Opinions

In an increasingly commoditized industry, our people can be one of the few true differentiators left. But the model that has them forever sitting in buildings that fewer and fewer people utilize makes less strategic sense each year.

Federal legislation is needed to enhance cyber-threat information sharing so that good-faith responsive actions and information sharing will not trigger legal liability.

Benjamin Lawsky, New York's top financial regulator, rarely sounds ambivalent. But when the topic is something as unprecedented and complex as Bitcoin, the big questions appear to give him pause.

Big banks have discovered that mobile banking is their best bet for combating deep consumer distrust and rampant turnover. Small banks can overcome their lock on mobile by playing up the strengths of their existing business model.

Merchants can't pass the blame for data breaches onto financial institutions because protecting consumers is a shared responsibility where both sides have to meet their responsibilities.

When taken together, the posts in our What Customers Want series thus far point to opportunities for banks to innovate around the good old George Bailey banking model.

Federal legislation is needed to enhance cyber-threat information sharing so that good-faith responsive actions and information sharing will not trigger legal liability.

While this still hinders some customers' adoption of their bank or credit union's mobile bill pay offerings, in reality, today's technology has made mobile bill pay more secure and easier than ever before.

Financial institutions that can figure out how to couple an efficient and optimized loan process with personalized service will win in the future.

The next decade should be a payments-industry renaissance, but thanks to established market shares and persistent consumer and merchant habits, familiar names will remain at the core.