Bank technology

FIS and merger partner SunGard, along with all other vendors in the space, have not been able to come to market with innovative core systems or software platforms that adequately address the new digital paradigm banks face.

Citigroup agreed to sell its Alternative Investor Services business to SS&C Technologies, a provider of software and investment services to the finance industry, for about $425 million.

American Banker looks at how banks are broadening their mission to include environmental protection — from shrinking carbon footprints to partnering with green startups to considering climate change in credit decisions.

Total System Services (TSYS), the Columbus, Ga.-based payment processor, has hired Patricia A. Watson to be senior executive vice president and chief information officer, effective Sept. 14.

The Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation of Morgan Stanley's massive data breach. It has identified the problem that allowed the breach to happen: access controls to a narrow set of reports were improperly configured.

Social Finance Inc. has hired Joanne Bradford, a veteran of the technology and media industries, as chief operating officer.

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.

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 from our social media platforms.

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.