Investment

Canada's payments modernization initiative is using a distributed ledger to expedite processing across a nationwide network, providing scale that could open the technology to wider use elsewhere if successful.

The advent of blockchain technology may prove to be disruptive to traditional credit reporting agencies by decentralizing data aggregation and allowing consumers to take ownership of their data through a personalized wallet they could share with prospective lenders, writes Alexander Koles, CEO, founder and managing director of Evolve Capital Partners.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is centralizing information and updates for global commercial card administrators within an online tool called Card Assistant.

Beyond the initial coin offerings — a fundraising process, similar to an IPO, in which blockchain companies sell crypto tokens instead of shares — and myriad science projects, is there anything substantive occurring with blockchain?

Fintech startup Payrailz is positioning itself firmly in the "invisible" payments market that's taking shape in the e-commerce and mobile app business. Only in Payrailz's case, it's making a direct appeal to smaller banks that may have the greatest need to update their tech.

As consumers’ personal information is compromised almost daily, hackers are increasingly targeting banks.

There is a visible shift in attack patterns immediately following a breach, from initial attacks focusing on high-value loan applications at online lenders to low-value identity testing on charities and social media sites to determine if a stolen credential will work.

While some are bullish on strong use cases for the industry, others are still skeptical about when — or even if — CUs will be willing and able to dive into blockchain.

The San Francisco company is one of numerous online lenders that are struggling to become profitable.

PayPal has suspended the operations of TIO Networks, a bill-payment company it purchased earlier this year, following the discovery of security vulnerabilities that require investigation.