Opinions

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including recommended reforms to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Ripple Labs' efforts to work toward a decentralized payments protocol.

Financial institutions worldwide are exploring the possibilities for faster, cheaper, more transparent processing of global payments in near real time offered by distributed software solutions, including blockchains and distributed ledgers. Because this is a new field of study, these technologies are often misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Connecting disparate payment platforms is the Holy Grail of cryptocurrencies. The path to building such a system is not always clear, but must start at the core of the protocol.

Nobody enjoys the experience of making a payment — so a growing number of companies are likely to follow Uber's lead and make transactions so easy they're practically invisible. That means banks will have to ramp up their efforts to become customers' default cards.

Data breaches happen so frequently these days that many consumers have “breach fatigue.” However, the threat does not die when public interest does. Stolen data moves faster than breaches can be detected, heightening the risk for merchants.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including ways to make megabanks pay for their “too big to fail” subsidy and how banks can help put an end to human trafficking.

Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat have recently started to offer or test e-commerce and payments opportunities, and online stores need to pay close attention given the potential size of the consumer base.

The health care system is riddled with excess capacity, huge legacy costs, out-of-control expenses and regulations even more onerous than those in banking. And just as in banking, high-tech startups are shaking up the system.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including ideas about how to improve disclosure requirements and ways to encourage banks and young tech firms to join forces.

Federal prosecutors are cracking down on violations of the Bank Secrecy Act — often without first clarifying to virtual currency firms and other industries the sort of behavior will get them in trouble.