Bank technology

Five questions with Sam Erwin, CEO of Palmetto Bank.

In the sea of credit union iPad apps in the Apple App Store, most look and act almost identical, offering the same four or five features (check balances, funds transfer, pay bills, find an ATM or branch). The Mobile PC Branch for iPad app from Digital Federal Credit Union, offers a little more.

Puon Penn leads a Wells Fargo group that targets opportunities in green technology. Part of the job is bringing the bank's own lessons learned in the institution's green IT efforts to its prospective clients.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. will take over the private-label credit card program for Pier 1 Imports Inc., the retailer said Thursday.

For the vast majority of Americans, the role of the bank is to be there when the customer wants it to be there. Like the water company. Like the electric company.

System covers criminals with a botanical DNA spray.

A botched technology upgrade was responsible for online banking problems that spilled into a sixth day at Bank of America Corp., inconveniencing customers and handing the biggest U.S. bank by assets fresh image problems.

Steve Jobs spent his career more focused on personal computing than on personal banking, but under him Apple Computer still left a lasting mark on the world of finance.

Recent breaches at Epsilon and Citibank are evidence that criminals are not just going after financial information anymore; they are increasingly profiting from stealing all kinds of customer data, especially email addresses. By accessing personally identifiable information (PII) such as email addresses or social security numbers, thieves can sell the information on the black market or move forward with highly lucrative phishing or other scams on their own. In fact, according to analyst firm Frost and Sullivan, the global black market for email addresses and national ID numbers is now worth about $5 billion.

Six days into the bank's website malfunction, Bank of America won't say what the root cause is, but does insist there's no foul play involved.

Despite the financial crisis, noncash payments are growing 7.8% around the world.

A report on online and mobile banking security uncovered a surprising research finding: smartphone banking growth is stagnant.

First Tech Credit Union and Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union needed to prevent news about their merger negotiation from leaking out to competitors and the press through emails and instant messages.

A discontinued agreement between competing vendors forced this Silicon Valley bank to search for a new core system. But it's also finding new efficiencies and product opportunities.

FirstMerit's own research made it starkly clear: it needed to deploy mobile banking, and it needed to act soon. The $14 billion-asset Ohio bank found what it needed in Mobile Money FastTrack.

1st Advantage Credit Union is migrating from direct mail promotions to pop-up surveys incorporated into online banking, and members are responding favorably.

The bank is offering PCI compliance technology to ease the auditing burden for retailers and strengthen its merchant relationships.

Not the major enterprise software vendors, who see a golden opportunity in the tighter capital and reporting requirements coming out of Switzerland and are prepping new products to respond.

New delivery channels can allow quick product deployment to help customers under unexpected duress. But mobile and web can also be hostage to the same adverse elements, so it helps to have extra contingencies.

Integration tools that link online banking authentication to sign-on for other channels are finally starting to emerge as institutions risk losing competitive position in online banking.