People trust their gut, but AI doesn’t have one: Executives are guarded about AI adoption for high-level use. There’s a path forward, but given the risks, C-suite caution is wise.

While banks work to fight fraud, customers are bristling at some of their security measures. Around the world, 35% of banking customers said what irritates them most is that the authentication factors keep changing. Another 24% are most annoyed by their card being declined for legitimate purchases.

The vast majority of US banks have no plans to offer some basic cryptocurrency-related services. For even the most widely adopted service—crypto investing or trading—only 1% currently offer it, and 78% have no plans to support it.

Chime was the most downloaded US mobile banking app in 2021, with 12.8 million downloads, up 16% from 2020. Other neobanks had a huge year as well: Current posted 67% growth in downloads, and Varo skyrocketed to 10th place with a 529% increase. That said, traditional banks took the rest of the top five positions.

Banks face growing pressure from shareholders and customers to take more action on sustainability. While transitioning to a greener business model will be challenging, banks have a plethora of strategies to choose from.

In 2021, mobile finance apps reached 573.1 million downloads in the US, up nearly 19% from 481.9 million in 2020.

A US neobank is offering a simple onramp to crypto that targets Hispanic users. Could it pave the way for using digital assets in cross-border payments?

This fifth annual benchmark stacks up 23 US financial institutions against one another, evaluating their mobile app capabilities based on consumer demand for 42 emerging features.

Spurred by shifts in customer expectations, incumbents will race to personalize services and enhance distribution strategies. Fintechs will focus their attention on tapping opportunities that first emerged in 2021.

This benchmark evaluates four US neobanks across seven categories and weights their scores according to the results from a survey of US mobile banking users. It highlights the most in-demand mobile banking features that an incumbent, fintech, or neobank can offer to attract, retain, or monetize users.

Though half of Gen Z hasn’t yet reached adulthood, it’s well on its way to becoming a financial juggernaut. Here’s an overview of this generation’s unique financial attitudes and behaviors.

The majority of US adults aren’t in the habit of switching their primary bank. As of August, 77% have not moved their primary account to a new bank in the past five years, and just 8% have done so over the past year.

While financial service's digital ad spending has historically outpaced the digital ad market, we expect a slowdown in 2021 and beyond as incumbents in both banking and insurance focus their budgets on technological innovations to compete with emerging fintech companies.

The growth of investment robo-advisors—algorithm-based account services—spiked last year across the US, the UK, and Canada as investors, especially those belonging to younger populations, took advantage of investment opportunities during the pandemic. For instance, independent robo-advisors Wealthfront and Betterment both reported double-digit increases in account openings during the pandemic.

When US neobanks will hit 40 million clients

Although the benefits of 5G for financial services firms are less flashy than in other industries, lower latency, faster speed, and improved reliability will play a big role in the financial services sector.

Top industries facing a data security trust fall

The pandemic is pushing consumers into digital banking channels, upping pressure on small and midsized banks to deliver value-added services and digital user experiences. They have to find ways of doing so on limited tech budgets to stay competitive.

Consumers’ growing willingness to get their financial services from non-FI providers is spurring consumer brands to embed financial elements in their products and services. But this new form of finance will mean dramatic changes for incumbent and startup FIs.

This year, 81.6% of internet users in the US will access their bank accounts digitally at least once per month, according to our latest estimates. That’s significantly higher than the 72% we previously projected, due in large part to the pandemic. We expect this behavior to continue, and by 2023, we forecast there will be 207.3 million US digital banking users.