In the world of technology today, perhaps no label is more overused than fintech. Fintech—the portmanteau of finance and technology—is being slapped onto any technology system and process that interacts with finance—from clearing and settlement to counterparty risk management—as if the magic aura of the word alone will suddenly place financial executives on panels with kids in hoodies.

MasterCard’s acquisition of VocaLink has created a new payments powerhouse in Europe and beyond, and represents a win-win for both companies.

VocaLink knows that payments processing is a scale game, and having a virtual monopoly in the UK, the only way to drive further scale is to pick up volumes in mainland Europe and beyond.

For MasterCard the rationale is twofold.

The dark pool debate has raged across the globe for some time now and, in every jurisdiction, it’s more often than not accompanied by a smattering of assumptions on almost everything and certain knowledge of almost nothing. Fair enough, in the absence of hard facts, the term dark pool doesn’t really instil a great deal of trust from the outside world. But this lack of reliable information has been significantly reduced by the recent publication of the FCA’s thematic reviewon equity dark pools.

CPI Card Group announced the appointment of Tom Knaus as vice president and general manager of Financial Card Operations in Nashville, Tenn. Knaus brings more than 25 years of experience to the role, in which he will lead CPI’s Nashville-based personalization and fulfillment operations, managing teams responsible for the fulfillment of banking cards for over 4,000 U.S.-based financial institutions. He will also have operational responsibility for CPI’s instant issuance service, Card@Once®, which is deployed at over 4,000 banking locations.

mcaConnect, a Microsoft Gold Partner for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), announced an agreement with Jayco, Inc. to roll out Microsoft Dynamics™ AX ERP as the new enterprise business system for the breadth of the Jayco enterprise. Jayco, a leading RV manufacturer, was seeking a new solution to support operations across 17 facilities, increase efficiency, and grow business more profitably.

Jayco turned to mcaConnect, which has a specialty in manufacturing, to explore how Microsoft’s ERP can help with operational improvements and growth.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a banking panel discussion recently and given the privilege and opportunity to express my opinions about what digital means to banking. What became apparent from the discussion and questions was most people link digital to technology. If not about technology, it was about how new development was undertaken; be more like the fintechs, don’t fear failure, etc., etc.