After a decade of multibillion-dollar tech investments by banks, efficiency ratios have begun to improve and headcounts drop, some industry watchers say. Skeptics counter that other reasons are at play and that it's all hard to measure.

The hotel franchise can now integrate directly with U.S. employers for invoicing and payment, allowing it to bundle multiple stays and reduce overall costs of managing card acceptance.

Credit unions in Georgia, Virginia and Mississippi plan to combine, creating an institution with $216 million of assets.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.'s new consumer-focused digital bank will be born out of its Manufacturers Bank subsidiary — a relatively small commercial bank with nine branches and no consumer business to speak of.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is facing a legal challenge from groups that argue rules meant to diversify the boards of banks and other publicly traded companies amount to discrimination.

Companies like VizyPay, Stax and Carbon Zero Financial seek fresh ideas from people who built their careers in retail, food service and other verticals.