Bank technology

itBit, a Bitcoin exchange, looks to be gunning to go mainstream with an application for a New York trust charter and a lineup of prominent Washington backers including former FDIC head Sheila Bair.

TD Bank's efforts to be responsive and natural on Twitter and Facebook have earned it a top ranking among its peers.

The ubiquitous coffee chain is making new inroads with its mobile payments app, and its success underscores how nonbanks can outdo banks at their own game and should be watched closely by banking industry participants.

Millions of dollars spent on software upgrades are worth the hit to short-term profits, executives at the Buffalo bank said, because it will be able to run deeper credit profiles of borrowers.

As horrifying cyberattack scenarios grow more plausible, an American Bankers Association simulation of a hypothetical breach at a $10 billion-asset bank is designed to guide institutions through a set of crisis response steps.

First Niagara Financial Group in Buffalo, N.Y., said its first-quarter profit declined because of costs tied to its technology upgrade and lower spread income.

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.

House lawmakers approved two bills this week to foster greater information sharing between the private sector and government about cyber threats — and all eyes now turn to the Senate to see if legislation can finally be enacted.

Cybercriminals' distributed denial of service exploits are getting more targeted and sophisticated.

Banks that use biometric technology should remember to take client and employee privacy concerns seriously. After all, banks have a duty to protect personal information and prevent its potential misuse.

Small-business lender Funding Circle, which has operations in the United States and the United Kingdom, has received $150 million in new investment.

The San Francisco bank has added three more young technology firms to its accelerator program, which is aimed at adapting products from outside the financial services world for creative uses in banking.

The House is preparing to vote on two cybersecurity bills this week, kicking off the latest push to improve information sharing between private companies and the government about potential attacks and threats.

Jeffrey Robinson, author of the acerbic "BitCon," explains how he squares his admiration for blockchain technology with his contempt for the Bitcoin currency and community in the final part of a conversation with American Banker's Marc Hochstein.

International payments provider Currency Cloud has opened offices in New York, bringing the company into the U.S. market.

Customers are dodging deposit fees by hanging onto their extra cash and using apps to more frequently check their balances, denying banks crucial noninterest income.

Global Debt Registry, which has created a central repository for consumer debt, has inked a marketing deal with TransUnion and may extend its reach to payday loans.

Uber Technologies Inc. and Capital One Financial Corp. have joined to give the credit-card issuer's customers cheaper rides on the car-sharing service.

Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate, told supporters and Bitcoin enthusiasts that policymakers should foster the development of new payments technologies like they did with the Internet.

Consumers should receive the same level of protection whether they choose to do business with a bank or with marketplace lenders and other challengers.