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Analysis of the technology, operations and regulation of financial services, by sector and topic, with weekly data stories from regulators' filings.

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In Focus14 Series

1–3 of 14

Deep-dive series on the forces reshaping financial services

Blockchain & Digital Assets

Beyond the Hype: Institutional Digital Asset Infrastructure

Comprehensive technical analysis of production-ready blockchain infrastructure for financial institutions. Covers custody architectures (MPC, HSM-based), tokeni…

Health Insurance

From Claims to Care: AI-Powered Health Plan Transformation

This guide covers the AI, data, and interoperability stack that lets a health plan move from claims processor to care coordinator — auto-adjudication at the edg…

Wealth Management

The Hyper-Personalized Trust Office: AI-Led Transformation in Wealth & Private Banking

This guide examines how wealth and private banking firms are replacing individual relationship memory with a firm-wide client intelligence layer. Covers ambient…

Alternative Investments

Illiquidity Unlocked: Digital Infrastructure for Alternatives at Scale

This guide covers the digital infrastructure that makes private markets scalable — document ingestion pipelines, investor onboarding for alts, AI-powered GP due…

Asset & Investment Management

Alpha Architects: Building an AI-First Investment Process

This guide examines how asset managers are rebuilding investment processes around AI, from automated trade execution to real-time portfolio stress testing. Cove…

Retail Banking

Core to Customer: Modernizing Retail Banking for the 2030s

This guide examines the technical and strategic decisions retail banks face when modernizing legacy core systems for the next decade. Covers architecture choice…

Investment Banking

Deal Flow to Data Flow: Digital Transformation in IBD

This guide examines how investment banks are deploying AI and automation across deal execution workflows. Coverage spans virtual data rooms with ML-powered due …

Commercial Banking

The Relationship-Driven Digital Bank: Serving Mid-Market and Corporate Clients

This guide examines how commercial banks are rebuilding client relationships through digital infrastructure for mid-market and corporate banking. Coverage inclu…

Payments

The Unbundling of Money: Next-Gen Payment Rails and Orchestration

This guide examines how payment infrastructure is disaggregating into specialized components that financial institutions can orchestrate rather than build monol…

Real Estate (CRE & Residential)

Property as a Platform: Digital Transformation in Real Estate Finance

This guide examines how technology is reducing settlement times, automating complex processes, and enabling new business models in real estate finance. CIOs and…

Hedge Funds

Systematic Alpha: Technology Stack for the Modern Hedge Fund

Twelve articles covering the full technology stack of a quantitative hedge fund — from decomposing legacy monolithic systems into modular architecture, to inges…

Private Equity

Value Creation Through Technology: PE Portfolio Operating Model

This guide covers how private equity firms are applying automation and AI across the full investment lifecycle — from screening thousands of deal targets to aut…

P&C Insurance

The Next-Gen Digital Insurer: P&C Transformation

Twelve articles covering the core technology decisions facing P&C insurers: replacing legacy policy administration systems, deploying AI-assisted underwriting w…

Life Insurance & Annuities

Longevity and Legacy: Modernizing Life & Annuity Operations

This guide covers the core systems and workflows that run a life and annuity carrier: automated underwriting using eApps and Rx data feeds, policy administratio…

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Featured

Who Is Really Funding Private Credit?

Private credit was meant to take lending risk off the banks. Banks now lend $1.7 trillion to nonbank lenders and have promised $1.1 trillion more.

18 min2026 / 11

Risk & Compliance

10 Market Risk Metrics (VaR, CVaR, Stress Loss) Explained

Market risk metrics quantify potential losses from adverse price movements in financial markets.

6 min2025 / 09

Technology & Data

10 Application Rationalization Criteria for Financial Firms

Ten criteria for deciding which applications a financial firm should keep, consolidate, or retire, applied against a real portfolio.

6 min2025 / 09

Retail Banking

10 Fraud Scoring Rules for Card-Not-Present Transactions

Card-not-present transactions have no chip to authenticate, so fraud scoring depends entirely on data validation and behavioral analysis.

6 min2025 / 08

Recent

Latest Published

Payments

US Checks Moved Over Twice the Money of All Card Payments

Americans wrote 9.2 billion checks in 2024 and made 187.7 billion card payments. The checks moved $24.4 trillion; the cards $11.5 trillion.

1 min2026 / 11

Retail Banking

389 Banks Are Over the 300% CRE Line. 107 Meet the Screen

389 US banks hold CRE loans of 300% or more of capital. Only 107 also meet the screen's other test: CRE growth of 50% or more in three years.

3 min2026 / 11

Retail Banking

Cash Management and Cash Pooling, Explained

Cash management keeps a company able to pay what it owes each day. Here is how it works, from balances and sweeps to cash pools and the US payment rails.

11 min2026 / 11

Retail Banking

Digital Banking, Explained: Channels, Cores and Charters

Digital banking is a channel, a type of bank or a partner-bank model. This guide covers the layers underneath and the charter rules for each.

11 min2026 / 11

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430 articles

Payments

US Checks Moved Over Twice the Money of All Card Payments

Americans wrote 9.2 billion checks in 2024 and made 187.7 billion card payments. The checks moved $24.4 trillion; the cards $11.5 trillion.

1 min2026 / 11

Retail Banking

389 Banks Are Over the 300% CRE Line. 107 Meet the Screen

389 US banks hold CRE loans of 300% or more of capital. Only 107 also meet the screen's other test: CRE growth of 50% or more in three years.

3 min2026 / 11

Retail Banking

Cash Management and Cash Pooling, Explained

Cash management keeps a company able to pay what it owes each day. Here is how it works, from balances and sweeps to cash pools and the US payment rails.

11 min2026 / 11

Retail Banking

Digital Banking, Explained: Channels, Cores and Charters

Digital banking is a channel, a type of bank or a partner-bank model. This guide covers the layers underneath and the charter rules for each.

11 min2026 / 11

Investment Banking

Futures vs. OTC Derivatives: How the Markets Work

Futures trade on regulated exchanges and clear centrally; OTC swaps are negotiated. Dodd-Frank Title VII brought many swaps closer to the futures model.

11 min2026 / 11

P&C Insurance