BankThink

Being incorrectly reported as dead can make people much more vulnerable to identity theft. That's because Social Security numbers get published in the Social Security Administration's death master file.

The Texan presidential hopeful must learn to put policy over hyperbole when he speaks about Ben Bernanke or the Federal Reserve.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...B of A Trying Sell Portfolio: Bank of America is in talks to sell a Merrill Lynch real estate portfolio for up to $1 billion to Blackstone Group. Wall Street Journal, New York Times

Those tech companies provide an allocative service with fewer employees, but they also don't have regulators and don't need retail branches. Perhaps Apple's the better benchmark.

As if the financial system needed more challenges, there is a huge one lurking that never goes away: keeping data secure. Because our current market and economic predicament has presented a barrage of other risks that are perceived as more immediate, securing customer and corporate data too often remains at the bottom of the triage list.

The GOP presidential hopeful went too far in suggesting that Bernanke's policies are "treasonous."

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

First Niagara recently announced the acquisition of almost 200 HSBC branches in its market area. When asked if this would result in branch closures and layoffs, the chief executive of First Niagara said there wouldn't be many layoffs, because the overlapping branches would be sold rather than closed.

The passwords and other personal information of 2,001 San Francisco commuters were exposed Sunday by the hacker group Anonymous. The group has previously targeted PayPal and other financial companies.

Even card thieves can have data breaches. Much of the card data that is stolen in data breaches is resold online before it is used. Those online storefronts can be just as vulnerable to being hacked.