Bank technology

The Change Company, a lender to Black, Hispanic and low-income borrowers, was set to merge with the former quarterback’s blank-check company. Steven Sugarman, a onetime Banc of California chief, says his company is now in talks with other investors and inviting banks to use a new digital marketplace for its loans.

Both traditional financial institutions and neobanks — including NorthOne, Novo and BMO Harris Bank — are developing technology to meet the needs of younger small-business owners.

Banks and credit unions that cater to members of the armed forces are partnering with fintechs or patenting their own tools to help users convert currency, borrow money and handle financial matters in environments with unreliable internet service.

Personalized advice, embedded finance and virtual branches are among the initiatives financial services companies have on their drawing boards for the coming year.

Large banks explored the concept more than five years ago before quietly moving on. The advent of stablecoins and general acceptance of blockchains have helped make it more practical for some regionals.

Banks have extra reason to be concerned by the news that a commonly used piece of software could be exploited by hackers.

The mission of the North Carolina company, founded by banks to archive digital images of checks, has evolved over the last 20 years. It is migrating to a public cloud to help it expand beyond check services.

A dispersed workforce presents added cybersecurity challenges resulting from employees accessing their organization’s networks through a home connection. This new reality reinforces the need for financial institutions to transform their digital infrastructure to guard against breaches.

Some established financial technology companies like Robinhood are said to be refusing to accept funds from accounts at young digital-only banks that they say are growing too fast to deter fraud. The companies being blocked respond that it’s an unfair, scattershot approach.

The consumer bureau asked for public feedback about payment platforms as part of a focus on the Silicon Valley giants’ financial services aspirations. But comment letters so far have been dominated by users complaining that they lost money on the big-bank-owned peer-to-peer network.