Investment

Credit unions have measures in place to assist members hit by fraud but many smaller institutions are challenged when it comes to an effective response.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank plans to launch a pilot in 2020 of a blockchain-based digital version of the Eastern Caribbean dollar. This marks the first time that a central bank will have issued digital legal tender using the blockchain.

Banks say easing rules on people with some criminal records will diversify the applicant pool; deal with Synchrony may be near.

The SEC and other regulators are taking a closer look at ICOs and mergers involving cryptocurrencies and distributed ledgers, which requires careful diligence for payment companies and dealmakers, according to Will Turner, a partner in the blockchain and cryptocurrency practice at Steptoe & Johnson.

The reasons for banks to not embrace faster payments schemes are quickly dwindling. But many are still watching from the sidelines.

Price hit "a grim reminder" about impact of soft interest rates; despite bitcoin's plunge, blockchain could be prominent in Wall Street's future.

Stripe has updated its products and made an acquisition to prep for new security standards it says will impact more than 300 million people, potentially giving Stripe the same kind of influence over European merchant technology that it enjoys in the U.S.

Citcon has completed a Series B funding round that included a $5 million strategic investment from East West Bank. The cross-border QR code payments processor will also be adding Catherine Zhou, executive vice president and head of consumer banking and digital banking at East West Bank, to its board of directors.

Some companies believe that their employees will know the difference between legitimate versus spoofed emails. While this might be true some of the time, even one mistake can be costly, writes David Barnhardt, executive vice president of product at Giact.

Credit unions in the Lone Star State have been working with lawmakers on a series of bills but the clock is ticking since the legislative session ends in May and won't restart until 2021.