Social media

An Israeli startup in the emerging B2B2C space that allows consumers to make payments through major messaging apps has completed a $6 million round of funding backed by Banco Santander, Mastercard and other investors.

The rules can be tricky, but social data can add lots of detail that can help prove identity and reduce fraud.

MemoryBank, a new digital-only bank unit of Republic Bank & Trust, aims to serve the sweet spot of customers who are digitally savvy but also have money.

At this week's Money2020 conference, payment execs like PayPal's Bill Ready say consumers will make purchases in a broad context of shopping, and if merchants aren’t poised to meet their audiences there, they will get left behind, Ready said.

Combining biometrics with device ID, social data, behavior patterns and other factors builds a strong foundation for artificial intelligence to conduct identity proofing and transaction authorization.

Randolph Bancorp raised $57 million in a mutual-to-stock conversion and is using the proceeds to fund acquisitions — it closed its first-ever deal in July — and dramatically improve its digital capabilities.

Banks must use analytics — rather than customer surveys — to determine what does and what does not inspire prospects to become customers.

Despite the hurdles facing technology giants in offering payments services, they remain keenly interested in the sector and more traditional service providers should stay on alert.

Social media may be the soup de jour of bank marketing, but its value as a business acquisition tool may be greatly exaggerated unless banks fine-tune their strategies.

Citizens Bank's largely millennial student loan applicants were not responding to email and phone communications. So it created a messaging service that mimics the social media they know and love.