Bank technology

A stolen company laptop has left customers of Pioneer Savings Bank vulnerable, according to a consumer alert from the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Qapital, which launched its app in Sweden in 2013, is making its American entrance. It is the latest example of how firms are trying to inspire young consumers to save and mashes personal financial management with money movement.

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.

Community banks have long said they are the kings of customer service. But a new study shows technology may be the great equalizer for megabanks, as the quality of their mobile apps and online bank sites is prompting customers to say big banks' customer service has improved.

A consumer lender with nearly 300 far-flung offices struggled to keep up with multiple compliance projects using email and Microsoft Project. Then it turned to collaboration software, and demanded some customized changes, that helped tie its many loose threads together.

ICBA Bancard has allocated nearly $600,000 to support community banks as they navigate the transition to EMV chip-and-PIN cards this year, the wholly owned payment services subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America announced this week.

Correspondent banking has long relied on a costly, multistep process to settle transactions. Now banks must weigh whether to adopt cryptocurrency technology that allows for faster, cheaper settlements or risk getting pushed out of the business entirely.

California assemblyman Matt Dababneh, D-Encino, has proposed AB 1326, a bill that provides guidelines for any individual or business that wants to start using virtual currency.

BBVA has spent about $3.6 billion on technology since 2011 to expand online and mobile-banking services and prepare for what its chairman Francisco Gonzalez has described as an existential threat from firms like Google, Facebook and Amazon.

Roughly 12.7 million Americans were hit with identity fraud in 2014, a 3% drop from a year earlier, while losses tied to that fraud fell 11% to $16 billion, said the study, which was released by Javelin Strategy & Research.

The Wisconsin bank's cautious approach to technology and other innovations says a lot about its overall philosophy. It is treading carefully on Apple Pay, marketplace lending and other cutting-edge items while it is encouraged by its customers' switch to electronic banking.

Banks have to invest in mobile technology in order to keep up with millennials. But bankers also need opportunities to rub shoulders with young customers — and small, conveniently situated branches give them an opportunity to do so.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Microsoft Corp. are among 32 technology, banking and retail companies urging lawmakers to pass legislation that provides legal protection for sharing hacking threats.

To court young talent, banks are reimagining their ads for positions like call center agents and video tellers as YouTube clips. They are also finding ways to make applications easier to fill out on mobile devices.

A Google executive has confirmed the company has established Android Pay, a previously rumored platform upon which developers can build payments into applications.

Uber Technologies Inc. said an unauthorized third party accessed the company's database last year and may have taken data on about 50,000 drivers.

Bank of the West has joined the early adopters of technology that lets customers pay bills by photographing them with their smartphones, making mobile bill payment easier and potentially reinforcing the customer-retention benefits of online bill pay.

Jack Hartings is a vocal proponent of reduced regulation for small banks. But the CEO of Peoples Bank in Ohio wants Washington to force other industries to share the burden of improving cybersecurity and cleaning up after breaches.

Mere days after disclosing that Google Inc. purchased Softcard's technology and intellectual property, the telcos' mobile wallet venture began publicly disclosing its plans to shut down.

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.