Bank technology

After defeating an expert in Japanese chess, this computer program's next task is to figure out if you can make the payments on a new mortgage.

The 10 most popular BankThink posts of 2015, based on audience page views.

Opportunities abound, in affordable housing, capital raising, consumer lending and more. We aim to get you thinking about how new developments on many fronts could affect your business as you plan for the coming year and beyond.

As debt collection abuse cases rise in prominence and regulators ponder new rules, it's time to give the idea of a national debt registry a closer look.

Relations between banks and providers of personal financial management tools have soured of late amid reports that some banks block PFM sites' access to their customers' information during peak traffic periods. Aggregators say they are working to address banks' concerns, but they also are urging banks to invest in more server capacity to keep pace with customer demand.

Several organizations, such as Swift and The Clearing House, announced faster payments initiatives this year. Those initiatives will likely play critical roles in 2016 in helping the Fed plot ways to modernize the U.S. payments system.

Despite increased investment and development in the consumer payments space around mag stripe, EMV and contactless payments solutions, there is still a huge concern when it comes to data theft.

If dead men tell no tales, that makes identity theft of deceased account holders all the harder for card issuers to combat, particularly when the perpetrators are bank insiders.

Far from the madding crowd, the GE spinoff Synchrony runs an innovation lab in Stamford, Conn., that is buzzing with pragmatic projects and a culture that promotes collaboration and quick execution of new ideas.

Once billed as a safer alternative to traditional finance, the new crop of tech-powered lenders is starting to resemble previous generations of finance companies whose fortunes rose and fell with each economic cycle.

The Bancorp in Wilmington, Del., has agreed to pay a $3 million civil money penalty to address issues tied to electronic fund transfer practices.

Some lost their jobs while others made major missteps or faced serious challenges to their business plans. Here are the folks who had a rough 2015 and are looking forward to better times in 2016.

The popularity of data analytics has been building for a few years now, but expect more banks to look for ways to mine their data storehouses in 2016.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will probably benefit most from the coming wave of financial technology disruption, rather than being supplanted by startups driving the change, according to an Autonomous Research survey.

Everyday investors provide marketplace lenders a cushion in case institutional buyers find greener pastures. But regulatory hurdles and an addiction to fast growth are making it difficult for the platforms to lure those coveted savers.

A trip to London reveals how far ahead British and other European regulators are in streamlining the licensing process for payments providers and other fintech firms.

Next year, look for banks to finally start putting mission-critical applications on public cloud services, with Capital One leading the way.

The age of Google Glass may be over, but 2015 saw wearable technology emerge in more subtle forms such as watches, rings and other items that appear more trendy than geeky. The payments industry is working to make the most of this fashionable trend.

A year ago we asked BankThink contributors to make bold predictions about how the financial industry would evolve in 2015. Here's a look back at their forecasts and the actual outcomes.

Suffolk Bancorp in Riverhead, N.Y., has hired Fiserv as core processor and it plans to record a $1.4 million charge to cover the vendor switch.