The industry must adapt quickly to the changing preferences of entrepreneurs and the innovation of nonbanks such as PayPal and Square, according to speakers at American Banker's Small Biz Banking Conference. Traditional players such as U.S. Bancorp and Comerica say they're making the necessary investments.

The Biden administration is setting the tone for new rules governing businesses' use of artificial intelligence, including in lending. Some call it a "toothless tiger," while others worry that it goes too far.

Investment banks were ordered to pay $1.8 billion in fines last week for employees' unmonitored communications on messaging apps like WhatsApp. Experts say other banks could also be subject to such fines if they're not careful.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications said its new capability, which lets users track trades from order to settlement, will be broadly available next year.

A criminal group called Prilex has stolen millions in a scheme involving fake repair people installing malware on point of sale terminals.

Customers Bank, Cogent Bank and Western Alliance bank settled 400  transactions among themselves in real time, over the course of eight hours.

A new report from American Banker's parent company finds that traditional banks are vulnerable to competition from online banks and fintechs such as PayPal and Square. It recommends that banks build deeper relationships with small-business owners by adding more products to their traditional suite of offerings.

In this month's roundup of American Banker's favorite stories: Home appraisers get disillusioned, a couple lives mortgage-free for 13 years, digging into the cracks in credit quality, quantum computing's future in banking, and more.

The challenger banks Mercury and Nerve are offering networking events, tailored accounts, credit cards and more to attract a once neglected market.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has accused the challenger bank, which charges customers a monthly membership fee, of violating the Military Lending Act and other consumer protection laws. MoneyLion says the allegations are baseless, but some analysts said the consumer bureau appears to have strong claims.

FS-ISAC will test banks' cybersecurity defenses in "hyper-realistic" simulations of malware, phishing and ransomware attacks.

The partners aim to lend $150 million in the next three years to sellers from "socially and economically distressed communities."

The claim that these arrangements are unregulated is inaccurate, and instead, more oversight would destroy the benefits of banks working with fintechs on consumer products.

The London bank is working with Nova Credit to accept immigrants' credit histories from their home countries. It also invested $10 million in the company.

Angel Oak Capital Advisors has helped institutional clients buy subordinated debt with the assistance of a distributed ledger developed by Brightvine. Benefits to the issuer and investors include a central place to find all documents and automated updates when banks pay off their loans.

A deluge of password resets in 2021 led the bank to rethink its digital banking authentication process.

The company has built an ability to connect employees' communications to their behavior, to root out any policy violations and show regulators a bank is doing enough to comply.

The online lender approved Black applicants at lower rates than non-Hispanic whites, according to a law firm that monitors its artificial intelligence models. Upstart said it's an industry leader in fair lending but acknowledged room for improvement, calling disparities "an industry-wide challenge."