HOUSTON, Mar 30, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----The integrity of billions of credit card, online payment and collection transactions relies on SIA-SSB, a leading European technology provider serving the international financial community. With such a critically important responsibility, SIA-SSB turned to BMC Software (NYSE:BMC) to ensure high availability, optimal performance and data integrity for every managed transaction.
SIA-SSB relies on BMC Mainframe Service Management solutions to maintain critical databases within limited time windows, minimal resource consumption, and in keeping with stringent service level agreements.
After the implementation of BMC Database Performance for DB2, SIA-SSB has recognized the following benefits:
-- A 70 percent decrease in the time required to collect statistics, allowing SIA-SSB to better plan and prioritize system changes
-- A 75 percent decrease in the elapsed time and an 80 percent decrease in the CPU (Central Processing Unit) time needed for data reorganizations, reducing the overall Lab centre spend
-- The elimination of application timeouts, resulting in a significant increase in DB2 system availability, helping to support customer confidence in SIA-SSB's systems
"BMC Software has made a tremendous difference to our DB2 maintenance," says Angelo Gaspani, SIA-SSB's architecture and data administration manager. "BMC DB2 solutions for z/OS help us quickly and effectively resolve challenges such as performance degradation, inconsistent data, or system changes. At the same time, we're able to reduce CPU consumption in the production environment. Ultimately our customers benefit from a rapid and smooth card payment transaction."
Business runs on IT. IT runs on BMC Software.
Business thrives when IT runs smarter, faster, and stronger. That's why the most demanding IT organizations in the world rely on BMC Software across both distributed and mainframe environments. Recognized as the leader in Business Service Management, BMC's comprehensive approach and unified platform helps IT organizations cut cost, reduce risk and drive business profit. For the four fiscal quarters ended December 31, 2008, BMC revenue was approximately $1.86 billion. Visit www.bmc.com for more information.
(C: 2.52, 0.17, 7.23%) Copyright 2009 BMC Software, Inc.
BMC, BMC Software, and the BMC Software logo are the exclusive properties of BMC Software, Inc., are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other BMC trademarks, service marks, and logos may be registered or pending registration in the U.S. or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Stolen credit cards exposed on Google- report
Credit card information of 19,000 British Web surfers was exposed on Google search before being removed, according to a report this weekend.
It is unclear exactly when and for how long the information was available to Google searchers, although most of the cards had been canceled, The Telegraph reported the UK payments association APACS as saying. Visible were names, addresses, and credit card data for thousands of people.
Originally, the data was posted on an unsecured server in Vietnam used by criminal gangs that was closed in February, the newspaper said. However, the "cached" version of it on Google remained.
Google offers tools that allow webmasters to make sure content is not cached or is removed. Apparently, whoever leaked the data didn't use those tools.
"Please keep in mind that search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet. Search engines such as Google do not own this content, and do not have the ability to remove content directly from the Internet," a Google spokesman said in a statement.
It is unclear exactly when and for how long the information was available to Google searchers, although most of the cards had been canceled, The Telegraph reported the UK payments association APACS as saying. Visible were names, addresses, and credit card data for thousands of people.
Originally, the data was posted on an unsecured server in Vietnam used by criminal gangs that was closed in February, the newspaper said. However, the "cached" version of it on Google remained.
Google offers tools that allow webmasters to make sure content is not cached or is removed. Apparently, whoever leaked the data didn't use those tools.
"Please keep in mind that search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet. Search engines such as Google do not own this content, and do not have the ability to remove content directly from the Internet," a Google spokesman said in a statement.
Study: 16% of Americans saw credit card limits reduced
More than 30 million cardholders had their credit limit reduced between April and October last year, according to a new study.
But most of the adjustments were not made for the traditional reason: risky behavior like making late payments or having accounts go to collections.
About 22 million card holders, or 11% of American consumers, saw their credit limits lowered despite having no recent dicey behavior or actions such as negative public records added to their credit reports, according to Fair Isaac Corp. The Minnesota-based FICO score developer produces the formula used by most major credit score agencies.
The median FICO score for this group was 768 in April but then rose to 770 by October. Lenders reduced this group's credit limits by an average of $2,200, a relatively small percentage of the $44,000 available during the six-month time frame.
Most of these borrowers had inactive or low-balance card accounts and generally had few missed payments and a long credit history. Of all U.S. consumers, 80% had no "risk trigger" posted to their credit reports during the study period.
Just 5% of consumers, or 10 million cardholders, had limits dropped because of shaky credit activity. According to Fair Isaac, consumers who use a large percentage of available credit are much more likely to default on a credit obligation.
Since credit card issuers began scaling back credit availability in early 2008, 16% of Americans have been affected, Fair Isaac said.
But most of the adjustments were not made for the traditional reason: risky behavior like making late payments or having accounts go to collections.
About 22 million card holders, or 11% of American consumers, saw their credit limits lowered despite having no recent dicey behavior or actions such as negative public records added to their credit reports, according to Fair Isaac Corp. The Minnesota-based FICO score developer produces the formula used by most major credit score agencies.
The median FICO score for this group was 768 in April but then rose to 770 by October. Lenders reduced this group's credit limits by an average of $2,200, a relatively small percentage of the $44,000 available during the six-month time frame.
Most of these borrowers had inactive or low-balance card accounts and generally had few missed payments and a long credit history. Of all U.S. consumers, 80% had no "risk trigger" posted to their credit reports during the study period.
Just 5% of consumers, or 10 million cardholders, had limits dropped because of shaky credit activity. According to Fair Isaac, consumers who use a large percentage of available credit are much more likely to default on a credit obligation.
Since credit card issuers began scaling back credit availability in early 2008, 16% of Americans have been affected, Fair Isaac said.
Cuomo reaches $4.4M agreement with Chase over credit card fees
Chase Bank USA will stop charging a $10 a month service charge that it added to more than 184,000 credit card accounts, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said.
Chase Bank, which is the credit card-card issuing subsidiary of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., will also refund consumers more than $4.4 million.
Cuomo said that in the past, Chase offered cardholders promotional rates for balance transfers or other loan amounts, usually for a one-time transaction fee, about 3 percent.
But in November, Chase notified more than 300,000 cardholders that the previous terms had been changed. Beginning in January, Chase said, it would charge a flat fee of $10 a month, or $120 a year.
“My office will not sit back and allow banks to promise one thing in its solicitations and agreements with consumers, and then when times get tough, change the deal, leaving consumers holding the bag,” Cuomo said.
Chase will be sending letters to consumers, including thousands in New York, telling them that beginning April 1, Chase will stop adding the $10 monthly fee. Cuomo said consumers will save about $22 million in the next 12 months.
Chase spokesman Joseph Evangelisti said the company "decided to discontinue this practice because of customer feedback."
Chase Bank, which is the credit card-card issuing subsidiary of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., will also refund consumers more than $4.4 million.
Cuomo said that in the past, Chase offered cardholders promotional rates for balance transfers or other loan amounts, usually for a one-time transaction fee, about 3 percent.
But in November, Chase notified more than 300,000 cardholders that the previous terms had been changed. Beginning in January, Chase said, it would charge a flat fee of $10 a month, or $120 a year.
“My office will not sit back and allow banks to promise one thing in its solicitations and agreements with consumers, and then when times get tough, change the deal, leaving consumers holding the bag,” Cuomo said.
Chase will be sending letters to consumers, including thousands in New York, telling them that beginning April 1, Chase will stop adding the $10 monthly fee. Cuomo said consumers will save about $22 million in the next 12 months.
Chase spokesman Joseph Evangelisti said the company "decided to discontinue this practice because of customer feedback."
Friday, March 27, 2009
Mexico rebels at credit card rates, mulls limits
Mexico rebels at credit card rates, mulls limits
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Millions of first-time credit card holders remade Mexico in recent years, buying everything from diapers to DVD players on credit and spurring a boom in consumer spending and bank profits.
Many now regret it: With interest rates, commissions and fees topping 100 percent a year, delinquencies have soared as the global economic crisis boosts unemployment and leads banks to raise rates even more.
"There's no way out," said Manuel Correa, a Mexico City messenger who saw his minimum monthly payments quadruple to 1,500 pesos, or $105, when he missed a few after losing his previous job. That amount is a third of his income.
"I'd have to choose between eating, paying the rent or paying the bank," he said. He chose to eat.
Congressmen, grass roots activists, one of the world's richest men and even the Roman Catholic Church are now rebelling against the rates, some of the world's highest and equal to 10 times the top rate banks pay out on deposits.
"Banks are acting with irresponsible voracity, demanding extremely high interest rates which in the end, people won't be able to pay," the Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico said in December. Banks' "insatiable greed" is speeding an economic crisis that may spark social unrest, the Church warned.
So great is the anger that Mexico's conservative governing party has argued in favor of following in the footsteps of leftist Venezuela, which caps credit card interest rates at 33 percent.
A bill now before the Senate would allow the central bank to limit bank fees and slash interest rates that regulators consider excessive, and to boost transparency by requiring banks to report more detailed information on the rates they charge. A Senate committee on Wednesday removed language that would have capped rates.
Among the unlikely suspects supporting rate reductions is Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who in December called credit card interest rates "unsustainable, and in the majority of cases, unpayable."
Slim's own bank, Inbursa, offers a card for preferred customers that charges 47.7 percent, one of the lower rates around. But the bank is not a big player in the domestic credit card market and critics dismissed Slim's statements as carping against bigger competitors.
Critics of the bill's measures warn they will hit the poor hardest, shaving bank margins and making them less likely to lend to anyone with a less than excellent credit history.
"If we set rate ceilings, we are going to leave out a good number of Mexicans, especially poorer people, without access to credit," said Enrique Castillo, head of the Association of Mexican Banks.
Banks admit that part of the problem was explosive growth in bank and store credit card accounts. Credit had collapsed in the wake of Mexico's 1994 peso crisis, making it hard to get a card through the end of the decade.
Foreign institutions such as Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings PLC saw an opening, buying local banks and boosting credit card business 14-fold to a peak 280 billion pesos, or $26 billion, in outstanding loans in February 2008. The number of credit cards doubled to more than 42 million between 2004 and 2007.
Warning signs soon appeared, with 9.5 percent of card holders falling behind on their payments this February — higher than the 8 percent delinquency rate predicted for the U.S. this year.
Many Mexican card holders had little experience with credit. They overspent, maxing out as many cards as they were offered, rather than managing their debt in order to seek the lowest rate, said Castillo.
"Banking promoters gave credit to people who simply didn't have the capacity to repay," said debtor activist Alfonso Ramirez Cuellar.
What's more, Mexico's largely inexperienced consumers seldom shop between banks, accepting high rates rather than driving competition that would force interest down, said Marco Antonio Carrera, head of market studies for the Bank Customers Defense Commission, a regulatory agency that fields financial services complaints.
As a result, Mexico's two largest banks, Bancomer, owned by Spain's BBVA, and Banamex, a subsidiary of Citigroup, together control 57 percent of the credit card market. In the U.S., four banks compete for a similar share.
While rates range from about 28 percent to 113 percent a year, the Association of Mexican Banks insists the average is about 37 percent. But even that is three times the median U.S. credit card rate of 12.1 percent last year.
Banks argue that antiquated Mexican regulations make it hard to seize a debtor's assets to recover past-due loans, driving up risk. The process usually requires a trial, which can take years — in effect encouraging banks to charge higher interest because they have few other ways to cover losses.
The current economic crisis has meanwhile pushed banks to renegotiate balances and offer lower rates to reliable customers. Bancomer charges as little as 28 percent for clients who pay their debts on time for a year, and Banamex says it has helped 130,000 people restructure their credit card debts.
Banks have also scaled back promotions, removing credit card sign-up stands from shopping malls and supermarket check-out counters.
But looming in the back of Mexicans' minds is the $70 billion that taxpayers paid to bail out banks in the 1995 crisis, and the possibility that high interest rates and debtor defaults could make that happen again.
"There are a lot of people who have to use their credit cards to buy food" because of the current economic crisis, said Congressman Antonio Soto, who wants rates capped. "They are not going to be able to pay ... and the cost will once again be borne by the taxpayers."
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Millions of first-time credit card holders remade Mexico in recent years, buying everything from diapers to DVD players on credit and spurring a boom in consumer spending and bank profits.
Many now regret it: With interest rates, commissions and fees topping 100 percent a year, delinquencies have soared as the global economic crisis boosts unemployment and leads banks to raise rates even more.
"There's no way out," said Manuel Correa, a Mexico City messenger who saw his minimum monthly payments quadruple to 1,500 pesos, or $105, when he missed a few after losing his previous job. That amount is a third of his income.
"I'd have to choose between eating, paying the rent or paying the bank," he said. He chose to eat.
Congressmen, grass roots activists, one of the world's richest men and even the Roman Catholic Church are now rebelling against the rates, some of the world's highest and equal to 10 times the top rate banks pay out on deposits.
"Banks are acting with irresponsible voracity, demanding extremely high interest rates which in the end, people won't be able to pay," the Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico said in December. Banks' "insatiable greed" is speeding an economic crisis that may spark social unrest, the Church warned.
So great is the anger that Mexico's conservative governing party has argued in favor of following in the footsteps of leftist Venezuela, which caps credit card interest rates at 33 percent.
A bill now before the Senate would allow the central bank to limit bank fees and slash interest rates that regulators consider excessive, and to boost transparency by requiring banks to report more detailed information on the rates they charge. A Senate committee on Wednesday removed language that would have capped rates.
Among the unlikely suspects supporting rate reductions is Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who in December called credit card interest rates "unsustainable, and in the majority of cases, unpayable."
Slim's own bank, Inbursa, offers a card for preferred customers that charges 47.7 percent, one of the lower rates around. But the bank is not a big player in the domestic credit card market and critics dismissed Slim's statements as carping against bigger competitors.
Critics of the bill's measures warn they will hit the poor hardest, shaving bank margins and making them less likely to lend to anyone with a less than excellent credit history.
"If we set rate ceilings, we are going to leave out a good number of Mexicans, especially poorer people, without access to credit," said Enrique Castillo, head of the Association of Mexican Banks.
Banks admit that part of the problem was explosive growth in bank and store credit card accounts. Credit had collapsed in the wake of Mexico's 1994 peso crisis, making it hard to get a card through the end of the decade.
Foreign institutions such as Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings PLC saw an opening, buying local banks and boosting credit card business 14-fold to a peak 280 billion pesos, or $26 billion, in outstanding loans in February 2008. The number of credit cards doubled to more than 42 million between 2004 and 2007.
Warning signs soon appeared, with 9.5 percent of card holders falling behind on their payments this February — higher than the 8 percent delinquency rate predicted for the U.S. this year.
Many Mexican card holders had little experience with credit. They overspent, maxing out as many cards as they were offered, rather than managing their debt in order to seek the lowest rate, said Castillo.
"Banking promoters gave credit to people who simply didn't have the capacity to repay," said debtor activist Alfonso Ramirez Cuellar.
What's more, Mexico's largely inexperienced consumers seldom shop between banks, accepting high rates rather than driving competition that would force interest down, said Marco Antonio Carrera, head of market studies for the Bank Customers Defense Commission, a regulatory agency that fields financial services complaints.
As a result, Mexico's two largest banks, Bancomer, owned by Spain's BBVA, and Banamex, a subsidiary of Citigroup, together control 57 percent of the credit card market. In the U.S., four banks compete for a similar share.
While rates range from about 28 percent to 113 percent a year, the Association of Mexican Banks insists the average is about 37 percent. But even that is three times the median U.S. credit card rate of 12.1 percent last year.
Banks argue that antiquated Mexican regulations make it hard to seize a debtor's assets to recover past-due loans, driving up risk. The process usually requires a trial, which can take years — in effect encouraging banks to charge higher interest because they have few other ways to cover losses.
The current economic crisis has meanwhile pushed banks to renegotiate balances and offer lower rates to reliable customers. Bancomer charges as little as 28 percent for clients who pay their debts on time for a year, and Banamex says it has helped 130,000 people restructure their credit card debts.
Banks have also scaled back promotions, removing credit card sign-up stands from shopping malls and supermarket check-out counters.
But looming in the back of Mexicans' minds is the $70 billion that taxpayers paid to bail out banks in the 1995 crisis, and the possibility that high interest rates and debtor defaults could make that happen again.
"There are a lot of people who have to use their credit cards to buy food" because of the current economic crisis, said Congressman Antonio Soto, who wants rates capped. "They are not going to be able to pay ... and the cost will once again be borne by the taxpayers."
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
U.S. Senate panel to draft credit card bill
U.S. Senate panel to draft credit card bill
By John Poirier
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - Key congressional panels are set to meet next week to discuss credit card legislation aimed at cleaning up unfair and deceptive practices that have slapped consumers with unexpected fees and rate hikes.
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will meet on March 31 to consider pro-consumer credit card legislation, sources with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters on Thursday.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, a Financial Services subcommittee is planning to consider credit card legislation on April 1, a committee aide said earlier this week.
Credit card reform has broad support in the House, which is firmly controlled by Democrats, but support for reforms is less clear in the closely divided Senate.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Senate Banking Committee session will consider a bill introduced earlier this year by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat.
Next week's sessions will represent big victories for consumer groups who for years have been urging lawmakers to rein in card companies.
Reforms also are likely to result in lower revenues for credit card issuers who already are suffering from the financial crisis and indicate a weakened state of the powerful banking lobbying efforts.
"The credit card companies have brought this on themselves," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer advocate with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
STRONGER THAN FED RULES
The Federal Reserve in December adopted rules to clean up what Chairman Ben Bernanke called unfair and deceptive practices by the industry.
The rules prohibit certain billing practices using balances in previous monthly statements, give card holders more notice when their interest rates will increase and provide clearer disclosures.
Dodd's bill would prohibit the same practices, but consumer groups considered it stronger and more comprehensive than the Fed rules and other legislative proposals.
For example, his bill would prohibit solicitations to individuals under the age of 21 without parental or guardian consent and prevent a card company from unilaterally changing the terms, a provision called "any-time, any reason."
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUSN2636552420090326
By John Poirier
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - Key congressional panels are set to meet next week to discuss credit card legislation aimed at cleaning up unfair and deceptive practices that have slapped consumers with unexpected fees and rate hikes.
The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will meet on March 31 to consider pro-consumer credit card legislation, sources with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters on Thursday.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, a Financial Services subcommittee is planning to consider credit card legislation on April 1, a committee aide said earlier this week.
Credit card reform has broad support in the House, which is firmly controlled by Democrats, but support for reforms is less clear in the closely divided Senate.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The Senate Banking Committee session will consider a bill introduced earlier this year by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat.
Next week's sessions will represent big victories for consumer groups who for years have been urging lawmakers to rein in card companies.
Reforms also are likely to result in lower revenues for credit card issuers who already are suffering from the financial crisis and indicate a weakened state of the powerful banking lobbying efforts.
"The credit card companies have brought this on themselves," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer advocate with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
STRONGER THAN FED RULES
The Federal Reserve in December adopted rules to clean up what Chairman Ben Bernanke called unfair and deceptive practices by the industry.
The rules prohibit certain billing practices using balances in previous monthly statements, give card holders more notice when their interest rates will increase and provide clearer disclosures.
Dodd's bill would prohibit the same practices, but consumer groups considered it stronger and more comprehensive than the Fed rules and other legislative proposals.
For example, his bill would prohibit solicitations to individuals under the age of 21 without parental or guardian consent and prevent a card company from unilaterally changing the terms, a provision called "any-time, any reason."
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUSN2636552420090326
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)