While some predict that fintech startups will soon overthrow banks, a boom in partnerships between the two industries is far more likely. Startups will benefit from access to new markets and infrastructure, while banks will stay on the cutting edge of innovation.

There are plenty of opportunities for banks to collaborate with the tech startups that are driving rapid change in the financial industry. But first they need to find innovative ways to address systemic challenges like compliance as well as cultural differences.

Community banks that try to serve too broad an array of customers will wind up losing out to larger competitors. They would do better to focus on one or two customer segments and familiarize themselves with those groups' specific habits and needs.

You'll find many disruptors in banking, but startups like Moven aren't among them. In essence, virtual banks simply dress up web storefronts to look like banks but offer one-tenth the services.

Ally Bank has worked to capitalize on what other banks were doing wrong in retail ever since it launched. Now its newly departed CEO offers some advice to her fellow bankers on how they can do better.

Silicon Valley firms like Apple and Lending Club are happy to partner with banks — so long as they get to be the face of customer interactions. But banks may not easily give up that ground.

Bank Technology News has chosen five bankers to be our 2015 Digital Bankers of the Year. They’re creating apps and sites that are engaging, relevant and personalized.

Citi was one of the first banks to open its application programming interfaces to outside developers, leading a movement that's picking up momentum. For this and other efforts, Bank Technology News has chosen Heather Cox as its top 2015 Digital Banker of the Year.

As it continues to build innovative features in its digital apps, such as its own virtual assistant and biometric authentication, USAA is trying to make a one-on-one connection with its members, says Christopher Cox, head of digital experience delivery for the San Antonio company.

Jamie Armistead is focusing Bank of the West's mobile and online efforts on design principles.

Tom Ormseth has built a competitive strategy around digital banking, driving Wintrust to be an early adopter of innovative new features.

Under the leadership of CEO Uzoma Dozie, Diamond Bank has refocused on digital banking offerings, with an aim of improving the financial lives of the underbanked.

The 28-year-old Young Americans Bank was founded to teach kids to save, but now the bank is focused on showing its customers how to spend wisely. CEO Richard Martinez says tots still prefer paper statements, while tweens are getting their allowance via bill pay.

It's certainly true that as customers conduct fewer basic transactions in branches, those branches will see reduced foot traffic. But branches will remain relevant so long as they have helpful and intelligent people determined to help customers manage their finances.

With New York's framework for regulating digital currency now final, a looming question is whether other states such as California will follow suit.

Recognizing that twice as many customers use online banking as mobile banking, the San Francisco bank has invested in a redesign of its website, an area many banks have neglected of late.

A handful of banks are upgrading their apps with Siri-like "virtual assistants" that understand spoken questions at a time when most institutions don't even let digital customers do typed keyword searches of their transaction data.

Ripple Labs, creator and a developer of the Ripple payment protocol and exchange network, has raised $28 million in series A funding, it announced Tuesday.

In its new 80,000-square-foot development center, the bank is adopting the look, feel, and practices of fintech startups. It’s also moved some of its developers into an incubator to collaborate directly with local entrepreneurs.

Technology services firm Accenture has formed a partnership with "neobank" Moven to create digital banking offerings.