Bank technology

While remittances may pose higher risks than services like bill pay, they are absolutely necessary in an age of unprecedented migration. It's high time state and federal regulators update the rules to help inspire banks to re-risk.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against NetSpend on Thursday, alleging that the prepaid card issuer deceived consumers in its advertising.

Citigroup has made some of its application program interfaces available for third-party developers.

Banks have been waiting on Justice Department guidelines on how to make their websites compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but many are being advised to take action now or face lawsuits from disabled customers.

The president-elect's policies on taxes, offshoring, surveillance and other issues will affect bank technology officers and their vendors in a variety of ways. The positives may slightly outweigh the negatives.

A Trump presidency might very well accelerate recent efforts to adapt banking regulation to the rise of fintech.

The credit agencies played a role in the Great Recession, but marketplace lenders still need ratings oversight to make their businesses viable.

To jawbone Mexico into paying for the wall, President-elect Trump has threatened to suspend remittances. Such a move would disrupt one of the busiest corridors of money in the world.

Bill.com has gained traction in recent years with a few large banks that market its electronic bill payment service for businesses, but reaching a wider audience has been tough because small businesses are a tough nut for banks to crack.

Kenny and Sean Salas, founders of Camino Financial in Los Angeles, have a pretty good idea of what it's like to be a Hispanic small-business owner who can't catch the attention of traditional banks. They have established an online marketplace, a credit-scoring model and relationships with online lenders to help fill the void.

Threats to the industry's control over payments were apparent before PayPal became popular. However, risks are even more visible and real today.

Tesco Bank, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, has refunded 2.5 million pounds (about $3 million) to 9,000 customers who were affected by a large-scale online banking cybertheft last weekend.

The only tactic for survival is brutal honesty. So let's accept the very real risk of disappearing and do the heavy lifting required to persevere.

Donald Trump's stunning upset in the presidential race on Tuesday is likely to embolden his followers to push for changes to Internet law that could significantly alter how financial technology is conceived, built and delivered to market.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service's internal watchdog Tuesday called on the agency to develop a concerted strategy to address the possible use of virtual currencies in tax evasion or money-laundering schemes.

Designed for Japan's automotive industry in the 1990s, QR codes remain a common feature in the latest mobile wallets. They have pros and cons that banks need to carefully consider.

While regulators discuss a potential federal fintech charter, another possible solution for firms trying to avoid multistate licensing already exists: the trust charter.

Making customer experience consistently good is a priority, but it's not enough. Great experiences in the future will be tailored to individual needs and preferences.

Cultural issues, budget constraints and legacy technology often keep banks from converting their tech aspirations into a reality.