Bank technology

Expensify announced Saturday a feature that lets a business customer of its expense report software share access with one other person.

Pulaski Financial (PULB) in St. Louis has appointed two executives to lead its mortgage division.

Amazon is combining on-device tech support with videoconferencing. Will banks follow suit and provide personal human support in their apps?

The second half of December is generally a slow period for news, with many people on vacation and businesses and government closed on holidays. Still, banks made a number of significant announcements this holiday season. In many cases the timing of disclosures may have been driven by circumstance - regulators appeared eager to wrap up settlements by yearend.

Another Side of the Bitcoin Debate: Pamela J. Martinson and Christopher P. Masterson of Sidley Austin LLP took on one of 2013's hottest topics – Bitcoin – by warning there were hazards in lending to the cryptocurrency's users. "Owned Bitcoin has the potential to be collateral for loans, but creditors are likely more concerned with restricting Bitcoin acquisition or use by borrowers due to the uncertain regulatory landscape, irreversible nature of payments, extreme volatility of value and anonymity of the system," they wrote. One reader felt a borrower's use of Bitcoin wasn't always relevant. "If the debtor uses another asset, like a traditional bank account, and does not offer the bitcoin as collateral, what business is it of the bank whether that person or company owns or handles bitcoin?" he wrote. Another commenter thought the authors were selling the cryptocurrency short. "Bitcoin technology introduces some very new novel ways to use bitcoins in collateral and escrow transactions that simply have no parallel in today's banking system," the reader argued. "In a nutshell, because the authority to transfer Bitcoin is established through mathematics rather than institutions, it is possible to create elaborate mathematical equations … where control of the Bitcoins is spread across multiple parties." (Indeed, the economics and technology writer Eli Dourado has described "m of n" multi-signature transactions, in which bitcoins cannot be released from an account without the consent of at least one party plus an arbitrator.) Martinson and Masterson described loan agreements with covenants or reps and warranties that restrict borrowers' use of Bitcoin, and a commenter on Reddit smelled foul play, grumbling, "Here's another way in which banks are trying to squelch Bitcoin." But another Redditor had a more prosaic take: "Banks are so stupid, they can't change their paradigms so they are completely missing the boat."

Digital banking could help put roughly 35% of the mortgage share of traditional banks in North America up for grabs by 2020, according to Accenture Credit Services research based on in-house client data.

State Bank Financial in Atlanta was able to fund an unexpected app for commercial clients because it took a fluid approach to budgeting. Other banks should take note of this approach.

In a mash-up of online banking, call center customer support and old-fashioned branch visits, Regions Bank is providing customers a web tool to schedule live meetings with its bankers.

Fidelity National Financial has closed on its purchase of Lender Processing Services, a provider of mortgage and consumer loan processing services and technology, FNF said in a press release Thursday evening.

Square 1 Bank in Durham, N.C., has bought Sand Hill Finance, a finance company based in the Silicon Valley.

Alabama State Employees Credit Union has filed the first class action lawsuit by a financial services company against Target Corp. over costs from the massive card security data breach the retailer suffered from Black Friday to mid-December.

The telecom company, like its rival Verizon, would like banks to use its network for mobile banking services such as identity verification. And in a surprising vision, it sees the major carriers all working together one day to provide joint mobile services.

The virtual currency has the potential to serve as collateral for loans, but creditors are likely more concerned with restricting borrowers’ Bitcoin use due to the regulatory uncertainty, irreversible payments, volatile exchange rates and the system’s anonymity.

A mentoring approach, like the one BNP Paribas' L'Atelier unit takes with technology startups, can give banks a lead on innovative ideas without the risk of a capital investment

Banks have an opportunity to manage consumers' login credentials for financial and government websites, just like in Canada.

Embarcadero Technologies' Henry Olson on the metadata imperative.

Google Wallet users can now activate the accompanying plastic Google Wallet card through the mobile app, a process that will become increasingly common as mobile payments advance, experts say.

Optimize Capital Markets has created a portal to automate capitalization deals of $2 million to $20 million. But along the way, it has found investors are not willing to part with their money in a completely automated way.

New Year's Eve is a time for reflecting on what the heck happened in the last 12 months -- even on Twitter.

The massive Target card data breach has members of Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union viewing the credit union's Facebook page in record numbers.