Mary Wisniewski

Like a few other banks with similar initiatives, Wells Fargo is not counting on a financial return for its new accelerator program. Rather, it's looking for more intangible benefits.

Wells Fargo has joined a handful of banks running accelerator programs designed to nurture young fintech companies, foster new ideas and help financial institutions stay relevant in a digital age.

Executives at Tangerine and Moven are dousing themselves with ice water to raise awareness for Lou Gehrig's disease, and posting their videos on Facebook.

As banks flee the deposit advance business, startups are offering services that let consumers name their payday and collect what they have earned up to that point, regardless of the day of the week.

Diebold, best known as an ATM manufacturer, is rebranding itself to banks to stay relevant in a digital age.

Diebold, best known as an ATM manufacturer, is rebranding and diversifying itself and promoting its consulting services on a popular banking topic: how to redefine branches as sales and service hubs.

The Canadian bank's viral YouTube clip comes as the industry struggles to use social media effectively.

While banks continue to be optimistic about the potential growth possibilities of mobile photo bill pay, in which customers pay invoices by taking pictures of them, trade groups and imaging experts note the technology is not as straightforward as mobile check deposit.

Historically, only lenders have had unlimited access to consumers' complete credit files, while consumers are generally restricted to obtaining just one free credit report a year from major credit bureaus. Credit Karma is making that data even more accessible so that consumers can better understand how lenders evaluate their creditworthiness.

Free credit scores are so seven years ago. Credit Karma, an educational site for consumers that makes money from sending customer leads to lenders, is now publishing free full credit reports on a more frequent basis. The idea is to better educate borrowers who are in the market for credit while collecting better leads for its bank partners.

Photo bill pay is supposed to make adding payees a snap for smartphone customers. But the feature faces some problems, including a lack of uniformity of the data on physical invoices and how consumers take the pictures.

Ion Bank has been using interactive teller machines, which let customers conduct video chats with tellers, for more than a year. The technology has helped some of its branches stay open for business 27 hours longer per week without overspending.

The bank's adoption of scheduling technology underscores the fact that, while branch traffic is declining, most sales of loan, deposit or investment products are still made at the branch. It's also further evidence that banks are using technology to engage with customers who are visiting branches less and less.

Check, a bill pay app owned by Intuit, has launched a feature some financial institutions have been positioning as a competitive differentiator: the ability to pay paper bills using the smartphone camera.

Check, a bill pay app owned by Intuit, has launched a feature some financial institutions have been positioning as a competitive differentiator: the ability to pay paper bills using the smartphone camera.

A simple loan payment calculator is proving surprisingly fruitful for Alliant Credit Union.

Olympia, Wash. — It only takes six taps on a mobile app for members of Washington State Employees Credit Union to apply for a fast, short-term loan.

WSECU recently updated its app to include the approval — and funding — of small-dollar loans for existing checking account members who are in need of quick capital.

Financial institutions worldwide are invited to join the initiative to help prevent a threat that's plagued them for decades: A machine filled with cash is like catnip for criminals, and skimming has been the No. 1 way crooks steal data from consumers using the machines.

Fraud fighters have spotted a new form of ATM skimming device that is so small it's easy for the human eye to miss.