Virtual reality

The Colorado-based institution is overhauling its training procedures by using simulated VR experiences to prepare new member service representatives for their roles without the stress of serving live customers while supervisors watch.

What good is a travel card when virtual reality eliminates the need to leave home? Amex's patent filings explore the possibilities.

Other banks soured on their AR experiments, but Ally Financial says the technology has yielded higher-balance deposit accounts — and heavier social media engagement — in marketing campaigns.

Retailers and merchant acquirers need to adjust to new media in the new year, says Zycada's James Brear.

As an early adopter of e-commerce in the 1990s, 1-800-Flowers.com is pushing the envelope again with 3-D and augmented reality technologies to sell floral arrangements with new payment options, including Venmo.

Even in mature markets, consumers may not feel very connected to their payment cards. This is making issuers more reliant on selling data-driven experiences over simple transaction processing.

Businesses need to shift focus away from millennials and toward the next age group, which is expected to be so demanding that business processes will have to be overhauled, says Julia Carreon, the bank's managing director of digital and fiduciary operations.

Capacity, formerly Jane.ai, originally designed its chatbot to answer consumers' questions, but when employees started using it, that gave the startup an idea for a new business line.

Leaders in bank innovation have ideas for improving financial services with high-speed, highly responsive 5G networks — ideas they say could be implemented relatively quickly.

Todder Moning of U.S. Bank scoured the 2.7 million square feet of the Consumer Electronics Show this week. Here’s what he liked, what he thinks bankers could work with ... and what he thought was weird.