Bank technology

A less discussed but arguably more important application of the blockchain is to help serve the unbanked masses, including refugees.

There may be bumps along the way, but PayPal, Mastercard and Visa all share the same goal, according to Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga.

New capabilities announced Wednesday by Capital One run on Amazon.com's cloud. It's the latest sign banks are growing more comfortable using other companies' servers instead of their own closely guarded data centers — and that longstanding security concerns are fading.

Banks can borrow some of the best practices from mobile-first fintech firms in order to compete with startups for millennials.

The cybersecurity climate is already an all-hands-on-deck situation, so one more threat – even one prompted by one of America's loudest voices – may not matter.

Hedgeable sees the peer-to-peer business and personal loans as an alternative to fixed-income investments that are traditionally offered through exchange-traded funds.

"Nobody really paid attention" when the technology for algorithmic portfolio management and investment advice was developed five years ago, says Gauthier Vincent of Deloitte. But now that robo startups are all the rage, retail banks want in.

Nearly all publicly traded equities and a majority of bonds are owned not by the investors themselves but by a little-known entity called Cede & Co. This attenuation of property rights creates systemic risk, but an effort is underway to transform the system.

One of the ostensible selling points of blockchain technology is its potential to bring greater transparency to financial markets. But this feature has turned out to be a bug for the institutions that would use the technology.

Despite the hurdles facing technology giants in offering payments services, they remain keenly interested in the sector and more traditional service providers should stay on alert.

Large incumbents can effectively pursue and cultivate disruptive innovation without buying a disruptor. Here's how.

The decision throws out the anti-money laundering charges against Michell Espinoza, who was arrested after agreeing to sell $30,000 to an undercover detective who declared he would use it in an illegal credit card scheme.

Problem technology credits drove down quarterly profits at Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., which said it will pull back on tech lending even though that had become one of its most important niches.

Though several banks have begun automating financial advice for smaller investors, some are also providing more personalized services — such as counseling family members who have suddenly inherited a fortune.

Once skeptical of robo advisers, retail banks are starting to embrace them. Several big banks are getting into the business, mostly by forming partnerships with fintech companies. Smaller banks are expected to soon follow suit.

B of A says customers are becoming inundated with wallet options, so they are holding out on building their own.

Now is the time to correct the mistakes of interchange price controls that harm consumers and community financial institutions to the benefit of merchants.

Several core processing vendors with mobile-age platforms have sprung up in the past year. Making a lasting mark in a field dominated by entrenched vendors will take time.

Banks typically respond to pending regulations with a mixture of fear and dread, but new cybersecurity requirements being developed by the banking agencies may be met with relief.

Directors and senior executives have a duty to inculcate risk culture into banks so that everyone works as a team to contain cyber and other risks, including the human vulnerabilities within.