“Bank Foundation Supports Education and Prevention Programs for Teens - MyCentralJersey.com” plus 4 more

Bank Foundation Supports Education and Prevention Programs for Teens - MyCentralJersey.com
Axis Bank opens branch at Ambad - New Kerala
UPDATE 1-Chile January-July banking system profit $1.2 bln - Reuters
New Internet Threats Target Millions Engaged in Banking Online - PR Newswire
APRA acts on Taiwan bank branch - The Age

Bank Foundation Supports Education and Prevention Programs for Teens - MyCentralJersey.com

Posted: 27 Aug 2009 08:06 AM PDT

The Investors Savings Bank Foundation, which provides charitable funding to not-for-profit programs in the neighborhoods the bank serves, has awarded a $5,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Union County, a youth services agency that has served its community for more than 50 years.

The funds will support a variety of teen programs at the agency's Union club, including programs that promote drug and alcohol awareness, pregnancy prevention, gang prevention, and college and career readiness. These programs involve participants in discussion and role-playing activities, promote the building of assertiveness and self-esteem, and help prepare youths to make positive decisions in the face of peer pressure and media influence.

"The Investors Savings Bank Foundation has made a sound investment in our community's future" said Russell Triolo, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Union County. "We're extremely grateful for their generosity."

"The Boys & Girls Clubs of Union County is helping prepare young people to be responsible, productive citizens" said Kevin Cummings, president and CEO of Investors Savings Bank. "The Foundation is glad to offer its support."

For more information about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Union County, call (908) 687-7976 or visit www.bgcuc.org.

About the Investors Savings Bank Foundation

Investors Savings Bank has been serving New Jersey residents since 1926. With over $8 billion in assets and a network of 58 branches in ten Garden State counties, the Bank delivers personalized and friendly services and products tailored to the needs of customers. The range of products includes mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, CDs, and a variety of checking and savings accounts. The Investors Savings Bank Foundation and its dedicated employees support organizations that enrich the quality of life in the communities the Bank serves. To date, the Foundation has dispensed more than $3 million to support initiatives ranging from community and civic improvements to the fight against diseases. For more information about Investors Savings Bank, contact the Bank at 1.800.252.8119 or visit www.isbnj.com.

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Axis Bank opens branch at Ambad - New Kerala

Posted: 27 Aug 2009 06:48 AM PDT

Nashik, Aug 27 : A new Axis Bank branch office was inaugurated by Mr S K Sinha, Senior Vice President, Compliance-West Zone, Axis Bank at Ambad suburb of the city today.

Speaking after inaugurating the branch, Mr Sinha said, ''This marks yet another step towards the extensive consumer banking focus that we are providing across the country and reinforces our commitment to bring superior banking services, marked by convenience and closeness to customers.'' Axis Bank has a network of 888 branches, eight extension counters and 3,802 ATMs across the country. The branches, spread across more than 554 cities and towns, enable the Bank to reach out to a large cross-section of customers with an array of products and services catering to both the retail and the corporate segment.

Axis Bank has a customer base of over 100 Lakhs and provides payroll services to over 20,000 Corporates across 38 Lakh salary accounts.

It has the second largest EDC network, the third largest ATM network in India and also has the fourth largest base of debit cards in the country.

The market capitalisation of the Bank as on August 26, 2009 was Rs 32,970 crores, which makes the Bank the fourth largest in terms of market capitalisation in the country.

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UPDATE 1-Chile January-July banking system profit $1.2 bln - Reuters

Posted: 27 Aug 2009 06:48 AM PDT

* Santander Chile profit 219.21 billion pesos

* Banco de Chile profit 143.36 billion pesos (Adds analyst quote and background)

SANTIAGO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Chile's banking sector profit totaled 634.115 billion pesos ($1.2 billion) in the January-July period, the banking regulator said on Thursday, providing no comparison figures.

The Banking and Financial Institutions Superintendency said Santander Chile STG.SN, Chile's largest private-sector bank, posted a profit of 219.210 billion pesos during the seven-month period.

Banco de Chile CHI.SN, Chile's No. 2 bank, saw a profit of 143.364 billion pesos.

The government has called on banks to lend more money to help jump-start the economy. The value of Chile's chief exports has plummeted due to the global financial crisis.

Some banks have said they will have more credit available for clients, but the Chilean financial system is known for being extremely conservative, analysts say.

"The system's profits are very positive compared to the previous month," said Ruben Catalan, a banking analyst with Bci brokerage. "Once again, the results appear to be healthy. I don't think there are too many things off-place. Overall, the system is very stable." ($1 = 541.90 Chilean pesos at the end of July) (Reporting by Antonio de la Jara and AAron Nelsen; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and John Wallace)

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New Internet Threats Target Millions Engaged in Banking Online - PR Newswire

Posted: 27 Aug 2009 07:02 AM PDT

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- An estimated 98 million Americans bank online, thanks to Web-based bill-paying, money transfers and other activities made possible by financial institutions and service providers. The convenience of completing these tasks at home helps simplify hectic schedules and provides customers with 24-hour account access.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090827/NYFNSF01)

Although financial institutions have security measures in place to protect their customers, cybercriminals have devised ways to circumvent some of these security devices. One tactic is to attack a bank customer's computer with a technique called keystroke logging (or just keylogging), which puts both your identity and your finances at risk.

Internet security firm Webroot reports that cybercriminals are churning out new variants of malware programs designed to log keystrokes at an increasing rate. One such program is called Zbot, which can activate while the owner of an infected PC is browsing a financial institution's Web site. In recent months, Webroot's Threat Research Lab has detected a steady increase in the incidents of Zbot. The program - and others like it - can not only record what a person types, such as the bank account username and password, but can also steal the responses to "security questions" the bank might ask. Some versions of Zbot can take pictures of the screen whenever the bank customer clicks his mouse, which defeats even "soft" on-screen keyboards that some banks use specifically to thwart keyloggers.

"Online banking sites are tempting and potentially very lucrative channels for cybercriminals to target a great mass of people," said Mike Kronenberg, chief technology officer for Webroot's consumer security division. "We're seeing malware authors rapidly update their banking Trojan programs in an effort to avoid detection by Internet security solutions. This means consumers need to stay on top of protecting themselves online."

Kronenberg recommends three key steps for protecting your personal finances and your identity online:

Be Protected: Make sure you have a reputable antispyware and antivirus program installed on your computer. Be careful when doing searches for "free" antivirus software because the results are often decoys that have malicious programming built in to them.

Stay Protected: Suppress the urge to hit the ignore button when you get those pesky reminders asking if you would like to check for updates. By having the most up-to-date software for both your operating system (like Windows or Linux) and your antispyware and antivirus program, you get the highest level of security.

Diversity is key: Would you ever use the same key for your car, office and your home? Although it may seem simplest to just use the same password for all your online accounts, it is perhaps the riskiest thing you can do to open yourself up to identity theft. If just one of your accounts is hacked it opens the door for the thief to gain access to all of them.

SOURCE Webroot Software

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APRA acts on Taiwan bank branch - The Age

Posted: 27 Aug 2009 06:40 AM PDT

AUSTRALIA'S banking watchdog has ordered the local arm of a Taiwanese bank to take action over concerns the lender was being targeted by criminals to launder funds or potentially finance terrorist operations.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has called on Mega ICBC to freeze opening new accounts, produce a list of all its Australian staff and review its deposit book, with an eye to closing suspect accounts.

APRA initially became suspicious of Mega ICBC last year. The regulator's suspicions were confirmed when a review uncovered a ''significant and systemic level of potentially unusual and suspicious transactions'' within Mega ICBC that were not reported to authorities.

That review also found Mega ICBC's risk-management systems were ''inadequate, ineffective and did not adequately operate having regard to the risks they were designed to control''.

APRA raised concerns that some Mega ICBC staff were involved in the opening of deposit accounts contrary to the bank's own procedures. It also said some staff had participated in some structured transactions by the bank's customers.

Mega ICBC has agreed to have its remedial actions, including appointing qualified risk staff, reviewed by an independent expert, which will report to the bank regulator.

Mega ICBC yesterday confirmed several cash transactions had been made by a Brisbane-based customer that the bank had failed to report to the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).

A Mega ICBC spokesman said a taskforce has been formed and outside consultants recruited to ensure full compliance with the anti-money laundering rules and the APRA recommendations.

The APRA review coincided with a separate investigation by AUSTRAC, which had concerns that Mega was failing to report suspect transactions.

In June, AUSTRAC named Mega ICBC and British giant Barclays as failing to prevent their services from potentially being used by criminals to launder the proceeds of crime or finance terrorist operations.

Among other things, Mega's audit procedures fell short of prudential rules and the bank did not have an effective system to monitor transactions under anti-money laundering and terrorism financing rules.

As part of AUSTRAC's findings, Mega ICBC was ordered to undertake a comprehensive review of all account transactions since January 2002.

In an enforceable undertaking entered into with APRA, Mega ICBC admitted its behaviour ''fell seriously short of acceptable banking practice''.

The Taiwanese bank said it would take steps to comply with APRA's demands. The bank has a relatively small presence in Australia, with a $1.5 billion lending book and deposits worth just over $400 million.