Virtual currency advocates are hoping a recent surge of support in Congress can help them accomplish a long-sought goal of creating a safe-harbor for companies that do not directly hold customers' funds.

In order to successfully and scalably combat card-related fraud and digital payments hacking, organizations need to rely less on standards like EMV and PAN/PRN, and recognize today’s currency is no longer just about money.

Bankers may have a reputation for being old-school, but their rapidly growing digital-ad budgets are in step with the rest of the business world. Banks can both gather valuable demographic data from who clicks on their ads and better measure returns on their investments.

Banks can be more effective in connecting with customers by offering them personalized communications, rather than bombarding them with general sales pitches.

Digital has been seen as the death knell of branches, but banks like JPMorgan, B of A and UMB are among those making the case that branches can still set banks apart from rivals provided they get leaner and offer customers a blend of tech support and financial expertise.

Increasingly, our conversations about digital banking are only about technology. We must expand our dialogue to include ways to make digital banking empathetic.

For large banks, the risks of partnering with marketplace lenders do not matter. But small community banks can't afford to partner with competitors angling to poach their customers.

When a mobile banking vendor told a San Antonio Federal Credit Union it didn't have the capabilities it wanted, the institution took a note from Facebook's strategy with Messenger and created a companion app.

It would be hard for traditional institutions to close the gap with Venmo, but there is room for competition with the mobile payments app beloved by millennials … and nine other insights about this generation of digital natives.

Fifth Third Bancorp said Tuesday that it plans to close 44 branches, a cost-cutting move that follows its recent shutdown of more than 100 branches.