Bank technology

Even though Walmart has been a key member and driving force behind the Merchant Customer Exchange joint venture to establish a new mobile wallet, the retailer's addition of Walmart Pay to its mobile app is consistent with strategy, and will lead to a wave of individual bank and retailer initiatives.

Despite their own vast resources, some large banks are partnering with fintech startups to help them meet the needs of one of their trickiest market segments: small businesses

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a global messaging network better known as Swift, has announced an initiative designed to increase the speed and transparency of cross-border payments.

Angus Deaton's efforts to improve understanding of poverty have helped open the door to financial services firms meeting the market demands of the world's poor.

The House Financial Services Committee approved a data security bill Tuesday that would require all financial companies to have similar security protections and notification requirements as banks.

Umpqua Holdings wants other banks to join its recently announced innovation lab in Silicon Valley. The company says if smaller banks pool resources they can compete with the deep pockets of the big banks in disruption.

Washington Federal is the latest bank to partner with a tech company in an effort to streamline online loan applications.

Major cloud, consulting and software providers like Microsoft and Deloitte are plugging "blockchain as a service" for financial institutions that want to experiment with this technology without making huge investments.

Ex-banker Frank Rotman, now a venture capitalist who focuses on marketplace lending, has a unique vantage point on the competition for small-business loans between banks and Web-based upstarts, as well as on both sides' strengths and weaknesses.

A customer's social media presence provides a window to the soul, which a more traditional credit history cannot touch.