bank-technology

Robo-advisers have myriad conflicts of interest and fall short of the standard of care under fiduciary investment law. The Labor Department's endorsement of these algorithmic investment guides seems curious and misplaced.

In updating cards with EMV technology, Visa and MasterCard have neglected an important element of what makes the security standard so successful elsewhere. The need for PIN verification is clear.

Some critics argue that it's a bad idea to introduce chip cards without PIN requirements. But this debate is a distraction from the payments industry's robust and multifaceted efforts to fight cybercrime.

Now a buzzword for disruptive technologies, Fintech was the name of a research project initiated by Citicorp in the 1990s, when the Citigroup predecessor was trying to shed its image of being "out of touch with market preferences."

Apple Pay, Google Wallet and other platforms have the potential to change consumers' payments habits. If retail payment networks want to keep their brands visible, they might need to consider giving these platforms a slice of the interchange pie.