Bank technology

Many large internationally active U.S. banks are facing potentially hefty fines if they fail to comply with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, which takes effect May 25 and gives consumers much more control over how their data is gathered, used and shared.

The addition of a personal finance app rounds out the loan and deposit-account offerings at the online lender Marcus.

Banks should rethink even existing services, such as the branch experience, said top executives at the Oracle Industry Connect conference.

Bank of America is investing heavily in videoconferencing at unstaffed branches, Citigroup is experimenting with gamification and Union Bank’s PurePoint Financial is going entirely paperless.

The bank says its partnership with Lender Price will help streamline and simplify its home loan process.

Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer at U.S. Bank, shares his vision for digital banking ten years from now. It includes ambient computing – interconnected devices, machines and sensors that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of people.

The Cleveland bank's CIO, Amy Brady, said it had to start replacing legacy systems now to position itself as a leader in the future.

Applications can now be made on the bank's app or website, but closings will still be in person. With this move, BofA joins Quicken Loans, Lenda, SoFi and others offering a mostly digital mortgage. The trend is sure to continue.

With consumer privacy issues in the spotlight, Citibank is betting its app — as an offering from a trusted data partner — will be more appealing than those from unknown brands or companies that have less liability if security breaches occur.

AccessFintech lets financial firms track trades and aggregates data in order to get a sense of risk across a number of systems.