All that was missing from the recent Finovate Fall 2012 financial technology convention in Manhattan were the snarky judges and the over-the-top would-be pop singers.

This must be the mobile decade. Everybody and everything is on the go, in the cloud, over the air, and out the door. The digital devices 88% of us carry (according to the Pew Internet pollsters) provide all sorts of things we used to depend on from other sources: newspapers, radio, brick-and-mortar stores, even (shudder) the U.S. Post Office.

Lately it seems that fraud is top of mind in all sorts of areas where banks are concerned. Just in the past few weeks various observers have raised red flags. For example:

Digital banking of one form or another seems to be the new Wild West for technology providers, analysts, and commentators. According to recent releases, studies, and posts, "there's gold in them thar electronic accounts"-particularly payments-and now's the time to scramble to take advantage of it all.

Mobile-device purchases of digital and physical goods are expected to exceed $730 billion annually by 2017, says Juniper Research.

According to its recent report, growth will be driven by the increasing scale of real-world (non-digital) purchases from major brands and retailers. Companies such as Domino's in the United States and Argos in the United Kingdom are already seeing 6% to 7% of all

Google quietly introduced its new version of the Google Wallet application recently, in which payment cards are stored on Google servers rather than in secure storage areas of Android-powered smartphones.

If a customer called your bank and left a message saying she had a problem, wouldn't you call back? If a customer sent an email saying he wanted more information about a savings account offer, wouldn't you reply?

By many accounts, bank regulatory burden, eternally expanding and now greatly exacerbated by the Dodd/Frank Act, threatens the viability of thousands of financial institutions.

It is remarkable that four fundamental technology forces, each in their relative infancies, right now are starting to intersect with each other in a surging, accelerating, and irrepressible way likely to change everything.

It's not often when a bold claim is made that something will change all the rules in banking.