Ally Financial named a new chief executive today, ending a three-month search. Michael Rhodes will take the reins of the bank April 29 and become a member of the board, according to an Ally release. Prior to joining Ally, Rhodes served as CEO of Discover Financial Services, which Capital One announced plans to acquire last month. He has 25…

In the banking industry, transaction monitoring stands as a critical pillar of defense against fraud, money laundering, and other illicit activities. While traditional methods have served their purpose, the landscape is evolving, demanding a more sophisticated approach. This is where machine learning emerges as a key driver, offering remarkable capabilities in transaction monitoring. Transaction monitoring…

Allison Shonerd, managing director and head of Global Digital Disbursements in the Global Payments organization of Global Transactions Services at Bank of America, is focused on meeting the growing demand for payment solutions through innovation.  The $3.2 trillion bank’s noninterest expenses in the fourth quarter of 2023, which include technology spend, increased 14% year over…

The G20’s central banks announce a global alliance for digital currencies It’s been bubbling away for a while but, as central banks are launching CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currency) all over the world, there is now a G20 agreement to create a global digital currency. Initiated by Christine Lagarde at the European Central Bank (ECB),……

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! This week, we’re looking at Robinhood’s new Gold Card, challenges in the BaaS space and how a tiny startup caught Stripe’s eye. To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Sunday at 7:30 a.m. PT, subscribe here.  The big…

This week’s main blog discussions include … Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the oldest bank in the world became the newest? I’m working with a cryptobank start-up, and we’re looking at options for licensing. Various countries have various attractions, with some more attractive than others. I won’t go into the nuances of the details as……

Fintech Finastra has appointed Mike Stawchansky senior vice president, chief technology innovation officer, according to a release from the on March 6.  Stawchansky was senior vice president of platform engineering at data intelligence company Collibra and vice president of system engineering at Salesforce, according to his LinkedIn profile. “My previous roles gave me a robust…

Mergers and acquisitions are heating up after a subdued 2023, with investors on the hunt for strategic deals, especially in the fintech and financial services industries.  In the first three months of 2024 multiple major bank and fintech deals were announced, including:  Capital One acquisition of Discover Financial Services;  nCino acquisition of DocFox;  Nationwide acquisition…

Discover Financial Services is looking to AI to help boost its coding and robotic process automation efforts.   When implementing robotic process automation (RPA), “you don’t just say, all right we have automation, we’re done. … Because there are always opportunities to improve,” David Lyons, intelligent automation program manager at Discover Financial Services, said March 18…

I know that my blog is focused upon finance, technology and the future, but there are moments where something hits you about the past and makes you consider it. This is one of those days. I wrote some years ago about the creation of Switzerland being based upon the Knights Templar, which created a state……