Bank technology

Fintech firms and millennial-focused advisers are providing advice on student loan refinancing, with the expectation that over time it will eventually lead to new business, in the form of brokerage and retirement accounts.

Bank of America, which spends about $1 billion a year handling cash, will save money and require fewer employees as more customers make payments electronically, Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said.

In the wake of the Bitfinex heist, protecting consumers must again be at the forefront of the digital currency community.

Elliptic, a startup that monitors the bitcoin network for suspicious patterns, has introduced anti-money-laundering data into its service through a partnership with LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

The situation turns on whether the CFTC inadvertently pushed Bitfinex to adopt a weaker security system than it had been using. However, the way the bitcoin exchange used the new system was significantly flawed, security experts said.

The startup firm Paymency is seeking to offer an API-driven "banking-as-a-platform" service to the U.S. financial services industry.

The recklessness of pioneers like The DAO and the need for learning are not unique to the blockchain ecosystem, pessimists notwithstanding. This technology is living through turbulent early days. It is bound to become safer and more powerful.

Bots have slowly begun to creep onto the online payments scene, and they could offer a whole new, simpler way to part with our cash.

Digital Asset Holdings has hired a former RBS executive to be its chief financial officer. The hire was one of several new recruits the New York blockchain startup announced Tuesday.

TouchID, facial recognition, behavior patterns, knowledge-based authentication, SMS codes – the means of authenticating continue to proliferate. The smart minds in security have yet to settle on one which is the most effective.

What was true in the late 1700s, the 1970s and the 1980s is still true today: bank customers want to interact with real-life people when managing finances.

A handful of banks and fintech companies are letting bank customers connect via chat bots on platforms like Slack of Facebook messenger. Some say this is the next big thing, while others say the technology still has a ways to go.

The linchpin of the federal government's payday lending proposal is a credit-reporting system for small-dollar loans created by the private sector, but the kinds of companies that could create it haven't stepped forward.

Banks should assess a customer's full financial picture before deciding to sell a debt to a third-party collection agent.

As chief operating officers see their roles altered through industry consolidation, they are also taking the lead of implementing banks' technological and strategic overhauls.

Banco do Brasil, the largest bank by assets in South America, wants to make more of a name for itself in the United States. It expects a new online banking platform to help draw mainstream consumers, and says an expansion from South Florida into the Northeast is likely.

In June, SourceMedia Research — an affiliate of American Banker — conducted a survey of 52 chief operating officers and other operations executives on a range of topics, including COOs' top priorities and what they think will be their future role. The data suggests COOs are concerned with regulatory trends and security threats and view themselves as change agents. Many aspire to one day become a CEO. Here are some data snapshots.

The private equity firm GTCR is interested in fintech companies looking to disrupt the status quo, so long as they have proved themselves and are paired with managers who have a long track record of success.

Pokémon Go has taken the U.S. by storm, to put it mildly. For an app that was released very recently, it already has more users than Twitter and is beating Facebook on daily engagement.

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.