Bank technology

Battery Ventures, a tech-focused investment firm, has agreed to acquire Physical Security Business Unit, part of the security division of Nice Systems, a vendor that focuses primarily on the financial services industry.

Payment system transformation has become a pressing need for banks today. The rate at which this is happening is largely controlled by the conflict between rapid technological shifts and the barriers to product acceptance.

Driven by greater demands to help meet business goals, these CIOs share some of the tactics that have helped them win friends and allies in other departments and move big projects forward.

Security and online and mobile banking rose to the top of bank CIOs' priority lists this year, according to a proprietary survey by American Banker and SourceMedia Research.

A survey of 50 bank CIOs conducted by American Banker found CIOs' daily lives are still dominated by the need for state-of-the-art customer-facing technology, security concerns and concerns around business strategy and revenue growth.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including whether independent consultants should be criminally liable for misrepresentations in their reports and whether higher rates will help or hurt banks.

Marlin Business Bank has launched a new site to compete with alternative lenders such as OnDeck and Kabbage, which specialize in providing quick and convenient access to small-business credit.

Taking their typical cautious approach, bank CIOs say they'll take their time testing Microsoft's new operating system before rolling it out in offices and branches.

Fidelity National Information Services Inc., the payment-services provider, is in exclusive talks to buy SunGard Data Systems Inc. in a deal with an enterprise value of more than $8.3 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

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.

NCR and Diebold – the two largest ATM manufacturers in the U.S. – report that skimming is getting worse. One likely reason: the adoption of harder-to-skim EMV chip cards in this country starting in October.

Financial institutions take information security concerns very seriously, but few make it a priority to keep accountholders updated on their safeguarding efforts.

The nation's Federal Reserve Banks have kicked off a multi-year process aimed at speeding up our often painfully slow payment system. Earlier this month, a Fed task force on the issue elected a steering committee that will play a key role in defining a path forward. The 19 members on the steering committee represent various parts of the payments ecosystem, including banking giants, corporations like Walmart that are large users of the payment system, and payment innovators like Dwolla and Ripple Labs. Here's a look at 13 of them.

Bank regulators are likely to take further action to force banks to upgrade their cybersecurity processes as hackers continue to find ways to penetrate institutions’ defenses, Benjamin Lawsky, the top former New York bank supervisor, said Tuesday.

USAA's newest app, Savings Coach, analyzes financial data to recommend small amounts of money to save and invites members to take savings challenges, then moves the money upon the member's approval. The app comes at a time when millennials have a negative savings rate.

Blockchain technology can be used to help financial-services institutions accomplish their most important goal — improving customer service, Blythe Masters said Tuesday.

In the years ahead, look for projects that leverage the Bitcoin network to greatly expand mainstream banking infrastructure's reach into new markets — particularly those in volatile economies.

Fiserv has agreed to use Fujitsu's handprint-scanning system for fraud prevention in its account-processing product.

A new ad from the U.S. unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank that features a same-sex couple is more than a social statement, as it also says a lot about the fragmentation, context and consumer control that are part of modern TV viewing habits, according to the company's top marketing executive.

Some critics see banks' innovation labs as wasteful, unapplied research, but Wells Fargo has embraced the trend by establishing six such labs, a so-called accelerator program and now an innovation group. The bank's Steve Ellis explains its rationale.