Bank technology

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

Software firm Kofax has released an application that helps analyze its image-capture system.

Former HP executive Andy Mattes sees opportunity for Diebold in U.S. branch technology, ATMs in India, and electronic security in Turkey and Asia.

Regulators said Thursday they have formed a working group to enhance coordination between federal and state banking agencies on cybersecurity.

An analysis of Microsoft's takedown of a cyber fraud ring that stole hundreds of millions of dollars from bank accounts brings to light the growing sophistication of malware and keylogger makers, who mostly manage to stay a step ahead of antivirus software designers and corporate security officers.

Ed Hale, who retired as chairman and CEO of First Mariner in Baltimore more than a year ago, has invested in a local technology consulting firm called Think Systems.

At this year's Mobile Banking and Commerce Summit in Miami, many attendees recognized that mobile banking has moved from the abstract to reality but worried about how to make money on their tech investments and how to keep transactions secure.

It's not just the anonymity. Like cash and Bitcoin transactions, Liberty Reserve transfers were non-reversible, and that's important to certain merchants.

Diebold announced Thursday that it has named Andy W. Mattes its president and chief executive

The 2013 Data Breach Fraud Impact study from Javelin Strategy and Research shows that breaches can lead to billions of dollars in consumer-fraud charges in addition to costs they impose on institutions whose systems are compromised.

Microsoft (MSFT) has teamed with federal law enforcement to disrupt the technology supporting a cybercrime ring that has drained funds from accounts at some of the nation's biggest banks.

Computer hackers who target U.S. agencies and companies on behalf of countries such as China and Russia would be denied entry into the U.S. and have their bank accounts frozen under legislation to be unveiled Thursday.

Branch transaction volumes are dropping but many banks continue to view physical facilities critical to acquiring customers, originating loans and branding businesses: The branches just need a different, lower-cost design.Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of the West and Umpqua (UMPQ) are among the banks scaling down branches and eliminating teller windows. Here's a photo sampling of branch concepts that do away with the need for larger real estate.

U.S. Bank is one of the latest financial institutions to equip branch employees tablets, to show customers how to do banking-related activities.

Financial institutions need to step up the security they provide for mobile banking, experts on a panel at the Mobile Banking Summit agreed today.

To survive, Bitcoin businesses will have to do more than "de-anonymize" their operations. They will also have to cope with the loss of the digital currency’s most fundamental characteristic: irrevocability.

While face-to-face interactions may be nowhere near the most common banking transaction these days, they continue to have an inordinate influence on how customers think and feel about a bank. We cannot afford to waste them.

The plan President Obama announced Tuesday to crack down on patent assertion entities or "patent trolls" was met with approval by attendees at the Mobile Banking Summit in Miami.

With consumers cherry-picking mobile banking apps, the industry is facing a dramatic transformation in how it develops and popularizes products, say execs from Wells Fargo, USAA and Citi.

Banks are increasingly competing with nonbanks to develop products for low-income and underserved customers. Here are the crucial questions they need to ask about regulation, technology and the competitive landscape.