Bank of America, the largest US retail bank, seems to be in a pinch these days. It received a subpoenas and requests for information related to auction-rate securities from both the federal and state government agencies.

The mortgage lending giant Countrywide Financial Corp which Bank of America bought last month has also been sent subpoenas from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and has responded and is now facing formal investigation by the SEC.

At the end of the day, Bank of America shares closed down 5.8%, at US$31.52 on the New York Stock Exchange. As of this year, they have fallen 24%.

It looks like the news of a surprise jump in the US weekly jobless claims have impacted the dollar as it fell on Thursday. The economic growth forecast in the second quarter that went below what was expected also reduced prospects of a Federal Reserve interest hike for this year. The dollar recouped a bulk of its losses, however, when a report showed a rise in the manufacturing activity in the Midwest region in July. This is helped by the decline in US crude oil prices.

On the Europe front, the euro came strong with a session high of US$1.5700. However, the drop of more than US$2 a barrel in the US crude oil halted the currency’s advance.

Fraud losses to online banking fraud are now down to at least one third.

In 2007, losses caused by fraud summed up to £22.6 million, down from £33.5 million back in 2006. These develeopments have resulted from the security measures that was put into place, said the Association for Payment and Clearing Services (APACS).

In spite of this, phishing and other methods of attacks have been on the rise this year as there have been more than 20,000 recorded phishing attacks during the first half of 2008, almost double the figure from the previous year.

Cyber-criminals are now shifting to phishing and other forms of social engineering to trick users in providing the information that they need. Another common method is through the use of spyware. These methods attack the users, since banks are more difficult to attack.

An online banking-related trojan has been detected by an Antivirus vendor going around the Internet.

The offending malware was detected by Panda Security, an antivirus vendor. It spreads via email and contains a message indicating an accident involving a Formula One driver Fernando Alonso. The message contains a link that claims to show the footage of the accident.

Once the link is clicked, the trojan is downloaded into the user’s computer. The trojan however, only targets a specific Spanish bank. Experts urge users to use and update their antivirus software. Also, don’t open messages from unknown senders.

A recent study released by the University of Michigan says that the majority of online banking websites are insecure, making it vulnerable to hackers and identity thieves.

The study shows that as much as 75 percent of the 214 online banking websites had a design flaw that put users of those websites at risk. These design flaws are built into the system, where simple patches and updates do not really fix the problem. Users of such websites are also exposed to security threats.

Examples of design flaws that the study found are the following: 1) The user has a secure log-in box placed in an insecure web page, the availability of contact information in an unsecured page, and the lack of a warning when a user is redirected outside the domain of the online banking site.

Such flaws run the risk of XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) attacks and phishing attacks since such flaws are the ones often used by hackers and other cyber-criminals.

A recent study reveals that Australians are wary of using mobile phones to do banking transactions.

The survey shows that 78 percent Australians will not shop, pay items, or bank using their mobile phones because they say such transactions are not secure.

Unisys, a security service consultant says that the likely reason behind such fears is that there is not much awareness of its security. They are aware of the benefits, yet are not sure if the service is really secure.

Mobile banking is a convenient service that is gaining popularity around the world since it allows people to do simple banking transactions using their mobile phones anywhere they are.

Gone are the days when you have to wait in line during weekdays when you want to withdraw, deposit, or transfer money to another account in your bank’s office. The good news is, you can do all of those plus a lot more if your bank offers online banking.

Online banking is a service that allows users to access their bank accounts through the Internet, allowing them to do banking transactions conveniently. Here the main advantages of online banking:

• Accessibility. You can do banking transactions anywhere as long as you have a computer and an Internet connection. You can also do those transactions any time of the day too, even if it is a Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday.
• Convenience. You don’t have to wait in line for a long time just to do a simple transaction. Simply log on to your account online without having to leave your chair.
• Security. Worried about carrying a lot of cash after withdrawing money? You don’t have to anymore. Simply clicking a few buttons will pay for the item that you bought or pay for your electric bill. With web encryption protocols like SSL and TLS, your data is kept secure from high-tech criminals too.

A recent study shows that Canada is one of the most developed countries in terms of providing online banking services. Along with that, data shows that majority of Canadians visit online banking websites when on the Internet.

According to the study, 61.7 Canadians have visited online banking sites in April 2008, where countries like UK and the US only have 44.4 and 41.7 percent of users of online banking during that same period, respectively.

There is a total of 24 million Internet users in Canada, where 15.5 million visited a banking website, which is two percent up from the same period of the previous year.

The study was conducted by comScore, a web metrics company.

Barclays, one of the largest banks with online banking access will be offering security software to their online banking customers free of charge.

The software from Kaspersky usually sells for 50 Euros will be available for download at the bank’s website to their two million customers. The software is set to protect users from online threats such as viruses, phishing attacks, and other forms of malware.

The free software offer is part of the bank’s effort to secure their online banking users from the ever growing fraudulent threats. Along with the software plus a complex authentication system, Barclays is confident that their users will be more secure.

Saving money is very important so that when the time comes you need to spend on something, like a new car or a vacation somewhere, you know where to get the money. The best way to save money is to put it in a bank’s savings account.

In choosing a savings account, you will have to make sure you get the best out of it. Needless to say, you have to get one that offers a high interest rate among other features. If you are looking for a good bank where you will entrust your money, here are some tips:

• Interest rate. The higher, the better. The more interest rate, the bigger your money will become after some time. Competition between banks has made them offer higher interest rates to attract customers.
• Online banking access. You will surely love when you can access your bank account and do transactions as well anytime you wish. Online banking can do that. You don’t have to wait in line or beat the banking hours just to withdraw deposit your money.
• Minimum Deposit. Banks require that there must be a minimum amount of money in your account before it can earn interest. High interest savings accounts usually have high minimum deposits required every month. Choose one that is most flexible to you.