 Financial Fusion Inc., IBM and other developers announced wireless initiatives aimed at financial institutions during the BAI Retail Delivery banking conference here late last month. Nextel Communications Inc., of Reston, Va., released a separate announcement that it is partnering with Trintech Group plc., of San Mateo, Calif., and Dublin, Ireland, to provide wireless payment platforms to financial institutions.
But while vendors are shoring up partnerships to provide wireless applications and platforms, there doesnt seem to be clear consumer demand or a clear strategy among financial institutions to implement the stuff.
"A lot of financial institutions have wireless on their agendas. They cant afford not to," said Mark Sievewright, president and CEO of The Tower Group Inc., a market researcher in Needham, Mass. "They were late to the Internet. They wont want to miss that boat again."
Security is one factor holding back broad adoption of wireless services in this industry, observers said. Other stumbling blocks include low bandwidth and cumbersome devices. On the enterprise side, lack of mature standards is a concern, according to analysts.
Developers looking to answer some of these concerns include Sun, of Palo Alto, Calif., which at the show announced a partnership with the Banking Industry Technology Secretariat, a Washington-based financial industry consortium, for security standardization across wireless formats. Microsoft Corp., of Redmond, Wash., is also working with BITS and other financial industry consortia to solve standards issues.
IBM, of Armonk, N.Y., and Financial Fusion, a Sybase Inc. subsidiary in Westport, Conn., announced that they were teaming up to develop applications and middleware to build financial destinations for online banking and wireless customers.
Financial institutions are rolling out wireless services. Microsoft and Corillian Corp., for instance, announced at the show that New York-based Chase Manhattan Corp. will use Microsofts Windows 2000 platform along with Corillians wireless applications for its Internet banking services.
Sun said that Credit Suisse, also of New York, had chosen Sun to provide the platform for its "youtrade" wireless trading service.
But some observers said banks are simply "throwing things against the wall to see what sticks." For instance, CyberSafe Corp., a developer of digital certificates, said it is doing business with several companies, including a major brokerage house, that had planned to make announcements at the show. So far, those plans have not come to fruition, according to John Hoskins, vice president of transaction security for CyberSafe, of Issaquah, Wash.
"Six months ago, companies were looking at the space and forecasting pilots," Hoskins said. "Customers were excited about the business reasons [behind wireless], then they started delving into where the risks are. Its a whole lot harder than anyone thought."
Despite the hype, not everyone is jumping on the wireless banking bandwagon—at least, not from the consumer perspective.
"Im not convinced yet," said Andrew Arwas, head of risk management at Barclays Bank plc., in London. "I would not want to spend one minute on one of those little mobile phones to figure out my account. And Im a geek.
"I would do wireless transactions—Im just not sure what that transaction would be," Arwas said.
"Bee, My Love"
Static #33 is an issue of the series Static (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1996.
Appearing in "Bee, My Love"
Synopsis for "Bee, My Love"
Static was left unconscious after his first bout with Swarm. Fortunately, Freida left Static at Dakota City Hospital without his suit. Virgil was checked in and the attending physician Dr. Byron Kilgore has been overseeing Virgil's progress. After examining Virgil's physiology, Dr. Kilgore remembers the incident at Paris Island involving individuals who were exposed to explosive Q-Juice which has been referred to as the Big Bang in Dakota.
Dr. Kilgore informs Virgil that he is healing very well from his bee stings but he would like to keep Virigl for another week in order to conduct more tests. Dr. Kilgore's fascination with the Bang Babies that have popped up in Dakota has driven him power mad. Dr. Kilgore intends to harvest Virgil's power. When Kilgore leaves Virgil, Freida sneaks into Virgil's hospital room and was wearing the Static suit under a trench coat.
Freida informs Virgil that the Swarm is still on the loose and turns on the hospital television then channels in on the local news. News reporter Rachel Jenga from WDKA, reports that the Swarm has taken refuge in the Old Grimaldi Estate at Prospect Hills. The Swarm is holding GDPD captain Gil Summers hostage somewhere in the estate.
Freida tells Static that he needs to get to Prospect Hills and save the captain. Freida tells Virgil to turn around while she strips off the Static suit. Virgil turns away but he sees Freida's beautiful and slender body in a nearby mirror. Virgil can't help but feel that Freida is hiding something about her body. Something that she feels ashamed of but Virgil will have to deal with it later.
Virgil arrives at the estate and finds a few corpses drenched in blood and processed honey. Virgil then comes upon Swarm who is about to kill Capt. Summers. Virgil attacks the Swarm but then he is bombarded by voices he can't pinpoint. They all plead with Virgil not to harm them and this rush to his brain causes Virgil to unleash a huge surge of voltage. The surge of power nearly incinerates the Swarm and Swarm cries out "Forgive Him, My Children". Virgil rescues Capt. Summers and leaves soon after.
Virgil heads home where Freida is waiting to treat his bee stings. Freida removes Virgil's suit with the exception of his boxers. Freida caresses Virgil's body with ointment and neither of them notice that they are being watched. The queen bee that controls the Swarm watches Freida with envious eyes. The queen bee realizes that humans gain power in coupling rather than collectives. The queen bee intends to mate with Static who she considers to be the most powerful human in this sentient society.
Later that night, Freida leaves Virgil and Virgil tries to sleep off the night he has had. Virgil has trouble sleeping because he continues to hear one powerful voice similar to the many he heard at the estate. The voice tries to woo Static and Virgil comes up with a theory. There must be a hive mind that controlled the Swarm and survived the surge of power that Static discharged. Virgil slips on his suit and heads outside where he is confronted by a new Swarm that resembles Freida. The Swarm exclaims to Static that they have assumed a persona that Static would find pleasurable enough to couple with.
Static acts fast by evading the lustful Swarm and finds a bell jar and comes up with an idea that he got from his picnics with his grandpa Homer. Static figures he can hone in on the Swarm's love call and channel it through a pair of headphones by emitting a sympathetic pulsation. Static places the specially charged headphones into the bell jar with a fake love message that analogous with the queen bee. The queen bee abandons the Swarm and flies into the bell jar. Static seals the bell jar with the queen bee locked inside while the Swarm dissipates.
Static pokes a few air holes on the top of the bell jar and delivers the entrapped queen bee to Capt. Summers at the second precinct located on 3rd and Drake. Virgil asks Capt. Summers to show leniency toward the queen bee. Summers can't promise much but he will make sure the queen bee isn't abused by those who would want to expose her to experiments and exploit her gifts. As Virgil leaves, he notices the fragile queen bee weeping in the bell jar.
Epilogue: WDKA host Rex Noble reports live from the Dakota City Center. Rex has done live shows about men and women who have had unsafe sex with Bang Babies and other metahuman melodrama that has effected Dakota. His latest installment introduces the Rubberband Man who publicly calls out Static. Rubberband Man wants to face off against Static at 8pm tomorrow night.
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