Miriam Cross

Financial institutions are finding that on-screen agents can offer most services that occur in a branch, but with a more personal touch than the phone or internet.

Betterment has debuted a bank account, in conjunction with partner nbkc bank in Kansas City, Mo., that is targeted at millennials and marketed as a complement to its long-term savings products.

Firms that create virtual assistants for financial institutions are training their bots to answer questions about the pandemic and relieve phone lines from a barrage of customer calls.

Online lenders, core providers and software companies have created digital platforms that speed up and simplify Paycheck Protection Program loans for businesses reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

OakNorth helps banks analyze credit, identify pandemic-related risks and forecast borrower issues before they turn into defaults.

Ally, Discover and USAA have made technological, managerial and policy changes to help their centers' employees cope with the rush of calls from customers hurt by the pandemic.

Customers are more reliant than ever on digital banking tools, and institutions like OceanFirst, BBVA and M&T are thankful they had invested in teaching employees to show customers how to use them.

While LendingClub, Prosper, Avant and SoFi are giving existing borrowers breaks in the short term, they're considering tightening credit as the coronavirus outbreak threatens to drag the economy into a recession.

BankMobile became profitable thanks to its high-volume, low-cost acquisition of student customers. The new CEO's challenge will be holding on to them after they graduate.

The U.S. challenger bank and the startup STC Pay aim to create a special blend of banking services for millions of tech-savvy, cash-averse consumers in Saudi Arabia.