Blockchain

Merchants, banks, fintechs and card networks may crave digital payments' treasure trove of data over cash's simple anonymity, but any weakness in a centralized ecosystem threatens the entire network, as Visa learned late last week.

Talking with Shari Van Cleave, head of Wells Fargo Digital Labs; Citizens Financial makes a big move in mortgages in purchasing Franklin American; a rewards blockchain could give Amex access to a wealth of customer data; and more from this week's most-read stories.

Hyperledger, an open-source organization focused on blockchain technology, has added 16 members.

The credit card issuer has built a distributed ledger through which merchants create their own membership rewards and get access to detailed information on purchases and the success of promotions.

Latest: how a possible trade war might impact fintechs; how U.S. exchanges have adapted to blockchain tech.

Caroline Redmann was once flummoxed to hear herself called an "IT nerd," but today she wears it as a badge of honor.

Banks are at the forefront of blockchain innovation, disrupting cross-border payments, trade finance and product development worldwide.

Readers celebrate first quarter earnings, weigh in on banks using blockchain, slam a postal banking proposal and more.

American Express is putting its involvement in the Hyperledger Project to the test, deploying blockchain technology with Boxed to enable the digital warehouse merchant to customize a rewards plan for Amex cardholders.

Banks are at the forefront of blockchain innovation, disrupting cross-border payments, trade finance and product development worldwide.

Even as Jamie Dimon touts the female leadership at his company, it lags in one key area. But JPMorgan women are making strides in particular with blockchain initiatives, and Amber Baldet finally shares what she is working on. Plus, heels or flats?

Blockchain's potential for revolutionizing the world’s payment systems has captured the imagination in recent years, and last month Santander became the U.K.'s first bank to use the technology to create a new international payments service.

Fintechs attending Consensus 2018, the annual cryptocurrency event, said they found promise for a market still trying to find a path to unified operations and wider acceptance within financial services.

JPMorgan and Santander show off their uses for the technology; commercial and industrial loans outstanding are rising.

Circle Internet Financial says it is now worth $3 billion following latest funding round; proposed changes would give banks more leeway to make some trades.

Even with the world’s best known virtual currency down more than 50 percent from its record high, thousands of advocates are expected to descend upon New York in what’s been dubbed Blockchain Week.

Marcus unit will start taking deposits in the U.K. next month; the bank uses the technology to complete a trade finance letter of credit for Cargill.

Robotics and automatically triggered transactions will pressure how data is collected and made trustworthy enough to be actionable, according to Raphael Davison, worldwide director of blockchain for Hewlett Packard Enterprises.

Blockchain's decentralized model can help avoid the "insiders-only" tendencies of centralized markets while distributing risk, contends Donika Kraeva, strategic communications manager at Dentacoin.

The banks contend distributed ledger technology (DLT) makes it easier to coordinate trade finance deals. And the use of smart contracts can help parties comply with contractual obligations such as staged payments.