Financial institutions are under pressure to adopt various forms of consumer technology in an effort to retain and attract both customers and staff. But these technologies can present a number of security risks.

Visa Europe's chief information officer recently oversaw the final migration of clients to a new inter-bank processing platform that has been almost a decade in the making. He describes how the new datacentre will offer great value to both the company and its customers. Writer John Beck

Now Albania has emerged from the financial crisis in relatively sound health, its banks are setting their sights on prudent expansion.

Undeterred by the harsh economic climate, banks continued to announce green IT initiatives throughout the crisis, but are these projects motivated more out of concern for the bottom line than the environment?

Undeterred by previous false starts, new waves of contactless payment initiatives are being unveiled. But getting the banks, retailers, software developers and customers all working in unison is proving difficult.

When Swedish financial services giant Skandia implemented a new online business model, the group's CIO was left juggling an outsourcing contract designed with very different requirements in mind, while the IT department took on an increasingly important role in the firm's future. Writer John Beck

Inspired by consumer technology, corporate clients are starting to demand web 2.0 features and tools from their transaction banking platforms, forcing banks to upgrade their systems to keep pace. Writer John Beck

An influx of non-bank online payment providers offering customers new, easy-to-use ways to transfer money has spurred some banks into providing similar systems. However, there is some scepticism, particularly in the US, about just how much these new methods threaten traditional banking models.