Are standards and regulation simply reactive to technological innovation or are they in fact the real driving force behind new developments in IT? Alan Duerden finds out.

Despite international embargoes that restrict their operations, Northern Cyprus banks are making preparations in the hope that eventually they will be included in the EU. Nick Kochan reports.

As cash rapidly becomes a strategic asset for corporates and asset managers, Frances Maguire looks at the outlook for 2008, post credit crisis.

Retail banks’ communications with their customers are not as personal as they could be, all parties agree, according to the results of a recent survey. Banks must take radical steps to improve their use of different channels of communication.

The CEO of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation talks to Alan Duerden on playing the volume and innovation game.

Although biology is a well-known science, there is a lesser-known science with the a deceptively similar name: buyology. I created this science for banks to deal with the new world of ‘freakonomics’, where everyone is struggling to understand the methods to get customers buying and, in its purest form, buyology is defined as: the science of understanding business relationships.

Algorithmic trading was blamed for the escalating volatility spikes in August. Frances Maguire asks if this is a fair criticism as well as looking at how algorithms are getting smarter.

Wendy Atkins reports on groundbreaking developments taking place in the world of consumer payments, including contactless mini cards.

Low-value electronic payments are about to be speeded up in the UK by the Faster Payments Service. But banks are wincing at the set-up costs and the increased risk of fraud, writes Michael Imeson.

MiFID’s first deadline has passed and only three EU members are in full compliance. Alan Duerden assesses whether the European Commission can realistically punish so many offenders.