Data security

Distinct business plans in promising areas such as smart use of consumer data, cybersecurity and content creation, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch commercial banking executive Scott Olmsted. And that is just the beginning of his list.

Banks are warming to behavioral biometric software as one of an array of choices to prevent digital banking fraud.

Mastercard will launch its “selfie pay” system in the Asia-Pacific region next year, expanding the global reach of its biometric identity-verification service for online payments to more markets as part of a gradual worldwide rollout.

Behavioral biometrics has already stopped several million dollars worth of online banking fraud at National Westminster Bank in London.

The once-booming market for reloadable prepaid cards has seen a slowdown in new-account growth in recent years amid heavier competition and consolidation, causing longtime providers to look for ways to stand out in a crowded field.

As online fraud becomes more pervasive, merchants need to strengthen their defenses against would-be cyber thieves.

Digital payments security provider V-Key will protect the cloud-based payments network of Ant Financial Services Group (Alipay) with its virtual secure element software.

Any company that uses point of sale systems or technology is at risk.

The president-elect's policies on taxes, offshoring, surveillance and other issues will affect bank technology officers and their vendors in a variety of ways. The positives may slightly outweigh the negatives.

To jawbone Mexico into paying for the wall, President-elect Trump has threatened to suspend remittances. Such a move would disrupt one of the busiest corridors of money in the world.