Compliance

As card networks develop tokens to stand in for account numbers in online and mobile commerce, they may be able to standardize the experience across all companies that handle payments, said Mike Matan, head of global network business at American Express.

Rallying its members to wipe out passwords, the Faster IDentity Online Alliance — an organization of more than 150 payments and technology businesses — released standards Dec. 9 for multi-factor e-commerce authentication.

International regulators proposed a common template Tuesday for banks to use when disclosing their long-term liquidity compliance plans, which regulators say will help market participants assess and compare banks' plans to one another.

Tax authorities all over the world are making decisions on how to view the new and increasingly popular decentralized digital currencies such as Bitcoin.

Companies seeking to shield valuable data from criminals and government spying should assume the attackers have already penetrated their systems and adjust defensive strategies, security firms McAfee and Symantec said.

Banks would have to upgrade their systems to accommodate faster transactions, and originating banks would pay the receiving financial institutions a fee to cover those costs, under a plan from Nacha, the industry group that sets ACH rules.

Amid huge regulatory pressure to strengthen anti-money-laundering controls, banks are grappling with a shortage of compliance talent.

Despite the many high-profile breaches that occurred over the past year, too many businesses have not adopted strong security practices and as many as a third don't have a clear understanding of where their sensitive data is stored or how it is protected.

Following the disclosure by a name brand retailer that their point-of-sale (POS) system had been breached, shoppers outside one of the retailer’s brick and mortar locations unanimously told a television reporter that cash was the safest way to pay in-person.

As mobile commerce and other new technologies change the way people shop, fraudsters are changing their methods to adapt. Banks, fintech providers and consumers are all looking at security in new ways.