Bank technology

When Apple releases its smartwatch next week, there will be apps available from at least five banks — and four of them are community banks. Bankers see the apps as a way to get in early on a new platform, make banking more convenient and drive digital engagement.

Mobile wallet developers can find a suitable business partner in prepaid-card providers, who have already been down the path that mobile has just started.

The cost of complying with New York State's proposed BitLicense regulations would wipe out many smaller digital currency businesses. But there is a middle ground: placing those businesses under the supervision of a self-regulating incubator that would help them develop robust yet affordable compliance programs.

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While many banks prefer to be fast followers, RBC has a patent pending on mobile wallet technology. The goal is to secure a prominent place in customers' mobile wallets before it gets harder to do so.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including thoughts on regulatory complexity, Jamie Dimon's defense of the megabank model, and how vulnerable banks really are to tech startups.

Banking has less in common with industries like music and entertainment than it does with long-entrenched pharmaceutical, grocery store and airline businesses — all of which can absorb the threat of new entrants by adapting to them.

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.

BankMobile, a division of Customers Bank in Phoenixville, Pa., announced that it will be one of the first banks to adapt its mobile application specifically for the soon-to-launch Apple Watch.

Idea Bank in Poland aims to win over new small-business customers with an Uber-like service that orders cars equipped with ATMs and cash deposit machines to drive to them.

Wall Street traders are already threatened by computers that can do their jobs faster and cheaper. Now the humans of finance have something else to worry about: Algorithms that make sure they behave.

Prosper Marketplace, one of the leading U.S. consumer marketplace lenders, announced $165 million in equity funding from large banks and other investors Wednesday.

As it launches instant payments using Dwolla, BBVA Compass joins a growing list of banks that are seeking "internal disruption" by giving innovative tech companies access to their inner workings.

Bitreserve, a payments startup that aims to give consumers the speed, transparency and cost advantages of Bitcoin without the currency fluctuations, hired a former Barclays executive as its president and chief operating officer, a newly created position.

Novantas, a New York-based bank advisory firm, has hired the former head of analytics for Bank of America.

Mobile game apps are emerging to expose young adults and children to financial concepts and to help solve problems money management apps may be overlooking.

While financial institutions are apt to remain wary of the cryptocurrency and others like it, the industry is ready for more-controllable versions of its distributed-ledger technology, a new report argues.

Banks are increasingly focusing on smartphones and tablets as the primary platforms with which to engage customers. But do they really understand how Americans use mobile devices?

Jacob Dienelt, a former financial adviser at Morgan Stanley, has joined Factom, a cryptocurrency tech startup, as its head treasurer.

Malicious software that blows past antivirus software undetected, combined with sophisticated social engineering (i.e. tricking employees of bank customers into divulging information), have enabled criminals to steal $500,000 to $1 million at a time, security experts say.