Truist emphasizes high-touch, high-tech focus with new logo; Wells Fargo loses another patent lawsuit to USAA; what the Visa-Plaid merger means for banks, fintechs; and more from this week's most-read stories.

Data security and infrastructure custodian Very Good Security (VGS) received a strategic investment from Visa, which has been spending heavily this week on fintech.

Visa's deal to acquire the data aggregator Plaid is likely to have ripple effects throughout the industry, including reduced tension between banks and fintechs over data sharing.

Plaid may be a more problematic acquisition than Visa made it out to be. But without Visa, those problems were likely to get a lot worse.

The acquisition will vastly expand Visa's platform, giving it nearly Amazon-like influence.

Before Visa agreed to acquire data company Plaid for $5.3 billion, Mastercard had been pulling ahead in the race among the card brands to break beyond reliance on basic processing fees.

Want to level the playing field with big banks and fintechs in the year ahead? Here's where to start.

Open banking and identity services are both still evolving to meet the needs of the new digital economy. These communities will need to connect at the hip to prevent fraud, avoid identity theft and to deter other financial crimes, like money laundering.

Regulators are beginning to recognize the importance of using alternative data to provide credit for the underbanked. Now is the time to expand its use across the industry.

Bank beats estimates as earning soar 21%; a cyberattack on the American banking system could create havoc on financial stability.

BBVA’s not sure if consumers or merchants will want to use an e-commerce marketplace to make bill payments in the same way they buy clothes — but if they do, BBVA wants to be the one to provide the necessary technology.

In the battle to control consumer data, Visa has made a major score by agreeing to acquire Plaid, a technology company that it could have seen grow into a competitor.

In the battle to control consumer data, Visa has made a major score by agreeing to acquire Plaid, a technology company that it could have seen grow into a competitor.

The purchase price is double the fintech's valuation in a 2018 funding round.

In the near future, payments will be part of the shopping experience itself. Technology that lets customers pay in the fitting room – or automatically, as they walk out of a store – will likely become an everyday reality, says Wirecard's Susanne Steidl.

Financial institutions need to be aware of the platform model, strategic and reputational hazards that come with granting access to their networks.

Potential sources of industry upheaval, and how to adapt; former Wells Fargo execs may face criminal charges in coming weeks; why banks have such high turnover of chief compliance officers; and more from this week's most-read stories.

Silicon Valley giants are better innovators, software developers and data managers, but banks' inherent advantages shouldn't be discounted, says Sonny Singh, a senior vice president at Oracle.

A seasoned investor in startups offers his top predictions for the coming decade. Among them: Big tech firms will become big players in financial services.

From Malta to Belgium, the past three years have served as something of a shopping market between payments-based fintechs seeking alternative jurisdictions through which they could still be licensed within the EU, and investment agencies hoping for a piece of their business.