Bank technology

Inte Q has named Steven Kietz, a veteran of financial services companies such as Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, its president.

Online lenders from OnDeck to Lending Club are forming partnerships with traditional financial institutions, prompting some observers to wonder if they might one day be willing to become banks themselves.

The Federal Housing Administration could finally get something it desperately needs: upgrades to its outdated technology infrastructure. But industry groups object to the new fee being proposed to generate the necessary funding.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

The growing influence of nonbank companies poses a danger to the financial system, and perhaps a national security threat, BB&T's Kelly King says during a wide-ranging conversation among big-bank CEOs.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc was fined 56 million pounds ($88 million) by British regulators for the 2012 collapse of its computer system that left millions of customers without access to their accounts for weeks.

Target Corp. is asking a federal judge to throw out claims by banks that had to deal with the consequences of a data breach that compromised at least 40 million credit-card accounts.

There is a lesson for bankers in the recent decision by Bitcoin ATM provider Robocoin to stop using biometric authentication on its teller machines.

Alternative lender FastPay, which specializes in lending to digital media startups, received $15 million from newly formed Oak HC/FT, a $500 million growth-equity fund that invests in health care and financial technology.

The heads of banks are resistant to analytics and data-driven decisions in general, according to a new survey, yet embrace them in limited uses.

As digital currencies become increasingly popular in Latin American countries, partnerships between banks and Bitcoin exchanges can help expedite cross-border transfers.

In the card industry, enrolling customers online was once viewed as risky, even taboo. Today it is considered a key signpost of success.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., are pressing more than a dozen financial services companies for information about recent data breaches.

Silicon Valley Bank, based in Santa Clara, Calif., has selected 18 students from colleges around the country to participate in its inaugural SVB Trek, a program connecting students to West Coast tech leaders, including entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

The online banking malware Dridex leans on an old technique, phishing, and an even older ruse, malicious macros, to steal online banking credentials from unsuspecting employees and customers.

A number of banks have cut ties with business lines that are seen as high-risk in an effort to dodge the threat of enforcement actions. The result is stunted job creation and innovation, not to mention customers who are denied much-needed services.

The bank's fourth innovation office will focus on disruptive technologies such as cloud computing, Big Data and the internet of things.

Some bankers have pronounced the data warehouse obsolete, but Dr. Jim Goodnight says it's more relevant than ever, as cheaper hardware and overlapping informational needs across the organization make sharing a large dataset companywide feasible and worthwhile.

Banks needs to deeply understand the needs of their customers before they start rolling out ambitious high-tech plans.

A number of credit union and bank executives have been ignoring the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cyber Security, waiting for the federal government to issue more definitive guidance.