Technology

The Faster Identity Online Alliance has established its first user-experience guidelines and delivered new standards designed to more quickly move authentication processes past traditional username-and-password combinations.

About 100 small banks have signed up for technology provided by the core software vendor Fiserv and the cryptocurrency custodian NYDIG that allows customers to buy, sell and hold bitcoin through their bank accounts.

How technology is enabling new types of payment transmission and what this means for banking.

Under federal health plans, categories like dental still have steep out-of-pocket costs, creating opportunities for companies like Sunbit and Ally Lending to provide options at the point of care.

The bank's holding company, CRB Group, has acquired PeerIQ, an online lending marketplace data provider backed by the former CEOs of Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. It's said it wants more deals like this one.

The fintech specializes in lending to dentists, veterinarians and other solo providers looking to grow or establish their own practice.

The fintech, which is going public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, has updated its logo and messaging to emphasize its capabilities in e-commerce and digital marketing. It's part of a trend of traditional payments such as TransferWise, Fattmerchant and even Mastercard repositioning themselves to win over investors.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued a proposal this month laying out how banks should treat cryptocurrencies held on their balance sheets. It could give stablecoins, which are tied to traditional assets, an edge over more volatile digital assets like Bitcoin.

Distributed ledger projects in banking are few and far between — many have stalled and others remain experiments. Robert Townsend, who has worked with banks around the world and written a book about blockchain technology, explains some of the ways financial institutions could be using it, for instance in small-business lending and supply chain finance.

Beauty shops must handle transactions for multiple employees and contractors operating under one roof. Tech companies are customizing software and transaction processing services for this niche.