Allison Bisbey

There are plenty of stories about people changing careers when their jobs in finance disappeared. But according to LinkedIn, the social networking Web site, people who transitioned to other industries were the exception. Most stayed in the financial space.

Cam Fine, president and CEO of Independent Community Bankers of America, is having a field day with Wells Fargo's new advertising campaign

Will eliminating free checking prove as unpalatable to banks as to consumers?

EagleBank Chairman and CEO Ronald Paul is taking Arianna Huffington’s “Move Your Money” campaign to the next level.

Tishman Speyer Properties just handed more ammunition to those who argue that homeowners have no particular moral or civic obligation to stay current on their mortgage payments.

There’s a critical discussion of peer-to-peer lending in the blogosphere this week that’s definitely worth a read.

In case you missed it in the Morning Scan, an Op-Ed in today's Wall Street Journal by Arkadi Kuhlmann, CEO of ING Direct USA, offers one of the clearest explanations we've seen for the less-than-stellar results of the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP. (Aside from the fact that HAMP doesn't reduce a borrower's principal, that is.)

Editorials on President Obama’s proposed bank tax have been remarkably harmonious, with the majority of media outlets saying that while it may be politically motivated, the plan isn’t necessarily bad economic policy. Even the conservative opinion page of The Wall Street Journal, though critical of the tax, complained mainly about Obama's choice of target.

American Express, Visa, Mastercard and Discover waived the processing fees for donations made to certain charities contributing to relief efforts in Haiti, at least temporarily.

Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies have each committed at least $1 million to earthquake relief. Other financial institutions, including Wells Fargo and TD, have also announced donations.

Talk about an about-face. The American Bankers Association, which fought tooth and nail against new restrictions on credit card fees and interest rates, issued a press release this week saying the changes “herald a new era” for consumers.

A Wall Street Journal item on interchange fees struck a nerve with small business owners. In the Jan. 5 Op-Ed, Todd J. Zywicki, a law professor at George Mason University, argued when merchant fees are capped, consumers end up footing the bill. He said that’s exactly what happened when Australian regulators imposed price controls on interchange fees in 2003: issuers increased annual fees on cards and reduced the generosity of their reward programs.

Commentators continue to debate whether Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd’s decision to retire makes it more or less likely that legislation overhauling financial regulation will be enacted.

Our reporting on the Huffington Post's campaign to get consumers to shift deposits to community banks -- and the consumer psyche it taps into -- continues to draw comment from readers

Institutional Risk Analytics, the firm that donated the search tool for the Huffington Post's Move Your Money campaign, weighed in on the debate over its chances for success. CEO and managing director Dennis Santiago pointed out in a blog post that shifting deposits out of big banks can make a "structural difference" to the financial system because checking and savings accounts have a bigger impact on the financial health of community banks.

Does Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd's decision to retire help or hurt the odds of financial regulatory reform being enacted? Observers told the American Banker that it's a plus. The idea, espoused by American Bankers Association president and chief executive Edward Yingling and former Republican Sen. John Sununu, is that, with no campaign to run, Dodd is freer to focus on the legislation -- and his legacy. But others claim his lame-duck status could make moving legislation tougher

So far, more than two-thirds of respondents to our poll (at right) think big bank’s reputations have taken such a hit that customers either will or may follow the advice of the Huffington Post and shift their money to community banks. But Stuart Gunn, a partner at Bridge Strategy Group, a Chicago consultancy, has serious doubts.

Steven Brill's account in the New York Times Sunday Magazine of how Washington's pay czar, Kenneith Feinberg, grappled with the question of how much to pay executives at companies that received billions in Tarp funds is an interesting read. But the 8,500-word article doesn't answer the question posed in the headline, "What's a Bailed-Out Banker Really Worth?"

Now that it has emerged from bankruptcy, CIT Group Inc. has learned firsthand the same lesson other nonbank lenders have: the key to survival is to be more like a bank.

How far can mortgage insurers go to deny claims? At least one is allegedly sending investigators to interview borrowers; and more.