Branding will be a major consideration as FIs develop these strategies. Consider this:

While a cardholder loading a debit or credit card into Isis or Google Wallet may not seem different than putting the plastic in his leather wallet today, it is. And that’s due to several factors.

First, few consumers know the brand name of their leather wallets, so cards and their issuing financial institutions are not competing for brand recognition with that wallet today. Google and Isis, on the other hand, are (or may very soon become) dominant brands that have the potential to put the financial institution brand in a secondary (possibly lower) position. It’s the kind of brand wash currently happening today in systems like PayPal and Square. A consumer loads his card information one time into the systems and then doesn’t interact with the card again, eliminating the financial institution brand from the transaction process almost entirely.

Timing will be a second major consideration for financial institutions as they plan for mobile payments. Setting milestones, such as the number of transactions, for example, will be important in outlining a timetable for mobile product launches. Say, for instance, a credit union commits to tracking how many of its transactions are flowing through Isis. They then agree to continue monitoring until 10 percent of all transactions are happening via Isis. Upon reaching that milestone, the financial institution will partner with Isis.

The ideal solution for financial institutions is a mobile wallet embedded in the mobile banking app of the financial institution. That way, customers can use that mobile banking app to check balances, transfer money… and then checkout.

A solution like this keeps the financial institution and its brand top-of-mind for the user and makes for a smooth user experience. It also provides some additional conveniences to the user that may not be captured through the mobile wallet products in the market today.

Some professionals today, unfortunately, operate in businesses where they feel pressured to justify their existence. In pursuing this justification, they often will adopt a philosophy of “What gets measured gets better.”

But what if they are measuring the wrong things?

Another unfortunate circumstance of some businesses today is that what gets measured gets done. So, if the wrong things are being measured, it stands to reason that the wrong things will keep happening.

I am absolutely a results-oriented person, yet I do believe that measurement can become too complex. By becoming too analytical, we can actually defeat the purpose of monitoring our successes and fail to move ourselves forward.

Avoid falling into the Knowing-Doing Gap by committing to constant change, particularly when it comes to the process of measurement. Reduce the complexity and eliminate the processes that don’t encourage knowledge.

Business leaders must challenge themselves to move to a more holistic measurement, taking a look at things like internal profitability or the depth of customer/client relationships. We do this by not being married to the process of measurement.

Educating yourself on the latest in card fraud trends and prevention methods is, of course, essential to keeping those fraud losses low. But to whom do you turn for the newest information?

There are so many great resources for card managers, many of which our own fraud analyst Nicole Reyes has pointed to in posts on this very blog. Yet there is one resource that is very frequently overlooked – and that’s your own community of card-program colleagues.

That’s why we are planning to host a fraud panel at the upcoming 2012 TMG Client Conference. Moderated by yours truly, the panel will host experienced card managers from a variety of different credit unions. Each will come prepared to discuss what’s working for his or her cooperative in four distinct areas: EMV, mobile, fraud trends and comprised accounts.

It promises to be a truly engaging event, one in which we hope our attendees will participate by asking questions and sharing their own lessons learned and best practices in fraud prevention and risk mitigation.

Now I am, of course, going to ask attendees to let me do a bit of talking before we bring on the panelists. That’s because TMG is in an excellent position to see firsthand what is happening right now (and has been happening over the past six months) in fraud. I look forward to arming conference attendees with that information so they can keep their eyes peeled and their strategies tuned for the most nefarious of fraud attempts.

I also look forward to introducing our clients and prospects to a few new tools we have on hand to aid in the battle against the ever-growing criminal element. These technologies are whip-smart, laser-accurate – and most importantly – simple to use.

If you’re not yet registered for the client conference, I encourage you to get out there and sign up today! Registration closes June 1, so don’t delay one more moment.

See you in San Diego!

During the same time, Isis, a yet-to-be-launched mobile wallet, was battling through some strategic changes, and along the way, took their lumps in the media. This was largely due to a perception they were moving much too slowly – especially when compared to Google.

Today, however, when you look at the list of partnerships Isis has developed, the solution now seems better positioned for success than Google Wallet. They have lined three significant financial institution partners, while to-date, Google has only announced Citi.

Isis also has more coverage in terms of mobile network operators as compared to Google and its sole partnership with Sprint (Indeed, Isis is owned by Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, making it all the more difficult for Google to partner with these entities).

What’s more, Isis has all the major networks covered, while Google has only MasterCard. They win in handsets, too, claiming interoperability with HTC, LG, Motorola Mobility, RIM, Samsung Mobile and Sony Ericsson.

Another item possibly working against Google Wallet’s positive public perception is three of the key figures in the development of the product have left Google. One went to Square, and two others started their own company. Here is some detail on those exits.

That said, Google has an actual product out and available on the market today, making them open to scrutiny. Isis, on the other hand, has yet to launch, which shields them from much of the judgment raining down on Google.

It will be interesting to see how consumers respond to Isis when it tests in Austin and Salt Lake City. The demos from SXSW were very impressive, displaying what appears to be a well-thought out user interface.

Stay tuned, as it’s bound to be an exciting battle for the top position in mobile wallet technology. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Google, it’s that one would be foolish to count them out of any industry in which the company sets its sights.

Three qualities of fraud prevention tools are becoming increasingly important to financial institutions looking to protect their cardholders and their own institution from fraud losses. They are: adaptability, specificity, and of course, speed.

Adaptability

Yesterday’s technology allowed credit unions to change fraud prevention strategies as fraud managers learned of new threats. The trouble was credit unions often learned of those threats the day after they began, simply because of the fraud-prevention programs’ inherent limitations. Today’s technologies alert credit unions to potential trouble spots immediately, as they are happening. Fraud managers can then set news strategies instantly, shutting down fraudsters before they get a chance to make any meaningful profit from their crimes.

Specificity

Setting tight parameters is a sure-fire way to catch criminals looking to kick-off a spending spree with stolen or counterfeit cards. But another tremendous benefit of highly specific rule-setting, like that available via First Data’s newly released DefenseEdge fraud prevention product, is fewer false positives. No credit union wants to shut down a legitimate cardholder’s account because it “looks like” fraud. Today’s highly customizable technologies allow fraud managers to set rules down to the penny, lowering the unintended consequences of fraud prevention.

Speed

Any of the above would be nothing more than window dressing if it could not happen in real-time. Credit unions armed with the best in fraud prevention technologies are able to adapt to the specific threats facing them with lightning speed and laser accuracy. Coupled with advanced communication systems, like fraud text alerts, these technologies not only lower losses, they improve the quickness with which analysts can correct false positives.

Victimized by what is an organized and growing criminal element, credit unions across the country are not taking card fraud losses lying down. Rather, they are working in conjunction with their processing partners to shut down fraudsters with powerful technologies.

When you hear “fraud victim,” what comes to mind? Is it the 5 o’clock news coverage of the elderly woman who fell victim to a phishing scheme? Or the harried mom whose purse was stolen while she tended to her small, young children?

To be sure, these types of victims exist all over the world. But the fraud victim most overlooked is the financial institution backing these unfortunate souls. Most people don’t understand (or don’t care) that the credit unions and banks issuing their credit cards are the ones taking the biggest hit when a fraudster attacks a checking account. But for credit union member-owners, these fraud losses hit home in a way they simply can’t for a bank customer.

Fortunately for those member-owners, credit unions’ fight-back strategies are improving. Just as today’s fraudsters are hunkering down, amassing rouge hackers into armies and developing 007-esque skimming devices, credit unions are beefing up their own technologies to shut down the criminals before they even start.

Three weapons are powering their defense against card fraud in particular: adaptability, specificity, and of course, speed.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this post during which we’ll explore each of these qualities in more detail.

If you haven’t been following the situation, here’s the deal:

Two years ago, New Jersey passed legislation shortening the time frame before gift cards could be classified as “unclaimed property.” Today, balances on these unclaimed gift cards become property of the state.

Just last month, American Express and a few smaller issuers called it quits on selling gift cards in the state. Some believe still others will join AmEx and cut New Jersey residents off from the purchase of their gift-card plastic.

New legislation challenging the gift-card laws has been introduced. If passed, it will reverse the shortened time frame and will also stop a second burdensome requirement, the need for gift-card sellers to capture the zip codes of gift-card buyers.

We’ll continue to watch as the legislation is debated, as well as to keep you posted on what potential impact it may have on prepaid programs outside the state of New Jersey.

Anger:  It’s the number one reason consumers change financial institutions.  And today, more people are mad at their banks than ever before.  While you can’t make someone move their checking account, you can be there when they are ready to make the switch on their own.

However, getting the new account is only a small part of the battle. Ask yourself this – of all the personal checking accounts you opened last year, what percentage of those are active?
Here’s a fact:  The debit card is the preferred transaction device for accessing checking account funds.

That means if you have checking accounts sitting on your books without debit card activity, they are transacting somewhere else.  Now is the time to reclaim the primary financial relationship with your account holders!

The most successful way to do this is with an effective debit card usage and onboarding strategy.  If you can get those account holders using their debit cards for everyday purchases, you will win in today’s competitive market.

During my session on DDA Strategies for Immediate Payback at the TMG Client Conference, we’ll explore different ways to acquire additional accounts, increase the transactional activity of your existing account holders, improve retention and mitigate risk with proper management of overdraft services.   We’ll discuss specific strategies that can be implemented immediately for rapid results and offer actionable items for you to take back to your financial institution.

Register today for the upcoming TMG Client Conference.

The plastic offers a slew of benefits, not the least of which is the ability to budget. Load the card with what they intend to spend, no more, and cardholders have an enforceable plan of action where vacation spending is concerned.

Spice up your marketing messages with the fact reloadable cards come configured with text-message alerts, and that budget planning benefit becomes instantly more modern.

For the “money is no object” set, talk to them about the ability to reload that card from nearly everywhere on the planet (assuming available cell service, of course). Funds can be loaded online, via phone, or with TMG’s ATIRAreload card, at any Visa ReadyLink merchant in the U.S.

With your customers or members who plan to travel internationally, it may be important to let them know reloadable prepaid cards, like ATIRAreload, can be configured to work with a PIN, which can be used at most international retail locations. This not only creates added usability; it adds a layer of safety, protecting an otherwise vulnerable balance from fraudsters looking to make profits off lost or stolen cards.

Last but not least, parents who are preparing to send their children to places far and wide (whether it’s the next city over for college courses or across the pond for an entirely new experience), the safety offered by prepaid is top-notch. Offering the same protections as a Visa debit card, reloadable prepaid cards are an even safer method of accessing funds because all that is at risk is what has been pre-loaded to the plastic.

Train front-line staff to ask branch visitors and call-in customers about their travel plans and how to work the benefits of prepaid into the conversation. Need more motivation? Perhaps a contest with a trip for the most persuasive teller is in order…

But as our senior advisor Jeff Russell told the CU Journal, our clients are focused now on harnessing the momentum. Here’s what Jeff told the Journal about Bank Transfer Day in a recent issue:

It has been a catalyst, certainly. Now we hear credit unions talking about how do I make every day Bank Transfer Day, keep the drumbeat going, keep consumer awareness of credit unions up.

Word-of-mouth will be a tremendously valuable component to keeping this drum beating at a steady cadence. But rather than cross their fingers and hope for happy members to spread the word, credit union marketers must be purposeful about inspiring this evangelism.

It’s amazing how simply asking your members for their help can yield results. Let them tell their stories and inspire others. And social media is a great venue for that ask.

Do you have a Facebook page you’re hoping more of your members will “Like?” Ask them to Like you. Did you write a particularly compelling 140-character post? Come right out and ask your Twitter followers to retweet it. Do you want more people to comment on your blog? Ask them in the post what they think of your opinion.

You have fans, and chances are, you even have fiercely loyal fans. Giving them a gentle nudge may be just the thing they were waiting for to sing your praises.