Bank technology

Post recession, companies are designing software meant to rejuvenate saving account activities.

In an earnings call, FIS CEO Gary Norcross articulated a trend we’ve been following for several months: banks are charging for certain mobile banking services and getting away with it.

Since building loyal customers requires making changes across all areas of the organization, 'loyalty' or customer experience management programs should be geared towards change management, not market research.

Medieval heroes and oinking pigs are by no means typical features of banking apps. But financial institutions are beginning to add these and other characters as as gamification techniques take hold in the industry. The goal: make their apps more engaging and encourage consumers to pay greater attention to their money. Banks are also aiming to draw attention to new products to foster healthier living habits. Following is a peek at where banks are going with gamification.

Customer analytics software firm Verint has bought Victrio, a voice biometrics company.

Mobile bill payment using photos has come to Customers Bank in Wyomissing, Pa.

Mobile banking can alleviate friction and save time for underserved, low-income consumers, but face-to-face interaction is critical to serving their financial needs.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch's first pilot client, USI Insurance, has successfully used the file-based electronic bank account management (eBAM) system the bank offers.

Some products offered by bank technology company Fundtech now include counter-fraud tools by ACH Alert.

Industry observers are bracing to see whether the cost of international wire transfers will skyrocket once a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule goes into effect starting today.

A survey conducted by Treasury Strategies, sponsored by Wausau, uncovered much bellyaching by banks’ corporate clients about account opening and other processes they find needlessly complicated.

The New York bank has subscribed to SAP’s Financial Services Network, which lets banks’ computers communicate directly with their corporate customers’ systems.

A New Zealand bank wants anybody interested to take a tour of its headquarters - from a distance.

U.S. Bancorp, the fifth largest commercial bank in America, announced Monday it will make available a mobile photo balance transfer feature in November.

Small banks often find themselves squeezed out of the derivatives market by larger players. To former BB&T executive Dolf Roell, that's a sign of opportunity.

Looking at clues like how well applicants spell, Finance and Thrift has deployed a custom loan origination model for its "economically active poor" clients. The indirect auto lender and community banking unit of F&T Financial Services says its system has cut credit losses and sped up decision-making.

It's not distributed denial of service or malware threats that banks are most concerned about when it comes to security, but spam, according to a survey released this week.

On the heels of landing a $37 million series C investment, U.K.-based Funding Circle has announced it will set up shop in San Francisco.

Startups and small businesses could sell ownership stakes in their companies by soliciting investors over the Internet under a proposal advanced by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This week at the ATM, Debit and Prepaid Forum in Las Vegas, bankers cast aside differences and started to talk about the evolving payments landscape.