Bank technology

Varo Money, an app designed for people who want to bank exclusively on their cellphones, announced Tuesday that it has filed formal applications for a national bank charter.

Plug and Play is the world’s largest tech accelerator. This episode profiles its fintech vertical.

LendKey, whose software helps financial institutions make student, auto and home improvement loans, closed a Series C round led by a fund whose investors include more than a dozen banks.

The Portland, Ore., company outlined a plan to boost its return on tangible common equity to between 13-15% by 2020. More details will be provided by fall, executives said.

New technologies are poised to sweep through investment banks, relieving many rank-and-file employees of roughly a third of their current workload, according to McKinsey & Co.

Citigroup is expanding its payments partnership to allow its card members to use their ThankYou rewards points for purchases at PayPal checkout in the U.S.

Small-business customers of Bank of America can now apply for credit through the bank’s digital channels.

Though they might have less money to spend on digital than their larger counterparts, community banks can still provide a top-notch mobile experience.

Convinced that clients want as much human interaction as ever, the Wall Street firm is using machine learning to help its financial advisers stay informed and work efficiently.

The white-label banking platform provider Urban FT has purchased the mobile banking technology firm iParse and several of its patents.