain text locally on the device, they also gave the app credit for its PIN protection. But now that last line of defense has been exposed by another researcher, who this week released a proof-of-concept for cracking the Google Wallet PIN.

Joshua Rubin, senior engineer with Zvelo, yesterday posted his PoC that demonstrates how he cracked Google Wallet's four-digit PIN used to authorize and process mobile-phone payments. The PIN is considered the extra layer of security that a plain, old credit card wouldn't have. But Rubin poked a big hole in that strategy: "With this attack, the PIN can be revealed without even a single invalid attempt. This completely negates all of the security of this mobile phone payment system," Rubin said in a blog post today.

In December, researchers at viaForensics said they had found that the app locally stores some payment card data in plain text, such as the cardholder's name, transaction dates, email address, and account balance.