Banks face immense challenges trying to keep up with technology, but they also must cater to older customers with big deposit accounts who still use their branch.

Banks have all the experience they need to remain relevant in the world of digital payments, but they must not sit idly by as a slew of disruptors look to snag the business.

Perhaps even more interesting than the blockchain project unveiled this week is how it came to be — and who is behind it.

FIS in Jacksonville, Fla., has partnered with the Venture Center to create an incubation lab to boost innovation in financial technology.

The success of a new blockchain-technology initiative will hinge on the ability of many influential players to work together: IBM, Digital Asset Holdings, R3, other tech companies, banks, Swift, the London Stock Exchange and the Linux Foundation.

Under the direction of Richard Holbrook, Eastern Bank has prepared itself for the next 200 years by embracing a culture innovation, adding scale through acquisitions and advocating for the less fortunate in its community. It's an unusual formula, but it has worked and that's why he is one of American Banker's three Community Bankers of the Year for 2015.

A startup backed by philanthropist Pierre Omidyar has emerged from stealth mode with technology that promises to provide consistent value and a degree of privacy to electronic money.

The United Kingdom has already seen the emergence of mobile-first institutions that have won regulatory approval for a banking charter. It is only a matter of time before they invade the U.S. market.

Digital Asset Holdings, a blockchain technology developer, has named former executives from SunGard Data Systems and Swift to its board and management team.

Relations between banks and fintech companies are starting to thaw as the two sides begin to acknowledge the advantages of scale that exist when they join forces.