How new developments on many fronts are going to affect the banking business in the coming year and beyond — and what bankers can do to prepare.

The Wash.-based credit union, which serves about 1,130 members, has signed with CU*NorthWest

Dueling blockchain stories — one arguing it was virtually useless, the other saying it could change real estate lending — seized the top spots this week, while readers also focused on tax reform aftermath and a key Senate retirement.

Banks have been in full cost-cutting mode in recent years, but with profits expected to increase substantially as a result of tax reform, all analysts and investors want to know is how they plan to spend their tax savings.

Overstock CEO and Wall Street gadfly Patrick Byrne wants to create a market free from trading practices he has long decried.

Several women are viewed as possible successors for a retiring William Dudley. Pam Codispoti has plans to up the millennial appeal of Chase’s 5,200 branches. What’s hot in fintech for 2018? Plus, the year of #MeToo in review.

Japanese card brand JCB is testing a biometric platform that it claims has an accuracy level of only one false acceptance in one billion transactions.

Twenty-two trade groups, including seven financial trade groups, sent a letter to House lawmakers calling for new data security standards that would preempt state law.

Readers react to President Trump considering a credit union regulator to head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, debate a delay for top banking nominees, opine on the value of blockchain, and more.

San Francisco-based Arxan Technologies, which got its start in 2001 providing security tools to protect gaming and medical-device applications, says financial services companies are one of the fastest-growing sectors seeking help in barricading their mobile apps from hackers.

Banks still have advantages in the battle against big tech firms like Amazon and Facebook, but they will need to capitalize on those to survive.

Customers saw transactions recorded multiple times and experienced drained accounts and long hold times. It’s a warning to all financial institutions as they head further into mobile-only banking — glitches are more visible and painful and need to be addressed faster than ever.

Banks, especially smaller institutions, will be forced to find more ways to differentiate, Bryan Jordan said in an interview that also covered his company's recent purchase of Capital Bank and how tax reform will immediately stimulate the economy.

In adding Martin Pfinsgraff, until recently the OCC's deputy comptroller for large-bank supervision, and retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Linda Medler, a cybersecurity expert, the regional bank says it is trying to build a board with expertise in fields of timely interest.

The people-helping-people model proffered by LendingClub and others quickly foundered, but several startups aim to bring it back with the help of distributed ledger technology.

The New York company, which offers loans and provides personal finance advice, plans to expand its product line and invest in new technology with the funds.

Seeking a way to facilitate higher-value contactless transactions, the Bank of Cyprus plans to issue an EMV card deploying biometric authentication to replace a PIN code.

After 10 years of development, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain that has been widely adopted.

IT provider Celero will help the Ontario-based CU migrate to the platform and support banking operations.

The world’s biggest chipmakers and software companies, including Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp., are coming to grips with a vulnerability that leaves vast numbers of computers and smartphones susceptible to hacking and performance slowdowns.