Bank technology

The rise of mobile payments has had only a narrow impact on the use of cash, according to a new report from the ATM Industry Association and the business strategy consulting firm Tremont Capital Group.

Leader Bank in Massachusetts developed software to get renters paying their bills online. It solved a hassle for landlords, helping the bank win their business. Now, Leader is preparing to sell the ZRent tool to other banks.

Bank of Hawaii in Honolulu has hired Sheh Bertram as chief information officer.

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Regional banks are selling more and more of the machines that big retailers use to count, store and deposit cash. As old-school as it sounds, it's making the banks money at a time when they need alternative revenue sources.

Health and wellness apps may not much in common with small business payments and merchant services, but it was the fitness-tracking craze that lit a fire under Intuit to build an Apple Watch app for its clients.

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Long proven popular in countries like the U.K., prize-linked accounts recently became legal for banks to offer in some states in the U.S. Blue Ridge Bank in Virginia is early to the market with a product that gives depositors a chance to win $200 monthly for every $25 they save.

Travis Patron of the research firm Diginomics discusses financial institutions' interest in Bitcoin and blockchain technology as platforms to facilitate payments of fiat currency and trading of real-world assets.

The $9.1 billion acquisition of SunGard Data Systems would deepen FIS' bench in banking and asset management services and add products for capital markets, dovetailing with banks' desire to narrow the list of companies that serve them.

UMB Financial in Kansas City, Mo., has hired an IBM executive to be chief information officer.

Some community banks stick with rigid or outdated policies out of habit. That winds up hurting them when customers take their business to financial institutions that use technology to make transactions more convenient.

Fidelity National Information Services, a provider of banking and payments technology, agreed to buy software maker SunGard Data Systems in a deal valued at $9.1 billion, including the assumption of debt.

Eris Exchange, an over-the-counter futures market based in Chicago, is trying to stop Eris Industries, a London tech startup, from using the name Eris in markets where both companies operate.

Many payment companies are hosting hackathons to attract developer talent from outside their own ranks; MasterCard found that its own people are just as eager to bring their ideas to life.

Exposing a new front in cybercrime, U.S. authorities broke up an alleged insider trading ring that relied on computer hackers to pilfer corporate press announcements and then profited by trading on the sensitive information before it became public, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The acquisition of Yodlee, considered PFM's pioneering firm, would cement Envestnet's capability to serve an emerging demand for data aggregation and leveraging data insights and behavioral science in wealth management.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is trying to "supercharge" its process for reviewing financial innovations in an effort to keep pace with a glut of new products inside and outside the banking system.

Chicago-based Envestnet will pay $660 million in cash and stock for Yodlee, a California firm that sells data-aggregation services to banks and others.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is raising concerns about a new financial services communications tool that critics warn could be used to get around compliance requirements.