Mobile banking

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., has promoted Brent R. Tischler to the newly created position of director of retail banking.

The bank, which operates in 12 states, is bringing customers in the door even as it cuts its retail square footage by half. The lure? The offer of a financial "checkup" that tens of thousands of people have accepted.

The engineers on Arjun Sirrah's team are on a first-name basis with customer service staff. Those relationships help Darien Rowayton Bank's student lending arm competes with fintech companies.

As its digital consumer executive, Carrie Sumlin is tasked with making sure Ally Bank offers its customers top-notch digital services since it doesn't have any branches.

By allowing commercial clients to authenticate via an eye scan, Wells Fargo is making a burdensome task simple. Secil Watson, head of wholesale Internet solutions, is pushing the bank to make digital banking easier for commercial clients.

Instant Apps could give banks a better option for transitioning customers from a quick and easy account opening to a more robust banking experience.

Well before the mobile payments explosion, incumbents were already focused on how to respond to nonbanks "piggybacking" on banks' payments infrastructure. As the consultant behind a 1994 banking industry report on the threat put it, "there is no time for delay."

Consumers, especially millennials, increasingly prefer to do everything on their mobile devices, including signing up for services. But as banks start to open accounts for people whom their employees have never met, there are plenty of questions about whether they can tell real customers and crooks apart.

Valley National Bank in Wayne, N.J., has appointed former PNC executive Robert Bardusch to be its chief information officer.

When it comes to earning consumer loyalty with user-friendly mobile banking tools, everyday interactions can matter more than momentous ones.