BankThink

Faster payments would help the economy in general and individuals and small businesses in particular. It's time for banks to step up.

Some policymakers have been calling for a temporary halt to large bank deals while the criteria for approvals are reevaluated. Yet Congress was clear about its intention to stop regulators from holding up bank mergers, argues the head of a trade group for large financial services companies.

Banks and credit unions need to do more for (and assume less about) customers who are over 50, says Theo Lau, founder of the advisory firm Unconventional Ventures.

If there's one thing the Great Resignation has taught us it's that workers crave flexibility and autonomy. In banking, younger and midcareer executives are becoming self-employed or gravitating toward fintech.

It's easy for banks to get caught up in the hype around cryptocurrency, but instead of rushing in they should take time to assess how the technology will best meet their own needs and those of their customers.

Banks that help customers avoid missing important payments are providing a valuable service for which they should be compensated. Though some banks use deceptive practices, customers are willing to pay for a transparent service.

A dispersed workforce presents added cybersecurity challenges resulting from employees accessing their organization’s networks through a home connection. This new reality reinforces the need for financial institutions to transform their digital infrastructure to guard against breaches.

Credit risk management is about to get a lot more complicated for commercial lenders as major central banks raise interest rates. Banks need to learn to parse new kinds of data to avoid problem loans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which has responded effectively to many external crises, has no playbook for addressing this internal battle on its own.

The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in financial services, while promising, is not without risk. It's on federal regulators to ensure that algorithms relied on by banks and credit unions aren't harming businesses and consumers.