banks
Toys
Convince Her You’re A Bad Boy With The Bank Job Pen
1:40AM Mark Wilson | Yeah, you’re bad. You stole from a bank (even if it was just a pen). Or did you? More »
Software
10:10AM Nick Broughall | The Commonwealth Bank’s iPhone app went live this morning on iTunes, and it seems a little underdone. Which is odd, considering the iPhone has been available for 9 months now… More »
Commonwealth Bank Launches iPhone App, Feels Rushed
10:10AM Nick Broughall | The Commonwealth Bank’s iPhone app went live this morning on iTunes, and it seems a little underdone. Which is odd, considering the iPhone has been available for 9 months now… More »
Gadgets
New PIN Crackers Make Card Skimmers Look Small-Time
3:30PM Dan Nosowitz | Instead of using mechanical means to steal from debit cardholders, some thieves are using malware to swipe huge numbers of encrypted and unencrypted PINs. It’s not yet widespread, but it’ll take serious work to prevent. More »
Press
What Not To Do When Electronically Robbing a Bank
1:40PM Wilson Rothman | A gang of European blokes just landed in gaol after trying to steal over $US300 million in what would’ve been the greatest techno-heist in history. What stopped them? A remarkable string of amazingly stupid decisions. More »
Games
An Annotated Pictorial of Japanese Videogame Banks
11:50PM Mark Wilson | Wired published an interesting look at the recent trend of Japanese videogame banks—essentially, a means for the thrifty gamer to save the quarters that could otherwise be lost forever to an arcade machine. More »
Toys
12:30PM Nick Broughall | Let’s face it – the economy if pretty shithouse at the moment. The stock market is falling apart, banks are dropping interest rates – it kind of makes you long for the days when all you had was a ceramic pig with a slot in its back that you could drop your coins into.
Well, Australian company Moose Enterprise has gone one step better by creating the Fish Bank, a digital piggy bank that lets your kids (or you) interact with a digital fish named Gil, who counts your money as you deposit it and lets you set savings goals. It’s also part Tamagotchi, as you need to feed and clean Gil’s tank as well.
With every coin deposited, new animations and features are unlocked. And while they’re hardly exciting for an adult, they’re pretty fun for the kiddies – so much so that the product won the 2008 Australian Development Award from the Australian Toy Association.
The Fish Bank hits shelves in November (just in time for Xmas, of course) for $60. Sure, it might not earn you (or your kid) a heap of interest on your investment, but at least its not going to go bankrupt with the current credit crunch…
[Mooseworld] More »
Fish Bank Interactive Money Box Helps Your Kids Save
12:30PM Nick Broughall | Let’s face it – the economy if pretty shithouse at the moment. The stock market is falling apart, banks are dropping interest rates – it kind of makes you long for the days when all you had was a ceramic pig with a slot in its back that you could drop your coins into.
Well, Australian company Moose Enterprise has gone one step better by creating the Fish Bank, a digital piggy bank that lets your kids (or you) interact with a digital fish named Gil, who counts your money as you deposit it and lets you set savings goals. It’s also part Tamagotchi, as you need to feed and clean Gil’s tank as well.
With every coin deposited, new animations and features are unlocked. And while they’re hardly exciting for an adult, they’re pretty fun for the kiddies – so much so that the product won the 2008 Australian Development Award from the Australian Toy Association.
The Fish Bank hits shelves in November (just in time for Xmas, of course) for $60. Sure, it might not earn you (or your kid) a heap of interest on your investment, but at least its not going to go bankrupt with the current credit crunch…
[Mooseworld] More »
Random Stuff
Criminal Uses Craigslist to Escape From Armoured Truck Robbery
11:30PM Jesus Diaz | A bank robber got away with a bag full of mucho money from an armoured truck after successfully pulling out a perfect escape plan, straight out the final scene of the Thomas Crown Affair. The criminal–who was wearing a yellow vest, safety goggles, a respirator mask and a blue shirt–used Craigslist to hire a dozen of decoys to confuse the police and the public around the scene. Mike, one of the hired decoys, gave the full details: More »
Gadgets
Visa and Eight Banks Test Real-Time SMS Notifications For Transactions
8:40AM Jason Chen | Visas and eight banks (”PNC Bank, SunTrust Bank, U.S. Bank, Wachovia, and Wells Fargo in the United States, and Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank Financial Group, and Vancity in Canada”) are testing real-time SMS notifications whenever your card makes one of a few types of transactions. The 2000 pilot beta customers can pick alerts for ATM cash withdrawals, internet or telephone charge, an out-of-country charge or a charge that’s over a pre-defined amount. You can choose to have these alerts go to your phone or your email (if you’re cheap like us and don’t want to burn up all your messages), which you can then immediately use to alert Visa to any fraudulent activity. Great idea or greatest idea? You be the judge. [Slashphone] More »
Software
Coming Soon: Depositing Cheques at Home by Scanner
12:13AM Brian Lam | Saul Hansel, one of my favorite NYTimes reporters, writes about Fiserv’s technology that’ll let normal people deposit paper cheques to their bank accounts by merely scanning them at home. More »
_
