BankThink

The issues associated with environmental, social and governance policies cut across all the traditional concepts of risk facing bank executives and will endure for years.

Pressure is mounting on banks to rein in overdraft fees. The behavioral psychologist Wei Ke says there are programs they can put in place that would be fairer to account holders and still generate income.

Tens of millions of consumers diligently pay their rent, utilities and other bills every month yet have no credit history. Supplementing traditional credit scoring with such data will promote equity and upward economic mobility, says the CEO of Experian North America.

Europe has encouraged adoption with rules that put consumers in control of the way their data is shared among banks, fintechs and third-party vendors. Whether the U.S. can make similar progress without its own rules is unclear.

Alternative branches were long criticized for generating fewer deposits than traditional ones. But in an increasingly online world, convenient and conspicuous physical presences at places like grocery stores stand out.

The government helped the gas pipeline operator recoup some of the funds it paid to cyberthieves, but that's unlikely to happen often. Banks should shore up password security to minimize risk and be willing to reject hackers' demands in the event of a breach.

The federal government is developing plans to require public companies to notify investors of climate and other environmental, social and governance-related risks. Lenders must take steps to understand the underlying issues and ensure borrowers disclose their own ESG exposures.

Policymakers need to stop attacking credit bureaus and take action against credit repair firms that use dubious tactics to wipe bad debt from consumers' credit reports. Such schemes both impair banks' ability to accurately underwrite loans and further hurt real victims of identity theft.

Distributed ledger projects in banking are few and far between — many have stalled and others remain experiments. Robert Townsend, who has worked with banks around the world and written a book about blockchain technology, explains some of the ways financial institutions could be using it, for instance in small-business lending and supply chain finance.

It is possible for financial firms to value the future of the planet and lift up marginalized communities while still generating strong returns for shareholders. Here's how.