Bank technology

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

To the list of reasons World Cup travelers might want to avoid Brazil's ATMs add roving gangs of thieves toting dynamite and submachine guns.

The retail banking giant is planning to install video terminals in roughly 500 branches over the next two years, mostly in locations where foot traffic cannot justify the cost of having specialists on site. The rollout is likely to be watched closely by other banks that are looking to reduce overhead but don't want to miss out on sales opportunities.

Markit and Genpact Limited have debuted a new "know your customer" service to help banks deal with heightened regulatory challenges and risks. The product was designed in collaboration with Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Morgan Stanley.

Bankers and consultants report that the technology challenges of dealing with regulators' stress tests are greater than they first appeared.

Bankers, technology executives and other experts weigh in on why financial companies are struggling to deploy the massive amounts of information they collect on their customers – and what they can do to improve.

Citigroup now lets smartphone-equipped customers check their credit card balances, check deposits and recent transactions on a mobile device without having to log into the bank's app.

Most banks find mobile check deposit poses little risk, a new survey from Remotedepositcapture.com has found.

SmartBiz, an online lender to small businesses, announced four new distribution partners Wednesday: California Business Bank in Los Angeles, Yahoo!, Xero and ePay.

Visa Inc. has joined the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance's board of directors to help develop and deploy stronger online authentication standards.

There are a lot of great programs aimed at helping low-income people improve their financial circumstances. One problem: figuring out how to connect with them in the first place.

The Banking Industry Architecture Network, a standards group that promotes the use of services-oriented architecture among banks, today announced the addition of two U.S.-based members.

After dropping its first "pop up" branch in Atlanta less than a year ago, PNC Bank has opened a second in Chicago's Congress Plaza.

Heritage Bank in Australia recently teamed up with Japanese clothing manufacturer MJ Bale to do something unexpected: thread its contactless payment chip and antenna into a dozen suits.

The consensus is pretty unanimous (except among banks): the U.S. needs to speed up the processing of payments. What would a real-time system look like?

Fans of the San Jose Earthquakes beginning May 25 can pay for tickets, merchandise and concessions with Bitcoin, making the Major League Soccer team the first professional sports franchise to accept the virtual currency inside its stadium.

As mobile payments hit the mainstream, bankers should offer their customers a compelling proposition rather than wait for someone else to lure customers away.

Many Target Corp. customers are ready to forgive and forget.

Peer-to-peer lenders, cryptocurrency services and providers of tech-based services for cash-heavy users are all out to syphon business away from mainstream banks. The challenge for banks is figuring out if the threats are legitimate — then trying to decide whether to beat them or join them.

State regulators quizzed bankers and payments executives about the benefits and risks associated with improvements to the payments system, including same-day transactions. The industry officials assured them the new system would be secure — though they were short on details.