Technology

For much of the last decade, credit card companies and issuers have fine-tuned security to the point where if any suspicious activity occurs on a cardholder account, that cardholder will receive an alert. That same sort of transaction and behavioral analytics is starting to come into other business sectors and walks of life.

The heads of some of the largest U.S. banks are calling for a new security-focused mindset among executives, better forms of ID and collective action in the aftermath of the Equifax breach.

The new vice chairman of supervision at the Fed said the agency will seek comment on its rules for stress tests, capital and other areas, as well as look at how fintech has impacted the industry.

American Express Canada is launching a digital payment solution that replaces plastic cards with virtual account numbers.

BM Corp., one of the bluest of U.S. blue-chip companies, is touting blockchain as the supply-management tool of choice for an unusual industry — cannabis.

USA Technologies, a provider of payments technology enabling card and mobile payments at vending machines in the U.S., is buying Cantaloupe Systems, which has its own line of vending machine payments solutions in the U.S. and other markets, for $85 million.

The companies' recently launched partnership furthers the argument that the banking and fintech industries might be better served working together rather than competing.

Messenger is one of Facebook's most requested services in the U.K. and France, making these markets ripe for the platform's new P-to-P payments capabilities. But in taking the service internationally, Facebook may also reveal its limitations.

A smart contract for advertising delivery and payments can be subjected to additional layers of verification and enforcement by optional service providers on the network, such as the measurement provider, ratings provider, payment provider and arbitrator, writes Charles Manning, founder and CEO of Kochava.

The fintech is partnering with Choice Financial in North Dakota to create a Douugh-branded checking account and debit card that will prominently feature an AI-based virtual assistant named Sophie.