Bank technology

Bank innovation has tended to focus on retail customers, but expect more technology for commercial customers in the coming year as those clients deman products that are easy to use and help them run more efficient enterprises.

Banks face immense challenges trying to keep up with technology, but they also must cater to older customers with big deposit accounts who still use their branch.

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Banks have all the experience they need to remain relevant in the world of digital payments, but they must not sit idly by as a slew of disruptors look to snag the business.

JPMorgan Chase investment bank head Daniel Pinto said internal technology projects, including those focused on blockchain, big data and robotics, will be a "major priority" next year.

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FIS in Jacksonville, Fla., has partnered with the Venture Center to create an incubation lab to boost innovation in financial technology.

Moven will soon prompt its customers for usernames and passwords only for riskier transactions. By removing the login for most functions, the company aims to drive engagement in an app meant to be used on the go.

Ramamurthi has transformed a 123-year-old institution with one branch serving a dusty Kansas town into a seedbed for disruptive financial technology — not to mention a wildly profitable generator of fee income.

Wells Fargo in San Francisco said that its chief information officer will retire at the end of March.

The success of a new blockchain-technology initiative will hinge on the ability of many influential players to work together: IBM, Digital Asset Holdings, R3, other tech companies, banks, Swift, the London Stock Exchange and the Linux Foundation.

Digital Asset Holdings is reportedly seeking a $35 million funding round that would put the blockchain technology startup’s valuation at $100 million.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday loan proposal threatens many money services businesses on the front lines of stopping money-laundering and terrorist financing.

Ally Financial, seeking new sources of customers, will finance used cars sold through Beepi, an 18- month-old website that lets people buy vehicles with a few clicks and no test drive.

The latest blockchain technology initiative has IBM, Digital Asset Holdings, R3 and other tech companies working with banks, Swift, the London Stock Exchange and the Linux foundation to jointly create open-source software meant to be used to quickly bring new blockchain software to market.

Green Dot is giving its chief financial officer job to Mark Shifke, who has been the firm's acting CFO for the last seven months.

House Republicans attacked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday, arguing the agency is not able to safely secure the anonymous bulk data it collects on consumers' financial activities.

Under the direction of Richard Holbrook, Eastern Bank has prepared itself for the next 200 years by embracing a culture innovation, adding scale through acquisitions and advocating for the less fortunate in its community. It's an unusual formula, but it has worked and that's why he is one of American Banker's three Community Bankers of the Year for 2015.

The $933-million asset institution said in a press release Tuesday that the technology, provided by Louisville-based R.C. Giltner Services, will enable consumer and small-business customers to complete the loan application process in minutes.

Developing banking solutions for lower-income consumers means getting to the heart of the financial volatility they face trying to make ends meet.