Varo Money might become the first challenger bank to get a national bank charter. CEO and co-founder Colin Walsh explains why he wants Varo to become a bank.

Institutions that fail to embrace AI, machine learning and data analytics could quickly find themselves losing ground to competitors.

AI-driven customer insights, mortgages and small-business loans are among the features in the app, which the bank is rolling out Friday.

Alongside identity-document scanning and other ID verification, the two companies are offering real-time checks of lists of suspicious persons. The goal: keep money launderers out of the banking system.

Susan Ehrlich, the fintech lender's new chief, discusses what she learned working at Amazon and Simple and how her firm is approaching consumer loans differently.

The most popular features of the AI-driven virtual assistant include transaction search and spending alerts.

J.D. Power found that customers who have a variety of accounts with an online-only bank are far more satisfied than those with just checking or savings accounts.

The credit card network has teamed up with an ICBA unit and the fintech Urban FT to offer a payments services program tailored to community banks trying to keep pace with bigger banks.

As competitive pressures mount for midsize banks, more institutions are likely to follow the lead of BB&T-SunTrust and amass more resources for investing in AI, digital platforms and other cutting-edge technologies.

The companies could bring something new, such as merchant acquiring to community banks, but their merger could also cause anxiety about giant vendors.