Technology

Spring Development Bank aims to use blockchain technology to support funding for the expelled leaders and provide financial services to the civil war-torn population.

Amazon expands "palm payment" at Whole Foods, Toast reverses 99-cent restaurant-order fee, Plaid expands open-banking reach and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

The Cincinnati bank said that it plans to reduce originations in the segment by 15%. It is leaning into businesses that provide an opportunity to build deeper customer relationships.

The launch of FedNow, the Federal Reserve's instant-settlement system, raises many questions for banks, card networks and fintechs regarding costs, routing and other concerns.

Brian Plum abruptly stepped down as president and CEO of the Charlottesville, Virginia, company last week. Blue Ridge also announced that it would not pay a dividend in the third quarter.

The managing director of Arjuna Capital led a successful shareholder activist campaign in 2018 that led to dozens of large companies reporting their true gender pay gap numbers. Now she is pursuing companies who are moving too fast with advanced AI.

In a data breach at OpenAI, some ChatGPT users were able to see other users' financial data. In other cases, users have invoked their dead grandmothers to access information that should have been sealed off.

Such concerns have taken on new importance with recent advances in artificial intelligence tools, which are "the most transformative technology of our time," Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler says.

Experts and industry leaders said banks are pumping investment into technology that can connect information silos.

The implementation plan the Biden administration released on Thursday seeks to shift liability for data breaches onto "the biggest, most capable" entities. Does that mean banks?