The cryptocurrency ecosystem operates on the fringes of tradition, with "initial coin offerings" announced, discussed and carried out largely via online forums and without regulation. The phenomenon is high-risk and should be treated as such.

The credit card industry’s switch to microchips is expected to improve security at the point of sale, but fraudulent online purchases remain a big vulnerability.

Credit scores are useful in predicting the likelihood of whether someone will repay a loan. However, banks and others need to provide customers with another number that more accurately assesses their financial health.

Bankers, fintech entrepreneurs, regulators and other financial services players gathered in New Orleans last week to discuss the future of the industry at SourceMedia's Digital Banking 2016 conference. Here are some of the highlights of the conference. For more, check out the hashtag #digibank16 on Twitter.

First Data has secured a partnership with Silicon Valley Bank, giving the payments technology provider and processor a front seat to take notes on all of the technology development taking place among the bank's clients.

People and businesses expect access to their money and payments in real-time, and electronic funds transfers such as Fedwire and Swift transfers offer a convenient way to send payments to vendors, clients and partners rapidly.

With the rise of global e-commerce, small and midsize companies are pressured to streamline the way they handle increasingly diverse types of payments.

The question of whether bitcoin is actually money is at the heart of a case of a man charged with selling $30,000 worth of the virtual currency to an undercover police officer.

Chief Technology Officer David Reilly has had to make major reductions in traditional expenses so Bank of America can afford to collaborate with fintech firms that are developing innovative products the bank craves.

Swift is developing a cloud database for end-to-end payments tracking by member banks, it revealed Tuesday in an announcement that 73 banks have joined its broader global innovation initiative.

Bankers, fintech entrepreneurs, regulators and other financial services players gathered in New Orleans last week to discuss the future of the industry at American Banker's Digital Banking 2016 conference. Here are some of the highlights of the conference. For more, check out the hashtag #digibank16 on Twitter.

Barclays Africa Group has a market penetration problem.

Building on industry initiatives to ease the user experience for chip cards and increase use of contactless technology, Oberthur Technologies has developed a dual interface card in the U.S. market that combines new Visa and MasterCard specs and 'tap and go.'

Since consumers find EMV cards frustrating and difficult to use, EMV may do more to promote NFC as the preferred payment method among consumers and business owners.

Big banks like Canada’s RBC, Capital One and Wells Fargo are pouring resources into proprietary NFC-based digital wallets to outflank third parties like Apple, Samsung and Android and regain top-of-wallet status.

Even though cybersecurity jobs can offer six-figure salaries, generous signing bonuses and other perks, banks are struggling to find people to hire.

Wells Fargo is joining other members of Early Warning's clearXchange network in providing real time person-to-person payments.

The major card networks are losing value along with the rest of the stock market in the wake of Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union, but Visa and MasterCard may not face the type of doom and gloom that others endure in the current shaky political and financial situation in the U.K.

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.

While the most common early use case for Internet of Things involves a smart refrigerator detecting its owner is out of milk and then automatically debiting a bank account to order more, the technology opens a vast trove of data that can have a major impact for both cross-selling and risk.