Disruptors

Will it be a bigfoot from Amazon, Google and Apple, or death by a thousand bites from niche rivals? Or can banks rally and fend off the insurgents?

The advocacy group argues that major core processors are not helping small banks keep pace with customers' technology demands.

Azlo, Bento, Bank Novo and other neobanks argue they are better at helping small businesses, giving them extra attention, technology and advice.

The challenger bank is “rebundling” banking, offering more pieces of traditional financial services for a flat monthly fee.

Käthe Anchel is expected to help push Umpqua’s recent focus on what it calls the “human-digital” banking experience.

The San Francisco challenger bank is adding 150,000 customers per month and plans to expand its financial product offerings.

Several other recent hires may have been an attempt to refute charges it can’t attract top talent; rising rates have helped banks, but a reckoning awaits.

It should come as no surprise that Meera Clark would gravitate to ventures like Morgan Stanley's Multicultural Innovation Lab, which pairs venture capital with founders from diverse backgrounds. After all, her mother, Ranjana Clark, is a disruptive trailblazer of her own at MUFG.

Facial recognition technology and a person-to-person payments app are just two innovations that have sprung from a workplace that fosters creative thinking and welcomes ideas from across the organization.

The bank seeks to answer the threat posed by disruptors with quick online loans and a card that rewards small businesses for more kinds of spending.

Disruption in the banking industry has inspired the rise of some unconventional corporate titles. MUFG's Ranjana Clark talks about what it means to be a CTO and what new technology she thinks is most exciting.

European banks are testing rings, watches and bracelets that are linked to credit and debit accounts; European regulators appear keener on increasing competition than U.S. counterparts.

"Normal system upgrade" knocks out SunTrust's online- and mobile-banking ops; "just a matter of time" before Amazon, Google enter mortgages; Wells Fargo looking for Tim Sloan's replacement?; and more from this week's most-read stories.

The New York company said Wednesday that the new group will provide loans and other services to early-stage, consumer-focused companies.

SynapseFI is engineering banking to work as digital parts that connect so easily an amateur developer could potentially build a functioning bank.

Small banks and credit unions are searching for a high-tech edge over big-name financial institutions, and Amy Gililland at the technology firm Kasasa says it’s a goal that is within sight.

Tom Blomfield, founder of Monzo Bank, and Anne Boden, founder of Starling Bank, share their approaches to challenging the British incumbents.

Some startups are eschewing San Francisco and New York to set up shop in the middle of America. And for good reason.

Whether you're lounging on the beach sipping mojitos, hiking the Smoky Mountains, or, like many of us, taking a breather from household chores on your staycation, you still need an escape from time to time.

Brad Leimer, venture capitalist and former head of innovation at Santander and Mechanics Bank, shares his top picks.