Blockchain

SecureKey Technologies has partnered with Canada’s top banks and telcos to launch the country’s first federated digital identity network. The blockchain-based Verified.Me platform uses customer information from multiple databases to address a key problem in the digital world — proving you are who you claim to be.

Canada is making a big leap in modernizing identity verification, tapping blockchain technology to let consumers digitally prove who they are to securely access banking and other personal services.

Provenance Blockchain, recently spun off from Mike Cagney's Figure Technologies, says it can help lenders trim 70% of mortgage settlement expenses through speedier processing and paperwork reduction.

Less than a day after saying it would work with large core processors in a consolidating industry, Visa has struck a deal to link its B2B platform to FIS' bank clients.

Until significant steps are taken toward creating a seamless and intuitive experience, blockchain will fall short of its goals, as it is unable to communicate its value.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank plans to launch a pilot in 2020 of a blockchain-based digital version of the Eastern Caribbean dollar. This marks the first time that a central bank will have issued digital legal tender using the blockchain.

Banks say easing rules on people with some criminal records will diversify the applicant pool; deal with Synchrony may be near.

The SEC and other regulators are taking a closer look at ICOs and mergers involving cryptocurrencies and distributed ledgers, which requires careful diligence for payment companies and dealmakers, according to Will Turner, a partner in the blockchain and cryptocurrency practice at Steptoe & Johnson.

The reasons for banks to not embrace faster payments schemes are quickly dwindling. But many are still watching from the sidelines.

Price hit "a grim reminder" about impact of soft interest rates; despite bitcoin's plunge, blockchain could be prominent in Wall Street's future.