Disruptors

Interest in smart contracts is growing, in part because of the promise of lower legal expenses. But the programmers of these self-enforcing, automated agreements will still need to consult with lawyers to translate the terms into code.

Google’s upcoming personal assistant and cross-platform messaging apps make substantial use of payments, though the transactions exist entirely in the background to encourage a smooth user experience.

Banks are trying to upgrade tech offerings, from mobile banking to bill pay. But that's easier said than done, in part because the biggest core processors use their dominant market share to restrict access to banks' networks. They do this, in part, because they offer their own competing tech products.

Technology leader BBVA Compass has been ahead of the pack in real-time payments, neobanking and fintech investing. Manolo Sanchez shares his vision for next steps: the bank's developing API marketplace and "Uberized" digital banking.

BancAlliance, a network of community banks that has been snapping up loans from LendingClub, is weighing whether to suspend purchases on the online platform after the company said it's overhauling internal controls.

The payment giant's technology chief says he has an eye on bitcoin, the blockchain and the fintech competitors that have flooded the payments arena — and vows his company will consider partnering with some of them and can beat the rest.

The distributed ledger technology has an answer for updating every core function of the antiquated financial system.

Citigroup is testing Bluetooth beacon technology in a pilot that gives customers cardless access to branch ATMs after business hours, among other services.

Key factors point to marketplace lenders rebounding from their recent setbacks and continuing their growth.

It is imperative for regulators and lawmakers to approach the online small business loan market with care and an understanding of how these lenders expand access to credit.

Square's practice of using its merchant transaction data for risk analysis may seem innovative, but other other agile specialists—including Intuit—are finding ways to use new data streams to limit risk and deliver funds to borrowers.

Mobile wallets may not have eliminated cash and cards, but they are becoming almost unavoidable in many retail settings. However, there are still a few areas where mobile technology is slow to arrive.

Though many have tried and failed to get bitcoin into the mainstream, iPayYou CEO Gene Kavner is ready to take a page out of the playbook of Amazon.com, his former employer, to bring attention to his new bitcoin wallet.

Most of the largest banks are participating in industrywide blockchain standard-setting activities, trying to determine which use cases would improve upon existing technology. That's backward, says Chain, a startup whose product is already being used by banks.

The hits that alternative lenders like OnDeck Capital are taking shouldn't be a surprise for an industry built on unsustainable business models.

Entrepreneurs and other financial-technology experts give some common-sense advice including: watch your pennies, live in the right places and choose your associates carefully.

Deloitte is partnering with five blockchain companies as it seeks practical uses for the emerging technology in its consulting business.

American Express is giving a limited number of Uber riders access to Beyoncé's Formation concert tour, in the latest example of a financial services company allying with the tech-savvy ridesharing service.

Cutting-edge jobs — think chief innovation, strategy and data officers — are on the rise at banks and other lenders, and they are drawing free-thinking, tech-savvy candidates from inside and outside of financial services. American Banker asked several of them to recommend a book or other piece of writing that helped them tackle jobs that often were created from scratch.

Most modern mobile wallets didn't start out in their current form. Some didn't even start out as mobile apps.