25 Must-Read Financial IT Blogs 2018
The world of finance is no longer the stuff of wood-paneled rooms in august banks, of tellers behind glass counting stacks of bills. The financial services sector is changing rapidly.
Banks are considering whether and how to upgrade to cloud-based core banking systems. Artificial intelligence is poised to impact everything from fraud detection to customer interactions. Biometric security technologies could alter the future of mobile banking. And the Internet of Things will become more prevalent in banks.
Given all of this, it can be difficult to keep track of all of the tech trends impacting the banking, credit union and capital markets sectors. Thankfully, BizTech has you covered.
For the fourth year in a row, we have collected our picks for our Must-Read Financial IT Blogs list (check out our 2017, 2016 and 2015 lists). While there are some familiar faces, we have also added many new ones, spanning across the banking, capital markets and credit union sectors.
We hope you check back frequently to our 25 Must-Read Financial IT Blogs and use the blogs to keep you informed on the tech issues of the day in the financial services industry. Also, don’t forget to regularly check out our EquITy blog series to stay informed on financial IT trends and how they impact you.
Please let us know in the comments if you know of a blog that we missed this year. And pick up a badge to post on your site if your blog was one of the 25 named!
SIGN UP: Get more news from the BizTech newsletter in your inbox every two weeks!
ABA Banking Journal
Both stately and dignified, the ABA Banking Journal has an impressive pedigree but is firmly rooted in the here and now. The journal, first published in 1908, is the American Bankers Association’s flagship magazine, and it offers a wealth of valuable insights to banking. The site’s tech coverage tends to skew toward cybersecurity issues but also covers other topics as well, such as artificial intelligence, mobile banking and digital lending.
AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION
Accenture Capital Markets Blog
The world of finance is complex, and Accenture, the global management consulting and professional services company, is one of the few firms that can make sense of the mountains of data financial services companies deal with every day. Accenture helps banks, lenders, credit service providers and others enhance, upgrade and transform their products, services and processes. The firm’s capital markets blog often delves into how tech is reshaping the sector and how capital markets firms can effectively work with technology companies.
ACCENTURE CAPITAL MARKETS
American Banker
Though it dates back to the 19th century (founded in 1836), American Banker is still a publication that is very much relevant in 2018. The site’s technology coverage runs the gamut from mobile payments to digital banking, data privacy and partnerships between banks and financial technology companies (aka fintechs).
AMERICAN BANKER
ATM Marketplace
While ATMs might seem passé in a world of smartphone banking, there are now between 475,000 and 500,000 ATMs in the United States, according to the ATM Industry Association, or roughly one per every 672 people in the country as of the end of April 2018. Moreover, ATMs are in the news, thanks to “jackpotting,” cyberattacks that force the machines to spit out large amounts of cash. For more than 20 years now, ATM Marketplace has been a go-to destination to help you stay abreast of what’s happening in the ATM industry and how technology advancements are changing the marketplace.
ATM MARKETPLACE
Banking Exchange
Led by financial journalism veterans Bill Streeter and Steve Cocheo, Banking Exchange pitches itself as an information resource for bankers that builds on a deep background of banking knowledge and contacts. Banking Exchange encompasses a website, magazine, roundtables, seminars and more. Its tech coverage runs the gamut from how the cloud is reshaping banking to blockchain’s place alongside core IT systems.
BANKING EXCHANGE
The Banker
The Banker provides economic and financial intelligence for the world’s financial sector and has built a reputation for objective and incisive reporting. The Banker has been the trusted source of banking information since 1926. Its tech coverage centers a great deal on cryptocurrencies and blockchain, but also touches on a wide range of other topics, such as AI’s role in anti-money laundering and how tech can help plug the financing gap for small and medium-sized businesses.
THE BANKER
Bobsguide
Those in the know in the financial services industry turn to U.K.-based Bobsguide for a wide range of news, insights and information on what’s going on in the world of finance. The site covers everything from open banking to retail banking technology, risk management and insurance tech.
BOBSGUIDE
The Credit Union 2.0 Blog
Kirk Drake is the founder and author of Credit Union 2.0. Drake, a lifelong entrepreneur, created and founded eight successful businesses, starting with founding a high school bank. He has been involved in credit unions since 2000. His blog focuses on key tech trends for credit unions, including data analytics, the digital talent gap and what it looks like for credit unions on digital transformation journeys.
KIRK DRAKE
Credit Union Journal
Credit Union Journal bills itself as the nation’s leading credit union newsweekly, providing objective credit union community news. The site delivers freshly reported information to credit union leaders, and its technology coverage spans everything from credit unions’ partnerships with fintechs to mobile banking security and blockchain.
CREDIT UNION JOURNAL
Credit Union Times
Similar to (though not to be confused with) Credit Union Journal, Credit Union Times provides both daily news coverage and deep dives into the credit union market and the tech news and trends affecting credit unions, especially cybersecurity.
CREDIT UNION TIMES
CreditUnions.com
CreditUnions.com provides a wide range of views on tech trends affecting the credit union industry, with some posts from credit unions themselves. The site also offers content created by the writers and analysts at Callahan & Associates, a credit union research and consulting firm located in Washington, D.C.
CREDITUNIONS.COM
The Financial Brand
The Financial Brand focuses on marketing and strategy issues affecting retail banks and credit unions. It is a go-to resource for C-level banking executives looking for the latest ideas, insights and information about how financial institutions build their brands. While that may not seem tech-heavy on the surface, so much of how banks interact with customers today is through digital channels, so it’s not surprising there is a great deal of focus on tech. The site offers a wide range of tech coverage, with recent posts including “7 Myths of API Development and Deployment in Banking,” “Will Branches Survive the Shift to Digital?” and “The Four Pillars of Digital Transformation in Banking.”
THE FINANCIAL BRAND
Chris Skinner’s Blog (The Finanser)
Chris Skinner continues to command respect and influence as a well-known author and speaker in the financial services community. Skinner posts regularly on the blog, opining on everything from open banking to smartphone banking adoption in Asia and how AI impacts investment banking. Skinner remains a must-read in the world of fintech.
CHRIS SKINNER
Finextra
If you want to stay on top of the pulse of financial technology news, Finextra is your go-to destination. The site, which serves as something akin to CNN for the financial world, is continuously updated with new from around the globe on everything from mobile banking to regulation and artificial intelligence.
FINEXTRA
The FinTech Blog
Michael Halloran has been on the front lines of online banking for years, and he worked on the launch of the UK’s first online bank. He now serves as head of business development and partnerships at MaxMyInterest, a service operated by Six Trees Capital that allocates individuals’ cash among their own bank accounts so that they earn the most interest possible while staying within the limits for government-deposit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Halloran’s blog highlights his ideas and opinions on where the fintech industry is headed next.
MICHAEL HALLORAN
FinTech Futures
FinTech Futures serves as a digital publishing platform for the global fintech community, from e-industry veterans to those just entering the industry, and everyone in-between. The site provides daily news, in-depth analysis and expert commentary across a comprehensive range of areas, including fintech, regulation technology, IT for banks and insurers and more.
FINTECH FUTURES
The Fintech Times
The Fintech Times describes itself as the world’s first and only newspaper dedicated to fintech. The publication explores the industry by combining first-hand insight, opinion and expertise with observational journalism to keep readers abreast of a rapidly changing market.
THE FINTECH TIMES
FinTech Update
FinTech Update is written by the Reed Smith financial services lawyers and offers insights on what is going in the fintech legal space. The site draws upon the firm’s extensive experience in financial services to keep readers informed of legal and regulatory developments relevant to the fintech market. The blog has a heavy emphasis on blockchain technology.
REED SMITH LLP
IBM Banking Industry Blog
While IBM is perhaps best known in banking as a longtime provider of core banking systems, the company has realized that it needs to evolve along with a changing market, and has become a champion of emerging fintech such as blockchain. The site’s banking blog focuses on the future of banking tech, from open banking to blockchain to artificial intelligence — which happen to be a key business focus for the tech giant.
IBM FINTECH
IMFBlog
IMFBlog is a forum for the views of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and officials on pressing economic and policy issues of the day. As the organization notes on its website, the Washington D.C.-based organization featuring stakeholders from 189 countries works to “foster global monetary cooperation and financial stability around the world,” according to its site. The blog’s tech coverage focuses on mobile technologies, cryptocurrencies and innovation in economies.
IMF
Marlin & Associates Blog
Marlin & Associates is an international investment bank and corporate advisory firm based in New York City, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Toronto. The firm’s blog provides a monthly update on insights into fintech developments, especially for capital markets.
MARLIN & ASSOCIATES
Mobile Payments Today
Cashierless stores are becoming more prevalent — or at least buzz about them is. As the mobile payment industry evolves and as banks try to keep up, Mobile Payments Today remains a vital source of information on the news and trends in the mobile payments sector.
MOBILE PAYMENTS TODAY
PaymentsSource
Where is the global payments market headed, and how will advances in cryptocurrencies, peer-to-peer payments and mobile payments affect financial institutions? PaymentsSource is a go-to clearinghouse for news, insights and analysis on all of that and more.
PAYMENTSSOURCE
Transaction Trends
Transaction Trends, the official publication of the Electronic Transactions Association, dives into the future of payments technology. The site regularly covers the latest in mobile wallets and payments, payment security and peer-to-peer payments.
TRANSACTION TRENDS
Wharton FinTech
Wharton FinTech, from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, is the first student-led fintech initiative. The blog bills itself as “FinTech thought leaders connecting innovators, academics and investors with the ideas and companies that are reinventing global financial services.” The blog regularly contains podcast interviews with fintech leaders, including Marc Andrews, vice president of IBM Watson Financial Services Solutions, and Julien Courbe, U.S. financial services advisory leader at PwC. The blog also dives into issues related to modern financial technology, such as: “Why checks still exist and the state of B2B payments.”
WHARTON FINTECH
