EMEA

Two major Canadian banks, Bank of Montreal and Simplii Financial, have become victims of hacks that affected some 50,000 and 40,000 customers respectively. Neither bank decided to pay the ransom by the hackers' May 28 deadline.

Since taking over as CEO of BNP Paribas in 2011, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé's watchword has been "discipline." And while there have been aberrations, this trait has enabled the bank to steadily take market share from its European competitors and increase its bottom line.

The authentication software and hardware provider is shifting its focus to identity verification and account onboarding, another sign that the newest generation of bank customers is not interested in coming into a branch to set up an account.

Hoot Credit Union in Bolton, England is celebrating having made its 10,000^th loan to members recently.

Several U.K. businesses have shifted their stance on credit card acceptance in the wake of a new EU law that became effective Jan. 13 — with some providers putting an end to their credit card acceptance altogether.

The company has also hit its goal of having half of total loans tied to customers around Atlanta.

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.

Call it mutual respect. Bankers from mutually owned British building societies and similarly structured U.S. thrifts recently gathered in New England to address common challenges and share ideas about staying relevant at a time of rapid change in financial services. Here are the takeaways from their meetings.

Silicon Valley Bank expects to receive a banking license from Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority by the end of May and to open its first German location in Frankfurt in the coming weeks.

Despite Canada's high penetration of contactless POS terminals and consumer affinity for the technology, the country has lagged behind nations such as the U.K. and Singapore in contactless payments. That is set to change as Canada's transit schemes launch contactless open-payment systems.