The ATTUS Blog

According to a recent seminar by the Federal Reserve, there is a new sleeper risk that is gaining significant traction with examiners. Do you know what it is? If you guessed vendor management, you are spot on.

ATTUS and CSI recently surveyed hundreds of financial institutions for their insight on banking priorities for the upcoming year, especially as they relate to compliance. Interestingly, the topic of vendor management was resoundingly silent; few, if any, respondents recognized it as a priority for 2012. This lack of response... [more]

In today’s climate of evolving risk and stiff penalties, we know it’s vital that a financial institution’s board of directors stay educated and vigilant about the institution’s risk management blueprint. Without a doubt, no single entity is more accountable for—or deeply affected by—a compliance slip.

So with the enormous scope of a board’s responsibilities, how do you keep regulatory issues on the radar? You can bombard board members with emails. You can spend precious resources on the printing... [more]

On April 22, 2012, President Barack Obama signed an executive order blocking the property and suspending entry into the United States of certain persons with respect to Grave Human Rights Abuses by the Governments of Iran and Syria Via Information Technology (GHRAVITY). This executive order blocks all property and interests in property of persons listed in its Annex, and all persons determined by  the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary of State. 

By executing GHRAVITY, the United States is sending a distinct message... [more]

“It’s a Small World (After All),” Disney’s iconic song, reminds us that everyone on the planet is connected. Written in 1964, the song portends today’s world far more accurately than its writers could have possibly imagined. The explosion of technological advances over the past 40 years has, indeed, created a “small world” where financial institutions are intricately and unavoidably connected to their partners, customers and even their competitors via computer systems. 

This interconnectedness... [more]

Social media continues to dominate. Last year, Facebook topped 800 million users, YouTube logged nearly 500 million accounts and Twitter claimed 100 million handles. Social media channels provide a unique opportunity to engage in true two-way communication with customers, prospects, employees and even critics.

But communicating with customers through social media carries its own regulatory and compliance issues. Is social media advertising? What laws govern what a bank can and can’t say? The answers are not cut-and-dry. Marketing... [more]

Good times are ahead! From a recent survey of community bankers and other industry data, we are seeing that the outlook for 2012 suggests the following:

• The economy's effect on bank profitability is stabilizing and even improving for many banks.

• The outlook for lending growth is stable or positive for many banks.

•

Mobile Banking & On-the-Go Security

April 04 2012 //  by Tyler Leet //  227 Views //  0 Comments

mobile banking, security

Mobile banking and mobile payments are dominant topics in the financial industry today. As more and more consumers pick up smartphones, their everyday habits are shifting in significant ways. For example, Juniper Research estimates that the global value of mobile payments will reach $170 billion by 2015. How these transactions will be facilitated, processed and secured is still evolving. And it’s the rapid pace with which mobile banking is growing that has everyone talking.

Interestingly, from a bank or credit union’s... [more]

Upon the passage of Dodd-Frank, industry experts warned that consumer protections, especially those related to Unfair, Deceptive, Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP), would bleed into the examination of other laws and regulations. We’ve shared instances where regulators cited information security programs that violated both GLBA and UDAAP, and now, regulators are making the connection between Reg E error resolution violations and UDAAP. 

This shift changes the entire landscape of Reg E compliance, which until now was rarely... [more]

Often times we get questions on how insurance providers should address issues arising from sanctions programs administered by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Obviously, the first step is to have interdiction software in place to catch matches to the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. Transactions should always be checked for matches against this list, and if a match does occur, it needs to be reviewed by a designated person or persons to determine whether... [more]

What does it mean to be competitive, compliant and profitable? For ATTUS Technologies, Inc. and Computer Services, Inc. (CSI), our parent company, those three attributes signify our promise to our customers. Those words mean success. We understand that today’s businesses succeed when they have the right tools in place to gain a competitive edge. Above all, we recognize the important—and growing—role compliance plays in any organization’s livelihood. 

On March 8, CSI launched a new brand that represents... [more]