BankThink

Just as small and midsize businesses had to adapt to survive the coronavirus emergency, lenders need to adopt new underwriting practices and technologies that modernize how they evaluate borrowers' creditworthiness.

The average American’s financial picture is bleaker than government data suggests, according to the former comptroller of the currency. Research from his new organization, the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, has found that unemployment is higher and household wages are lower than reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In "Antitrust," former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar offers little nuance in weighing the costs and benefits of concentrated economic power.

Math-based machine learning tools hold substantial promise in advancing the fairness of consumer lending and developing benchmarks for the entire industry.

Banks need to innovate to compete with upstart fintechs, but fragmented and inflexible core systems are slowing digital transformation. Here’s how banks — with help from their regulators — can thrive amid the disruption.

High-tech videoconferencing is no replacement for high-touch in-person meetings. Yet some bank directors who are vaccinated remain hesitant to return to boardrooms.

Michael Moeser, senior analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Atif Siddiqi, Founder and CEO of Branch, about the future of providing faster access to earned wages.

The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, says the Federal Reserve's heightened attention to racial and income inequality amounts to "political advocacy." But Al Piña, the CEO of the Florida Minority Community Reinvestment Coalition, argues that promoting equality is part of the Fed's mission.

The head of the six largest banks take flak from both Democrats and Republicans at Senate hearing; the rising price of digital assets is enabling them to poach senior mainstream executives.

It's in financial institutions' best interest to treat increasingly popular cryptocurrency assets the same as other financial assets held by their customers. And regulators must foster a safe environment for these assets by focusing on real risks like money laundering and terrorism finance.