Bank technology

BBVA Compass announced Monday that it's offering Mitek's (MITK) Mobile Photo Bill Pay technology to its retail customers.

Citigroup said Monday that it has launched a mobile version of its CitiManager desktop portal. The management tool allows corporate cardholders to check in on accounts, statements and transactions.

The Houston company said Monday it has purchased the assets of Merrimak ATM Group of Rohnert Park, Calif. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The nation's largest mutual has been an early adopter, using the Internet to market and originate small-business loans.

The financial software company Misys has introduced a new system to aid banks in managing risk.

Hewlett-Packard announced Monday that Spanish banking company NCG has chosen HP's Fortify service to assess the security of its software.

Digital security company nProtect has introduced software that aims to prevent online banking fraud by detecting anomalous activity.

Nomura Securities has begun using a mobile application for asset managers from Nomura Research Institute.

Tech startups are gunning to compete with banks by providing financial services to low-income and other underserved customers. Many of the offerings provide me-too services with limited appeal, however, rather than attractive innovations.

Making City Bank Texas, a community bank based in Lubbock, an early adopter of mobile banking features such as mobile photo bill pay and debit card management won Jim Simpson an honorable mention for BTN's Mobile Banker of the Year.

Mathieu Krogstad, one of BTN's Mobile Banker of the Year honorable mentions, has pushed several innovations through at Bank of the West in his 18 months as vice president of mobile banking and payments.

NewDominion is the rare community bank that invests in its own apps for small business clients. Behind that effort stands Chris Block, one of BTN's Mobile Banker of the Year honorees.

Jeff Casey, one of BTN's Mobile Banker of the Year honorable mentions, has found letting people pay bills by snapping photos of them with their smartphones is a hit among customers.

Mobile Banker of the Year honorees this year all have similar goals for their mobile banking apps: simplicity and ease of use.

We heard it again and again from Charaka Kithulegoda and other bankers honored in our Mobile Banker of the Year package this year: simplicity and ease of use are the keys to sound mobile banking app design.

Charaka Kithulegoda, ING Direct Canada's chief information officer and an avid runner, has taken cues from a Nike training tool to help develop his branchless bank's approach to mobile.

One of BTN's seven honorable mentions for Mobile Banker of the Year, U.S. Bank's Niti Badarinath doesn't mind being ahead of the curve on new mobile app features — like offering support for Kindle and using geolocation to combat fraud.

How to innovate when you're in a large, matrixed institution? "Hackathons" are part of the answer for Hari Gopalkrishnan, who leads retail mobile app development at Bank of America and is one of BTN's honorable mentions for Mobile Banker of the Year.

Andres Wolberg-Stok, one of BTN's Mobile Banker of the Year honorable mentions, is creating one code base from which Citi can deliver mobile apps to three dozen consumer markets around the world.

The U.S. and China will hold high-level talks on how to set guidelines for conduct in cyberspace, The New York Times is reporting.