Bank technology

Whether it's regulation, cyber threats, vendor backlog or just plain inertia, U.S. banks still lag their overseas counterparts when it comes to mobile adoption.

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.

October saw the three main card networks invest in bitcoin-related companies, which comes on the heels of major banks exploring the use of bitcoin and blockchain technology to solve some industry pain points.

Cybersecurity expertise is helping more women get board seats, as is the British government; MUFG Union's Stephen Cummings calls for faster progress on the diversity front; JPMorgan's Eileen Serra announces a new mobile wallet called Chase Pay; and Deustche's Susan Skerritt shares some leadership lessons.

The RushCard debacle should lead to consumer improvements, but it should not undercut the progress prepaid has made in helping consumers manage their finances.

All participants in financial services will have to start behaving, thinking, organizing themselves as technology companies and focus on three things: technology, data and customer (or, better yet, user) experience.

Eastern Bank's 18-month-old innovation unit, run by startup veterans, is preparing to release its first product as the industry continues to allocate resources to internal tech labs while wondering when and how such efforts will pay off.

The banking industry largely praised the passage of a major Senate cybersecurity bill Tuesday night, but concerns are mounting about the inclusion of eleventh-hour language that could prompt new rules for financial institutions.

Apple Pay debuted last year as an enabler for many banks that were itching to get involved with mobile payments. But a few banks were able to leap ahead of Apple Pay with their own technology.

There’s no doubt that blockchain technology will facilitate disruptive innovations in finance, but a world of private ledgers sounds eerily similar to a range of “private Internets.”

The founder of an IPO services company that was sold this month to Nasdaq has lined up several investors for his new company, which will invest in bitcoin and blockchain developers.

Nasdaq has unveiled its blockchain technology initiative. The platform uses blockchain technology to issue shares for privately held companies on the Nasdaq Private Market and record their transfers. Clients receive a comprehensive record of issuance and transfer.

The Senate approved a key cybersecurity bill Tuesday after several days of debate on the chamber floor — and several years of lobbying by business groups, including bankers.

JPMorgan Chase entered the digital wallet wars in announcing Chase Pay, a product that will launch next year. Although mobile payments have been more bark than bite so far, the company says that its product plans to use loyalty programs to lure reluctant consumers.

Customers Bancorp in Wyomissing, Pa., is building an online borrowing experience for its small-business clients.

Quicken Loans CEO Bill Emerson's term as chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association underscores how the Internet-and-phone channel has grown from a quirky novelty to transformative force in the industry.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has hired a former FBI deputy director to lead a new consulting group to address financial crime issues.

Led by a team of financial services and regulatory veterans and young techies, Privacy.com represents the first mainstream attempt to build a business explicitly around transactional privacy in the era of Edward Snowden and Ashley Madison.

Most mobile wallets clearly favor one industry over another, with banks and retailers often pitted against each other in a battle over payment card fees. JPMorgan Chase just made a stunning move by conceding some of this ground to the benefit of the Merchant Customer Exchange.

The bank owners of the clearXchange payments network and the Early Warning risk management service hope that by combining the two programs, they can remain in control of technologies that will become core to mobile commerce.