Real-time data

By migrating to Fiserv’s DNA core account processing platform, Citizens Bank & Trust in Guntersville, Ala., aims to give customers instant updates on balances and transactions.

Real-time payments carry a trove of valuable data for supply chains, and a way for card networks to grow beyond card-dependent revenue. The collaboration between Payments Canada and Mastercard’s Vocalink will go a long way toward both ends.

Banks that work with the data aggregator will tell it when account updates are ready, so it can refresh fintech (or bank) apps immediately.

Outages or disruptions of GPS signals — sometimes malicious, sometimes not — could quickly knock out computers, ATMs and card networks.

The fintech community was both surprised and energized by recent news that Visa has agreed to acquire Plaid, one of the nation’s largest fintech platforms for financial data analytics.

The acquisition will vastly expand Visa's platform, giving it nearly Amazon-like influence.

Quontic Bank is offering high-interest, digital-only savings like others, but it says its secret sauce is homegrown technology that optimizes deposit prices. Financial bloggers have taken notice.

Susan French, head of product at BBVA Open Platform, discussed the bank's vetting of fintech partners and how it deals with the competitive threat that their products present.

Here are companies whose strong visions and timely ideas commanded attention at the technology conference in New York this week.

Hint: For their e-commerce clients, it's all about faster payments.