Online private banking services for the affluent, the side of the business that Bermuda's banks are assiduously chasing along with the big boys, has a lot of mistrust to overcome from its sophisticated customers according to Forrester Research.

"The online affluent don't believe banks act in their best interest and their sites don't have the unbiased content and planners they want," Forrester says in a new report on the sector.

The research reveals that more than 48 percent of the affluent consumers in the US manage their finances online. Of the online affluent who use the Web for retirement, tax, and asset allocation planning, less than 20 percent use bank sites. More than half, though, use content sites like SmartMoney.com.

"Why? We believe that the affluent don't think they'll get the objective information at a bank site, they perceive they will at content sites," Forrester states. That's not a surprising finding, but when stacked up against other financial sector firms, banks are at the bottom of the pile in terms of trust.

Less than 25 percent of the affluent surveyed say that they completely trust Citigroup or Bank of America, and only ten percent intend to use these firms in the future, Forrester stated.

Only 14 percent completely trust FleetBoston, and just three percent plan to use the firm in the future.

In contrast, more than 40 percent say they completely trust Fidelity, and 25 percent plan to use the brokerage in the future.

"Across all US households consumers who bank with a brokerage rated them higher than consumers whose primary relationship is with a bank," the report stated. "Consumers who bank with a brokerage gave them top scores for stability, accuracy, and loyalty.

But banks like First Union and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. - which target the affluent - were rated the lowest."

Taking care of the wealthy is going to entail a whole attitude change on the behalf of the banks. Banks will have to actively behave like advocates for their clients Forrester stated.

"To act like an advocate, a bank should proactively notify its affluent mortgage customers when it's advantageous for them to refinance, rather than keeping quiet about rate dips," the report states.

"In addition, sites should provide unbiased tools to help with the decisions the affluent face - like asset allocation tools from Financial Engines and retirement planners from Ignite Sales that allow customers to do peer analyses."

Other advice to the banks includes ensuring that advisors have full access and ability with the current technology, and integrating clients' contacts with the banks.

Banks like Bank of America force affluent customers to have up to three separate accounts for full-service, discount brokerage, and online banking - preventing both the customer and his investment advisor from seeing a complete view of his holdings.

Why didn't they think of this sooner? Symantec, which produces Norton AntiVirus software, announced this week that its 2002 update will scan e-mail attachments automatically for viruses.

Duh..I guess Symantec executives have finally starting reading the newspapers. Viruses such as Anna Kournikova, ILove You, Melissa and now SirCam have been spread throughout the world via e-mail attachments.

The updated software will provide incoming and outgoing e-mail scanning, script blocking, automatic virus deletion, and intelligent alerts.

Norton AntiVirus 2002 will also provide automatic updating of virus definitions, currently a process that requires users to manually start themselves. Most people forget to click on the updates, provided about once a week. The new version goes on sale at the end of August.

Finally, Norton is catering to its customers by adjusting its software to human habits.

If you're thinking about buying a new computer, or some more hardware or software, reading ZDNet's annual reader's survey is a must. The survey rates a wide range of products based on its readers' experiences with the companies.

The categories are split into business and home use. In the computer desktop category Dell and Micron received a "Readers' Choice" ranking. You can find the information at www.zdnet.com.

Microsoft has created a new patch assessment tool for system administrators using the Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 operating systems.

The Hfnetchk software, a command-line tool that administrators can use to centrally assess a computer or group of computers for the presence or absence of security patches, can be found at Microsoft's TechNet site: www.microsoft.com//technet.

Tech Tattle deals with topics relating to technology. You can contact Ahmed at editoroffshoreon.com or (33) 467901474.