Payments

Payments technology is changing rapidly. Some companies are making major shifts in the way they handle loyalty and rewards. Others are getting a better grasp on mobile devices. And in Canada, a new electronic payment system could validate other fledgling digital currencies, such as the Bitcoin.

Mortgages - Home Renovation

Mortgage bankers are digging deep these days as they seek to renovate their badly damaged industry. For some, the repair job involves responding to the new regulations governing appraisals by revamping what is a tricky process even in the best of times. Other mortgage executives are seeking to balance the need to continue cutting costs with expensive regulatory mandates related to the national servicing settlement and other legal issues. As always, the current bout of turmoil spells opportunity for those intent on seizing the moment. Fair Isaac, for example, is seeking to recover lost business by providing its banking customers with new forms of information about borrowers that will help ensure the rebuilt industry endures.

Analyst Roundtable: Big Regional Banks at a Crossroads

American Banker invited three banking industry experts — Matthew Friend, a senior executive at Accenture Payment Services; Gerard S. Cassidy, the managing director of equity research at RBC Capital Markets; and Claude A. Hanley Jr., a partner at Capital Performance Group — to analyze the regulatory, economic and business threats that face regional banks and to predict their fate.

• Full Transcript of Roundtable Discussion

Community Banking

With organic growth options limited and good acquisitions hard to find, more and more community banks are finding that the quickest — and cheapest — way to boost assets is to steal talent from rival banks. Some are poaching lenders as a way to enter a new line of business, such as asset-based lending, while others are doing so to boost market share in businesses they are already in, such as mortgages. But no matter the reason, the goal is the same: bring in bankers with established books of business and watch the loan portfolio grow. Also, how Extraco Corp.'s branch makeover could serve as a template for banks looking to improve efficiency without sacrificing service.

M&A Annual: Smart Shoppers

TCF, Wells Fargo, BB&T and other banks with a discriminating eye are finding a way to add revenue and minimize risk: line of business deals. Big banks and small ones are picking up niche lenders, insurance agencies, trust units and other specialized businesses at a time when the whole-bank deal market remains relatively quiet. Meanwhile, failed banks remain an inviting target for some buyers. We take a look at what goes on behind the scenes of the hush-hush process of bidding for a failed bank.