EMV technology is just the beginning for smart card-based payments as the science fiction of today could become reality by 2015. Wendy Atkins reports on the technology in the pipeline.

In 2015, retail banking will still be concerned with its core role of supplying customers with help in paying for their purchases but the mechanics could look radically different, writes Stephen Timewell.

Come 2015, customers will be even more demanding and the marketplace more competitive and complex. Banks will have to focus more on innovation and efficiency and make faster progress if they want to keep their clients, says Thomas Balgheim.

With increased competition, fragmentation and diversity in asset classes, the job of exchanges and regulators around the world in surveying their markets is becoming increasingly difficult. Serious investment is required to stay ahead of the fraudsters. Alan Duerden explains.

Alan Duerden speaks to Mike Lazaridis on the accountability, back-up and security capabilities incorporated into the latest generation of BlackBerry smartphones targeted at the small and medium-sized office.

People are using avatars to develop businesses and have fun in virtual worlds, such as Second Life. Karina Robinson reports on the growing response from banks and the potential they could tap.

India’s smaller, fast-growing private banks, with their healthy loan books, dynamic managers and the latest technology, are the banks to watch, says Kala Rao .

ICBC chairman Jiang Jianqing talks to The Banker about the Chinese market, the bank’s recent growth and its long-term strategy to become an international player.

Banks are trying to open up the bond markets in sub-Saharan Africa and one idea being floated is for governments to work together to raise multi-issuer bonds. But are the IMF and aid donors standing in the way of the markets’ development? By Nigel Dudley.

Aite Group reports on US banks’ small business strategies while the Microfinance Information Exchange unveils benchmarks.